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Summary: great family-friendly recipes!
Review: I'm always looking for healthy, nutritious meals to feed my family. There are so many great recipes in this book - and everyone loves them! From meatloaf to mac & cheese, from muffins to cookies - everything we've tried has been excellent! Plus, so many of the recipes are good enough to serve company - and cheaper than eating at a restaurant. Even if you don't follow Marilu's health and diet plan, you'll love these recipes. They're amazingly good, and good for you, too!
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Summary: The Book That Shows You It's Not Impossible To Cook Healthy
Review: I'm not really much of a cook, but I found this new 384 page book interesting to read and I gained significant knowledge on cooking and eating healthy. My wife found the 200 recipes easy to understand and promises to try a good many of them. Many of the recipes are dairy-free and sugar-free (collected from major chefs all over the world). There's no question in my mind that by using even a few of her recipes and suggestions you can improve your overall health and still enjoy eating a variety of meals. You'll learn that by using a few easy steps, you can have a "health factory" right in your home that will benefit your entire family. Even the kids will enjoy many of the healthful dishes that can be easily prepared. You'll learn how to choose the healthiest brands and products and the best ways to prepare foods for maximum benefit. As a bonus, she shows you what harmful chemicals and preservatives that you'll immediately find in your own kitchen. This year 2000 book is really up to date when it comes to the current thinking on family food and nutrition. Everyone can gain at least something from this new book. Add it to your cook book and health book library. Your whole family will thank you.
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Summary: the perfect cookbook
Review: I'm not vergetarian, but I am dairy free. After looking for a cookbook with dairy-free recipes for quite some time with no luck, Marilu's book came at the perfect time. After reading some of the other comments, I do want to say that if you are truly ready to make the changes in your life and get rid of the sugar, dairy, caffeine, chemicals, etc., this book will help you to no end. Marilu may not be a nutritionist, and she never claims to be, by the way -- but she has lived a life of healthy food and she looks great! That's enough of a "credential" for me. Marilu speaks what she knows and her books are undeniably life-changing. However, you have to be ready to make the changes and drop any resistance. I really enjoy some of the new features in this cookbook, like the cost guide, where the meals fit in on the color rainbow, and the complexity level. Never being much of a cook before I did Total Health Makeover, Marilu's easy recipes made me feel like a gourmet chef. I knew next to nothing about health foods and, armed with Marilu, she made going grocery shopping fun. And to those who think her meals are pricy, think about eating out in restaurant...in what it costs to buy a meal for one, you can cook for your family, or have lunchtime leftovers for a few days. Trust me, the book and the program will comepletely change your life if you let it!! You'll have more consistent energy, you'll feel like a million bucks, and perhaps most importantly, you'll look better :-)
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not so practical
Review: I've been looking for a book that could give me a good background and details on how I could modify my diet since some health problems in my family and made me focus on my health recently. The best part of this book is not the recipies at all, it's the desciption of how red meat, dairy, refined suger etc., may contribute to diseases such as heart disease, cancer, weight gain and other problems. It also has a chart that explains what kinds of foods you shouldn't mix. O.K., so I admit those 10 (?) pages were helpful. The recipies I found a bit elaborate. I'm not saying the food is bad (I loved the sweet potato and spinach recipe), but most of the recipies just aren't very practical for everyday cooking. It was still worth it to get the book as an introduction to healthier eating habits and to understand some of the virtues of a vegetarian diet.
Rating: 
Summary: Some tasty recipes...a little confusion too
Review: I, like several of the other reviewers, have read all of Marilu Henner's books and have given up dairy, meat, caffeine, sugar (and wheat too...although she doesn't suggest this, it's just what I decided to do). This book is very helpful in many ways: the walk thru the health food store is great! It provided me with some trusted name brands that I could look for when shopping. I also appreciated her comments on food additives that are dangerous, as well as her section on natural alternatives to cleaning agents. Very helpful. I have tried several of the recipes and found them to be quite delicious. Granted, they may taste 'different' than what we may be used to, but I found them to be very, very good, and since I have decided to adopt this lifestyle, they are great to have on hand. I love the fact that you can really 'taste' the pureness of the food. I didn't give this book 5 stars because I found some subjects to be a bit confusing: ie: the section on food combining---I still get confused over proteins and starches. especially when it comes to nuts, seeds and soy products.I think she could have spent a bit more time on that section. Overall however, I feel great and appreciate Ms. Henner's approach. She has definitely opened my eyes!
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Summary: food combining-contradictions
Review: In your books under the basic rules of food combining you say do not mix fruit with proteins, starches or any kind of vegetable, yet you provide us with recipes doing just that, page 109, blueberry crunch muffins ( blueberries, starches and protein all in one recipe). This is just one recipe amoung others. I would like to know , am I missing something? I dont get it. Would someone please clarify, justify and explain this combo to me and other confused people. In general, I found Healthy Life Kitchen an informative book with good reference material. I'm just a little confused regarding food combining. P.S. Does Marilu Henner have a web-site or e-mail address? If so, would someone please forward it to me. My e-mail address is: Spirit2025@hotmail.com Thanks a mill! Nancy
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Summary: Very Well Organized
Review: It is very easy to be intimidated by the food combining concept. However, Healthy Life Kitchen is easy to read and is well organized. Marilu walks you through a health food store and recommends certain brands (thus, less homework for us). She even created a basic shopping list. The charts of healthy substitutions and sweetener conversions are very useful. The chart on additives was a real eye opener for me. I didn't realize all the garbage I was putting into my body and my children's bodies. (I've been a bodybuilder for years and thought I knew it all!)The recipes are also wonderful. There is a number of easy to prepare and tasty meals. I'm very excited about this book!
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Summary: ANOTHER WINNER!
Review: Marilu has done it again - Outstanding! Delicious recipes and good for you too. If you follow her advice, you will feel like a new person. Do it, now!
Rating: 
Summary: Somethings foods just can't be substituted!
Review: Most of the recipes call for soy based food substitutions and I tried several. I found the cheeses to be gross tasting and they leave a terrible after taste. They are also very expensive in this part of the country. The macaroni and cheese cost me $7.50 to make and it tasted awful. I made it three times using different brand soy substituted cheeses. It made no difference. Forget the cheese based recipies. Everyone that I made was bad. My favorites were the recipe's that called for everyday inexpensive ingredients like beans, rice, fresh veggies, etc. I also like a lot of the seafood recipes. Mary Lu does list all the brands and specific descriptions of the foods and that was the best thing about the book. I would not suggest that anyone waste their money on this book unless you like all soy products.
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Summary: Good eating!
Review: My search for delicious and healthy recipies was over with this book. I bought the book after seeing Marilu on the cover. While she's a little older, she looks much better than I do. I thought if she can look like that, maybe her healthy ways might work for me. I like the diversity of her recipies. They are very easy to make and don't taste "healthy". I also like how she showcased some wonderful recipies for tofu. My husband never knew he wasn't eating chicken. I really like this book and think you will too.
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