The Moms' Guide to Meal Makeovers: Improving the Way Your Family Eats, One Meal at a Time!

This is a great guide for tweaking your cooking and becoming aware of the many ways you can adjust your own recipies to add nutrition and flavor while cutting out sodium, processed foods, etc. Yes, the recipies themselves are different and tempting in their own right and are creative enough that you can serve them to anyone, not just children/teens. An excellent primer begins the book about how to gradually add nutrition and fiber to your diet over a period of weeks, so you don't have to feel on a "gung-ho" nutrition kick to make some meaningful changes. Includes fun recipes with titles such as "Sweet & Nutty Thai Thing" (a scaled-back/simplified pad thai), plus an entire chapter on one of my favorite subjects "Breakfast for Dinner". A helpful volume for any cook and most any occasion.

This book is great because the attitude of the authors is so realistic: they know we don't have a lot of free time with work and kids to take care of. So there are no recipes that require hard-to-find ingredients and hours of prep time, just lots of quick, easy recipes that resemble stuff kids are already used to eating (but healthier!) I like the chapter on stocking your pantry, which has great ideas for healthy ingredients and prepared foods that can cut fat and cooking time simultaneously. They even make recommendations of what to order when you buy fast food -- so I can feel virtuous even when I'm running late. The whole tone of this book is affirming and empowering, and I tore through the first 4 chapters in a week. The rest is the recipes. We've tried a number of them already, and my 3 year old has devoured everything! (and I've lost 4 pounds! Yippee!)

These recipes are quick, easy, good, and best of all, a little more adventurous than your normal "family" cookbooks filled with chicken nuggets and pasta. I am not one to plan a week's meals ahead, and I love that I can open this book and find something great to make out of what I have on hand. I've made at least 15 of the recipes and every one was great. The prep time estimates seem to be pretty accurate. Our family in general likes things a little more spicy than most, so some recipes were a little bland but I just add a little more seasoning if that happens. I think they would probably be fine for most people, especially kids. I think the authors are right on the mark with their advice on kids trying new foods, no "yuck!"s etc. Their philosophy is similar to our own house rules, and as a result my boys (3 and 7) are great eaters. I had the pleasure of meeting the authors at a bookstore signing, and I was very impressed with their knowledge, sensibility, and friendliness!

Easy, healthy and yummy. That pretty much sums up the recipes in this greatbook. All kinds of common healthy ingredients are used, stuff I bought inthe past but didn't know how to cook/use, like sweet potatoes and blackbeans. Southwest chicken and rice, sweet potato and kale soup, all kinds ofdifferent and interesting recipes that aren't too time-comsuming orintimidating. Highly recommended!

I pride myself on being a pretty good cook, so the idea that a cookbook would contain recipes that were not only easy (being a working mom with five kids made that important), interesting to my children, and, compelling to myself and my partner seemed impossible. I really enjoy this cookbook. I have liked nearly every recipe I've tried--the kids have been much more open than I ever imagined--and some of the tips have already infiltrated their way into other meals. I appreciate the ease of preparation; I appreciate the range of foods suggested; I appreciate the graphics and side bars of the book. In other words, I am convinced. I really urge you to give this cookbook along with the authors' suggestions about changing your family's eating habits a try.