Tara Spencer

PCOS, Polycystic Ovarian syndrome, affects about 10% of western women. The author, Tara Spencer, is a sufferer of PCOS. After a decade, since her diagnosis, of experimentation and education about the syndrome, she has nearly eliminated her symptoms.

The Easy PCOS Diet Cookbook collection of recipes is designed to help sufferers with easy to make recipes. All of the recipes are either five ingredients, take less than 30 minutes to prepare, use only one pot or pan, are no-cook, or can be cooked in bulk to be reheated later.

Section One of the book covers reversing PCOS with the Insulin Resistance Diet. This section explains the role of insulin resistance in PCOS and offers dietary guidelines, provides a handy list of foods to enjoy, and which to avoid.

The end of Section One covers Setting Up Your Kitchen, listing the essential equipment for your kitchen, pantry essentials, and even provides a list of essential perishable foods. The Time and Money-Saving Shopping Tips give you various strategies you can use in the grocery store. A brief description of each for the recipe labels (5-ingredient, 30 minute, etc.) rounds out the end of the chapter.

The recipes chapters include:

Smoothies and Breakfast
Hearty Soups and Salads
Easy Appetizers and Sides
Vegan and Vegetarian Mains
Fish and Seafood Mains
Chicken and Turkey Mains
Beef and Pork Mains
Snacks and Sweet Treats
Sauces, Dressings, and Staples

There were only a few pictures throughout the book, those appear only at the beginning of each section. These pictures, however, do mention the name of the recipe and the page number for easy reference.

The ingredients required for the recipes are all easily sourced. I found that even the bulk cook recipes were easy, most recipes taking under an hour.

Each of the recipes indicates at the top what the benefit is (some are for weight management, others inflammation fighters, etc.) and all give the prep and cook times.

Each of the recipes also includes a brief description and brief instructions, all easy to follow. None of the recipes are terribly complicated and it is only the soups which have to simmer for a while (and the jam) which are time-consuming. All of the recipes end with a tip and the nutritional values.

Uncomplicated, And Something For Everyone

With most recipes for diets geared at a specific condition, it is a balancing act to ensure that the recipes will both help the sufferer but also please the rest of the family. I have no doubt that these recipes will do both.

After all of the recipes, you will find a Two-Week Meal Plan with Shopping Lists, a Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Food List, Measurements and Conversions Chart, and the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 List.

A brief resources page is followed by a brief references page. The two indexes available reference the recipes by Type, and by Title.

Even though I am thankfully not a PCOS sufferer, I found this book useful. The recipes are so easy that they will work for anyone and none appear as if they would skimp on flavor.

See the full review and the recipe for Pear and Fennel Pork Chops at The RecipesNow! Reviews And Recipes Magazine. This review is written in response to a complimentary hard copy of the book provided by the publisher in hopes of an honest review. Enjoy!… (plus d'informations)