Cook Yourself Thin: Skinny Meals You Can Make in Minutes

The CYT of recipes use tricks and lots of fresh ingredients that taste as good, if not better than their unhealthy counterparts. What I love about these books, is unlike The Hungry Girl cookbooks, they never rely on diet food ingredients laced with chemicals to make a low calorie meal. Instead dishes are bulked up with lots of fresh fruit and veggies, tasty herbs, and small amounts of oil, butter, and cheese. I also really like You Can Trust a Skinny Cook, by one of the hosts of CYT. Same concept,-real ingredients, fresh ideas.

I decided to buy this book after watching the TV show, and I'm so glad that I did. Making these changes has helped me lose weight and feel better!What I really like about this cookbook is that it's comprised of more than just recipes. The book begins with a breakdown of their philosophy. It analyzes what type of eater you are and the problems that this will cause you on your road to weight loss. The book gives you a simple calculation to determine what your daily caloric intake should be in order to get to your ideal weight. It then talks about dietary swaps. It's not about giving foods up -- it's about making smart substitutions. You can eat your chocolate cake, but there are several things you have to do differently in the baking process. Then it gives you an actual list that shows you the "bad" ingredients and the "good" ingredients that you can use as substitutions.I've cooked up a LOT of these recipes, and I can't taste the difference between the healthier dish and my old, fattening one. In fact, a lot of them actually taste better!They've published another book: Cooking Yourself Thin Faster. It's another collection of yummy recipes, and it's definitely worth buying.

My mom and I started watching this show on hulu, and got really excited about it! At first, we were printing the recipes from their web page; but I was using them so often that I decided I wanted the cookbooks, and I am not sorry I bought them! Tonight we made the steak and cauliflower 'mashed potatoes.' So amazingly tender and delicious! Mom and I couldn't believe the flavor and tenderness we got from that $8 steak! I feel like they have told me all the little secrets to eating well while not eating high calorie foods. I plan on continuing to make meals this way-Lasagna will always be layered with less cheese, more veggies and herbs and still be amazingly delicious. My girls will grow up thinking that's the only way to make lasagna!We love the cheezy Chicken parmesan with zucchini 'pasta' !!! wow!The mushroom and spinach quiche with potato crust...the only way to eat quiche!Turkey chili crunch (packed with carrots, I added more chili seasoning for my taste).Spinach and mushroom veggie lasagna (totally satisfying, and no meat!).Ultimate sausage cheese pizza(tried with all different toppings and tons of veggies).chicken tetrazzini(use up your leftovers in this easy classic, no canned soup allowed).Don't forego dessert, just do it smart. We love:Vanilla Cupcakes(with whole wheat flour)Red velvet cupcakes(my husband hates beets, but loves these!)Chocolate brownie with raspberries and white chocolate chips.(I chopped up strawberries)Carrot cake(my mom said it's the best she's ever had, and she orders it often)That's all we have tried so far...I'm becoming confident that we will be happy with each and every one.The one complaint I have is that it often requires many pots and pans and several cooking techniques in order to complete one meal. It can add up to quite a pile of dishes, but I just figure I'm burning calories during the clean-up!p.s. I have dropped a dress size in about 6 weeks!p.s.s buy Cook yourself thin faster, and start with Coconut chicken and tropical salsa

Okay, so I've cooked more recipes from this book than I have some of the other cookbooks sitting on my shelf, but I have to say, there is the occasional detail missing from one or another recipe. For instance, for the 'Vanilla and Strawberry Sponge Cake', strawberries are called for twice, once in filling and once in icing, but the instructions are confusing with respect to how to work the strawberries in. When you're told to top the filling with half the strawberries, it's actually 'top with all the strawberries listed as part of the filling'. With the roasted veggies in truffle oil, we're instructed to mix in truffle oil with olive oil and then roast for 45 min - I suspect you're actually supposed to add the truffle oil in with just a few minutes left to roast - that's how most work with truffle oil. But it's these sort of mistakes that are laced here and there among the recipes.

I have seen a few of the shows on TV and was interested to get the recipes I saw + a few more from the cooks. The book does contain all the recipes I saw them do on TV.This is not really a 'diet' cookbook. Its more of a lifestyle cookbook, showing you how you can cook your favorite foods without adding all the excess calories but not lose the good taste. IE, one thing that is used a lot is zuccini, as its a good moist vegetable that can be used a a filler in stuffed shells, so you consume less fatty cheese, or in cupcakes instead of a fattier alternative. But you would not really even know its there because the taste is so good.I would highly recommend this cookbook if you want to simply cut a lot of calories out of your meals without losing the taste.The only downside I find to the book is that all the dishes are not pictured, I like to see what something needs to look like when you are done. There are some pictures, but not for every dish.

Enjoying this book I chose. Wonderful recipes ! I look forward to some weight loss over the next couple of weeks. Recipe instructions are simple and not that expensive to prepare. Will share this gift Recipe book with others.

A+ Fantastic

sometimes I can't get all the ingredients in Portugal

good.

Its a good book if you have the time to cook, if you are pressed for time, like I am most days, it is quite difficult to live by.

After seing the tv show, I bougth the book. Love the recicipes especialy the desserts chapter.