Hungry Girl

April 28, 2008
Though she freely admits she's neither a nutritionist nor a doctor, more than 400,000 subscribers rely on author Lillien's "Hungry Girl" e-newsletter for healthy eating tips. In this congenial compilation, most of which is new to the book, she gives dieters a breakfast-to-dinner approach to eating lighter with scores of easy to prepare dishes. Lillien's recipes enlist low-cal substitutes for traditional ingredients; diet lemon-lime soda and sugar-free powdered lemonade drink mix, for example, go into her Magical Low Calorie Margarita. In some cases, such as her Rockin' Restaurant Spinach Dip, Cheesy Chicken Quesadilla and Dan Good Chili, she approximates high-calorie dishes without sacrificing too much in terms of flavor or texture. Unfortunately, those are the exceptions-the Ice Creamless Banana Split and Cheery Chocolate Cheesecake Nuggets (which calls for diet hot cocoa mix, Splenda, fat free cream cheese and sugar free chocolate syrup) taste more like punishment than dessert. Salads are well represented, though few are served with any kind of dressing, and meat dishes can run sky high in sodium. Tips for smart eating at the office, holiday parties, trips and the movies are appreciated, but the book would have benefited from the input of a licensed nutritionist or dietician.

April 15, 2008
Lillien started her web site, www.hungry-girl.com, in 2003, and she now has close to 400,000 subscribers to her free daily e-newsletter. She doesn't have a food background but describes herself as a "foodologist," someone who is "obsessed with foods that taste great but don't pack on the pounds." Like the newsletter, the book includes recipes, food and nutrition factoids, and "Hungry Girl Hints" and other strategies. The recipes rely heavily on low-fat, low-calorie products and other convenience foods'Kickin' Chicken Pot Pie, for example, is made with frozen mixed vegetables, fat-free cream of celery soup, reduced-fat biscuit dough, and chicken (that's it). Whether they taste great is debatable, but many of the soups, salads, and main courses are very high in sodium. Nevertheless, Hungry Girl has many fans, and there is sure to be demand.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.