The Book – January 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Liz Weiss (781-248-6998) or
Janice Newell Bissex (781-665-0098)
Moms@MealMakeoverMoms.com email
THE MOMS’ GUIDE TO MEAL MAKEOVERS
Improving the Way Your Family Eats, One Meal at a Time!
Janice Newell Bissex, M.S., R.D., and Liz Weiss, M.S., R.D.
What’s for dinner? For many busy moms (who, by the way, still do most of the cooking), the answer to that question routinely comes down to a crunch-time choice between ransacking the cupboards for a box of mac & cheese, rushing out to the nearest drive-thru, or calling for relief spelled P-I-Z-Z-A. Lots of kids today are perfectly happy with a steady diet of happy meals. Lots of moms, however, feel guilty and worried about the toll. They should be. Nationwide, 13 percent of children, 14 percent of teens, and a whopping 61 percent of adults are overweight or obese. Our battle with the bulge aside, many families consistently opt for foods sorely lacking in the nutrients and fiber vital to boosting vitality and warding off everything from the common cold to diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer.
Acclaimed dietitians and home cooks for a husband and two children each, Janice Newell Bissex and Liz Weiss know how hectic life as a mom can be. They are well acquainted with the daunting obstacles—including work, carpooling, homework, volunteering, and laundry, not to mention those TV ads touting fast food and junk food galore—to whipping up healthy meals that kids will actually eat. In THE MOMS’ GUIDE TO MEAL MAKEOVERS: Improving the Way Your Family Eats, One Meal at a Time! (Broadway Books; January 2004; $15.95), they show fellow moms (and dads) across America how to make the job of providing nourishing breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks for the whole hungry clan not only manageable, but fun.
“The good news is that you don’t need a degree in nutrition or advertising to improve the way your family eats,” Janice and Liz assure moms everywhere. “All you need is an experienced guide to show you the way. That’s where we come in.”
Taking a can-do approach to delicious, nutritious home cooking, THE MOMS’ GUIDE TO MEAL MAKEOVERS starts with a 5-step plan to make healthy eating a natural and enjoyable part of everyday life—even in the midst of hectic schedules:
- Start somewhere. Add one extra serving of fruit each day.
- Market good nutrition to kids. Tout carrots as yummy, not medicine.
- Establish food rules. Make them specific, reasonable, and enforceable.
- Streamline time in the kitchen. Maximize timesaving tools and tactics.
- Eat together as a family. And turn off the TV during dinner.
Beyond proven strategies, practical advice, and lots of encouragement, Janice and Liz give moms a winning repertoire of 120 recipes. With the goal of getting kids to come to the table, the authors took popular family favorites—spaghetti & meatballs, chili, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and chocolate chip cookies among them—and gave them a makeover. “Our criteria were simple: to weave super nutrition into each recipe…making it healthier than the original, maintaining or improving the flavor, and speeding up the prep and cook time whenever possible.”
Enticing moms to get cooking, family-wowing recipes include:
- Breakfast for Dinner, with Corned Beef & Carrot Hash, a Potato Olé Omelet, and Super Sausage & Broccoli Strata
- Pasta Perfection, serving up Cheese Ravioli with Pumpkin Sauce, Squishy Squash Lasagna, and calcium-rich Fast-As-Boxed Macaroni & Cheese
- Hooked on Seafood, with catches of the day like Corny Tuna Cakes, Shrimp Curry in a Hurry, and Baked Fish with Spinach Cheese Sauce
Moms will also find quick, irresistible, and wonderfully healthy renditions of soups, sandwiches, wraps, and pizza; beef, pork, poultry, and vegetarian main dishes; and sensible sides. For the sweet finale, there’s a selection of deliciously smart desserts, featuring tempting Chocolate Pudding with Toppers and Crispy Cereal Treats with a wholesome snap, crackle, and pop from high-fiber cereal and sunflower seeds.
For those days when even thirty hours wouldn’t be enough to get everything done, THE MOMS’ GUIDE TO MEAL MAKEOVERS takes the guilt out of falling back on convenience and fast foods. The authors’ “Best of the Bunch” chapter offers a roundup of the best tasting and most nutritious kid convenience foods on the market along with quick fix tips for revving up the good nutrition with mix-ins, toppings, and side dishes. Janice and Liz also provide recommendations for re-stocking the pantry—and packing the fridge and freezer—with the most healthful cooking oils, canned soups, peanut butter, ketchup, dry pasta, low-fat dairy products, cold cuts, frozen veggies, and more.
For all the harried moms who feel bad about feeding their kids chicken nuggets or TV dinners endorsed by a cartoon character night after night, THE MOMS’ GUIDE TO MEAL MAKEOVERS is certain to become a cherished kitchen resource.
About the Authors
JANICE NEWELL BISSEX, M.S., R.D., L.D.N., is a sought after speaker and nutrition consultant for restaurants and food companies. She formerly served as the dietitian for the United States Senate, and lives in Melrose, Massachusetts, with her husband and two daughters.
LIZ WEISS, M.S., R.D., L.D.N., is an award-winning television journalist who has covered health and nutrition stories for PBS and CNN for more than a decade. She is a contributing editor for Health magazine and lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, with her husband and two sons.
THE MOMS’ GUIDE TO MEAL MAKEOVERS
Improving the Way Your Family Eats, One Meal at a Time!
By Janice Newell Bissex, M.S., R.D., and Liz Weiss, M.S., R.D.
January 2004
349 pages
Price: $15.95 ($23.95 Canada)
ISBN: 0-7679-1423-6
Published by Broadway Books