Cook This, Not That!: Kitchen Survival Guide

I was a little hesitant when I saw Zinczenko and Goulding had ANOTHER book out, but was very pleasantly surprised when I read it. The book is colorful, easy to read, and helpful for starting the new year with baby steps to saving money and eating healthier. The book has great tips for stocking your kitchen, recipes for feeding your family interesting food while saving money, and helpful ways to incorporate new foods into your diet (even if you don't like to cook or "diet"). Biggest reason to buy the book: lots of photos so you can QUICKLY see and do, without reading a whole cookbook or diet book. The recipes are very appetizing and flavorful, but NOT intimidating for even inexperienced cooks. For other longterm additions to your meal plans, we also highly recommend The Biggest Loser cookbooks. These gentlemen know their information very well, and know how to teach people to incorporate baby steps of change into their lives. Their other books are good for keeping in a car or desk at work. This one is great for keeping in or near the kitchen. Nice gift idea too. Two thumbs up from our house!

I absolutly love this book, by far the best in the series.I love how they explain exactly what you need in your kitchen in order to cook and cook healthy *turns out not a whole lot! Then gives you recipes that are easy to cook, not crazy diet food with weird grinding up of beans to sneak them in brownies or using cereal to fry fish. These are real recipies for people who want to eat good food without suffering the consequences. They even include simple things to help save money. I love it, my husband loves it, and I'm sure you will too!!!Cook This, Not That!: Kitchen Survival Guide

Addicted to the Cheesecake Factory's Warm Apple Crisp but can't afford the 1,355 calories? Save a whopping 1,155 calories by making your own! Cook This, Not That shows you how. This book is for anyone wanting to eat smarter. It gets down to basics: "Forget dieting. Forget joining a gym. Forget the ads for the Abinator device you saw on QVC. If you really, truly want to lose weight, there is no quicker way to shave pounds off your body -- and dollars off your food bill -- than to cook more at home." Cook This, Not That makes it simple for even novices to prepare home-cooked meals. A whole chapter gets you set up with exactly the utensils and equipment you'll need, and the items to set up the perfect pantry. Most of the dishes can be made in 30 minutes or less, and the instructions are short and straightforward. Every recipe is paired with a close-up color photograph of the finished dish. On same page is a small photo of the "Not That!" variation of the recipe from a restaurant chain, complete with price, calories and, in most cases, sodium and fat counts. In each case you learn how many calories and dollars you save by cooking at home. Besides the hundreds of recipes, sprinkled throughout the pages are helpful segments: * Scorecards: Ratings of fat, meat, carbs and dairy foods clearly show the best, worst, and everything in between in terms of healthiness. (The winners? Canola oil, light meat chicken, bulgar and nonfat yogurt.) * Master the technique: Instruction on how to perform chef-like functions such as sautéing vegetables or cooking an omelet. * Secret weapon: Particular foods the authors recommend, and why. For example, Thomas' Light Multi-Grain English Muffin (only 100 calories each, and packing a whopping 8 grams of fiber). * Save-Money Strategy: How to alter the accompanying recipe to make it less expensive but still delicious. * Meal Multiplier: Ways to alter the recipe by changing the ingredients. This book has a lot going for it, but its biggest benefits are: 1. Recipes that are easy, delicious and illustrated with beautiful photography. 2. Thorough nutritional information for each recipe, including the portion size, calories and gram counts of fat, sodium and sugar. 3. Simple comparisons with similar restaurant dishes. 4. Advice on the best brands to buy, from vegetable oil to breakfast cereal. Other books in the series: Eat This, Not That!, Eat This Not That! for Kids!, Eat This Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide, Eat This Not That! The Best ( & Worst!) Foods in America!, Eat This Not That! 2010 and Eat This Not That! Restaurant Survival Guide. All are uniformly excellent. I also recommend In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life and Deceptively Delicious. Here's the chapter list: 1. The Truth About Your Food 2. The Eat This, Not That! Kitchen 3. Breakfast 4. Appetizers & Small Bites 5. Soups & Salads 6. Sandwiches & Burgers 7. Off the Grill 8. Pasta 9. American Clas

This is not the traditional "Eat This Not That". With this addition, Mens Health gives you a rare gem of a cookbook. As a cookbook afficionado, I would normally turn my nose up to something like this. However, this book proves the old cliche you shouldn't judge a book by its..... Inside is packed with recipes that are high in flavor, healthy, and require minimal time/ingredient/culinary skill to prepare. The ingredients called for are ordinary pantry/fridge staples that are neither expensive nor hard to find. Each recipe is accompanied by a nutritional breakdown and the restaurant dish that it is similar to and healthier than. In my humble opinion the food you can make at home with this guide is far superior to it's restaurant alternative. These dishes are both cheaper, healthier, and have a cleaner taste (by clean I mean not loaded with heavy cream, butter, or other junk that takes away from the actual flavor of the ingredients). The recipes I have attempted (~10), have so far provided a surprising depth of flavor that makes me want to cook my way through the entire book. It also has a ton of info about how to make healthy decisions with ingredients and other foods (which I guess is in line with the prior books in this series). To sum up you really can't go wrong with this book and I can't wait for the sequel so long as it is another cookbook!! I note that another reviewer has commented that these recipes are not necessarily low in fat/calories....this book does not purport to be such a book. In fact the authors point out that fat is a good thing and provides direction as to what types of fats are good and which you should avoid at all costs.

Ok, so the whole series has been packed with information, advice, and witty comments that help us make better choices. Finally, we get to sample what's going on in their kitchen. It's not just a cookbook to fight the restaurant wars, it deserves a spot with the best cookbooks on my shelf - thoughtful, well written, easy to follow yet high quality recipes. Extra tips and comments show gourmet expertise. Great layout. I just got the book and have already tested it out for last night's dinner - Our whole family is very, very pleased!!