Simply the best is my cooking bible!
Written: Aug 27 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Absolutely the best!!
Cons: None at all!
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| armywife's Full Review: Weight Watcher's Simply the Best Assortment Books |
When I started Weight Watchers a year ago I was really skeptical. Having been on millions of diets over the years I was not all that eager to begin a new one. However the way I started Weight Watchers and was introduced to this book was not in the usual way.
I happened to be at home visiting my mother for a month. My brother was living with her at this time and he had started Weight Watchers. He was doing all the cooking and Mom just ate whatever he made. Without meaning to Mom ended up losing almost 40 lbs. by the time it was all said and done.
At first she just merely ate whatever he fixed her for dinner but as the pounds started coming off she decided to take a more active approach. She bought a treadmill and started walking on it 10 minutes a day. That is it! She has lost over 40 lbs. on this simple plan.
I'll have to admit I was impressed and a bit curious. When I went home for a visit I got a first hand view of what they were doing. My brother cooked all the meals and did all the shopping. The first night I was there we ate lasagna. It was really a good dinner and I thought perhaps they had decided to cook something "decent" since it was my first night there rather than subject me to diet food. I had figured that I would probably need to do my own shopping since I would not be able to stand any of the food they fixed.
In the coming weeks I ate some of the best meals ever! Lasagana, Turkey Tortilla Casserole, Chicken Enchiladas...several desserts that were too yummy to believe. I walked on the treadmill like everyone else did for 10 or 15 minutes a day and by the end of the month I was 15 lbs. lighter.
I couldn't believe how unbelievably easy it was and how great the food tasted. As I became more interested in it my brother sat me down and explained the points system. I decided to join Weight Watchers and the first thing he did was bring out his "cooking bible". This was the source of all those great recipes I had been living off of for a month. We immediately went to the bookstore and bought a copy for me. He tagged all the recipes that had become a staple for me and I was ready to go.
The greatest thing about the Weight Watchers cookbooks is that the points are already counted for you. I also have the New Complete Cookbook but Simply the Best is the one I mainly use.
This is exactly what my brother taught me to do and how I continued to make it work. I picked out about 7 recipes that I liked the best. The ones I mentioned earlier were some of my favorites. After I had become comfortable making those (and they are very easy to make) I would have one day of cooking. I went out and bought the gladwear reusable containers. I would cook a lasagna and then immediately divide it into the portions. You could freeze some and then put some in the fridge. Basically you are creating your own microwave meals.
I would do this for about 3 entrees and that is what I would have for the week. When choosing what to eat for dinner I simply go in there and pull out a container and then add a vegetable to it and salad. Voila!! Quick, easy, delicious AND you will lose the weight.
My husband has never had a weight problem and does not need to eat "diet" foods. When I came home from my trip I could not wait to fix him this recipe called "Mexican Potato Casserole". It tastes exactly like the Western skillets he likes at Denny's.
Sure enough he loved it. In fact he loved all the new recipes. Over the next few months he started eating all the same food as I was without ever noticing it at all. He thought my cooking had improved(which it had thanks to this book) but he never would have guessed I was preparing "diet" meals!
He couldn't believe that he was even beginning to prefer ground turkey. My poor husband skinny as he was was eating on the points system without knowing a thing about it. He even dropped 8 lbs. I soon realized that I was feeding him the exact same portions and food as myself and although he was full and satisfied we had to "up" his amounts otherwise he would have floated away.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to prepare healthy meals that their whole family will enjoy. Anyone interested in Weight Watchers could learn everything they need from this book about the points system without ever going to a meeting. You could save yourself a lot of money by simply using this book as your program.
This book is basically my meal plan and it is the only book I really use to prepare meals. My brother did clue me in on a simple chili recipe which is one of the main things I also cook on those big cooking days I mentioned. You will not find this in any of the books because one of his Weight Watchers leaders created it on her own and then figured up the points herself. I would like to let you have it as well.
It is basically a vegetarian chili/ soup type recipe. You can make the whole pot for around 5-7 points depending on if you add the extras. This means you could eat a huge bowl of it for only a point. This is a terrific thing to do if you decide you want to eat a big point meal and need to supplement it with a low point meal to even it out.
Here we go:
1 can tomato sauce
1 can stewed or diced tomatoes (italian version preferably)
I can kidney beans
add chili powder to taste
*** here are some other things you can add:
small can of kernel corn
pinto beans
whatever you like!
Dump, stir and heat this up in a pot. Divide it into servings if you like and keep it on hand. It doesn't get any easier than that. It is a staple in my household. I love to eat it with a sald for a big whopping 2 point lunch.
Another trick you won't find in this cookbook and it is my only other main meal that I eat that isn't included is the Egg beater Omelette. Eggbeaters are a point but you have to buy the ones in the individual containers otherwise it is a pain to measure them out and figure it up.
If you buy the Healthy Choice Ham then you will know that about 3 slices of that equals one point. Well all you need is one slice so at this rate it hardly counts as a fraction of a point at all. Just dump the eggbeater in a skillet, put 1/4 cup of nonfat cheddar cheese in there (1 point) along with all the vegetables you like. I pack mine full of green and red peppers and onions. Then you add the ham. You can eat this whole omelette and it will only cost you 2 points. Another great meal for next to nothing point wise!
If you follow these recipes in the cookbook and supplement them with the creations above or your own you will find the weight slipping away. Not only that..you will probably have fun with it in the process!
See my other reviews on Weight Watchers Stay at home for my advice in this area!!!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
armywife
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Location: White Sands Missile Range, NM
Reviews written: 35
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
Army wife, Stay at home Mom and Graduate student in Professional Counseling.
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