Healthy Exchanges Cookbook

Featuring more than 150 easy recipes using common ingredients, a cookbook originally self-published by the author offers healthy alternatives that taste good for those who want to control weight and eat foods appropriate for heart conditions and other health problems.

You know the drill: to lose those extra pounds that have been adding up, you resolve to follow a plan of rigorous exercise and strict dieting. You stick with it for a week or two, then--just when you're breaking out the celery sticks and rice cakes for lunch--somebody shoves a chocolate brownie under your nose, and it's all over! Author Joanna Lund is all too familiar with the dieter's roller coaster; by her own estimation, she has shed at least 1,000 pounds--and regained at least 1,150--over the years. Finally, she realized the secret was to aim for a healthier lifestyle rather than a miraculous instant weight loss. Pretty soon, she was cooking up new recipes that were low in fats, sugars, and sodium; easy to make; and delicious to eat. These recipes are at the heart of Healthy Exchanges.

Lund's goals are twofold: to exchange old, bad habits for new, healthy ones, and to exchange ingredients that are high in fat and sugar for those that--although lower in such contents--still retain the original flavor, appearance, and aroma. Plus, she says, "If it takes longer to fix it than it takes to eat it, forget it!" Lund takes the deprivation out of low-fat diets: pizza, banana cream pie, and tacos are all on the menu, in addition to green salads, soups and pastas. Healthy Exchanges Cookbook doesn't promise to melt those pounds off overnight, but it does guarantee a healthier approach to eating that will benefit every member of the family.