The Migraine Relief Plan

When I posted a link to The Migraine Relief Plan by Stephanie Weaver on my Facebook page, a lot of people commented that there's no one-size-fits-all diet that can eliminate migraines.

While I agree, as a former migraine sufferer, I have to say that if someone had offered me any sort of plan, I would have followed along.

That said, I don't know if I could have followed a super-strict diet to combat the migraines. I think I might have slipped a lot. But then again, the point is to find out what our own personal triggers are, so you can eliminate those and continue eating other foods that aren't triggers.

While this book does have recipes, I think the most important part, for migraine sufferers, is the plan itself. It's a very structured way to figure out which foods are triggers and which ones are safe. There are some foods that affect a lot of people, and some foods that affect fewer people. So it's kind of important to know what your personal triggers are. And to be honest, I was surprise at how many foods are possible triggers. I knew a few of them, but ... wow, there are a lot! This book talks about all of those foods as possible triggers, but I'll bet that most folks aren't triggered by all of them.

My personal relationship with migraines started when I was very young. So young that I don't remember a time when I didn't occasionally have headaches once in a while. I was probably four years old, or even younger, when I first started getting migraines, so I lived with them for a looooong time.

Now, I can't really remember the last migraine I had. It's been a while. Many years. Two of my triggers were not food-related. One was hormonal swings, and I've outgrown those. The other was stress, and I've learned how to handle that a lot better.

My major food trigger, which might or might not still exist as a trigger, is red wine. While not all red wines affected me, I found it was pretty simple to just stick to white wines. I still avoid red wines, but it's not a big sacrifice. I've had some red wine over the years - a small glass at a tasting, or a sip here or there. But you won't find me splitting a bottle of merlot at dinner. Nope.

I suppose that at the height of my migraine episodes, there might have been other foods that were mild triggers, but I guess I'll never know. And I don't want to.

As far as the recipes in the book, I've looked through them, but I haven't made any of them, mostly because I don't stock a lot of the ingredients that are used for substitutes for migraine-trigger food. The recipes look good, but I think I'll leave them for someone else to try.

If you're a migraine sufferer and you want to figure out what your triggers are and you want to see some recipes that might work for you, take a look at this book. If you don't get migraines ... well, consider yourself lucky. Migraines are awful.

Skinny Suppers

Let's be honest. I'm not a big fan of diets or diet books. I'd rather eat a little bit of real ice cream than a quart of low-fat/low-sugar ice cream. I'd rather have a little bit of a good yogurt than a lot of a yogurt that tastes like sadness.

But I have no problem with recipes that cut back on calories without making flavor suffer. I have no problem with portion reduction. I have no problem with using lighter ingredients if they don't mess up the recipe. I use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream in a lot of recipes ... unless the recipe really needs sour cream.

So, when I got Skinny Suppers by Brooke Griffin, the first thing I looked for was any weird ingredients. Recipes in this book sometimes call for light mayonnaise, fat-free milk, or unsweetened jam. I'd probably use regular mayo and milk, because that's what I buy. I do like unsweetened jam, though. But I'm not morally opposed to any of those substitutions.

One recipe that called for cream cheese listed 1/3-less-fat cream cheese. That's not too bad. I've used that cream cheese and it works just fine in recipes. I've tried the fat-free cream cheese and disliked it, so I was happy that wasn't required. So that was a fine substitution.

I was a little skeptical about sugar-free maple-flavored syrup, though. I'd probably just use less of the real stuff and call it a day.

So, the ingredients passed my test - I was either okay with them, or I could substitute if I wanted to.

One surprising thing was how many brand names were specified. A pasta recipe, for example, called for Prego Light Smart Traditional pasta sauce. That's helpful as long as that product is for sale, but I thought it might be too specific. Does every store carry this particular sauce? I don't know. Other times, the recipes called for something generic (parmesan cheese) and then mentioned the brand that the author liked (for example, she often mentioned Barilla ProteinPLUS pasta as a favorite).

That specificity makes sense for diet recipes, since one brand of pasta sauce might have a lot more added sugar than another. Again, if you like another brand better, it's not going to kill the recipe. The calorie count might not be the same, but a lot of things affect the calorie count. Just how big is a medium onion?

The book has an interesting organization. Since it's all suppers, it couldn't be organized in the usual breakfast, appetizer, soup, salad, main ... sort of thing. And it's also not by seasons, as is pretty common these days.

Instead, it's beef suppers, casserole suppers, chicken and turkey suppers, pasta suppers, pork suppers, seafood suppers, soups and salads, vegetarian suppers, and side dishes. The edges of the pages in each section are a different color to make it easier to see where sections start and end.

The recipes are all things that I'd be happy making, and many of them are things that I already know how to make. But that's fine. I'm always willing to try new versions.

Some of the highlights in the book are the apple-stuffed pork tenderloin with Dijon mustard sauce (but I'd leave the raisins out), Italian chickpea salad, butternut squash risotto, slow cooker creamy chicken and wild rice soup, and blackened fish tacos with cilantro-lime slaw.

Overall, it's a solid book with recipes that are easy enough to be doable for most folks, but still with a lot of flavor. I doubt most eaters would feel deprived with any of these.

I received this book from the publisher for the purpose of a review.

Lose Weight by Eating

I'm not a huge fan of diet cookbooks in general. Usually I find that some of the recipes are okay, but the overall diet isn't something I could live with, long-term. Or there will be a lot of substitutions that I don't care for.

Lose Weight by Eating by Audrey Johns got my attention because of the title. It sounded like it might be different.

The introduction talks about how the recipes are comfort food, but slimmed-down. I think that makes more sense than severe restrictions. So far so good. And then it talked about using real foods rather than processed. I'm all for that, too.

Browsing through the book, the recipes were very similar to things I make all the time. More good news. One of the common substitutions was using turkey or chicken (or turkey or chicken sausage) instead of beef or pork. That works, too. And there were other recipes that used beef or pork. So it's not like you have to give them up entirely.

The only slight quibble I had with ingredients was the use of 0-percent-fat Greek yogurt and nonfat cream cheese in some of the recipes. It's not that I don't like Greek yogurt, but I find that the 0-percent versions often have extra ingredients, like thickeners, that aren't in the higher-fat versions. If you're subbing yogurt for sour cream or mayonnaise, then 2-percent or even full-fat yogurt offers a significant decrease in fat, And if you're trying to eat least-processed foods, then 2-percent or full-fat are probably a better bet.

As far as fat-free cream cheese ... well, I've tried it, but I just don't like it.

But my personal dislikes aren't a reason to avoid the book or the recipes. It's pretty simple to swap those ingredients, just like you could swap parsley for cilantro, if you wanted to. And of course some folks like the no-fat versions of yogurt and cream cheese - I'm just talking about my personal opinion.

As far as recipes, you'll find everything from breakfast to bread and from sandwiches to soup. And desserts and drinks, too. You certainly won't feel deprived!

I have to be honest and say that I probably won't launch myself into this diet, but I have bookmarked a few recipes, like the pesto chicken sandwich, stuffed shells, cilantro rice, stuffed baked potatoes, and salsa rice and chicken bake.

While the point of the book is to follow the diet, the book would also be handy for added some slimmed-down recipes to your repertoire. Like the barbecue turkey meatloaf instead of regular meatloaf.

I'm definitely going to try that one, too.

Italian Diabetes Cookbook by Amy Riolo

Photo from The Italian Diabetes Cookbook;

Used with permission.

I don't usually publish recipes here, but in this case, I think it's the best way to show you the type of recipes you'll find in this book.

I know that when a lot of folks think of diabetic recipes, they first think about what they'll miss, or they expect that the recipes will be dull or uninspired.

But, hey, if I didn't know that this was a diabetic cookbook, I might not realize it. You might think that you wouldn't find any pasta recipes, but ... they're there. Using whole wheat pasta.

Another pasta recipe - and the one I have bookmarked to make next - is actually spaghetti squash. Okay, it's not pasta, but it's good stuff. The one I have bookmarked has shrimp, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and tomatoes, among other things. Doesn't that sound good?

What's different about this book is that each recipe includes a wine suggestion that goes with each dish. I think that's a great idea. For those of us who don't drink a lot of wine, it's nice to get suggestions for what to serve.

Overall, it's a nice book, particularly for folks who are diabetic, particularly if they love Italian food. Besides the wine suggestions, each recipe has what are labeled "Italian Living Tradition" as well as nutritional information.

There aren't a ton of photos in this book, and they're all in two sections rather than being next to the recipes. Design-wise, it's not the prettiest book you'll ever see, but the information and the recipes look solid.

Lemon-Scented Shrimp (Gamberi al limone)
From The Italian Diabetes Cookbook

All of the bodies of water that border Italy—from the Adriatic to the Ionian, Mediterranean, and Tyrrhenian seas—contain multiple varieties of shrimp, making shrimp popular everywhere. If you’ve never prepared shrimp before, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is. In my seafood cooking classes, I often tell students that, if they’ve had bad luck making shrimp in the past, it’s because they’re doing too much, not too little. The key to preparing good shrimp is choosing the freshest shrimp possible and cooking them until just done—not a second longer. Baby, regular, and jumbo shrimp all work in this recipe, so feel free to use whatever is freshest.

Serves: 4 | Serving Size: Approximately 4 ounces shrimp
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 5 minutes

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Crushed red chile flakes, to taste
Juice and zest from 1 lemon

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

2. When olive oil begins to release its aroma, add shrimp, salt, black pepper, and crushed red chile flakes. Cook shrimp on one side just until the tail of the shrimp is bright pink, approximately 1-2 minutes.

3. Turn shrimp over and squeeze lemon juice over top. Cook shrimp until all gray color is gone and they are pink and cooked through, approximately 1-2 more minutes. At this point, shrimp should be coiled slightly tighter than when they were raw. Shrimp will continue to sizzle in the pan.

4. When they are cooked completely through, transfer shrimp to a serving platter, garnish with lemon zest, and serve immediately.

Italian Living Tradition
In addition to serving this as an appetizer, you can toss these shrimp into pasta with fresh parsley or add into a finished soup or salad. They also taste great on top of the Crostini with Chickpea Cream.

Wine
Fiano

Exchanges/Food Choices:
2 1/2 Lean Protein
1/2 Fat
Calories 130
Calories from Fat 25
Total Fat 3g
Saturated Fat 0.0g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 140mg
Sodium 110mg
Potassium 245mg
Total Carbohydrate 1g
Dietary Fiber 0g
Sugars 0g
Protein 18g
Phosphorus 190mg

Recipe copyright © 2016 American Diabetes Association. From The Italian Diabetes Cookbook. Photography: Renée Comet Photography. Reprinted with permission from The American Diabetes Association. The Italian Diabetes Cookbook is available at ShopDiabetes.org, in bookstores nationwide, or by calling 1-800-232-6733.

"Healthy" Books for 2015

So ... healthy eating is a ticklish topic, because one person's healthy is another person's poison. And of course, people with allergies and sensitivities have to avoid foods that the average person can eat every day of the week.

These six books cover a wide range of healthy topics. Maybe one of them will resonate with you.

Gluten-Free in Lizard Lick

By Amy Shirley

Apparently there's a television show about Lizard Lick Towing in North Carolina. If you've see the show, you know what it's about. If you're me, you're just looking at this like a cookbook.

As far as gluten-free cookbooks go, this one has the things you expect to find - a custom gluten-free mix, followed by quite a number of recipes that make use of the mix. Many of the recipes have a southern slant, like biscuits and gravy, cornbread, cobbler, and hush puppies.

Besides the recipes that were revised to make the gluten free, there are also a number of recipes that are naturally gluten-free, like mashed potatoes, beef tips with rice, and deviled eggs. The interesting thing about that last one was that it called for a gluten-free mayonnaise and recommended Hellman's. I didn't realize that any mayonnaise had gluten - so I guess that's a good reminder to make sure all packaged ingredients are totally gluten free.

As far as photos, they're all grouped in one section rather than throughout the book. They're not the best photos I've ever seen, but they're certainly not the worst.

If you're looking for a gluten-free book and like southern food, this could be a good addition to the bookshelf.

Living the Mediterranean Diet

By Nick Nigro and Bay Ewald

Of all the organized diets, the Mediterranean Diet is the one that I think I might actually be able to stick to for more than 15 minutes or so. The diet focuses on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, but it's not vegetarian - meat, seafood, and dairy are also allowed.

You could make pretty much any recipe in this book, and no one would point to it and say, "hey, this is diet food." It's just simple good food with a Mediterranean slant. There's not a lot of pasta or white flour, but the book does have recipes for homemade pasta dough using either all-white flour or half white and half whole wheat flour. There's also a pizza dough recipe with the same options.

There are a few recipes that aren't quite traditional, like zucchini lasagna and barley risotto. But even so, most folks aren't going to feel deprived or think it's diet food - they'll just think it's just an interesting variation.

This is a small, thin book, but it's got some great looking recipes.

Speaking of looking, the photos are nice. Not hanging-on-the-wall art, but they're attractive photos of appealing food.

Calorie Accounting

By Mandy Levy

Calorie accounting isn't really a cookbook, although it does have some recipes. And it's also not a diet book in the traditional sense of telling the readers to avoid certain foods or food groups. Instead, it's more of a food-math book.

The book tells the reader to keep track of calories consumed and calories used to come up with a plan for losing weight. You can certainly eat that chocolate bar, but you'll need to do some treadmill time to burn it off.

Much of the book is Mandy's own experiences, what she ate and what she avoided, and how she made it work for her. Needless to say, this sort of diet works for weight loss. Whether it works for health in general depends on your food choices. The good thing is that you never have to give anything up entirely. The bad thing is ... well, doing all the tracking.

If you've tried other diets and you're still looking for one that works, you might want to take a look at this one. And, as a bonus, it's kind of funny.

In the Mood for Healthy Food

By Jo Pratt

In this book, healthy food is defined as food that will "make you feel full of vitality and not full of guilt." In other words, this isn't a book full of comfort food. But it's also not following any particular diet theme. It's more about making all the foods on the plate work together.

Recipes for proteins are accompanied by salads, vegetables, beans, whole grains, and other good-for-you ingredients. There are plenty of spices and herbs to make everything super-flavorful. While the recipes aren't terribly complicated in terms of technique or the number of steps, the ingredient list for most of them are fairly long.

But! For many of the recipes, you're really making two recipes to make a complete meal. So, for example, there's a frittata and a salsa. Or a protein and a noodle dish. Or fish with a watermelon salad. Not everyone is going to make both parts of the meal, even though they're designed to work together..

This book also includes a chapter with some interesting desserts.

Photos in this book are quite attractive, if that's something that sways you one way or another when making a purchase.

Lighten Up Y'all

By Virginia Willis

Virginia Willis is an established southern cookbook author who has a track record of producing top-notch books. This is the first one (that I'm aware of) that has focused on lighter cooking.

If there's any cuisine that could use a little lightening, it's southern cuisine, for sure.

Some of the recipes include lighter ingredients, like lowfat or lighter cheese, mayonnaise, or similar ingredients. Others, like the baked onion blossom, change the cooking method from frying to baking. Dirty rice gets a re-do that's less fatty and includes collard greens to lighten it up.

Meatloaf and chili get a remake by using turkey, while mac and cheese includes broccoli and uses whole wheat noodles. Cornbread is stuffed with vegetables, including okra and peppers. There are also lovely salads and braised vegetables that are great for lighter eating.

While there are some recipes here where the lower-calorie options might be more noticeable to some folds (I really dislike lowfat mayonnaise, for example), other recipes don't really point to themselves and claim their healthiness. That cornbread looks really interesting with all the vegetables - I might have to try a variation of that soon.

If you love southern cooking and want to see what an established cookbook author has done to lighten up the dishes, this is the book for you.

As far as the photos, they're lovely and make the food look delicious. They're not as highly styled as some books - props are minimal, an the focus is on the food. It's a style I happen to like in a cookbook.

Clean Green Eats

By Candice Kumai

The author says that this book is about eating real food, prepared deliciously, and that good eating isn't about trends. But the book does delve quite clearly into currently trendy things like super greens (hello, kale!), super food boosters, and cleansing. There's also a chapter about smoothies and juices.

As might be expected, the recipes do include a lot of greens, amino acids, coconut oil, olive oil, and raw honey. And a whole lot of kale and arugula. While it's not really a diet book in the sense of weight loss, it does follow rules for eating certain foods.

This type of eating is certainly popular these days, so if it's a lifestyle you want to embrace, this is the book for you. And the photos are definitely pretty.