Betty Crocker The 300 Calorie Cookbook: 300 tasty meals for eating healthy every day (Betty Crocker Books) [ペーパーバック]

Everytime I swear I won't cram another cookbook onto my bookshelf I leaf through something that seems to stand out among the other cookbooks I have, or is complete enough that it allows me to give away several cookbooks so that one can take its place.

This is one such cookbook.

Very extensive cookbook with around 300 recipes, it's divided into the following categories:

Center of the Plate
Savory Skillet Meals
Casseroles and Pot Pies
Meatless Main Dishes
Sandwiches, Salads, and Pizzas
Soups, Stews, and Chilies
Slow Cooker Suppers
Grilling Good and Easy
30 Min or Less
Cooking for Two

Which is why I say it's like having several cookbooks...if I'm in the mood to grill, I can pull this out and do it with fewer calories, if I have limited time, it still has recipes for me, if I don't want leftovers I use the cooking for two section, and I love the slow cooker suppers for those days when I want to throw some things into a pot in the morning and come home to a hot cooked meal, making me feel like my private chef slaved all day to have dinner ready and waiting! :-)

Here are a few examples of some of the recipes. I've found them to include easy-to-locate ingredients and be family pleasers so that the rest of the house doesn't even have to know it's "diet" food since they tend to be good comfort foods. While I personally love the meatless section, you can adapt the other recipes easily for your meatless days as well. Here are some examples of some recipes:

Honey Glazed chicken breasts
Baked Oregano Chicken (this is a great one at only 180 calories)
Smothered Cajun Pork Chops
Beef and Peppers with Biscuits
Cheese Enchiladas
Philly Steak Casserole
Cheese Filled Tortellini Soup
Black Bean Taco Salad
Baked Chicken and Rice with Autumn Veggies
Country French Beef Stew
Chicken and Dumplings
Creamy Crabmeat Au Gratin
Tex Mex Scrambled Eggs
Grilled Pizza
Tex Mex Meat Loaf

There are also lots of ethnic dishes thrown in if you, for example, are in the mood for Chinese food, Indian food, etc. And the meatless maindishes will make even a hearty carnivore forget what's missing.

This book, unlike most of my diet cookbooks, contains FULL nutritionals, even the protein, sodium etc. If you are following Weight Watchers you'll know the fat and fiber of every dish going in.

The instructions are super simple. I cook all the time but even if you have only made Kraft mac and cheese up til now, you'll not skip a beat.

NEGATIVES: I try to leave negatives on any review even if I love something since nothing is perfect but this book is jam packed with recipes, many with calories even in the one hundreds and they are easy to prepare, healthy, and tasty and have full nutritionals. That's an A+ cookbook for me. I'f I had to say something others might not like, I might say it doesn't contain photos for all recipes (it does have several photos, just not for all) but bear in mind the book is already at almost 400 pages with its tips and recipes so you might not fit it into your cookbook holder if got any bigger. :-)

I love this one. It's both rare and well-done.

p.s. My calorie goal when I am dieting is 1250 calories per day. (This was scientifically figured out for me with a bodybugg. I'm a weight loss coach.) I burn 1950 calories per day usually in just normal activities so this deficit enables me to lose well if I also increase my activity( a little over 2 lbs per week) since a deficit of 3,500 calories equals a loss of one pound. (Your body uses fat stores for energy when it has a deficit.) Your calorie needs will vary of course based upon your height and weight and activity but there are several places online that you can get an estimate of what your body uses in order to figure out the deficit needed for weight loss even without a bodybugg. (All weight loss is, afterall, is taking in less calories than you burn.) This is great if you want to eat fresh food yet measure exactly what you are taking in as well.

But I'm not always on a diet. And to be honest, I use this book even when I am not on a diet. I like the recipes. I just get to eat more!

This keeps me satisfied and it's more of a food change than a diet.

I ordered this cookbook after seeing some of the positive reviews. I figured I'd get a few good recipes out of it like most books...I ended up with much more than "a few"! I have nothing but great things to say about the recipes. So far we've cooked about two dozen meals from the book and haven't been disappointed yet! I'm all about cooking quick and healthy, so if that's your style too you should enjoy this cookbook. It has moved to the top of my shelf for quick access! The best part, I don't have to worry about calorie counting...every meal in the book is 300 calories or less and clearly lists all of the nutritional information. I have occasionally exchanged a few of the frozen ingredients for fresh and added some additional spices but that's just personal preference. The best thing I've discovered about this book, besides the ease of the recipes, are the ingredients...most are already in your pantry unlike a lot of other cookbooks that require the purchase of a lot of pre-made products or off the wall items that you will never use again.

If I had to list one warning, it would be that I don't recommend this book for the "gourmet" chef who enjoys making everything from scratch and being in the kitchen all day. The recipes are made for busy families who want to eat healthy and still have time for the rest of life's activities. It's been a great purchase!

When I first started looking through this book I marked all the recipes I wanted to make, I had tons of recipes marked. There are sooooo many recipes in this book that sound delicious, and they are actually 300 calories or less.

Once I started trying the recipes the results were very mixed. Some recipes such as the blue cheese burgers are delicious, and my whole family loved them. I think adding the oats to the burgers is genius, it makes it better for you and you can't even taste it. Then there are other recipes that just don't turn out tasting good. I made quite a few recipes that my family clearly told me not to make again. Some recipes were just throwing already done ingredients together, which can be nice on a busy weeknight but I don't need a recipe book to know how to add canned chili to cornbread.

Another small complaint is I wish there were more pictures, but I always love cookbooks with lots of pictures.

Overall this is a good cookbook, but not great. If you are looking for a low calorie recipe book with simple recipes this is a good cookbook to add to your collection.