Ladies and Gentlemen, you may now enjoy your chili dog without guilt
To be fair, I'm not quite sure why I bought this book in the first place. I don't really visit Ms. Lillien's website very often, and sometimes her caloric shockers would just depress me and make me not want to eat anything. However, I just grabbed it at the bookstore since I had a credit so it would be pretty cheap.
I am so happy I did. So far I've done about seven of the recipes in this book (busy girl, I am!) and they have ranged from good to blissful. I made her chicken pot pie, which someone could probably cook in their sleep (a big bonus if you're sick, say, and are totes craving cpp!) and it is so. good. My father told me it was the best chicken pot pie he'd ever had, ever. Plus, after eating her recipes I don't feel immediately hungry like I do if I eat a Lean Cuisine, say.
It seems that the most controversy, if one could apply that word here, surrounding HG's recipes are that they contain too many "processed foods." Well, on the whole, her recipes contain way more vegetables and soy than those in "normal" cookbooks. Her salads are absolutely bursting with veggies and so are the soups! Even her "Sloppy Janes" contain veg. I did have trouble adjusting to the Cool Whip Free, since Cool Whip has always sort of scared me, but I don't think the recipes taste gross because of it. As for the Splenda thing, my mom really likes it because she's diabetic and it doesn't affect her blood sugar. Hey, I'm all for organic and healthy (I am ADDICTED to shopping at Trader Joe's), so if any of you can find an all-natural way for her to eat sugar without crashing, please let me know!
The idea that we can just eat "sensible" portions of "normal" food is also nil, at least in this country. I spent ten months living in France, ate croissants for breakfast and huge steaks at night, not to mention various sausages, potatoes, and veg all fried in buttah, and lost weight. Why? Well, maybe the fact that I walked everywhere helped! Here in the States most people don't have that option. So until our cities start wising up to the fact that we can't and shouldn't drive everywhere, we need to find workable options to balance our caloric intake with our caloric burn. Besides, when presented with a huge, creamy bowl of fettucine alfredo, are you REALLY going to eat that sensible fist-sized portion of pasta? I don't think so.
Hungry Girl has really done us a great service by changing our fave fatty foods into non-guilty, delicious meals. She's doing a great job. Thanks, HG!
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