That’s why we’re sharing our favorite healthy holiday recipes in our first cookbook. The DietsInReview.com Holiday Cookbook is available from TasteBook and features 25 recipes that offer all the traditional flavors of the season, with less of the guilt, fat and calories.

Inside this colorful hardback cookbook we’re sharing appetizers, desserts, entrees and sides that will help you set a healthier scene as you and your family gather to give thanks and celebrate the season. These recipes are ideal for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any other winter event.

And since it comes from TasteBook, you can add up to 75 more of your own family favorites and personalize each recipe page to create a one-of-a-kind holiday cookbook.

Order your DietsInReview.com Holiday Cookbook to start preparing healthy recipes yourself, or share the gift of wholesome food with a loved one. The book comes with 25 DietsInReview.com recipes, plus credits to add 75 pages of your own, for $34.95.

Visit TasteBook now to preview the cookbook and order.

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DietsInReview.com’s Holiday Cookbook Shares Healthy Recipes

Like any woman who has spent years struggling with her weight, Lisa lost 30 pounds by giving up heavy starches, pasta and junk food. But once she hit her goal weight, she started to experiment with how she could re-incorporate some of her favorite foods back into her diet. She is now a Weight Watchers devotee who tries to keep her points in check and her dry carbs down to a daily minimum.

Using her own kitchen as a mini-laboratory and searching in grocery stores for the latest low-cal snacks, she began to create slimmed-down recipes from everything from nachos to chocolate peanut butter fudge. Using tricks like coating “fried” food with crushed Fiber One cereal, Lisa has coined herself as a foodologist, not because she has a degree from the Cordon Bleu (she doesn’t), but because she is shamelessly and enthusiastically obsessed with food.

Whether you owe Lisa a huge thanks for introducing you to shirataki noodles or showing you how to skinny-down your favorite coffee drink, The Hungry Girl shared some of her insight, experience and favorite food finds with us.

The Hungry Girl was a huge success. What was your motivation behind Hungry Girl 200 Under 200?

Thanks! I wanted the follow-up book to be super-useful and be something that everyone would be able to use and relate to. Portion control is key and I thought the idea of having a book that was crammed with satisfying recipes for foods that had 200 calories or fewer would be great.

Can you explain the magic that happens in the Hunger Girl Kitchen? For instance, how do you take a 800-calorie dish like cheesy nachos and bring it down to 200 calories and still make it healthy and tasty?

I’m a bit of a mad scientist. And so are all of the HG staffers. We pretty much decide what we want to make and then tackle it by dissecting all of the ingredients, then the swapping and testing begins. It’s really fun and we love a good challenge! The nachos were easy. You start with a fat-free or low-fat chip, then create a sauce out of an array of lower-calorie ingredients and reduced fat cheeses.  Add a few key things– like a low-fat chili and some salsa and you’re done!

What are four eating essentials that you can’t do without?

1. Laughing Cow Light cheese
2. Vitalicious VitaTops
3. Fuji apples
4. Eggbeaters

We grossly underestimate the number of calories we consume when we eat out or eat on the run. Since you have been traveling so much promoting your new book, how do you manage to not overdo it?

The key is to PLAN ahead. Always have emergency snacks on hand… and learn how to order the right things at restaurants. For me, it’s about skipping the bread, avoiding fatty dressings and ordering sauces on the side. I usually stick with lean meats or fish, and steamed or grilled veggies.

What are two of your favorite recipes in your new book?

Hmmm – I love them all — but I especially love the H-O-T Hot Boneless Buffalo Wings, and Double Trouble Chocolate Trifle. YUM!!!

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Interview with Hungry Girl’s Lisa Lillien

Babycakes is a famous New York City bakery that makes baked goods using alternative and healthy ingredients while keeping all the yummy taste you would expect from a cupcake, chocolate chip cookie or even banana chip loaf.

Entering is easy, just sign up for our Natural Health Newsletter and leave a comment below with one of your favorite sweet treats for your chance to win. Already a subscriber? Email Amy your sweet treat entry (email details in your May issue of the Natural Health Newsletter).

All entries must be received by June 15th. The winner will be announced in the June issue. To sign up for the newsletter use the form below:

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BabyCakes Bakery: The Cookbook Giveaway!

Veganism is like the stricter sister of vegetarianism. Eschewing not just meat, but dairy, eggs and fish, vegans subsist on vegetables, fruit, grains, soy, nuts and seeds. And just as shunning meat has become increasingly popular among health and eco-friendly devotees, so has veganism seen a rapid rise in its comrades of followers.

For anyone who is interested in becoming a vegan, even just for a day, getting a good vegan cookbook is a necessity, unless you run the risk of eating salad with tofu and sunflower seeds for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The great news is that there is now, more than ever, an entire mini library of vegan cookbooks to choose from.

Here are some of our favorite vegan cookbooks:

Vegan with a Vengeance: Written by a quirky and edgy Brooklyn born and raised vegan, Isa Moskowitz, this cookbook includes 150 recipes like fresh corn fritters, orange scones, BBQ pomegranate tofu, TLTs (tempeh, lettuce and tomatoes) and tons of other vegan-friendly fare. Moskowitz gets rave reviewers for her innovative and yummy recipes and her entertaining and upbeat dialogue.

The Garden of Vegan: Two-hundred pages of meat- and dairy-free recipes makes this cookbook a real hit. Dishes like portobello mushroom bake, caramelized onion and fennel mashed potatoes, coconut spiced vegetables are not for the advanced vegan chef, but are rather fairly simple and straightforward. It also features a section for college students who want to cook vegan in the dorm room. One downside is that the recipes don’t include photos.

Simply Vegan: If sweets are your thing, but dairy isn’t, Simply Vegan is your must-have dessert cookbook. Featuring 140 recipes of your traditional favorites like chocolate cake, fudge, apple pie, cheesecake, rice pudding and some creative ones too like jelly donuts, hold the wheat carrot cake, pink passion smoothie, and Boston cream pie, Simply Vegan will do more than just satisfy your sweet tooth. Fifty of the recipes are wheat-free, too.

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: Another gem by Isa Moskowitz, this cupcake bible includes 75 different recipes for cupcake batter and frosting. From lemon macadamia and pumpkin chocolate chip to from white chocolate marble and cappuccino filled with espresso cream, Vegan Cupcakes will tantalize and inspire, especially with the beautiful photos of each recipe.

Skinny Bitch: From just plain old Skinny Bitch to Skinny Bitch in the Kitch and Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven, vegan devotees Rory and Kim have created a mini dairy-free empire arm-wrestling women to eat and become just like them.

Ten years ago, you would have had a tough time finding a vegan cookbook, let alone one devoted solely to cupcake-making, but the vegan cooking climate has surely changed. And don’t think you’re going to restock your pantry with funky ingredients like xanthum gum and amaranth flour, most of the recipes call for ingredients commonly found in grocery or health-food stores.

Happy vegan cooking!

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The Best Vegan Cookbooks

A few that have made our list include the Hungry Girl cookbook and Eat, Shrink and Be Merry. We also love the 1,500 Calorie per Day cookbook, and the newly released Gordon Ramsay’s Health Appetite. Continue to check out this section as we add more healthy guides to keeping your stomach satisfied and trim.

When trying to manage a healthy diet, finding the right meal choices can sometimes be the most difficult part. With detailed recipes, tips on sneaky food alternatives and an abudance of nutritious ingredients, each of these books can help you prepare delicious meals that you feel good about serving yourself and your family.

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We Love Healthy Cookbooks