Cookbook Review: The Looneyspoons Collection, Simply Orange Chicken and a Giveaway! | Renee's Kitchen Adventures

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Cookbook Review: The Looneyspoons Collection, Simply Orange Chicken and a Giveaway!

Before the holidays, I was contacted by Hay House and asked if I would be interested in doing a review of the cookbook, The Looneyspoons Collection by Janet and Greta Podleski. (Disclaimer:  I was not paid to endorse or write a review for this cookbook.  The opinions expressed are entirely mine.)  Once the publisher emailed me a couple of sample recipes from the book, I was anxiously awaiting its arrival.

I have to admit, I was not familiar with the sister duo of Janet and Greta Podleski, but I know all of my Canadian readers will know who they are.  Janet and Greta are authors of three #1 bestselling cookbooks: Looneyspoons, Crazyplates, and Eat, Shrink and be MerryThe books are best known for their unique combination of "great tasting, healthy food, useful nutrition tips, and corny humor."  And if that isn't enough, over the years, the sisters have found time to host a show on Food Network Canada, develop a line of healthy prepared foods, produce monthly columns for Reader's Digest and Taste at Home magazines, and create a line of grEATing cards for Hallmark.  Wow!!



Janet and Greta's latest book, The Looneyspoons Collection, is a masterpiece every health- conscious, diet-minded person needs to own! 

It's jam-packed with more than 325 "I can't believe these are healthy!" recipes. 

The recipes have all been given witty names like "Steak it Up, Baby" (Grilled tuna steaks with a delicious chili-lime marinade) and "A Bundt in the Oven" (Blueberry streusel coffee cake). How fun is that??

The cooking directions are easy to follow and, for the most part, all of the recipes use easy to find, simple ingredients. All recipes have a complete nutrition analysis, so you can calculate out WW Points+, if you like. 

You will also find hundreds of beautiful full color photos, volumes of  weight-loss, anti-aging, and healthy living tips scattered throughout the nearly 400 page book.  As a wonderful bonus, you will also enjoy the jokes that made this pair's cookbooks famous!

I wanted to wait until after the holidays to do this review and present you with one (or more!) of the recipes out of the book. Let me tell you, I have made several recipes and I have not been disappointed by any of them. I waited because I wanted to give this GREAT book the post it deserved!!

One of the very first recipes I made from this book was Simply Orange Chicken.


 This was a fantastic, tasty weeknight meal!  Here is how my dish turned out...


The only swap I made from the original recipe is that I used a grainy brown mustard in place of the honey-dijon.  I did this because that is what I had on hand.  I was afraid this might be a dish my husband would turn his nose up at...remember how he hates "sweet" with his meat?  Well...even HE loved it. The WW Points+ for this dish worked out to be 7 Points+.

I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying this cookbook.  From the beautiful photos to the great tips this is a MUST own book.  I think I currently have 10 pages bookmarked for recipes I want to try and I have made the Simply Orange Chicken twice already! 

49 comments:

  1. Would love to win this cookbook, I am always looking for good, healthy recipes to cook in this house. Husband is diabetic and I am in the middle of weight loss, this will help us stay on track. Love the blog...
    dianeevans(at)q(dot)com

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  2. The fact that the recipes are healthy and include nutritional information is what I'm most excited about. That orange chicken looks delicious!
    Pat
    mprutland1 (at)yahoo (dot) com.

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  3. I am following Janet and Greta on facebook.
    Pat
    mprutland1 (at) yahoo (dot) com

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  4. Thank you so much for sharing! I'm definitely going to be getting my hands on the cookbook. And let me just tell you - I absoluteoy love your blog. It's fun and full of the greatest recipes - my husband's personal favorite is the Salisbury Steak! That's become one of our weekly meals. And congrats on your nomination for best food blogger.

    Angie

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  5. This may sound silly, but I like the little cartoon photos that go along with the recipes! Something different:) And I've never heard of this duo, so I'd love to check them out!

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  6. I would like the recipes along with their sense of humor. A cookbook and humor together...awesomeness!

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  7. I am following your MKA page on facebook.

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  8. Always love finding new cookbook authors to collect...The healthy recipes is a big draw, as well as the weight loss and other beauty tips. Wonderful giveaway!

    Deb
    DebNJoizee919@aol.com

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  9. I love the name of this chicken. Too funny we both posted "simple" orange chicken dishes so close together! I'd like this cookbook simply b/c it has healthy recipes in it and I'm trying to lose weight right now. Finding meals that are just as good as high-cal meals is a challenge and it sounds like this cookbook could help me out!

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  10. That chicken looks AMAZING and is easily a reason I would love this cookbook!
    Jessica
    jyoung9788 at gmail dot come

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  11. I liked Janet an Greta and know will be following them.

    Carol
    Tcksob@yahoo.com

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  12. I follow MKA via facebook! You rock Renee!

    Carol
    TCKSOB@YAHOO.COM

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  13. Oh I also liked Hay House on Facebook

    Carol OB

    tcksob@yahoo.com

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  14. I shared the Cookbook give away on my Facebook home page.

    Carol
    tcksob@yahoo.com

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  15. This book is cute and practical. I don't know if I like the cheesy cartoons and recipe names or the nutrition tidbits on nearly every page! I'd love to have the book so I could decide.
    Thanks for sharing your review.

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  16. I love new cookbooks especially ones that I know will have recipes I will use.

    barbee710@roadrunner.com

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  17. I joined your MKA facebook page.
    barb

    barbee710@roadrunner.com

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  18. I liked hayhouse and Janet and Greta! These are my favorite cookbooks! I want to win!!!
    cbezaire1 cogeco ca Connie Bezaire

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  19. I am now following MKA on Facebook :)

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  20. I just tweeted about the giveaway. The link is https://twitter.com/jessesgirl77/status/295037925408784384

    BTW, my email is mlb5708@gmail.com

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  21. I liked Hay House on FB
    mlb5708@gmail.com

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  22. I liked Janet and Greta on FB
    Thanks so much!
    mlb5708@gmail.com

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  23. I have never heard of them...looks like a fun book!

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  24. I've never heard of those ladies - but that book looks awesome! I love lower calorie comfort foods like that

    slim-shoppin@comcast.net

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  25. I would love this cookbook. Just recently found out I have a wheat sensitivity, so I'm looking forward to healthy recipes that I can tweak to my diet.

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  26. That chicken looks SO good! A much healthier version of traditional orange chicken!! I am always looking for healthy recipes. I think its so important for me to show Kay that you can eat delicious AND healthy meals (with a few good treats thrown in there for good measure!!)

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  27. My husband doesn't like sweet with meat either, but I would love this! I love a cookbook that provides nutritional information too. :D

    Enjoy your Sunday!

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  28. Thank you for the review of this cookbook. Sounds like a good one! I have heard of them and seen some of their recipes floating around on other blogs.

    I like cookbooks that include photos of the recipes and nutritional information.

    The orange chicken looks and sounds wonderful.

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  29. I love that this cookbook has the nutritional information.That makes it so easy to calculate the points plus values!

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  30. I subscribed to your blog.

    kelchar96 (at) gmail (dot) com

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  31. I posted a short tweet about your cookbook giveaway!

    kelchar96 (at) gmail (dot) com

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  32. I liked Janet and Greta on FB

    kelchar96 (at) gmail (dot) com

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  33. I liked Hay House on FB

    kelchar96 (at) gmail (dot) com

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  34. I already own one of these books, but mine's not as nice. I'd love to own this one to check out their new ideas (I love all the little extra side notes)

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  35. I already follow you on blogger, that's how I noticed this recipe

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  36. I will post this on my blog tonight when I type the entry

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  37. I also liked the Looney Ladies on FB

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  38. A healthy cookbook and a sense of humor, sounds like a great book. Thanks for the giveaway. Kat
    k(dot)larsen(at)comcast(dot)net

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  39. I am getting back on track with losing weight and this looks like the perfect combination of humor and great recipes to keep me interested and on track! Abigail outofcontrol27(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  40. I like that they give the nutritional values and make it easy to calculate points plus.mommafox1943 at msn dot com

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  41. I liked The Looney Ladies on FB.mommafox1943 at msn dot com

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  42. Ooh, this would be an awesome book. Healthy food, good food, and some funnies! DH and I lost some weight a few years ago but we're always struggling to stay on track but find new and exciting recipes to help us. This would be great!

    mgreenmt (at) gmail (dot) com

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  43. I would like to have this cookbook for the healthy recipes. I like having the nutritional info for the recipes.

    dianne@nctv.com

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