Title: Low-sugar, so simple
Author: Elviira Krebber
Publisher: Fair Winds Press

[Synopsis]

Low Sugar, So Simple will get the sugar off your plate for good with 100 recipes free of the sugars that are sabotaging your health.
Sugar is quickly becoming the next health epidemic. Numerous studies have confirmed that sugar is a highly addictive substance with catastrophic effects on our health. Research has shown that drinking a can of soda a day increases the risk of a heart attack nearly as much as smoking.
Sugar lurks in everything from condiments to salad dressing to deli meat. Combine that with the fact that many foods contain things like starches, fillers, and artificial ingredients which actlike sugar in the body, and you’ve got a perfect storm for lifelong sugar addiction and compromised health.
Low-Sugar, So Simple shows you how to get sugar off your plate for good. Popular blogger Elviira Krebber of Low-Carb, So Simpleprovides 100 low and no sugar recipes for everything from condiments to main dishes to desserts. Learn healthy substitutions for sugar, how to remove stealth sugars, and get the sugar pretenders like starches, fillers, and additives out of your diet for good. Done in the author’s trademark approachable style, living the low-sugar lifestyle is easy with 100 recipes that are delicious, healthy, and easy to prepare.

[My Review]

I am often looking for ways to eat less sugar (both refined sugar, which immediately springs to mind, and also sugar hidden in foods like bread, pasta, etc). This book is a great help in providing inspirational, uncomplicated recipes to try out. I often cook vegetarian or pescetarian dishes for me and my partner as he is pescetarian, so we obviously wouldn’t cook the meat-based recipes together but I might try some on my own, or we’d adapt them with vegetarian replacements.
I really like that this book has low sugar/ low carb versions of old favourites, so you won’t feel like you’re missing out. I should point out that this does not mean that these are all super healthy recipes, because they’re not necessarily classed as that. They are, however, lower in sugar and, in many cases, in carbs in general, so if that fits in your lifestyle then it’s a great book to have on hand! It also very handily lists the nutrition info including protein, fats, and carbs (very handy!), not only by servings but in total too – great if you have a big appetite, like me, and usually double the ‘recommended’ servings because otherwise I’d still be hungry afterwards! This is also really useful if you track your macros, too. I haven’t seen a lot of cookbooks provide as useful nutritional info with their recipe as this one, so that’s really impressed me and means I will be turning back to this book time after time.
There are plenty of sections with information about cooking without sugar and replacing traditional refined sugar with other, more natural, alternatives; this is interesting but the parts I enjoyed the most were, of course, the recipes! There are sections for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts, and drinks – covers all bases really. I found the lunch and dinner sections most interesting, as they are my most-coveted meals, and I went throufh and noted some recipes to try at a later date. I particularly like the look of the ‘savoury ricotta butternut squash tart’, the ‘cauli-rice seafood paella’, and the ‘rich no-potato clam chowder’ plus some very appealing-looking desserts (easy fudgy brownies or peanut butter cake mug, anyone?). My only criticism is that I wish there was more dinner recipes – it didn’t feel like a big enough section in my opinion. I’d have preferred to sacrifice the drinks section for a larger dinner section, but I’m sure other people might feel differently!
Overall this is a really simple to use, well-laid-out recipe book which not only has some clear recipes but lots of useful information too. There are some nice accompanying photos and, as I said, I love the inclusion of the nutritional info. Very impressed.

[Rating: 4/5]