The Guilt Free Gourmet: Cookbook Volume 1: Cooking Guide & Recipes for Healthy Weight Loss

I hate to cook, but I love to eat. I'm trying to lose and maintain a healthy weight, so in order to do that I need to scrap all the fast food and additive loaded junk and find easy tips and recipes for the cooking impaired. This book provides those tips and hacks, as well as recipes for all levels of cooks and bakers. Some of the recipes are above my pay grade and non-existent expertise (I might NOT get a pasta-maker), but the thing is - this book makes you want to TRY the recipes. It's written in a fun, down-to-earth, real-world way that encourages you to just give it a go. The tips are my favorite (fat-free 0pt cream cheese and it's SO easy!) and I'm learning simple hacks for lower point meals. From page 1 (even the copyright info was funny) to his Daniel Bonaparte pic on the last page - I found this recipe book to be a fun and unintimidating way to learn a healthier way of cooking.

I first became aware of Daniel Hallak's mad cooking skills on the Weight Watcher's Connect application, and soon discovered his web site and books. He publishes all his recipes online. I love having the books to leaf through, and I also want to support his amazing approach to cooking healthy meals. I have lost 62 pounds in five and a half months on the Weight Watcher's Green plan, using many of his recipes. His approach and tips/hacks are simply amazing -- he's a culinary master. His super power approach uses the Weight Watcher's recipe builder app to modify just about any recipe you like to eat. He's got a great sense of humor that comes across as well. Change your approach to cooking and experience a very broad range of great recipes. You won't feel deprived at all. He has three volumes, all of which I have. Highest recommendation.

If you are on WW and like to cook at all, then you need the Guild Free Cookbook - al least volume 1. The gem of this book is that he has done all the research and will teach you in just a few pages how to trim points from any recipe, even the ones that others post on WW or share.I thought I was pretty good at this, but I leaned so much just looking through this book in an hour that I was amazed. I was a complete amateur and would never have gone to all the research that went in to this book. Even if I had been willing to do that effort, I would have wasted far more money on failed efforts than this book cost. Heck, just the 1 point full sized Corn Muffins are worth the price. The picture is the batter before I spooned it out and baked it. They were better than the 3 point WW Corn Muffins that I have been buying - although admittedly more work, but it really was not that hard. I will be making this again.

The work and care that went into putting this book together is readily apparent thoughout! This is a great resource if you're trying to retrain your brain to lighten recipes (while still eating well). His process is explained really well and the recipes are tasty in addition to being healthier/lighter than the original versions they're based on.

These cookbooks by Daniel Hallak are the absolute best resource for Weight Watcher members or anyone wanting to eat delicious, healthy food even if you don’t care about losing weight. He has worked tirelessly to create recipes that are amazing and his books are filled with great photos and step by step instructions and at the back he has provided nutritional info in each and every recipe! Highly recommend! You will love them all. They make great gifts too!

This cookbook is so great that even though I had a free download, I decided to buy the book as well. The recipes are well-crafted and clear. I appreciate that the foundations of "slimming down" recipes are easily applied to dishes not in the book. For example, there is a recipe for cream cheese made from fat free plain yogurt. This "cream cheese" can be used in many different recipes. There is a recipe for making ground turkey taste like ground beef and that foundational recipe can be utilized in sloppy joes, pasta sauce, etc. Ingredients called for are easy to purchase a local grocery stores. Follow the author on social media; his ideas are fantastic. I plan to buy the other volumes of Daniel's cookbooks soon. To Daniel: Thanks so much for your herculean efforts on creating these healthy recipes and sharing them with everyone. You are making a difference in the health of my family.

Received today and haven’t put down yet. I am reading from cover to cover so I can start using right away. I want the next two books now.I have been following the author on WW for a long time and love his willingness to share his knowledge.

I have been a member of WW for 12 years and have maintained most of my 50 pound weight loss. However, there are times when my weight increases. I have developed some of my own kitchen hacks, but Daniel's are game changing! I wish I had this book years ago! I'm off to the grocery store now to by ingredients for pies and breading. Also, my husband the pasta chef, is looking forward to trying guilt free pasta for me. I am definitely going to add Daniel Hallak's other cookbooks to my collection.