Each recipe tells you the calories (important) and grams of fat (not as important) per serving. As with any cookbook, there are always minor modifications to make to suite your taste (for example, the lemon-mustard chicken with angel hair pasta recipe doesn't create enough sauce for our taste, so we increase those ingredients).

These are not "15-minute recipes," nor do they take hours. You have to want to cook; it's not uncommon for a dinner entree to have a dozen ingredients. But the rewards are worth it.

37 of 37 found the following review helpful:

Good intentions gone wrong  Aug 03, 2005
By E. Ali
I ordered this cookbook because of its title. What I found was that it was a little deceiving. Having purchased other cookbooks with similar claims I figuered this one wouldn't be that different, just more recipes. Yes, some of the recipes were good, but they are not as quick and easy as I had hoped they would be. Maybe my definition of what quick and easy are is different than the authors. I didn't expect breakfast to be as involved as it was, especially when I have to make my lunch at the same time. It should have also mentioned that you would need to go grocery shopping on pretty much a daily basis. On the whole, it was a good idea, but I have better cookbooks that cost a lot less and are better suited for my time constraints.

32 of 32 found the following review helpful:

I'm just a beginner to this way of life  Jul 22, 2003

I was told by my doctor that I need to restrict my diet to 1200 calories a day or else I have a high risk of adult onset diabetes (my mother is diabetic and I am overweight). I have found the cookbook to be very helpful in helping me manage my day. I scan the cookbook at the beginning of the week and decide what I will be having the rest of the week so that on no given day do I have to stare at the fridge wondering what I will make. I've found the meals to be very satisfying portion wise and quite flavorful. You won't starve by any means and some of my favorites are the simplest to make. My favorite breakfasts are the fruit and cereal and the peaches and shortcake recipe. The vanilla cream when it congeals is like vanilla pudding. The only meals I haven't been tempted to try were the dinners, none of them really struck my fancy, I rely on another low fat cookbook for that. The desserts didn't interest me much either. I tend to prefer just a small bit of chocolate or else have vanilla yogurt and fruit for dessert. I love the way the day is broken down though. When the doctor told me to cut my calories so drastically I never knew that I would be eating so much and losing weight so easily. I don't regret buying it and plan to memorize several of the favorites that I've tried so far.

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