Shake Off the Sugar Cookbook : Not all Carbs are Created Equal

Rating:
Summary: A Cookbook You Will Use
Review: After using the wonderful recipes on the website, I decided to order the Shake Off the Sugar Cookbook. I like the larger size of the book, which makes it easy to read while using it in the kitchen. This book includes many delicious everyday recipes, but also contains recipes for entertaining. You can have a lovely dinner party using this book, and every guest would enjoy their meal. The yummy recipes often use whole grains, healthy fats and are formulated with extra fiber. It is also nice to have the glycemic index handy, along with all the other helpful information about how to follow a nutritious low glycemic or low carbohydrate diet. Some of the tips and advice are written as lists, making them easy to read and understand. I highly recommend this cookbook for anyone wanting to improve his or her diet.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Cookbook
Review: I love this cookbook and am mystified by the negative review. The recipe instructions are easy to follow and the results are delicious, healthy dishes. This book has helped me to focus on all the wonderful foods I can have on a low glycemic diet, and I no longer feel deprived of great tasting foods. Even better, I no longer crave sweets after following the author's easy-to-understand advice. In fact, many sweetened foods now taste unpleasantly sweet to me. In addition, my triglycerides and cholesterol are down and I feel better than I have in years.

The whole family can enjoy and benefit from these recipes without feeling they are on a "diet". No need to cook separate dishes for yourself. Even my daughter, who is in college and suffers from PCOS, has learned to choose her foods more carefully by reading the first part of this book. She is losing weight and received improved results from her last blood tests.

I like the variety of recipes, from appetizers to desserts. The meat recipes are interesting and varied, and every one I have tried has been delicious. The whole wheat cheese bread is especially good - better than other whole wheat bread recipes I have tried. I also love both the cheese and nut pastry recipes that make a super substitute for pastry with refined flour.I highly recommend this cookbook. This cookbook doesn't sit on my shelf. I actually use it!

Rating:
Summary: A Great Cookbook
Review: This book seemed promising. It was in fact very disappointing. The glycemic index chart is one column down the center of one page and halfway down a second. There is more comprehensive information on the glycemic index available on the internet.

There are a few pages of shopping information which really didn't teach me anything.

Her favorite substitute for sugar is Splenda. You don't need a cookbook for that. The substitution ratios are on the back of the Splenda box last time I looked. I was disappointed in this aspect of the book. It seemed lazy. I was expecting something healthier and more creative than just substituting the newest chemical for sugar.

As far as recipes go I have the most trouble finding healthy alternatives for sugar in desserts, cookies, quick breads, puddings. There wasn't a lot in this book to help with that. Beside the rather lame advice to use whole wheat flour in place of white flour (they cause almost the same glycemic reaction) she didn't offer much. The recipes that make up most of this book were for things that don't contain much in the way of sugar to begin with. If you substitute the flour and Splenda there wasn't much difference between her recipes and anyone elses. Besides, how much trouble do you have with the sugar content of your Veal Piccata?

Save your money and skip this book. You can find more and better information just from surfing the internet.

Rating:
Summary: Don't bother
Review: This book seemed promising. It was in fact very disappointing. The glycemic index chart is one column down the center of one page and halfway down a second. There is more comprehensive information on the glycemic index available on the internet.

There are a few pages of shopping information which really didn't teach me anything.

Her favorite substitute for sugar is Splenda. You don't need a cookbook for that. The substitution ratios are on the back of the Splenda box last time I looked. I was disappointed in this aspect of the book. It seemed lazy. I was expecting something healthier and more creative than just substituting the newest chemical for sugar.

As far as recipes go I have the most trouble finding healthy alternatives for sugar in desserts, cookies, quick breads, puddings. There wasn't a lot in this book to help with that. Beside the rather lame advice to use whole wheat flour in place of white flour (they cause almost the same glycemic reaction) she didn't offer much. The recipes that make up most of this book were for things that don't contain much in the way of sugar to begin with. If you substitute the flour and Splenda there wasn't much difference between her recipes and anyone elses. Besides, how much trouble do you have with the sugar content of your Veal Piccata?

Save your money and skip this book. You can find more and better information just from surfing the internet.

Rating:
Summary: A Helpful Cookbook & Guide
Review: This well-organized cookbook has been very helpful to me. I have owned this book for nearly a year, and I still use it fairly often. It contains great recipes using ingredients I can find easily in local grocery and health food stores. My family enjoys the dishes without feeling deprived, and we have all lost weight.

I had no idea as to how to begin making the changes to a low carb lifestyle. This book has guided me in making healthy changes in my diet and that of my family with advise, a variety of recipes, from breads to entrees to desserts. We are now cooking with whole grains, more fiber and healthier carbs and better understand the importance of making low glycemic food choices. Unlike a previous reviewer, I know how tricky it is to substitute whole grains for white flour. Whole grains are more nutrient rich than the refined flours, and many of the recipes in this cookbook have added fiber like oat and wheat bran. Although alternative sweeteners can often be substituted for sugar to achieve the same sweetness, the resulting dish can be a disappointment. This book contains recipes that combine sweeteners like granular alternatives, fructose, and agave, maintaining good taste and a decent texture in the recipes. I appreciate having recipes where the glitches have been worked out of this time-consuming substitution process.

The Shake Off the Sugar Cookbook has helped me to focus on the amount of fiber that is in the foods I choose. The simplified, straightforward suggestions for following a low glycemic diet, as well as the handy glycemic index of carbs, is also a nice resource to keep in the kitchen. Each recipe has nutrition counts, even food exchanges for diabetics. I highly recommend this book.