39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Keep Those Recipes Coming!, April 2, 2008
OK-I'm not a big fan of most veggies....and the types of food I like best; burgers, wings and doughnuts aren't considered particularly healthy but taste great!
So I was surprised to learn that my wife had been preparing some of my favorite meals with a slight twist with recipes from LaPine's new book. These recipes use less salt, sugar and contain less fat not to mention the added nutrition of fresh fruit and vegetables so it's great for me and the kids too. If anything, the food actually tastes better. Thanks and keep the recipes coming!
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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A winning strategy in the kitchen for more than just men, August 13, 2008
First off, truth be told, I'm not a man at all. I just happen to be a very picky adult woman who can't stomach eating whole vegetables. Health issues spurred me to make some changes in my diet, namely to include more vegetables and fiber. This was a tall order for me, but I'd been hearing rave reviews for books like these and Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious" which make a point of including disguised vegetables pureed seamlessly into the foods I happen to love--which also tend, very often, to be incredibly bad for you. This was a strategy I could live with. If it worked, so much the better; if it didn't, at worst it would be a failed experiment in cooking (to add to my always-growing pile of such experiments).
I looked into the original Sneaky Chef, this book, and several others of the same type before settling on this "men's health" edition, not only because it addressed my own problems but also because I probably eat more of what Lapine calls "man food" than most men I know. The introduction, where she talks about the different emphases men and women place on food and the tastes, sights and textures that appeal to them, I swear could've been written about me.
This was what sold me on the book: though there seems to be little love lost between Lapine and the eating habits of what she calls the "typical man", she writes not without understanding. In fact, simply trying a few of the recipes proves that she does, in fact, have a consummate understanding of what makes foods delicious to men AND women as well as what would make them healthier. The blueberry muffins include no butter and are sweetened with only vanilla extract, cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar in addition to the blueberries, and are loaded with white beans, whole wheat flour, and oat bran, but amazingly, to eat these muffins is to make no sacrifice of flavor. They smell heavenly in the oven and taste just as good out of it. Ditto the Bolognese sauce: while it simmered, I couldn't stop tasting it while adding involuntary "mmm"s. One serving of the sauce over whole wheat pasta makes for a delicious, filling and healthy meal that will give you energy for hours. I've also tried the sesame noodles, pesto pizza and quick stovetop popcorn, all of which were astounding successes!
Lapine is batting a thousand in my book. Now I can feel good about the food I'm eating without feeling deprived by a "diet", and all these recipes have the convenient feature of broadening the taste horizons of the picky man in my own life, who's as committed as I am to changing our habits and living more healthfully. To give us more recipes for healthy treats, I've got the original Sneaky Chef on the way to my house. If the original is half as helpful as its sequel, we'll be pleased.
Bravo to Missy Chase Lapine! Your recipes have achieved what years' worth of my doctors and nutritionists, not to mention my parents, dismissed as a pipe dream: made me eat vegetables... and like them! This is a system that works for more than just the men in your life--it'll work for you too.
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing results! My son can't get enough of the chocolate french toast!, April 1, 2008
I'm opting for a family lifestyle change & this book is a fantastic tool! My 12-year-old son doesn't like food simply because he doesn't think he likes it. So for testing week at school, I sprung the chocolate french toast on him! He saw me pureeing blueberries the night before so he asked if the toast had blueberries in it. I just ignored the question by asking, "Do you not like blueberries?" He answered "no" and then continued to shove the breakfast down. I had to hide under a blanket to keep from laughing - he was eating not only blueberries, but spinach and whole wheat bread too! After school, he asked if I could make it for him the next day because it was the BEST FRENCH TOAST EVER! I even found out he was comparing his breakfast to his friends' breakfasts at school! What a hoot! I think I'll pass this recipe on to their moms!
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