So, how's everyone's 2015 diet goals?

Marco Canora describes himself as a lifer, a professional chef for twenty years. He loves cooking and he loves food. However, like many people who enjoy cooking, it eventually caught up with Canora's health.

He had a wake-up call and decided to make some changes. He would cook healthier. He then created his ten principals for a good food day. These principals include: eating must be enjoyable, cooking empowers you to eat better, proper prior planning prevents poor performance, get in sync with Mother Nature, quality ingredients are everything, eat real food, be a conscious eater, a twinge of hunger isn't the end of the world. diversify, and make indulgences a guilt-free part of the program. His recipes are broken down into: breakfast, salads, vegetables, beans & lentils, great grains, fish, meat & poultry, snacks, and sweets.

So far, my husband and I have enjoyed the recipes I have made from this cookbook. My favorites include: New York City Jewish-Style Chicken Soup, Flavor-Pounded Chicken, and Ginger-Scallion Turkey Burgers.

Yet, some of the advice in the book needs to be taken with a grain of salt, so to say. If you eat a lot of fast food and switch to this book, you will be healthier. But if you already have a healthy diet, some of the recipes call for a lot of carbs and oil, and you probably won't see a difference. I applaud Canora for making personal changes. Still, he is in the business of making food taste good and it's easier for men to lose weight than women. So, that needs to be taken into consideration. Personally, the book includes many ideas that can be tweaked into a healthier recipe. Use fat-free Greek yogurt and leave the coconut oil behind.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this cookbook and Canora's story. For me, his snacks and sweets are a better choice to bring to large family gatherings over the commonly used traditions. For reluctant health eaters, this book would be a gentle introduction. It's a fair start to a good health day.

I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. ( )

I love the introduction about the author's warm testimony of moving towards better health and empowering readers to do so with creating food that tastes good and makes us feel good, too. First off, the road map for a good food day is laid out in 10 principles, along with an outline for necessary pantry supplies. I spent lots of time going over the salad, vegetable, beans and grain section and found it top notch. I came away with new delicious recipes in the snack and sweets section. The Lamb Stew and Mexican Chicken Soup are great choices. In addition, the Mushroom Barley Kale Soup is full flavored and leaves you wanting more. I especially like the Cream-Free Creamed Corn and learned how to remove corn kernels without them flying all around. Overall, you'll find delicious, simple, healthy meals inside. The author's writing style is down-to-earth, too. ( )

4.5 Stars
A good start for those readers who are new to the real or non-processed food movement. This book alternates between personal tidbits, useful info, and recipes. The recipes are easy to follow and many include gorgeous photos. This book is not a weight loss guide, but a suggestion on how to eat healthier without skipping flavor. The recipes include smoothies, breakfast, lunch or dinner (meats, salads, beans), veggies, snacks, and desserts. There isn't a nutritional value listed for the recipes, but again, the book focuses on eating real food instead of processed food. So far I've tried the Dark Berry Shake and the Mixed Berry Crumble and both are delicious. Looking forward to the minute steak and warm veggie salad.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. ( )

The beginning of a new year always brings on promises and goals to eat better and get more exercise.

Let’s face it, many of my fellow Americans are not in the best shape. Yes, there are many who care about their weight, health and appearance but a stroll around your local shopping center reveals many obese and well…unflattering figures.

In a society where you can grab a full “meal” at McDonalds (insert the name of any fast food joint) for only $5 an argument has been made that “we can eat cheaper this way instead of spending lots of money on fresh foods and healthier fare.” This statement has been has been repeated to me a few times and usually from individuals who are flat broke. It’s true, fresh fruit and vegetables are more expensive than these “meal deals” or prepackaged convenience foods. In the long run your health (and waistline) suffers with too much processed foods.

Stepping off my soap box now to talk to you about a new cookbook: A Good Food Day: Reboot Your Health with Food That Tastes Great by Marco Canora

As I mentioned earlier, many of us plan to eat better, start educating ourselves and persevere with quality meal plans. This is a book where Canora relays his story and how he transformed his meal plans and habits to lead a healthier life. He eats waaaay better than we do, what I mean is he is more dedicated to a completely natural regime of meal plans and foods and sticks with it. I admire that and will be incorporating many of his recipes into our meal rotations.

Most of the ingredients are easy to find, lots that are already in my pantry already, but there are some which you’ll need to go to Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or Earthfare. The section for snack foods is very useful to me as I get hungry during my day at work. It’s so easy to get the munchies so having a healthy alternative saves me from the usual array of sweets people tend to bring in. My will power can only hold out so long!

(Photos may be seen on my blog Novel Meals) ( )

Marco Canora’s A Good Food Day is a great book for anyone hoping to establish healthier—and more delicious—eating habits in 2015. A long-time chef, Canora had to rethink his eating practices after being diagnosed with type two diabetes. His kind of good food day is one that works well, not just for diabetics, but for people looking to add plant-based foods to their diets. There is a “Fish” chapter and a “Meat and Poultry” chapter, but my favorites were “Salads,” “Vegetables,” “Beans and Lentils,” and “Great Grains.”

These dishes have enough going on to make them interesting without demanding unreasonable prep and cooking time. We recently had Roasted Carrots with Millet and Mint-Pistachio Pesto for dinner (we often cook vegetable sides for four, then split them between the two of us as a full meal). The millet is toasted, which adds both flavor and texture. The mint-pistachio pesto is worth working up on its own, as well as using as part of this dish. If you don’t have millet, try wild or brown rice instead.

Tonight’s dinner was Spinach Salad with Roasted Fennel, Oil-Cured Olives, and Grapefruit. The roasted fennel is mixed warm into the rest of the ingredients, so the dish provides a variety of temperatures, as well as varieties of flavors and textures. As a general rule, I am not a subtle cook, so if I prepared this dish again, I might well double the amounts of fennel and grapefruit to push the flavor contrasts a bit more—but the fact that I’m thinking about variations doesn’t mean we were unsatisfied with the original recipe. It was a delight!

The one drawback to this book (at least from my perspective as one of Canora’s fellow type two diabetics) is that it doesn’t provide nutritional information for each dish. These are definitely healthy dishes, but I would like to know the crabs-to-protein ratios, if only to see which dishes I might pair up together.

If you’re trying to improve your eating habits in 2015, this is definitely a book you’ll want to check out. ( )