Totally obsessed with HungryGirl

[SportySam]

So ladies...there is this cookbook that just came out (or in the recent past) and my grandmother gave it to me called HungryGirl 200 under 200 (200 recipes under 200 calories). IT IS GREAT! I am obsessed with it. It has great recipes (my favorites are the pumpkin oatmeal and whoopie pies) but EVERYTHING is under 200 calories. So it is great for my WW diet and gives me the energy for biking without splurging on crappy foods. Check it out!

[Zen]

I gotta say this.

i like the premise but why hungryGIRL?
I'm not even gonna go into 'girl' territory)
Doesn't this reinforce the stereotype of women being obsessed with losing weight and that we should be? As if to devalue a woman who doesn't look like a magazine model?
Other stereotypes come to mind too but I'll just make this a small rant for now

The 200 would be a fine title and would let a guy buy the book too.

[/rant]

[Reesha]

The title is marketing garbage I say. They're probably trying to appeal to a subset of my generation. It personally doesn't bother me, but I know a few who might be irked by it.

Sam, you need to send me some recipes

[shootingstar]

Review isn't totally positive about nutritional value of some recipes. Coffee creamer powder?! What a joke.


http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/bo...grygirl200.htm

But be prepared to rely heavily on processed foods: artificial sweetener is everywhere, egg substitute, fat-free whipped topping, flavored coffee-creamer powder, and seasoning packets. Lillien also picks product favorites, which at least takes the guesswork out of what to buy.
Lillien is also keenly aware that we need more fiber in our diet, so she uses Fiber One brand cereal in many of her recipes from parfaits to coatings for chicken or zucchini. All the recipes mesh with the Weight Watchers points system, though you'll have to find them on the Hungry Girl web site. Once again, Lillien delivers a fun and easy to use cookbook with plenty of neat facts to "chew on" plus an assortment of tips and trivia. For those of us who like to see what a recipe may look like, there are some photos, too, with the rest available on Hungry Girl's web site.
If you're looking for slimmed-down convenience, Hungry Girl's 200 Under 200 is just for you, but for those who prefer a fresher, less-processed approach to eating, 200 Under 200 won't cut it.

[SportySam]

I gotta say this.

i like the premise but why hungryGIRL?
I'm not even gonna go into 'girl' territory)
Doesn't this reinforce the stereotype of women being obsessed with losing weight and that we should be. As if to devalue a woman who doesn't look like a magazine model?
Other stereotypes come to mind too but I'll just make this a small rant for now

The 200 would be a fine title and would let a guy buy the book too.

[/rant]

TOTALLY DOESN'T BOTHER ME. I don't look like the girls in the magazine. In fact, I am a size 16-18. The title is based on the nickname of the author who is dubbed HungryGirl...Not that we are all HungryGirls. Check out the book...and then you'll understand.

[SportySam]

Review isn't totally positive about nutritional value of some recipes. Coffee creamer powder?! What a joke.


http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/bo...grygirl200.htm

This is taken from HungryGirls daily email....

Dear Hungry Girl,

I saw a piece on HG in The Washington Post -- so cool! The article called you the "queen of processed food." Do you really eat processed food all the time? What do you have to say about this nickname?

Pondering the Post
Dear Pondering,

Thanks for your Q -- I've been wanting to address this. I love that article! And while the nickname made me laugh, I understand why the journalist wrote it. Let me explain... in detail. Hungry Girl recipes and food finds definitely include a lot of processed foods. To quote that article from The Washington Post, "we are a nation of snackers." Because let's face it: America eats processed food. These foods tempt us all day, every day. It's unrealistic to think that the average person, who's faced with fast food and processed food on a regular basis, can flip a switch and start following a completely rigid diet of 100% "clean" foods. It just is. While it may work for some people, it's not reasonable for the masses. So Hungry G irl provides a happy medium -- a bridge between the average junk-food diet and the idealistic way of eating perfectly "healthy" at all times. It's not about following an all-processed-food diet. It's a REALISTIC approach to better-for-you eating that people can actually live with and feel good about. Many of the processed foods I write about and use in recipes give people a way to fulfill their cravings for fattening items like fried foods, pizza, sweets, etc., without taking in a crazy amount of calories and fat. In other words, it helps people maintain a healthy weight without feeling deprived. Personally, while I do rely on those foods to tackle serious cravings, I'm actually sort of boring when it comes to my everyday food staples. I definitely don't eat processed food all the time. I eat a lot of protein -- things like turkey, chicken, egg whites, fish (tons of sushi with as little rice as possible), and steak (once in a while). I love to eat salads with low-fat cheeses , a LOT of veggies, and a small amount of fat-free or low-fat dressing (or none at all -- I'm not a huge fan of dressing on my salads). I LOVE fruit and eat an apple a day and other fruits as well. I also eat HG staples like high-fiber tortillas, Tofu Shirataki noodles, Fiber One cereal, Laughing Cow Light cheese wedges, etc. Some of those foods are natural, and some are not. But back to the point -- most Americans won't be giving up processed food anytime soon, so I offer up reasonable alternatives to a lot of the total JUNK out there. That's the bottom line. I stand by the HG way 1000%. Hundreds of thousands of people are embracing and appreciating it, and they're benefiting by attaining and maintaining a healthy weight -- I know; I h ear from them every day. (Love those emails -- keep 'em coming!) It's nice to see that the people at The Washington Post get it. If anyone out there hasn't seen the article, click here -- it's worth reading. Thanks again for the question!

[Zen]

Review isn't totally positive about nutritional value of some recipes.

I was thinking in that direction too. I'd rather eat broccoli until I'm full instead of many 200 calorie items.

I love broccoli.

[SportySam]

I love veggies too...but sometimes (actually many) I love chocolate and sweet stuff...so hungrygirl gives it to me in a lower calorie version and very tasty I might add!

[Zen]

I just got out of the bathtub. What do you do in the bathtub?
You think.
And I was thinking, this would be a reasonable alternative for snacks but not as an entire way of eating.

Then I got out of the tub and stopped thinking.

[ny biker]

I just got out of the bathtub. What do you do in the bathtub?
You think.
And I was thinking, this would be a reasonable alternative for snacks but not as an entire way of eating.

Then I got out of the tub and stopped thinking.

In college I had a housemate who liked to read the Sunday NY Times in the tub.

Are the recipes in this book supposed to be for meals, or for snacks? 200 calories is not enough for a meal, but it's more than I want in a snack.

[SportySam]

Mostly snacks and some sides to a meal. For example, I like the faux-fried zucchini that uses fiber one cereal and dry ranch dressing seasoning and egg substitute. I would not eat it as a meal but had it as a side last night with my meatloaf.

There is also a great mashed potato recipe that uses cauliflower.

[smilingcat]

What ever happened to banana, apples, and other fruit??

Bit early in the season for peach. Apricots from the store weren't good eats Cherries were good eats.

hate processed food. artificial sweetner? one of them taste really.... hmm... its gawd awful bitter to me. Other sweetner still has the "chemical" feel to me. Its not the same as real sugar.

My other pet peeves is miracle whip. WHAZ WITH THAT STUFF? Doesn't even taste remotely like real home made mayo!! You put that on my bread and its going straight to trash.

Instead of ice creme with berries, try creme fraisch with berries. Now that's good eats. You don't have to smother the berries with creme fraisch just a small dab will do.

I also hate Sandra Lee "semi-home made"??? When I use to watch TV, she really grated on my nerve. Her "kitchen" and appliance was always color coordinated. You wear makeup and nail polish in my kitchen, you will be booted out! And she CAN'T COOK! JUST CUTE YOU KNOW WHAT!!

[/rant]

[shootingstar]

What ever happened to banana, apples, and other fruit??

Bit early in the season for peach. Apricots from the store weren't good eats Cherries were good eats.

hate processed food. artificial sweetner? one of them taste really.... hmm... its gawd awful bitter to me. Other sweetner still has the "chemical" feel to me. Its not the same as real sugar.

My other pet peeves is miracle whip. WHAZ WITH THAT STUFF? Doesn't even taste remotely like real home made mayo!! You put that on my bread and its going straight to trash.

Yea, fresh fruit..very little work. Last year, one of the employees in our dept. showed me with a thrill on her face that she found an Internet recipe that involved deep frying some sort of bread with miracle whip or whatever abomination.

I said nothing to her. ...because she had been telling me for the longest time she did want to lose weight. (probably needed to lose at least 40 lbs.) Some people genuinely do not understand whole original food produce and ingredients, as a basis for more healthier eating.

Let's see this employee, was around my age, a mother of 2 late teenage boys.

[Reesha]

Many of us unknowingly train our bodies our whole lives to accept and require processed foods... whether it's bread, pasta, artificial sweeteners, candy, etc.

With all that engineered food floating around that is designed to taste so good and to be near addictive, it doesn't surprise me that fruit holds little interest for a lot of people. I'm not saying this is true of Sam because I know she eats fruit and plenty of it. But from my observations in the school cafeteria, etc... fruit just doesn't hold the interest that it once did because compared to artificial flavors and processed sugars, they just don't seem as chemically addictive.

[Zen]

I LOVE FRUIT!
It's so sweet and juicy
But I can also down a Pepperidge Farm cake in two days