Healthy Holidays: Total Health Entertaining All Year Round (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Henner is on a health kick, and with this holiday cookbook she expands on the philosophy of books like her 30 Day Total Health Makeover. Covering holidays and traditions from Passover to Earth Day, Cinco de Mayo, Chinese New Year and Bastille Day, each chapter has reminiscences or historical tidbits, plus recipes, drinks, toasts and party suggestions. For Mother's Day and Father's Day, Henner suggests Wild Mushroom Stew and Snapper in Parchment for dinner and creating a "videotaped tribute" to parents for an activity; on Super Bowl Sunday, a homemade, easy Onion Dip with soy cream cheese replaces preservative-laden pre-made dips. Cooks can say goodbye to the fatty Thanksgivings of yesteryear with a Pilgrim Pumpkin Pie made with soy cream. The introduction outlines Henner's diet, which eliminates red meat, pork and dairy and replaces refined white sugar with a variety of sweeteners such as honey or Sucanat. Her rules of food combining will put off some readers ("Do not eat proteins and starches together"), but the recipes themselves, with short lists of easily accessible ingredients, aren't at all intimidating-Luck of the Irish Stew for St. Patrick's Day and Passover Carrot Ring can be cooked any time of the year. Henner's tome may be too chatty for some, but her enthusiasm for both health and the holidays make this a handy guide to year-round smart eating.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Holidays can be healthy!

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is tough enough, but when special occasions roll around most people throw up their hands and dive into the Super Bowl snacks, Fourth of July hot dogs, Halloween treats, and New Year’s champagne -- knowing they'll regret it later. In Healthy Holidays, actress and healthy living expert Marilu Henner offers another choice. Here Marilu shows us how easy and fun it is to prepare healthy meals for family and friends for special occasions and holidays year-round.

As in her other bestselling health books, Marilu throws out the red meat, dairy, and refined sugar and fills the kitchen with the freshest fruits, vegetables, grains, soy, seafood, poultry, and "legal" sugars. But denying ourselves is not on the agenda:

• Start the year right with delicious New Year's Day recipes, such as Asian Grilled Salmon and Sautéed Asparagus with Shallots -- and pamper your guests with a spa party.
• Enjoy a romantic Valentine's Day with Honey-Baked Chicken, Warm Wild Mushroom Salad -- and Cupid's Chocolate Cake, made with healthy sugars to keep you in the mood.
• For a delicious Fourth of July picnic, pack some of these treats: Sugar Snap Pea and Cucumber Salad, Curried Tuna Salad, and Blueberry Cobbler with a Cornmeal Crust.
• Prepare a mouthwatering feast for Thanksgiving that gives a healthy start for the holiday season -- including Roast Turkey, Henner Holiday Dressing, Pecan Sweet Potatoes, and Pilgrim Pumpkin Pie.

Along with hundreds of healthy recipes Healthy Holidays offers dozens of creative twists on our favorite celebrations:

• For exercise on Saint Patrick's Day -- learn Irish step dancing!
• Act out a juicy scene with your partner for the Academy Awards.
• Throw a grab-bag Halloween party, and laugh as your husband ends up as Little Bo Peep.
• Explore the eight traditional themes of Hanukkah as an opportunity to incorporate healthy habits that could change your life.
• Learn the three habits that will keep your Christmas healthy -- and fill out the Henner Family Christmas Survey with your family!

Healthy Holidays is your complete holiday planning resource for great celebrations the healthy way.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (October 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060393637
• ISBN-13: 978-0060393632
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #307,974 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holidays are Healthier AND Happier, November 27, 2002

By	Mary Beth (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

I've been following Marilu Henner's plan for a number of years and I was counting the days for this book to be released. I am so thrilled to have it and have already given some away as gifts.

The food is the main event of course, but there is so much more to this book. First and foremost the emphasis is on enjoying the holidays and making them a celebration. And I just love the fact that maintaining a healthy lifestyle gives us more energy for doing just that. The recipes in all of Marilu's books contain high quality ingredients. When I first started following this plan I wondered what I would eat if I wasn't eating meat dairy or sugar. I found out that the answer is GREAT FOOD !!!

This book also contains a lot of tips and suggestions for parties, even mentioning ideas for invitations and scents. What I love about that is that it adds another dimension. It's not just about the food. And those lists can inspire you to come up with even more ideas. The creativity in this book makes it so much fun to read. So much more than just a recipe book !!!

I love to entertain and this book is giving me so many ideas for ways to make entertaining more interesting and special.

I have so much more energy, and love life so much, since starting this plan. I have Marilu to thank for that. And now I can thank her for making my holiday shopping so easy !! I am giving copies to anyone who may have me to dinner this year !

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Healthy Holidays got me INTO my kitchen!, November 3, 2002

By	Water "Water" (New York) - See all my reviews

As an avid follower of Marilu's books and nutritional ways for the past two years, those that know me know that I spend only the time I need in the kitchen, and mostly that is food prep and fruit and veggie prep!! I received a copy of Healthy Holidays as a gift two weeks ago and already I made a whole PILE of stuff from the Halloween section...my kids were DELIGHTED to follow the recipes on their own for GOBLIN CRUNCH and CREEPY SPIDERS while I made the BRAINS and SKELETON and WITCHES HANDS..what a wonderful way to spend time with the kids and for the FIRST TIME EVER, I brought food to a function....my friends were SHOCKED!!

I think I will entertain more often as this book makes it so easy to prepare the recipes AND has such fun and silly suggestions to lighten up the holidays! Enjoy!~

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I really wanted this to be great--I love Marilu's others, November 2, 2002

By	"texasmama" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

I am a big fan of the THM lifestyle. I have been waiting for this book since it was first discussed on her website. I wish I could give this book more stars but I think I am being nice giving it two. The recipes are good but they are much like the other books and then there are those lists...for example on Mother's day she reccomends listens to a vintage Pink Flyod album simply because 'mother' is in the title and she reccomends watching 'The Last Temptation of Christ' as an easter movie?! It seems like she just did a computer search for matching names. I gave up reading anything but the recipes when I got the Passover song that went to the tune --'There's no business like show business'.
In conclusion the recipes are OK but if you don't have any books go for some real gems like the healthy Life Kitchen, the 30 day one or THM or even get 'Dairy Free Cooking' all have great recipes without the junk. I hope her next book is better.