Customer Reviews

Essential Eating: A Cookbook: Discover How to Eat, Not Diet

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People spend most of their adult lives searching for the right program to lose weight. I was no different.

I had tried every diet imaginable. The "no carb diet", (my cholesterol jumped up 23 points), "pre-package food diet", ( I gained 8 lbs. as soon as I went back to normal eating), "liquid diet,(won't even address what happened with that diet). Anyway, you get the picture.

Then one day, a friend introduced "Essential Eating" to me. This book answered all my questions and provided me with the answers I needed to live healthy, lose 27 lbs. and keep it off.
This is a wonderful program with delicious and easy to make recipes. You cook with "real organic food".
And the best thing is that it is not a diet. It is a way of life. I no longer have digestive or health related problems and feel better than I have felt in ages.
Over 2 years ago, I dropped 2 dress sizes, I dine out, have dinner parties and haven't gained a pound back.

Thank Essential Eating for changing my life.

In Essential Eating, A Cookbook: Discover How To Eat, Not Diet, organic gardener and whole foods cooking expert Janie Quinn offers 350 recipes for easy-to-digest dishes that are "body friendly" and health enhancing. Of special interest are Quinn's commentaries on "The Essential Eating Philosophy" and the nature of essential cooking, organic foods, weekly menu development, cooking tips, and much, much more. From Cashew Milk; Cold-Pressed Coffee; Hazelnut Butter Sandwich; Sprouted Bean and Tomato Bisque; and Spaghetti Squash with Asparagus; to Chicken Avocado Soup; Mushroom-Crusted Quiche; Sweet Potato Fries; Maple Taffy; and Quinoa Flake Cookies, Essential Eating, A Cookbook is a practical and highly recommended compendium for the health conscious kitchen cook.

I was going for the culinary adventure when I bought this, but that is not its primary raison d'etre. The book evolved from the author's personal journey to wellness, looking at a way of eating that is healthful rather than abusive. It is based largely on the methodology of Shelly Summers, a holistic nutritional counselor who believes that good eating habits can help conquer or at least ease the debilitating effects of everything from acne to AIDS.

Depending on the level of the body's "dis-ease," the author recommends various regimens. Each level has allowable foods and some to avoid. There is a surprising variety for each level. What drew me to the book, after seeing the vibrant author on local television, is the experimentation with a lot of ingredients I've only read about. Quinn prefers organic everything and exotica like sprouted grains and legumes, quinoa, kefir cheese and maple-based sweeteners. Her entrees are fish, poultry or vegetarian. Interestingly, she uses eggs and butter, but judiciously.

I've tried several recipes and all are easy to follow and produce good stuff. As I put the chicken hash on the table, I thought, nooo, too simple, will taste like ground chicken "helper," but in fact it had depth of flavor. I am skeptical about using butter, but the little called in the green quinoa really set it off. Since I do not live in an urbane area, I had to go out on the internet to dig up the ingredients not found at local health food stores. I'm still looking for sources of sprouted seed flour, kefir cheese and affordable maple sugar. Until I do, I'll use reasonable substitutes.

As a construction worker, who packs his meals everyday, I struggle to find the right combination of foods that satisfy but do not slow me down. I have learned that my body does not need the quantity of food I have been trained to feed it. Traditional snacks and lunchs have failed to give me the fuel I need. Essential Eating offers a design for living and recipes that satisfy my bodies needs. The recipes offer delicious as well as exciting meals. But the important part is my body gets just what it needs to perform strenuous physical activities and not feel bogged down.

If you want a way to cook and eat that you can truly follow forever without deprivation this is it! Essential Eating showed me how to overcome my indigestion and food allergies and lose my excess weight. It was amazing how much I learned about what foods the body can and cannot digest. This recipes are wheat-free but still include pancakes, waffles, breads, muffins and desserts! It is so much more that a cookbook, it's a way of eating life that brought so much freedom into my life. Thanks to Essential Eating I now feel great.

I have just recently acquired this book. I am happy to say that eliminating wheat products from my diet has reduced the number of allergic reations I normally have. I have had plenty to eat every day and in just a few days noticed my clothes fitting better. I am following the deep cleansing eating plan and I have never felt better.

I have Psoriatic Arthritis, and since I began to eat as Quinn and Summers suggest more than a year ago, I have found that I have learned how to control my Psoriatic Arthritis. The Super Cleanser, as Quinn calls it, truely has decreased or eliminated the pain I have felt in all my joints whereas Medical Dr's had no explaination or proactive steps for me to take to stay healthy. Now I know what foods to stay away from as well as feeling a level of energy that I haven't since I was...well, a long time ago. Wheat, Red Meat, and Sugar are all anathema to me, and they just don't play a role in this way to eat. If I hadn't found these books I would be in excrutiating pain, and unable to do the things I do without powerful perscriptions which I am loath to do.

I was introduced to Essential Eating through my husband's acquaintance with Janie Quinn. My initial interest was to provide my daughter, who suffers from an eating disorder, a healthy, nutritious, tastey and SAFE diet. I was surprised that I benefited from this diet as well, considering I thought that I was the healthy one in the family! The recipes are easy, there is great variety in meal choices and it has introduced many new and interesting foods into our home. Healing your body is the best gift you can give to yourself. Read, eat and enjoy!

The thing I loved about this book is that it isn't a diet. I have tried every diet and believe me, they don't work. I don't even want to think about how much time I have wasted dieting.
Essential Eating is about eating, not deprivation. Essential Eating is based on eating great tasting foods that are easy to digest. The digestion is the key. Even when I thought I was eating healthy, I wasn't eating foods that my body could breakdown and eliminate. The digestion chart in Essential Eating showed me what foods are easy to digest and it gave me a complete eating lifestyle that I can easily follow forever. Weight loss, better sleep, more energy and no depression are a few of my results with Essential Eating.

No more dieting - I'm saying goodbye to South Beach, The Zone, Adkins and the rest. What freedom.

Finally, an "easy to digest" perspective on eating, not dieting. Janie Quinn's Essential Eating has given me a guide to understanding what foods work for me and how I can maintain a healthy lifestyle. Within one month of essential eating, I have seen a dramatic increase in my energy level and ability to concentrate. I have also seen a dramatic decrease in allergic reactions and weight. All my questions have been answered about foods and why I feel the way I feel after eating certain foods. It is has been an awakening to finally know what and how to eat---Essential Eating is my road map to a disease free lifestyle. Filled with easy to make, great tasting recipes and even shopping lists. Thanks Janie for sharing your insights.