Helen Martinson struggled with obesity for most of her adult life, and suffered the adverse consequences to her health due to her excess weight. Over the years, she tried countless diets but the weight always came back. Finally, she resorted to bariatric surgery for a lap band, and when that brought on a slew of health problems, she switched it out for a gastric sleeve. Since her top weight, she has lost about 140 pounds—and more importantly, she’s kept that weight off!
* Complimentary Book Received for Review.
Through her years of battling obesity, Helen discovered a way of eating that not only is healthful and helps her maintain her healthy weight but also tastes great. Her plan relies on high-protein recipes that are low in calories, carbs, and fat, all while being big on flavor. Cookin’ Skinny is a collection of Helen’s best recipes so the rest of us can benefit from her experience.
I like this cookbook. It’s a sweet little book with cute illustrations and unfussy pictures of several of the recipes. Cookin’ Skinny isn’t one of those oversized coffee-table books with highly stylized glossy photos. Instead, its emphasis is on the recipes, all designed to be part of an overall weight-loss plan.
The recipes cover just about every category you’d want, broken into convenient chapters. Here’s a sampling of what you’ll find in Cookin’ Skinny:
* Breakfast Dishes: Blueberry Pancakes; Florentine Eggs
* Lunch Dishes: Chicken Sandwich Mediterranean-Style; Turkey Fajitas
* Soups and Salads: Chicken Gumbo; Tuna Salad with Crunchy Cabbage; Creamy Dill Ranch Dressing
* Supper Dishes: Crispy Fish Sticks; Stuffed Beef Tenderloin
* Side Dishes: “Faux” Fried Rice; Spicy Eggplant
* Sweets for the Sweet: Blueberry-and-Peach Crisp; Meringue Cookies
* Fun Foods: Cacciatore Meatballs; Mini Taco Salads
Every recipe includes a nutritional breakdown with all the information you might need. In some cases where the recipes have options, there’s nutritional data about the options, too, a nice feature not found in many cookbooks.
Since Helen’s focus is protein-rich foods, she has included a very helpful section in which she explains how and why a high-protein diet can lead to healthful weight loss. She also has an extensive listing of protein sources, along with the serving size and number of calories and grams of protein for each.
One of my favorite things about Cookin’ Skinny is that the author included before-and-after photos of herself, with a twist: Her “after” picture is at the front of the book, but her “before” picture is at the very end of the book because, as she puts it, “I have put that part of my struggle behind me.” Makes sense to me!
To learn more about Helen Martinson, visit her website. While there, check out the excerpt from Cookin’ Skinny, which includes the recipe for her Apple-and-Blueberry Cottage-Cheese Parfait!
Title: Cookin’ Skinny
Author: Helen Martinson
Paperback: 130 pages
ISBN-10: 148346878X
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Disclaimer: A. Bailey received complimentary products for review purposes & feature on The Classy Chics blog. No monetary compensation was received. A. Bailey’s thoughts, opinions and words are 100% her own. Your thoughts may differ.
This sounds like a great cookbook. It is wonderful how Helen Martinson was able to discover recipes to help her lose weight and keep it off.
I love giving and getting new cookbooks! This one sounds like it’s packed with lots of good stuff!
I’m always looking for good recipes that are low in carbs. There are some tasty sounding meals listed. Im curious about the faux fried rice and cacciatore meatballs.
This book is great in the sense that it would be perfect for anyone! Not only is it good for the person trying to lose weight but also for those wishing to maintain good health. It is amazing how just making a few healthy changes in our diets makes a substantial difference in our overall health.
I like how this cookbook is organized by meals so it would be an easy go to when deciding what to make. Losing 140 pounds and being able to keep it off is very impressive. The apple blueberry parfait looks delicious.
This cookbook sounds really good and I like that they include real life recipes. I would love to have this one and also to give it as a gift. Hope you have a nice weekend.