Who knew cooking healthful, low-fat food could be so much fun? In this hilarious, informative book-newly repackaged to complement their latest cookbook, Crazy Plates-sisters Janet and Greta Podleski combine jokes, cartoons, and humor with recipes, nutritional information, and inspiration. As irreverent as it is invaluable, Looneyspoons contains:
* 150 outrageously delicious (and deliciously outrageous) recipes * Useful, common-sense strategies for adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle * Shocking fat statistics about everyday foods * Information on making smarter food choices at home, at the grocery store, and at restaurants * and more!
"Janet and Greta Podleski make low-fat food high fun."-People
I've seen the show, Eat, Shrink and be Merry, and was nervous to actually try this cookbook. Almost everything I saw them make on that show, which was adaptions of well-known dishes with cheaper and easier products and methods, didn't bode well with me. I prefer fresh, even locally grown or produced foods, and tend to steer clear of processed foods. Where their recipes always call for processed foods. I gave it a go anyway, and went through the cookbook to find a recipe I thought was the least processed. While the hubby thought it was alright, I didn't even finish it. I love noodles, egg or otherwise, love chicken, love mushrooms and peas, and really found this dish to be basically a chicken stroganoff. Unfortunately, like I said before, I prefer fresh peas, not frozen or can, even the roasted red peppers they called for came from the pickle aisle... so I was not thrilled.... and it came across in the flavors for me. Sure, someone who is just invited to the table would enjoy the meal, but someone with a good palette and a love of food will definitely wonder if this is pre-packaged. Yeah, so you can probably guess I won't be recommending this book. I'd be surprised if I can give it away after people hear what I got to say or read my review, but I aim to try.
I love the recipe for Melancauli soup, and more importantly so does my 5-year old daughter. I want to try the whole book, so far my like vrs dislike the outcome of the recipes is 50-50, but there seems to be unlimited quantity of appealing recipes to try.
Okay, I know that this is a very Random review for my website, but I really feel the need to pass on the word of this cookbook. This cookbook is fantastic, it was introduced to me by a lady at work, who brought in one of the snacks for everyone, it was fantastic and it was made even better that it was healthy.
The book's premise is to get people making their own healthy and great tasting food. The recipes are simple, fairly fast to make and you normally have all the ingredients within your house. We own some Jamie Oliver cookbooks as well, and they are fantastic every once in awhile but often there are some obscure ingredients or spices that I have never heard of and I have to go on the hunt to try and find or more often give up making that dish. However, in Looneyspoons if you have a spice rack you will have the spices they use. I think the only thing that I have had to buy extra is a ginger root (as they use fresh grated ginger in dinner in quite a few of the entrees), which you can find in any grocery store in the produce section. The other thing about Looneyspoons is that they go through all the different types on food preparations from appetizers to salads to soups to chicken to seafood to red meat to ground meat to desserts to snacks and even sinfully delicious once a year desserts. This book really has it all in it and did I mention that the food in here is healthy and tastes great. Each recipe has a break down of how much good and bad fat, sodium, calories, protein, and cholesterol are in each serving, which makes it easy if you are trying to watch what you eat.
I have had this cookbook for about a month and a half now and I have not just made one or two things from this cookbook before writing this review I personally have cooked the following: (note the names are kind of funny/play on words, so I’ll put what they are as well)
1. Thai One On (Exotic sweet potato and coconut soup with Shrimp- My husband keeps requesting this one) 2. Dilly Beloved (Baked Chicken breast with maple, mustard, lemon and dill) 3. Barbecutie Patootie Chicken Pizza (Fantastic) 4. The Thigh's the Limit (Marinated backed chicken thing in gingery salsa sauce) 5. Celine Dijon Chicken (Mildly flavoured Dijon chicken with a c creamy herb sauce) 6. Sesame Sweet Chicken (Asian grilled chicken thighs basted with stick-sweet sesame sauce 7. Honey, I Shrunk My Thighs (Marinated grilled honey-garlic chicken, the sauce was so awesome that there was none left over in the end 8. Hook, Line & Simple (Easy broiled salmon with creamy dill sauce) 9. The Soprawnos (Scrumptious Italian Shrimp dish with Tomatoes, Zucchini and Feta Cheese- so good, it works by itself or you could put it on anything from crackers to pasta) 10. Beijing Beauty (Asian glazed grilled pork tenderloin) 11. Cowabunga Beef Burgers (Thick, juicy, smoky beef burgers with a kick) 12.Shepherd's Pie with Squashed Potatoes (Seasoned Beef and vegetables topped with cheesy mashed potatoes and squash-another one my husband keeps requesting) 12. Loafstyles of the Rich and Famous (Deliciously different ground turkey loaf with apples, onions and herbs) 13. Bananaberry Bombs ( Moist Banana Blueberry muffins with oasts and flaxseed, these lasted maybe 2 days in the house and are going to be made again and again. 14. Berry Maniloaf (Easy Lemon Loaf with raspberries or you can use blueberries instead or too)
This list does not include the dishes that my husband has cooked and yes even my Dad has picked up the cookbook too to try out a recipe (I think that says something). My grandma has also had a look at the book not to cook but to read all the interesting facts that are on each page. She kept stating that she does not read cook books, but then she would just continue reading and did not want to put it down when dinner was ready. I think she would have taken it home with her if I would have let her, but I was making the Lemon loaf the next day for a work potluck, which was a great hit, and they never even knew it was low fat till it was gone, there were a few shocked faces.
My one criticism is that some of the dishes have a similar flavour between them. I think this is due to the fact that they want to get as much healthy aspects into the dish as possible or maybe I just have made a few too many Asian inspired foods from the book. But as I stated above there are quite a few recipes that will call for ginger root or lemon juice, however, for the most part all the dishes are really nicely seasoned, nothing was ever Bland.
I think that this cook book has made cooking dinner, fun and interesting again. Each page has little insightful tips to food and loosing weight and how to keep a healthy body by starting by what you are putting into it. If you are looking for all your favorites plus developing some new ones, that are all healthy for you, this book is for you. This book is for you if you are looking for an easy to follow recipe book. This book is for you if you are looking to get a start on your healthy lifestyle. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys cooking.
Enjoy!!
Note: I got my copy of this book from Costco in Canada for $20.00 (steal of a deal). I was there last weekend and there were still some copies there. Trust me the best 20 bucks you will spend on a cookbook.
I love this book! I've made a few of the recipes and they were even successful with my fussy husband and son! We made "The Thigh who loved me". Yum! I've had similar success with some of the others also. Best part is the humor interspersed throughout. You forget it is a cookbook and just read it for fun! Highly recommended!
These recipes are easy and very healthy. Plus the layout if the book is enjoyable. Loaded with lots if tips and information. Written with a smile on their faces:)
This was first published in 1999. Things have changed in terms of what we know about food. This was a non diet book that focused on reducing fat. Since then, fat isn't as big of a criminal as it was back then. Food cholesterol was often connected to blood cholesterol in the public discussion.
So, it is hard to fault some of the drawbacks with focusing on don't diet. There aren't bad foods, except fat. I think by focusing on individual foods, they missed talking about overall diet. Some of their suggests of eating more peppers than something with fat seemed to miss some things. Flavour and satiety. Many of the recipes use jams which have their own issues in terms of processed sugar.
It is always interesting to look back on books that are about food and see how fads and nutrition science or nutritionism affected them. For instance nowadays, there would be a call for less carbs, intermittent fasting. Both of these are eschewed by this book. But there is some science to back up less carbs, limited fats, more veggies are better. That could change though...
Here is what I will say. There are a lot of recipes that are ordinary food that is made less fatty. There is acid, sugar, and spices to make up for some of the fat. This in itself was a good turn. The sense of humour is fun and so are the cartoons.
If I hadn't learned about how to reduce fat and how to flavour food, then this would be a good start. At this point in the game, I have more than enough cookbooks that give me the inside scoop. I am not looking on how to make my family favourites with less fat but eating more veggies and less meat. It can amount to some of the same goals without making carb heavy fare. Regardless, this is good for any meat and potatoes type eater who wants to eat healthier. Just take some of the nutritional advice as part of the time because a grain of salt is still bad.
I dunno, I do like reading cookbooks in order to relax/learn things in a less effortful way/look at the attractive pictures. And food ruts are a real thing in my life. So I enjoyed this, whether or not I will ever cook much out of it (also it is a loan from a friend and must be returned at some point).
It is super intriguing to see food trends play out over time; it leaves me with the question 'how many are driven by the science and how many by the marketing?' This book talks about how the previous generation was told to eat fewer calories but anything else was fine, and research has now shown that in fact fat is less good for you, so here are all the low-fat, healthy recipes. Now, in the 2020s, it's all low-carb, don't eat so much starch, etc. Le sigh. How does one know what generation was correct, and why?
What was most helpful in their food philosophy was all the fun information about why exactly different vegetables and fruits are good for you as well as the the 80/20 advice: 80% of the food you eat should be good for you, and 20% can be less good for you. And don't waste your 20% on stuff you don't love! I remain convinced that balance, freshness, whole foods, and minimally processed foods are the way to go.
Honestly, I could take or leave the puns and jokes, but it felt like they had a good time writing the book, and that was nice.
Easy to follow recipes, love the funny, cute name for each dish (It's only Brocc 'n' Bowl for creamy broccoli and cheddar soup). I also like that each page features tips, facts and fun trivia for each dish.
I wish it had pictures of what the final product should look like. It would help a lot. I will say that I do like the little cartoon drawings. They are cute, same with the recipe names. Definitely some new recipes to try.
I found it had too much going on, and the recipes generally involved using processed items. I'm sure it was about saving time, but if I get a cookbook it's because I want to make items from scratch, as opposed to "use some premade meatballs and make the sauce".
[I won this book through Goodreads. My review is a sincere one, and I would have gladly bought the book.] I love this cookbook! I have tried cooking from cookbooks before and the recipes are either too complicated or they use random ingredients that are hard to find or expensive. Not so with this one! The recipes are very easy to follow, and I really love how there is nutritional information for every recipe. There are recipes for everything you can imagine and new takes on classic dishes. Many things about this cookbook make it fun to use, such as the hilarious take on words in the names of recipes (Once Upon A Thai, Pasta Point of No Return, the Grateful Bread). There are also adorable and funny cartoons on every page, and fun little information like history or health tidbits. A lot of the recipes have pictures of the finished product, as well. Overall very pleased with this book! Definitely recommend, even if you don't normally cook from a cookbook.
I know, I know...who reads a cook book from cover to cover? BUT this is no ordinary cook book, written and developed by sisters Janet and Greta Podleski, it is loaded with healthy TASTY recipes. You'll find nutrition tips, calorie and ingredient count for every recipe, clear colorful photos and the cartoons on every page are a hoot. All the recipes have witty, whimsical names such as: "Rome on the Range", "Rolling Scones", "Berry Maniloaf", "Turk du Soleil", "Nouveau Quiche", "Bohemian Wrapsody","Dilly Beloved", just to mention a few. This book adds a whole new dimension to cooking, and it makes me smile every time I pick it up!
This is one of my favourite cookbooks-I've made roughly 1/3 of all the recipes in this book and am cooking my way through it. I love their unique dishes, and the random ingredients.... i.e., salsa in pasta dishes, which turns out delicious. I've made dozens of these recipes for family + friends and have always gotten really positive reviews.... everyone loves this food! And the cookbook itself is interesting too.... I don't normally read cookbooks, but I'll admit to sitting on the couch and browsing through this, reading recipe after recipe while eating something delicious from the cookbook itself. Love it!
Totally awesome. There is NOTHING in this book we have not liked. I have many go-to recipes in there now. I love that they promote healthier eating, but not to the extreme so it works. I love their 80/20 rule. Eight percent of the time do your best so that for twenty percent you can enjoy yourself. Their recipes are easy, I find I always have the ingredients. They are healthier recipes and always tasty. I like how they use spices and lemon to enhance and bring out the flavors. I also like how they promote yogurts and apple sauce in lieu of so much of the fat in baking. If the house was on fire, this book would be coming with me!
Good pictures, bad puns (which is always a serious bonus in my world). This book was given to me by coworkers as a bridal shower gift, and it came highly recommended. I flipped through it before... but today I actually sat down and read it. Yes, read the whole thing. I like that the recipes use easy-to-find ingredients... Though I like the idea of not using packaged ingredients, in the middle of winter in rural Canada it is not always easy - or possible - to find said ingredients. These recipes are easy and everything I have tried out of the book is flavorful... and I will continue to try more.
A friend and I both borrowed copies of this book from the library. After looking through it and trying out a couple of recipes we both agreed that this booking was worth owning and we each bought a copy. I borrow a lot of cookbooks from the library but am rarely motivated to purchase them for my collection. This book has large easy to read print, lots of colourful pictures, healthy eating tips and very make-able recipes. I think this book would be especially appealing to a young adult cook and I plan to pass it on to one of my kids when they move out.
Fun puns. Interesting info. It may be odd to read cookbooks, but it’s something I enjoy. Greta and Janet made me want to read the whole book.
We haven’t made that much from the book yet. We enjoyed what we’ve done. We make everything from scratch, although I don’t mind frozen vegetables now and then. The recipes use too many processed foods for us. We’ve adapted them for the ingredients we do use. I feel these would be even healthier with non-processed foods with suggestions for where you can substitute and save money.
This is one of our family favorites. The Podleski sisters teamed up to make this cookbook and another, Crazy Plates, which have favorite recipes which were tweaked a bit to make them a little bit healthier without losing the flavor. The recipes are all given "punny" names (i.e. "Just for the Halibut") and have entertaining descriptions and illustrations. The recipes are good too. Both are recommended.
This recipe book is amazing! There are over 300 recipes in it and they are healthy and clear to follow. What's more, is that there are side bars filled with information on diet pop, red wine, and trivia tidbits. The names of the recipes are good for a chuckle too! "Smackaroni & cheese", Celine Dijon Chicken, Forrest Gumbo, Life in the Fast Lion are just a few!
Just received my copy from First Reads giveaway. I've only skimmed a few recipes but they look quick and easy. Love they already have the nutritional and calorie count info for each recipe. There is way more illustration than I prefer but it's informative. Will definitely be testing a few recipes in the new year.
This is a fun cookbook. It lives up to its description of low-fat food made fun. For low fat recipes, the flavors are interesting, and the authors used some cooking techniques that were new to me but I've adopted them.
Received a free copy if this through FirstReads and I'm super excited! The recipes are healthy and not super complex. It's filled with healthy tips and tidbits! I've already marked a bunch if recipes to try!!
There are a ton of healthy living cookbooks around. This book provides excellent recipes, reminds me of a lot of info that I always need to be reminded of. However, this book is fun. Personally, I am tired of the preaching of many such cookbooks.
Only one reason it coesnt get the 5th star - ingredients are listed all together instead of groups(had.to draw curly brackets.on most of them...) , which has led to a few mishaps, quite a shame because the recipes are awesome!!!!!!!!!! love the puns. great food with nutritional information.
Easy recipes, delicious food. I like that it's all on colour making it more visually appealing. It's important for me to see a picture of the recipe for me to decide to make it. Most recipes have pictures in this book.
I'm not one to really enjoy cooking, but this book actually motivates me to do so, so a great thanks to the authors! (I'm sure my family thanks you too!)