Book Review : Eating for Life: Your Guide to Great Health, Fat Loss and Increased Energy! (Body for Life)

The Icing on the Cake

To begin with, I am not one to rush onto Amazon to throw around 5 stars here and 5 stars there. To be honest I usually couldn't be bothered, but based on my experience with Eating for Life I felt it my duty.

Put aside ANY negative comments you have read from previous raters. Fine, people are entitled to their own opinions, but I just can not pick a hole in Eating for Life. It truly bordered on me looking for the catch (I am one of those people who searches for the catch) but couldn't find one

In a sentence, Eating for Life is a book full of tasty recipies that you want to eat.

I did the South Beach Diet, and have a lot of good to say about the Glycemic Index, however, the recipie book always left you feeling slightly deprived. Yes I was feeling good on it, but with Eating for Life you don't have that gut feeling telling you that you are missing out. The meals are very simple, and I admire the way pictures of the different ingredients are printed on the bottom of each page. It's handy for people who are in a hurry and want to scoot around the shopping centre to grab whatever ingredients are required for a particular meal of choice. So you have the ingredient visually in your head rather than having to read the names of each ingredient in the hope that you'll know what it is by it's description.

There are no phases in the book like many other diet books. Why am I even using the word diet ? Eating for Life isn't even a diet book. Like many have said above, it is a book packed with recipies for meals you enjoy eating. It's not even a sacrifice.

When I started the Body for Life 12 week challenge I was running out of ideas for foods, and to be honest, I was thinking in a conditioned way regarding food. Yes I had read the book, but it's easy to forget, and you can often find yourself slipping back into old habits of restriction. When I took a brief look through the book I was surprised to see Potato on the list. It's all about portion sizes, and before I wrote this review I had just finished a lovely Chicken and Potato dish. I'm not stuffed, I'm just right.

So.....if you are starting Body for Life, or you are looking to loose bodyfat and eat right; while Eating for Life is not a matter of life and death, it is a MAJOR MAJOR help; and lets be honest, when you're starting out on a training plan, you can do with all the help and support you can get.

Go for it !

Book Review : Every Night Italian : 120 Simple, Delicious Recipes You Can Make in 45 Minutes or Less

I'm learning to cook Italian food and started here. The recipes are easy to follow (for the most part) and are absolutely incredible! Every thing I have made so far has received rave reviews from the people that have tried it. The recipes range from appetizers to deserts and for the most part use readily available items (although I still haven't found juniper berries anywhere local). Some of the recipes are even cooked on the grill. I also highly recommend the Classic Pasta Cookbook by Hazan as well. It is still available used and many of the dinners I have made for people, I have built the menu from these two books.

Book Review : Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes

A cookbook that actually makes me want to cook!

Before receiving Everday Italian as a Chistmas gift, I hated to cook. From grocery shopping to reading recipes, I despised it all.

Now I've finally found a cookbook that makes me want to cook! Giada's recipes are easy to follow and for the most part, quick to make. Best of all, most of her ingredients can be found at your local grocery store for a reasonable price.

At first I was irritated by the lack of finished recipe pictures in the cookbook. Once I started cooking, I realized I didn't even need them - the recipes are that simple. I'm not a gourmet chef so I don't want complicated recipes, even if they do taste a bit more robust or authentic. I'm just somebody trying to find the inspiration to enjoy cooking and eating again.

I've enjoyed almost every recipe I've made from this cookbook and I look forward to cooking at the end of a long work day. My favorite recipes have been the marinara sauce (I can't believe I made my own sauce), the bolognese sauce, the chicken piccata, and the chicken parm. Tonight I'm going to make ziti with asparagus, smoked mozzarella, and prosciutto.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks they don't have the time or the finances to make fresh, great tasting Italian food or want to try the Italian restaurant experience at home. If the thought of one more night of grocery store, jarred tomato sauce makes you want to scream, this book is for you!

Book Review : The Best Recipe: Soups & Stews

INCLUDES BOTH ASIAN AND EUROPEAN SOUPS & STEWS

Impressive selection of soups by Jack Bishop and the Staff of Cook's Illustrated.
Asian recipes include Wonton, Hot & Sour, Thai Curry, Miso, Indian Curry, Vindaloo among others, including Oxtail Soup with Asian Flavors. I was pleased CI included this variation of oxtail soup - a favorite from my childhood.

Other European/Ethnic recipes represented are Osso Buco, Irish Stew, Scotch Broth, Bouillabaisse, Coq Au Vin, Cassoulet, Borscht, Matzo Ball Soup, Moroccan Lamb Tagine. There's many others too numerous to list, but you get the idea. There's a lot of classic recipes in this collection, some with some variations.

There's also a nice selection at the end of rice, potatoes, polenta, breads and biscuit recipes - I can't think of any better accompaniment.

Hats off to the designer of The Best Recipe Series. These are some of the most elegantly designed cookbooks/references I've ever come across. I think the 2-column format appeals to the "academically inclined" in us. The finely detailed illustrations by John Burgoyne are inline with the textbook concept.

If you like this book, you may also like Bernard Clayton's 1987 paperback, The Complete Book of Soups and Stews.