Healthy Foods: An Irreverent Guide to Understanding Nutrition and Feeding Your Family Well

by Leanne Ely

Book Overview

For families seeking real-life answers to real-life nutrition, the book that delivers is here. With humor and wit and over 100 family-tested recipes, Leanne Ely, C.N.C., offers guidance to creating a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1891400207
• ISBN13: 9781891400209
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Champion Press (WI)
• Length: 191 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Delicious and Healthy

"Quality nutrition can only come from quality food. Quality food is defined as less processed, more natural, more basic foods-like fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. Easy stuff to get at the market. There are however, concerns that we are necessarily, having to deal with in this 21st century." ~Leanne Ely Need a recipe for Pesto or want to learn to make healthier French Fries? How did mom make those mashed potatoes anyway? Well, Leanne Ely has the answers and had created a cute cookbook filled with over 100 family-approved recipes. If your kids are hungry for pizza and there isn't a frozen pizza in sight, you might enjoy making the Pizza Muffins. If you keep a bottle of spaghetti sauce around, some mozzarella cheese, various toppings and mixed grain English muffins in the kitchen, you will have an easy-to-prepare snack. The first thing I noticed in this cookbook was an ingredient called "sucanat." If you are wondering what this is, well, I was too. I found the answer on pg. 51, where the author also lists, kamut flour, carob and whole wheat pastry flour. I was then sent to the glossary for explanations. The glossary is not where you'd expect it to be, it is on page 59. Ok, so it is that natural cane sugar I've seen in health food stores! All the other ingredients seemed pretty normal to me, still, you might want to find a health food store in your area or most grocery stores seem to have an isle of natural foods. If you want to shop online, there is a resource section at the back of the book. The basic recipe sections: Breakfast in Bread and Other Comforts Soup & Salad Bar Life in the Fast Food Lane The Main Thing Dips, Snacks & Tricks Just Desserts Some of the recipes include: Buttermilk Cornbread, Mega Manic Muffin Mix, Lentil Soup, Tabbouleh, Mama's Mashed Potatoes, Quinoa Pilaf, Shepherd's Pie, Roasted Garlic, Pizza, Hummus and Mexican Chicken Salad. Want to try something sweet? Try the Apple Cake or Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Some of the highlights of this cookbook include the short essays on food at the start of the book. Leanne Ely explains why writing this book became essential for the health of her family and how you can also change your food and change your life. Leanne believes we all know what works best for our bodies. She has been a victim of the experts who have given her ideal diets to follow. Finally, she decided to just follow the "guru" within. She explains the basics of protein, carbohydrates and fats. Then, she delves into the dangers lurking in our regular grocery store shelves. After reading chapter three, organic foods will start looking pretty darn good to you. Do you have a child who has allergies or want to teach "manners to the not so mannerly." I recently read that the top food allergies are nuts, shellfish/seafood, milk, wheat, eggs, a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, cheese, yeast and soya protein. So even "healthy" foods might not be healthy for everyone. It is

Delicious and Healthy Too

I love this cookbook and I just got it. All the recipes are not only healthy but things you would actually cook for your family. I just made the Double Duty Chicken and it couldn't have been easier or more delicious. The hamburger soup is also great for a quick dinner that your kids will actually eat. The recipes are all real simple with not too many ingredients. Don't you hate when you find a recipe you like and it has 20 ingredients in it and takes 2 hours to make? Well, none of those in here! Great cookbook if you're trying to cook healthy meals for your family.

Easy, healthy and delicious

I have tried many of the recipes in this book and have yet to find a dud. The pistou soup is warm and filling; the rubber chicken is easy to prepare, delicious, and frugal; and I have never made an easier or tastier pizza crust than the Kneadless Pizza Dough. Even my picky family has raved over everything I've prepared from this book. Leanne's style is unpretentious and her advice is practical. I had to get over the need to have exact measurements (she occasionally refers to using a 'blob' or a 'little bit', basically relying on you to adjust for your own tastes). It is well worth the time to read the first chapters about general nutrition, written in an easily understandable form and chock full of important advice. Her chapters on food allergies and eating disorders could be lifesavers. This cookbook has quickly become the most favored one on my shelf, and I'm sure I'll have to get another one eventually because this one will be tattered and covered with food stains. It's that good.

Not Just for Kids!

You want to serve your family a nutritious meal but the children only want burgers and fries. Your son drowns everything on his plate in ketchup and your daughter gets chronic stomachaches. They eat too much or absolutely nothing. What in the world do you do? Leanne Ely, C.N.C., nutritionist, had problems feeding her children and was determined to find out how to help them and herself."Healthy Foods" is filled with easy to digest information on nutrition that suites the needs of children as well as adults. She doesn't try to sell you on a new diet or product that doesn't work. Instead, she provides clear facts along with her own opinions and observations, which are clearly labeled as such. She provides lots of useful links to websites with dietary information for further research. In her playful way, she also provides tips to get your kids to try new foods. How about cutting up food and letting your child pick up the pieces with toothpicks? Mrs. Ely has come up with over 100 family tested recipes to choose from. These recipes are designed to be un-intimidating and good for you. Everything from snacks to breakfast, lunch, and dinner are covered. Recipes are very simply and use easy to find ingredients, though you may need to go to a health or natural food store for some. Some may take offense to the occasional use of processed foods used here and there but they are kept to a minimum and they are the more health conscious varieties.I don't have children but I do want to eat right. I also have days were I don't want to cook anything too adventurous. I was impressed with the quality of the information she provided and in the way it was presented. Her guidelines are just that, "guide" lines. You need to make the necessary adjustments to suite your family's lifestyle and needs.It was fun picking out recipes to try, especially since many recipes had funny titles such as Not Your Mama's Tuna Casserole, Poor Tater Supper, and Pumpkin Mumkins. I found several recipes I was already familiar with and others with a new twist. Recipes are easily adaptable to what you have on hand and geared towards experimentation. "Fast and Furious Chicken and Rice" has been transformed numerous times depending on my refrigerator's contents. I've substituted cooked ground chicken for chicken breasts and put taco cheese on top. On one occasion I added frozen vegetables and a couple of shots of Tabasco.One of my favorite breakfasts, especially now that the weather's warming up, has become her "Smoothie Patrol". It beats a Slim-Fast shake any day, and I can make any flavor I want. If you have kids, here's one they'll never guess is good for them.I thoroughly enjoyed this cookbook and will refer to it many times. I have already suggested it to several friends at work who have small children that are problem eaters. If I had to force myself to find a problem it would be that occasionally there is a recipe that is too tame for my taste buds. Here and there I would add a dash of spi

Best cookbook I own--changed my life!

This is by far the best cookbook I own, and it has become my "cooking bible." Ever since getting married 3 years ago, and learning to cook, I have bought cookbook after cookbook trying to find a few that fit my healthy lifestyle, yet don't go overboard with the nutritional jargon. As a Registered Nurse with a bachelors of science degree, I have much knowledge in the area of nutrition and how important healthy eating is to one's energy levels, disease prevention, etc. I was constantly disappointed with cookbooks that only provided one or two interesting recipes. This cookbook has it all...from great-tasting food (REALLY tasty recipes) to excellent and interesting nutrition information that anyone can adapt to their lifestyle. This week I made the chocolate Mama's PMS cake, Apricot oatbran muffins, Enchilasagna, smoothies, broccoli soup and they were all fabulous. I literally went through my cookbook collection and donated almost all my other cookbooks to the library. I've also adapted Leanne's suggestion to use whole wheat pastry flour in place of white flour and Sucanat (evaporated cane juice) instead of white sugar, and of incorporating more protein into meals (in addition to complex carbs). This book has changed my life and given me more energy. By the way, my husband loves the food from this book, too (we don't have kids yet).