Cook This, Not That!: Kitchen Survival Guide

"COOK THIS, NOT THAT, Kitchen Survial Guide" by David Zincenko and Matt Goulding, is far more than just a cookbook! Where other cookbooks often do not picture every completed recipe, this cookbook pictures not only every single home-made receipe, but also their restaurant equivialents -- and shows how much money one can save, and how many calories one can save, by making the home-made version, for each and every recipe! Chapter One: The Truth About Your Food, gives Nutrition charts, (such as "Who Blew Up The Food", showing calorie comparisons of home-made, ready-made supermarket, and restaurant dishes), Five reasons that home-cooking can improve your life, and gives the lie to the statement: "But I don't have time to cook". Charts of the best meats, dairy, fats and carbs, (all quite detailed, with an explainitory essay on the food group being analyzed),is also included, (a bit small in the print here, though), Selected "Nutrition Nuggets" fill two pages, with such random revelations as "Your blood sugar rises 39 per cent lessif you toast your white bread", and "People who eat with napkins in their laps tend to have lower bodymass indexes". Chapter 2 deals with recommended kitchen equipment, and pantry staples -- all nicely illustrated to make you want to get started, and to make your mouth begin to water!Included also is two pages of "Kitchen Wisdom", with random revelations such as: "Oops, tooo much salt? Use a splash of vinegar to provide a founter-blancing pinch of acid and sweetness", and "More Pucker for the Price! Zap lemons, limes, or oranges for 15 seconds in the microwave before squeezing them. The fruit will yield twice as much juice!" A discussion of "Breakfast" in Chapter 3 yields an introductory essay, a list, (and pictures), of 21 common supermarket cereals, from best to worse; a two page spread of 13 easily made, very nutricious home-made "instant breakfasts", This is followed by about two dozen receipies, which can be had at breakfast or throughout the dau, all with pictures of both the restaurnt and home-made versions and the listing of the savings in money and of calories, in the home-made version. Little boxes carry extra information in many of these receipes, here, and throughout the book.There are 12 chapters in this book, all with recipies for home-made versions, comparisons between the home-made and restaurant versions, (the resraurants in question are always named), pictures of both the home-made and restaurant version, and often, little nuggest of kitchen wisdom and nutrition tips. Chapter titles range from "Breakfast" to "Ethnic Dishes", (although the range of Ethnic Dishes is So great I feel it could fill a separate volume....or two, or five volumes....at the very least.) A full index ends the book.So this is not just a cookbook. It is a money-saving manual, and a nutrition and food knowledge book as well. All on wonderful, high quality "slick" paper, with coloured illustrations on every page, and of a size easily carried in one hand.This cookbook-cum-nutrition-cum-money-saving-book is delightful, and truly makes you WANT to start cooking these and other dishes!A real winner! Yum!

This is an amazing little cookbook. I grew up in Santa Fe, NM a culinary capitol for wonderful food, which makes me very picky about what I eat. Everything must have a lot of flavor, delicious, and when I am cooking, easy. I have made scores of dishes out of other highly recommended cook books and found myself disappointed. This book has recipes that would please any pallete. If someone is new to cooking it is a fabulous starting point. There are instructions on creating a kitchen filled with all of the right untensils and cookware. There are sections on what brands to buy at the grocery store (I bought this after getting both  Eat This Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution , and  Eat This Not That! 2010: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution ) Both of which I also love. You learn what to look for when buying products. I am a pretty smart shopper, and try to eat a lot of Organic foods and fresh foods. Each recipe can be made with or without Organic, depending on your preference, and budget.I have been spending far less on groceries since I bought this book in part because I now make a grocery list, and a meal plan for the week. I have loved almost every recipe I have made. The tortilla soup is among the best I have ever had, which says a lot. I frequently make the blueberry pancakes and chicken fajitas. The french roast is to die for. The only recipe I was not very found of was the pork chile verde- I think it would be better with homemade tomatillo sauce. The deserts are fabulous. Each recipe fits on one page and is clear, concise, and easy to follow. The ingredients needed are also listed on that same page. There are bonus mini-recipe suggestions in between sections with ideas for quick appetizers or marinades. There are tons of recipes in this little book.This book covers breakfast, lunch: sandwhiches, salads, soups, appetizers, there are recipes for the grill, ethnic styls dishes, classic American dishes, pastas, and deserts. Each calls for relatively easy to find items at the grocery store (I live in a small town right now and cannot find Martin Potatoe Rolls for the life of me). One nice thing is that even if you cannot find the exact product you learn what to look for as an alternative.This is not intended for vegetarians or vegans: but it would not be hard to convert many of the recipes to meet vegetarian needs. Vegan would be a a little trickier. Anyways, I LOVE THIS COOKBOOK! I think everyone should have a copy in their household- it's easy, delicious, low calorie, and fast! You can easily learn about eating the right portions. I feel better physically when I eat food out of this cookbook- it's low impact calorie, fat, and sodium wise, packed with nutrients, and tastes amazing. I don't feel stressed about cooking. The price is right for such a wonderful product.

I absolutely love this cookbook and can't wait to try out some of the new recipes this is the perfect cookbook for people who don't like to cook but want to eat healthier by making quick easy meals at home. You can always substitute ingredients and modify the recipes to your own liking as well or even leave stuff out that doesn't appeal to you. For example instead of buying an entire pack of bacon and dicing it in small strips, you can always buy a small bottle of real bacon bits, as a substitute for mayo you can use greek yogurt, pesto or aioli and on p.134 for homemade gyros instead of buying a 2lb butterflied leg of lamb just buy lamb filets in a value pack, you can always cut up the lamb into strips yourself or visit your local butcher and ask them to slice it for you, and if you don't like lamb you can always substitute it for chicken, shrimp or pork or anyone of your favorite meats. This book definitely gets you to think creavtively and make smarter food choices when you go to the grocery store, it's also perfect for a busy college student who doesn't like to cook but wants to eat healthier on the go and wants to whip up something quick in the kitchen. Most of these ingredients can be found at your local grocery store or in specialty stores like Trader Joes, Sprouts or Fresh and Easy, Target and Walmart Super Centers may carry some of these ingredients as well. Best of luck and happy cooking :))

This is an interesting American book with some calorie information and some very good ideas for substituting healthier quickly dooked foods. The US is a fast food culture, and we are also going that way, so it has real relevance. The ingredients and measurements are American, though.

Book is ok, Alot of it is American based but alot of the ingrediants or simular can be found. But on a whole there are some nice and simple menus in there to try

This book is really good if you do a lot of chain resturant eating. It gives you the restuarant calories on different meals, then the home made version, you can certainly cut down an incredible amount of calories on all of the recipes. an excellent subsitute for chain food. Only draw back is its mostly American Food. Mags

Just what I was looking for.

I hadn't expected the dimensions of this book to be so small. However, there's ample material therein with some good advice and information. Expand your research, though (don't only use this book, which focuses more on calories than nutrition).