I’ve recommended HungryGirl.com in the past, and I’m about to applaud her again for her new book, 200 Under 200, (200 Recipes Under 200 Calories). 

I saw Hungry Girl on The View demonstrating some of her new book’s recipes, and the best part is, they were all quick and easy to prepare. These are not froo froo gourmet, recipes made from hard to find ingredients. She takes regular grocery items that most of us already have in our refrigerators, and combines them to make simple, pleasing,  low calorie meals and snacks!

One of my favorites is the cheeseburger quesadilla which uses a whole grain tortilla, cheese, and Boca brand Soy burgers. All who taste it says it does satisfy a craving for a cheeseburger. Some of the recipes get quite creative with the ingredient list, while still retaining the flavors that you are used to in the standard recipe.

For example, the Chicken McNugget substitute recipe, Fiber-Fried Chicken Strips, uses Fiber One Cereal, Egg Beaters, and spices for the breading. Although this version doesn’t reflect it, on The View, she combined the cereal with BBQ potato chips for an even easier way to capture a spicy flavoring without a lot of fuss with spices. Either way, you can’t beat 4 grams of fat per serving compared to 39 grams of fat in Chickenn McNuggets!

My favorite thing about the book, in light of the childhood obesity problem in our country, is that most of the recipes are great, low fat options that moms can make for their kids. The only drawback to the book, is that since the recipes are designed for quick preparation using everyday products, they tend to use more processed food items than I would like my *f.a.t. (Fit After Thirty) readers to consume on a daily basis! I still see far too many products used in the recipes, with ingredients that I believe contribute to health problems, such as high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and sugar.

The use of so many canned and boxed food items makes me wonder if she is somewhat beholden to, or perhaps courting the foodmaker-advertisers with the use of their products, but I can’t fault her too much for it, because most Americans are already consuming processed food items at every meal, so Hungry Girl’s ability to teach us how to do it with less fat and calories, is very helpful! And Hungry Girl is not pushing a diet, nor is she claiming that her recipes would be suitable for preventing diabetes, heart disease or cancer. (In my opinion, some of them, individually, would not be; however, losing weight overall, can absolutely reduce the risk of all three of those diseases). 

She admits that she is not a nutritionist and is simply trying to create tasty, low calorie options for people, and I can resoundingly proclaim that she has succeeded in doing just that! I would say, for the average American woman who desires to go from fat to *f.a.t., she will really benefit from Hungry Girl’s book, as long as she incorporates the Hungry Girl recipes into an overall diet that includes a lot of fruits and vegetables! Happy Eating everyone!