Weekend Cooking: The SparkPeople Cookbook

The SparkPeople Cookbook: Love Your Food, Lose the Weight by Meg Galvin
Published by Hay House, ISBN 978-1-4019-3132-2

I had never heard of SparkPeople.com when I received their cookbook for review. The introduction tells the fascinating story of the origins of SparkPeople, beginning with their first book, The Spark: The 28-Day Breakthrough Plan for Losing Weight, Getting Fit and Transforming Your Life. 


That led to SparkPeople.com, helping people lose weight and eat healthier through "10-minute bursts of fitness, small goals set along the way to achieve larger ones, a tight-knit network to offer support, and healthy easy-to-prepare food to fuel an active life."

This led to the The SparkPeople Cookbook, by Meg Galvin, which is really a lifestyle book. Chapters like Satisfying, Sustaining, and Stress-Free Eating, The Science of Satisfaction,  and my favorite, The Healthy New Kitchen, which lists necessary the kitchen tools and pantry staples, spell out in easy-to-read terms how to live a healthier lifestyle.

The second part of the book gives recipes that range from simple and unique, Pumpkin Pie Smoothie,  to ones that take a little more time like the one I tried, Minestone Soup with Parmesan Crisps, which was hearty and filling, with only 197 calories per serving, 4.6 g of total fat and 9.4 g of dietary fiber.

Minestrone Soup from DailySpark.com

The soup was very tasty, but it called for "one 4.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes". I frequently use the standard 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, but I have never seen a 4.5 oz. of diced tomatoes, and that seemed like too small an amount, so I used a 14.5 oz. can of tomatoes, and it seemed to work.

It also calls for "one 5.5-ounce can cannelini beans". Again, I have seen 15.5 oz. cans, but not 5.5 oz. cans. Has anyone else tried this recipe, and if so, did you follow it as written? How did it turn out? Has anyone ever seen a 4.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes? I found this confusing, but I didn't see any other odd measurements on any other recipes I perused.

Each recipe has an icon index at the top that tells you such things as whether the recipe has multiple servings of fruit and vegetables, if it freezes well, if it's great for company or kid-friendly. I liked this, it makes it easy to see at a glance if it work for what you need.

It has lots of photos, again something I like, and the appendix is filled with useful information, such a table on how long fresh fruits and vegetables should last and how to store them, a comparison chart for oils, and a two week menu cycle. (I would have liked to have seen a three or four cycle; two weeks seems like you could get bored more easily.)

The SparkPeople Cookbook is a good book for someone who wants to make a healthy change in their life. It has so much great information in addition to the recipes, it is an invaluable tool for every cook's bookshelf.

4 of 5 stars

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food!