Spread Yourself Thin

Arlene M. Gryfe is a Toronto-based professional nutritionist and home
economist.

This is the second book of low-calorie, low-fat recipes and strategies
for healthier eating from two former “fatties” whose dominant
personalities reverberate loudly throughout. Buckland and Nicoll assert
that “the key [to dieting success] is to make food fun, to experiment
and to learn how to make substitutions to turn high-fat food bombs into
figure-saving delights.” They maintain that nobody leaves their dinner
parties feeling hungry, guilty, or fat.

The authors, who have a line of low-fat, low-calorie foods in the
supermarkets, as well as a syndicated TV show, follow their lengthy
introduction with 10 chapters organized around such themes as brunch,
pool parties, Grey Cup, and Thanksgiving. Each chapter contains recipes
for appetizers, main courses, side dishes, and desserts. All recipes
indicate calories and grams of fat per serving, and are presented in
both imperial and metric format. Scattered throughout the book are boxed
inserts featuring tips on healthier cooking or saving calories.

For those who can put up with the overly cute chapter titles, such as
“Scarlett Never Had It So Good: Southern Unfried Chicken” or “Oh
You Teaser Caesar Salad,” this book provides some useful strategies
for developing interesting and tasty low-fat recipes.