The Return

Review: The IBS Elimination Diet and Cookbook: The Proven Low-FODMAP Plan for Eating Well and Feeling Great Patsy Catsos, MS, RDN, LD Harmony Books 2017 Eating well and feeling great captured my attention in this rather formidable title.   Both of those outcomes are high on my agenda.   IBS or Irritable bowel syndrome isn’t something that I find folks discussing openly in group settings, but if it afflicts you or someone you know this is a book to have.   Don’t let that big title put you off.   Catsos’ plan may be able to help.    That said, this will require some serious reading and planning to implement.   IBS is uncomfortable, inconvenient, embarrassing, and bunch of other descriptions of that ilk.   To have a means to leave that life and rejoin the “normals” might be worth it.    This book explains the current thinking on the causes of IBS, its symptoms, and how to plan and implement a diet that can ease the distr...

Review: Wellth: How I Learned to Build a Life, Not a Resume Jason Wachob Harmony Books 2016 OK, I’ll admit it.   I was so wrong about this book.   I totally expected to hate it and ended up finding it full of good stuff.   To me it’s more about learning to live and discovering what really matters than it is a self-help sort of book.   This one covers a holistic approach to personal wellbeing; an approach won mostly the hard way.   The same way most of us learn, I suspect.      Thirteen chapters introduce topics ranging from diet to spirituality.   The author simply lays out some information and experience that he has found most helpful in his own life, but also adds in some of the other areas related to each topic that others have practiced successfully. He tells his story with an   openness that I fond winsome.   He doesn’t deny or gloss over some of the really dumb stuff most of us try along the way like the par...

Review: Healthy Fats, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook: Delicious Recipes to Help Reduce Bad Fats and Lower Your Cholesterol, 5 th Edition Robin P. Loveman, Senior Editor Harmony Books 2015 I love to browse cookbooks, look for new ideas, and read some of the extra narratives related to those recipes.   This particular cookbook caught my eye because I had purchased one of the earlier versions and since misplaced it.   The older one had some good stuff in it, but this one is like a while new world.   I can have tacos, and crepes, and all sorts of yummy desserts now like a brulee.   Vegetables and fruit are still musts, but in new ways.   Green beans and spinach are still out there, but so are edamame and artichokes.   There are sauces to drizzle over nearly any category of food to enhance the flavors and appearance. This is not the regimented cookbook I remember from before.   Beef is back and more recipes for a larger variety of seafood, too. ...