Pop Quiz: Do your meal options rotate between fast food, ramen noodles, and anything that isn’t covered by a thick layer of mold in your fridge? Was the last thing you “cooked” a bowl of cereal? Are you sometimes forced to forgo lunch after opening your wallet only to find lint and the stench of financial destitution?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, chances are you’re either my long-lost twin or the average college student. Between studying hard, working harder, and drinking hardest of all, we barely have time to eat a meal — let alone prepare one that’s actually good for us. Luckily, the nutritional masterminds at Hungry Girl have come up with another great cookbook for those of us who are busy, broke, kitchen illiterate, and in dire need of a healthy meal, or at least food that doesn’t come out of a vending machine. Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200: 200 Recipes Under 200 Calories is a service to the college community (and those of us on perpetual diets), covering a wide assortment of meals, snacks, and desserts complete with easy-to-follow instructions and extremely low calorie counts.
Lisa Lillen and her Hungry Girl website (www.hungry-girl.com) have gained fame since the site’s 2006 inception and first cookbook, Hungry Girl: Recipes and Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World. The site features a “Top Ate” list of calorie-saving cooking swaps (including using canned pumpkin instead of eggs and oil for baked goods) that are incorporated throughout its recipes, many of which are tailored as low-calorie alternatives to restaurant food or fatty home-style favorites.
Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200 continues in this fashion, providing the reader with 200 delicious low-calorie recipes for breakfasts, appetizers, salads, mini-meals, drinks, and desserts. Though some of the titles may be a little bubbly and annoying — for example: “Totally PUMPin’ Fettuccine,” “Super Duper Strawberry Shortcake,” and “Crazy-Crumbly Super-Yummy Coffee Cake” — the recipes themselves are solid. Many sport only a few ingredients or reuse low-calorie Hungry Girl staples to cut down on grocery costs. Plus, each recipe comes with a helpful nutritional information bar for those who are counting calories.
The only downside to Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200 is that many of recipes yield smaller portions in order to cut down on fat. This may be perfect for preparing a snack for one, but if you’re craving an entire meal because you’re actually a hungry girl, plan on cooking several different things. Also, though most recipes are so scrumptious it’s hard to believe they’re low-fat, there are a few ingredient substitutions that are by no means delicious. These include Tofu Shirataki noodles, which taste like rubber, and Fiber One bran cereal, which is used as a substitute for deep frying but just makes everything taste like it’s covered in grain.
Despite its few letdowns, Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200 is a solid cookbook full of great ideas. Pick it up now to ensure you make it through finals week with some much needed nutrition.
CINNAMON-VANILLA FRENCH TOAST NUGGETS
What you’ll need:
What to do:
SMOTHERED PIG IN A BLANKET
What you’ll need:
What to do:
— Recipes from Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200: 200 Recipes Under 200 Calories
