Review: Fix-It and Enjoy-It! Healthy Cookbook

Summary: Can you believe it? Great tasty recipes that are easy to prepare -- and they're HEALTHY!

Bring New York Times bestselling author Phyllis Pellman Good together with the prestigious Mayo Clinic, and that's what you have -- irresistibly tasty food that’s easy to prepare and nutritious in the bargain! Just "fix it and enjoy it!"

Fix-It and Enjoy-It Healthy Cookbook is packed with more than 400 recipes for stove-top and oven cooking.

"I am dedicated to offering recipes that make it possible to eat at home, even if you don’t have much time, or radiant cooking skills!" says Good. "Here are hundreds of 'make-it-again' recipes from great home cooks—with nutritional punch!

"I am delighted to have teamed up with Mayo Clinic, whose dietitians have analyzed all the recipes for their nutritional value. Together, we’ve adapted the recipes to fit within Mayo Clinic's Healthy Weight Pyramid."

Each delicious recipe includes Prep Time, Cooking/Baking Time, its own nutrient analysis, and its number of Pyramid servings.

A treasury of more than 400 tasty, HEALTHY recipes!

Enjoy it! -- Good Books

Hello...my name is Julie and I'm a cookbook addict. I absolutely adore cookbooks. I can spend hours looking through them. (That's not to say that I cook a lot of things out of them, but I do enjoy flipping through recipes.) Needless to say, when I saw that the Fix-It and Enjoy-It cookbook series had a new healthy cookbook out FIX-IT AND ENJOY-IT! HEALTHY COOKBOOK: 400 GREAT STOVE-TOP and OVEN RECIPES by Phyllis Pellman Good, I just knew I had to take a peek.

If you are interested in a terrific cookbook with lots of healthy recipes, then you should definitely take a look at this one. There are so many yummy-sounding recipes that I made a huge list of recipes to try. I have to mention that almost all (if not all) of the recipes are very quick and easy to prepare which is a must for me since I'm always running my kids around during dinnertime. Since the cookbook is full of healthy recipes, I was thrilled to see that almost all of the ingredients are natural and easy to find -- yet not out of a box or can. And I love that there is nutritional information for every recipe which makes it easy to calculate Weight Watcher points (when I'm so inclined.) I think the beauty of this cookbook is that the recipes are healthy without being difficult to make. It's a perfect combination for busy mothers everywhere.

We have been really busy lately so I haven't been trying a lot of new recipes the past few weeks, but I did want to try at least one before writing my review. I am a huge fan of baked oatmeal, and I thought it was pretty healthy. Well, the recipe my friend gave me has so much butter and cream in it that I would never knowingly eat it. This cookbook had a low-fat, healthy option for baked oatmeal that I decided to make for dinner one night when I was eating by myself (there is no way my husband and daughter would ever even try it.) I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how flavorful the oatmeal was. I only wish I'd had a few blueberries to sprinkle over the top.

While I do really, really like this cookbook, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the one little drawback for me -- there aren't any pictures. Since I love to leaf through cookbooks, I always like seeing the colorful pictures and the finished products. Having said that, I still highly recommend FIX-IT and ENJOY-IT! HEALTHY COOKBOOK; just know that you will have to imagine how wonderful your dishes will look!

Here are some examples of a main dish and side dish recipe from FIX-IT AND ENJOY-IT! HEALTHY COOKBOOK:

Healthy Joes
Gladys M. High
Ephrata, PA

Makes 4 servings

Prep. Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

¾ lb. 90%-lean ground pork loin
1 cup chopped onion
1 medium bell sweet pepper, chopped
1½ cups diced tomatoes, no salt added, undrained
1 medium zucchini, shredded, optional
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. paprika
½ tsp. minced garlic
pepper to taste
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
4 whole wheat hamburger buns

1. In large skillet, cook ground pork, onion, and bell pepper until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off drippings.

2. Stir in diced tomatoes, zucchini if you wish, chili powder, paprika, garlic, and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat.

3. Add tomato paste to thicken. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

4. Spoon mixture into buns and enjoy.

Per Serving
Calories 343, Kilojoules 1435, Protein 27 g, Carbohydrates 44 g, Total Fat 7 g, Saturated Fat 2 g, Monounsaturated Fat 3.5 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 1.5 g, Cholesterol 53 mg, Sodium 273 mg, Fiber 7 g

Dietitian's tip: Substituting ground turkey breast for regular ground beef sheds about 200 calories, 7 grams of fat and 4 grams of saturated fat.

Honey-Glazed Carrots
Janet Oberholtzer
Ephrata, PA

Makes 4 servings

Prep. Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes

16-oz. pkg. baby carrots
2 tsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. honey
½ Tbsp. lemon juice

1. Cook carrots in a bit of water in a saucepan until they're as tender as you like.

2. Meanwhile, combine olive oil, honey, and lemon juice in a small microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high 20-30 seconds. Stir.

3. Drain carrots. Pour glaze over top and toss to coat.

Per Serving
Calories 76, Kilojoules 318, Protein 1 g, Carbohydrates 13 g, Total Fat 2.5 g, Saturated Fat 0.3 g, Monounsaturated Fat 1.7 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 89 mg, Fiber 3 g

The above is an excerpt from the book FIX-IT AND ENJOY IT! HeALTHY COOKBOOK: 400 GREAT STOVE-TOP AND OVEN RECIPES by Phyllis Pellman Good.

Reprinted from Fix-It and Enjoy-It! Healthy Cookbook. Copyright by Good Books (www.GoodBooks.com). Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks to Caitlyn from FSB Associates for sending me this cookbook!