Author: Randi Lee Levin
Publisher: The Muffin Lady Inc.
Published: Nov 2010 (not currently available in UK)
ISBN: 0974500836
Author's website: http://www.themuffinlady.com/
Rating 4/5
The cover in this is comical, but it gets the message across. Over-feeding your family and those you love will not help their health.
I was intrigued when a review of this was requested. It's not been long since Jamie Oliver aired his food revolution about saving America's health by changing the way schools and families ate....something which is just as applicable in the UK. As a family we were shocked by the amount of junk food available on main menus in schools, and in the homes of those shown.....anyway, I digress, I jumped at the chance to review this, as I'm always looking for better ways to help our family.
As a reader I felt as if Randi was taking me by the hand and gently giving me advice, the kind of advice I'd receive from a close relative if needed. It comes across as no nonsense, and shows you how to tell if your child is overweight, and how you can help change their foods for the better. A lot of what is in here I think is common sense. If you're a family which has these issues then this book will expand your comfort zones and help you realise that change is a good thing. What Randi encourages you to do is cook from scratch (something I do most of the time).
Some of the recipes sound delicious, eg 'Heavenly Mashed Potatoes' - I'd never thought of adding cauliflower to mash, swede yes, cauliflower...I'll try it. If you're a Brit reader (if this becomes available in the UK), it may be helpful to have a Brit/US glossary...I know what Zucchini's are...but Acorn Squash?? Is that Butternut Squash? I'm not sure.
I enjoyed the information that was dotted around for those with diary intolerance (1 member of our family has this). I do disagree with a few of the statements made...'In summary, children will eat the food choices you give them' Hmmm, this one for me is hard to swallow, maybe I need toughing up more when it comes to being rigid with meals. Last niggly one, Randi suggests that kids could eat 3 cookies a day, or maybe a Giant Chipper Oat Cookie - which would take a child all day to eat...you haven't met my kids :O) A cookie wouldn't last a day with them, and I'm fine with that as they aren't obese. (I should I add, the cookies we make aren't plate sized). They only have cookies about once a week, not everyday....but Randi's point is probably geared to someone who feeds their child excessive amounts of cookies in that case. Some of the generalizations in the pages won't be applicable to everyone I guess. I can see where this book would help those who need it though, and as the main cook in the family it's given me food for thought, and some great recipes to try.
Randi encourages you to get creative. I like the idea of encouraging exercise...even if a child doesn't like sports, get them to help out in a sports group or similar, in time they'll become part of that community and gain respect and more self esteem through it, I like the idea...not sure how it would work in practice though.
All in all, I love the recipes and am looking forward to trying them out. I like the easy no nonsense approach that Randi gives, and the illustrations dotted around the book are fun also. The mantra 'Love More, Feed Less' is a good one.
Source: Author, for an honest review.
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