Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook by Pearl Barrett & Serene Allison (Cookbook Review)

Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Blogging For Books in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

About the book-

In their debut cookbook, the Trim Healthy Mama’s share hundreds of delicious, healthy recipes to help readers successfully slim down while eating well.  This companion cookbook to the bestselling Trim Healthy Mama Plan is just what readers have been waiting for. It features simple, mouthwatering, recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner—including slow cooker and one-pot meals, hearty soups and salads, omelets and waffles, pizzas, breads and more.  No Trim Healthy Mama should be deprived, so there are also favorite snacks, delectable desserts, and the smoothies, sippers and teas fans love. With  pantry-stocking advice, time-saving tips, and information on how to cook for the entire family, the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook offers a delicious and nutritious way to make trim and healthy meals with less stress—so you have more time with your loved ones.

My thoughts-

The Trim Healthy Mama way of eating is quite popular among my circle of friends. I always see Facebook posts mentioning it and while I got the general gist of things ( sugar free, refined grain free, lots of clean eating) I never read the original book. I was happy to find an overview at the beginning of the book written for someone like me who hadn't read the original book or for someone who needed a refresher course. The Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook offers a wide variety of healthy yet tasty recipes ready to satisfy the palette while also feeling up your belly. I love that there are a wide variety of offerings to make sure there is truly something for everyone. I don't think I really noticed a recipe in the book that I wouldn't try at least once. I also love that although this book is about keeping healthy and trim, there is a section on indulgences at the end. The desserts are modified using sweeteners like stevia and they all sound delicious. I can't wait to test some of them out. I recommend this book to any woman trying to eat right and feel great about her choices. It's called Trim Healthy Mama, but this book is for everyone from all walks of life. I am definitely glad I picked this one up. I know it will get a great deal of use in my kitchen!

Clean Slate From the Editors of Martha Stewart Living (Cookbook Review)

Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions stated are 100% my own.

About the book-

More than just a cookbook, Clean Slate, from the editor's of Martha Stewart Living, provides you with the nutritionally sound information you need to shop for and prepare food that nourishes body and mind. You'll find guidelines for restocking your pantry with whole grains, beans and legumes, lean proteins, and healthy fats; glossaries of the best sources of detoxifiers, antioxidants, and other health-boosting nutrients; and menus for a simple 3-day cleanse and a 21-day whole-body detox, with easy-to-follow tips and strategies for staying on track.

My thoughts-


I saw Martha Stewart recently on Late Night with Seth Meyers and I knew immediately I needed to get my hands on a copy. To me, anything with Martha's name on it having to do with food is going to be fabulous and Clean Slate well exceeded my expectations.  The cover is simple but beautiful and the pages within the book follow the same theme. The first section of the book is full of information on what is good for your body vs. things that you should steer clear of. This is the most organized book of the sort that I have ever seen. After the pages giving you the foundation for healthy living there are a couple of detoxes to follow to give your body the recharge it may need, a 3-day and a 21-day full body detox. Each meal is completely laid out for you on both plans so there is no guesswork involved. My favorite part of the book, of course, are the recipes. As I have already mentioned, the recipe section is laid out beautifully with gorgeous pictures, but beyond that the recipes each include nutritional information and even have a note to what kind of diet each recipe is suited (labels include gluten free, nut free, dairy free, ect.) This makes it very easy for someone on a special diet to know which meals they can make as is from the book. I was very impressed by the breakfast and dessert sections. In most books, these two sections are full of recipes comprised mostly of grain and refined sugar, not so in Clean Slate. There are some tasty sounding savory breakfast recipes and the desserts while free of refined sugar still sound tantalizing and satisfying. I highly recommend this book to anyone at all who wants to get back to the basics, eat clean food and say no to all of the processed junk out there making so many of the people eating them very ill. This is a book worth having on a cookbook stand on your counter for very easy access!

Clean Slate is available at online retailers such as Amazon.com and at books stores and other retailers nationwide.

The Virgin Diet Cookbook by J.J. Virgin (Cookbook Review)

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

About the book-

The companion to the New York Times bestseller The Virgin Diet brings the groundbreaking health and weight loss program into your kitchen. With more than 150 delicious and practical recipes, The Virgin Diet Cookbook is designed to show you how to incorporate anti-inflammatory, healing foods into your diet to reclaim your health and reset your metabolism, while avoiding the 7 foods that are most likely to cause food intolerance.

These tasty, easy-to-make recipes are free of gluten, soy, dairy, eggs, corn, peanuts, and sugar and artificial sweeteners. With mouthwatering suggestions for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snacks, you'll lose weight fast while enjoying what you eat!. The Virgin Diet Cookbook will also help you to stock your kitchen, provide delicious substitutes for common ingredients, and offer easy swaps for eating out and on-the-go.

My thoughts-

I have been meaning to read The Virgin Diet ever since I heard about because J.J. Virgin is someone I look up to and I trust the information that she puts out will have my overall health in mind and not just some sort of quick fix for fast weight loss that I will just gain back. I was excited to see that this companion cookbook came out and I decided that I would just go ahead and check this one out because I thought it would likely have enough information for me to follow the diet within the book's introduction and I was right. I definitely think you could skip the more in depth version and just got straight for this one. The thought behind this "diet" is eliminating foods that are commonly not tolerated well. I think it is genius. It makes sense to me that there would be gut issues (and maybe even neurological issues like sleep deprivation, depression ect.) when our body is trying to process something it just can't. The idea is to eliminate all of the common low tolerance foods for a few weeks and introduce them back into your diet slowly to see what your triggers are. In the process, you are eating healthy, clean meals and hopefully it will get you in the habit of doing that on a regular basis. As far as the actual recipes, there are so many tasty options which is nice. There is no deprivation going on and something else that is really cool is that this diet would not be difficult to follow even if you are on a specialty diet (paleo, gluten free, vegetarian, vegan). I think that if you are looking to lose a little weight, improve your overall health and maybe gain some healthier eating habits, definitely pick up a copy of this book!

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