Hungry Girl Cookbooks...anyone have one?

[isaacsmom]

I'm looking for some new lower calorie recipes and have heard some people in my WW group talking about the Hungry Girl cookbooks. I see they are on sale at Amazon...300 under 300, 1-2-3, and 200 under 200. They all qualify for free shipping so you can get all three for $37.20. Just wondering if any of you have any of them and if so what you think of them. I'm trying to decide if I *need* them or not.

[Jengerbread88]

I have her first book (http://www.amazon.com/Hungry-Girl-Su...3791052&sr=8-4), and to be honest, I rarely use it.
It's not that the recipes aren't amazing, because they are, but it's that a few of them are impractical for my budget and lifestyle. I can't see myself shelling out the money it costs to buy Tofu Shirataki noodles for Alfredo, when I can buy whole wheat pasta SO much cheaper.

There ARE a lot of good recipes, though, mostly in the dessert section, that use Pumpkin, and I feel like it's a worthwhile cookbook for me if I stick to the recipes with "normal" ingredients. But for me, to get some of the ingredients in her cookbook, it means a 45 minute drive, so it never turned out to be worth it to me in the end. We did try her Fiber One Chicken Strips, and those were very good, so I feel like SOME of her recipes are great. I just think it's hit or miss.

And, you have to really understand her philosophy of weight loss for it to work for you. But, nice thing is, WW points are posted online if you're a WW girl.

I have friends who live by Hungry Girl, and I have friends who hate Hungry Girl. Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle- I think some are good, some are bad, and it's a matter of personal preference. I just don't want to tell you the books are worth it, when honestly, I found plenty of excellent recipes on her website and I use it WAY more than I ever use the cookbook.

[Traci Reed]

I have the first one and tried a couple recipes and wasn't impressed. DEFINITELY tasted like diet food.

[MamaBee]

She has a daily newsletter that you can sign up for... and she sends out recipes every few days so you can try them to see if you like them. Or maybe your library has them... that is what I did... I borrowed them and the books I like best I purchased.

I have to admit, I've become a bit obsessed with her recipes lately... but I do not follow them 100%. I'm not big into "diet" substitutes like butter spread or egg beaters... I use the real thing... so maybe that is why to me they aren't really diet food tasting. I've probably have made 30 or so dishes or hers and my hubby has loved 99% of them. I think her later cookbooks are better than the first one...

[isaacsmom]

Thanks girls!!! Checking them out at the library is a great idea! Most people I have talked to at WW are kind of "in the middle" too...some of them love them and some of them don't find the books as useful.

[Stacey42]

I like them but like Rebecca I don't use the diet substitutions, I use real butter & eggs because our eating plan is more of a whole foods thing. I also sub out the pricey or hard to find stuff like the noodles. Which means I mostly use her recipes as a starting point & since I don't do WW the points change doesn't matter to me. My friend on WW doesn't like the diet substitutions but doesn't want to deal with the points if she uses the real stuff so she gave me her copies of the books