Customer Reviews

The Substitute Yourself Skinny Cookbook: Cut the Calories, Keep the Flavor with Hundreds of Simple Substitutions!

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calloped potatoes, clam chowder, fudge brownies; these are probably all foods that you like but would not eat on a daily basis. What about Molten Chocolate Cake and a Bloomin Onion? Chef Susan Irby has 175 super slimming recipes in her latest cookbook, Substitute Yourself Skinny to help you enjoy the food want with just a little less calories. Her approach to cooking makes sense to me.

Realistically there is only one way to lose weight, healthy eating and exercise. There are probably very few people who enjoy eating carrots and spinach day in and day out. While I have never had to consider a diet program where you are purchasing a certain companies food, I do not believe in their programs. This approach may be good for a couple of months but when it is all said and done what happens next.

Chef Irby demonstrates to readers that by changing a few ingredients in a recipe you can reduce calories and turn it into a healthier meal. In the mood for saucy spaghetti with sausage, just throw in low fat turkey sausage and whole wheat pasta, lobster bisque, leave out the heavy cream and use low fat sour creme instead. How about a deep fried onion, do not deep fry it-that is obvious-she has you baking it in the oven. What about Sunday brunch with some French toast-instead of using milk and eggs-try egg whites and low-fat yogurt. -whole wheat bread also helps. Almost every recipe can have the calories cut so you are enjoying foods that you find appetizing and not overloading your body with unhealthy and useless calories.

The book is divided into jump start breakfasts, energizing lunches, thinner dinners, slimming sides, snacks and appetizers and skinny desserts. Will I cook out of this book? Without a doubt. Each recipe gives you the calories, servings and nutritional breakdown. In addition to this it lets you know how many calories you are saving.

The one part of the book I do not agree with is the dessert section. Irby makes most of the desserts with artificial sweeteners. For me I consider this to be substituting one evil for another. Some of her healthier suggestions are using apple sauce or adding more fruit to naturally sweeten the dessert.

Overall I think this is a great cookbook with plenty of recipes that will appeal to everyone. I do not view this book as a diet book at all, as much as it is a healthy lifestyle book for food you eat everyday.

My family is always looking for recipes to help us stay fit and healthy. The layout of the book was great. Each recipe is easy to follow and includes tips,nutritional breakdown, portion size and of course the calories saved when substituting healther ingredients. We made the fudgy chocolate brownies and they were quite tasty. There are some recipes that she uses a sugar substitute but does not recommend a brand to use. My family uses apple sauce and Stevia as a substitute for sugar when needed. This is a great book for everyone who wants to live a little healthier.

I received a copy of this fantastically useful cookbook Substitute Yourself Skinny by Chef Susan Irby to review. I love the layout, each page gives you a calorie savings breakdown, tips that are useful and executable, servings sizes and easy to follow instructions. These recipes are new takes on some old classics - and real eye openers.

For me the Holy Tamole Guacamole was the biggest eye opening recipe. Susan subs in other veggies to reduce the calories per serving down 305 calories. If you were to use 6 avocados instead you get an extra 1,769 calories and - hold on for it - 162 grams of fat!

Sections are color coded for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, sides/appetizers, snacks and desserts. You will be amazed by the amount of calories you can save. Each recipe has a savings listed in the upper right corner, the footer has your overall savings and nutritional data. All recipes fit on one page with easy to follow instructions.

The book is not for vegetarians and vegans but a few recipes can be made vegan and will probably save additional calories with the use of egg replacer, etc.

Remember that your "diet" or way of eating is a key essential of losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight. This book could make your weight loss success a reality, especially if you are like me and you enjoy eating delicious foods. Pick this one up today!

A lot of the recipes are common sense substitutions - use low-fat or nonfat versions of usually used products. But other substitutions are a little unique. There are plenty of pictures to show off the excellent recipes. High quality cookbook.

This is a wonderful cookbook. The recipes are simple yet tasty and low cal!

I recommend this to anyone wanting to make simple, easy, yet tasty healthly low calorie meals!

To be totally honest, the title of the book had me a little worried that Susan Irby's calorie cutting recommendations would be things like replacing full fat mayo with reduced fat mayo, coupled with a heavy reliance on fat free cheeses. Honestly, those substitutions seem pretty self evident and I'm fairly sure most people could work those out on their own. Sure, this book does make use of those common sense recommendations, but I was relieved to find that Susan takes it much further. She puts an emphasis on healthy cooking, while also reducing the fat content of the dishes. The recipes call for whole wheat breads, pastas and tortillas, lean meats, and of course, plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

I think the best part of Substitute Yourself Skinny is that is teaches how to make dishes that feel as though they are more indulgent than they really are. You can eat lighter without feeling like you're depriving yourself of the treats! Grab a handful of baked tortillas chips and take your pick of Queso Dip, Three Cheese Dip, or Blue Cheese Dip. Need something to soothe a savage sweet tooth? Choose from a full chapter of desserts that include tweaked classics like Peanutty Butter Cookies and Apple Pie to the more decadent Mud Pie or Chocolate Torte.

It's very helpful that calorie counts are provided for each dish, but I think it's silly that she claims how many calories you are "saving" from the original dish. The "Calorie Savings" figures even show up in a highlighted box at the top of each page. Since the original, higher calorie recipe is not provided, hopefully readers won't rely on these numbers as accurate. That one annoyance is easy to overlook compared to the positive aspects of the book.

I love how she depends on a wide variety of spices and juices to add so much flavor that you don't even realize the calorie reduction. There are plenty of full color photos scattered through the book, and great written intros for each recipe. Little extras called "Skinny Secrets" show up in the outside columns - useful tidbits from the author. The book includes a full range of recipes from simple soups and salads to company worthy entrees and accompanying sides. Make yourself an easy lunch of Summer Savoring Mac n' Cheese, whip out Chuck Wagon Chili on a cooler day, and save Bavarian Cornish Hens for company. Overall, a very useful cookbook for people who need just a bit of help lightening up their cooking.

Review from [...]

Substitute Yourself Skinny is a healthful cookbook filled with recipes that offer flavorful substitutions for fewer calories. From "Veggies Never Tasted So Good Omelet" which includes cottage cheese for a more creamy texture while cutting calories, to "Monterey Chicken" with turkey bacon, skinless chicken breasts, sugar-free BBQ sauce and reduced-fat cheese, to "Good Bum Brownies" with nonfat powdered milk, each offering saves calories while pleasing palates. A simple nutritional breakdown of the calories per serving, fat, carbohydrates, protein, and sodium of each recipe rounds out this wonderful, user-friendly cookbook, highly recommended for anything seeking to eat lighter fare without sacrificing gourmet-quality taste.