From the back cover:  This sixth volume in Susie Fishbein’s celebrated Kosher by Design cookbook series was crafted with your good health in mind!  Kosher by Design Lightens Up is a gorgeous culinary guide, bursting with easy-to-do ideas for eating and feeling better.  This cookbook teaches healthy cooking techniques through delectable recipes, with special commentary by certified nutritional expert Bonnie Taub-Dix, national spokesperson fo the American Dietetic Association.

Susie says, “These nutritious recipes are easy to integrate into your everyday menus.  If you’re looking to migrate into a better way of eating and living, you’ll find delicious options here.”

*Over 145 brand-new recipes

*Creative new entertaining ideas, including tasting parties, a spritzer bar, and more!

*Healthy approaches to oils, sweeteners, grains flours, nuts, and superfoods

*Tips for smarter supermarket shopping and more efficient kitchen gadgets

*Comprehensive cross-referenced index and nutritional glossary

Kosher by Design Lightens Up is a shift in Fishbein’s approach to bringing simple elegance into kosherhome cooking.  In explaining the swing toward whole grains, healthier oils, less fat and reduced sugars, she said, “Since the original Kosher by Design was published in 2003, I’ve certainly grown as a home cook and my kids have grown.  I was looking to do better by them and so I began investigating and experimenting with healthier foods and cooking methods.  Lightens Up is the homegrown result.”  For expert nutritional advice for Lightens Up, Fishbein recruited certi?ed nutritionist Bonnie Taub-Dix, national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.  A frequent guest on Good Morning America and CNN, with many published articles in the New York Times, the Washington Post, WebMD, and other national publications, Taub-Dix was delighted to be part of the project. “When Susie asked me to collaborate on this book, I jumped at the challenge of combining my love of the science of nutrition with my passion for the art of cooking,” she enthused.  

My Review:  This book will be very helpful with me as I learn to cook for my newly diagnosed with diabetes husband, and as I try to keep off the weight I recently lost.  Susie gives some VERY helpful information, definitions, and explanations about food as well as yummy recipes.  She also has a page giving ideas for helpful gadgets to use in the kitchen and table setting ideas.  This is so much more than just a cookbook!  Here are some pictures of recipes I plan to try.

About the Book: Organic for Health will convince you to avoid conventionally grown foods laden with the biggest offenders, and more importantly, to fill your body with the clean, potent vitamins and minerals in organic foods that truly honor your health.

My Review: This topic is one that I’m endlessly fascinated by. I am always trying to learn more and so I jumped at the chance to review this book.

If you also are interested in healthier ways to eat and understanding just exactly why the way we eat in America is a danger to our health than you will enjoy this book. It’s written in an extremely straightforward manner, and kicks off with Sandy Powers’ own story about why she started to eat organically. It’s a pretty amazing story, and it will get your attention for the rest of the book! The book is divided into categories and gives you all the basic information that you need. The second half of the book is full of recipes. I haven’t tried any of them yet, but they look good. There’s also a glossary in the back that is very helpful for defining terms used throughout the book, and a note about why eating organically is a bit more expensive.

A great starter guide to better health.

You can visit Sandy on her website.

Several posts ago, I mentioned that I was doing weight watchers and exercising with Leslie Sansone DVDs. I also have begun cooking at home more, which involves finding recipes for my crock-pot, OR easy enough recipes to fix in very little time when I get home from work. I found some excellent recipes in Dawn Hall’s books. AGAIN these books were a find at Sam’s Club, although lately I haven’t seen any of her books there. Ms. Hall also has books for the crock-pot, Christmas recipes, and a new one I just bought (but haven’t tried) named “Down-Home Cooking without the Down-Home Fat.” Another thing I LOVE about these recipes is that they use 7 ingredients or less. I’ve been looking seriously at cookbooks again since I began weight watchers and in most of them the list of ingredients is incredibly long. Just the thought of shopping for all of those gives me the hives! (I hate grocery shopping!)

I am just beginning to try the recipes in these cookbooks, but so far my husband and I have been very pleased with them.

A portion of the profits for these cookbooks goes to “Solid Rock” in Toledo, Ohio. Solid Rock attempts to reach inner-city kids and teens in Toledo, Ohio. The programs are establishing a moral foundation based on Biblical principles.

If you are like me, have a super busy life, but still want to cook and eat at home – I highly recommend Dawn Hall and her cookbooks. You can also visit her web site for some ideas of recipes and more information on her books – www.dawnhallcookbooks.com