Seriously – there’s no harm in eating real food, just do it in moderation. Tinkering with flavorful food and producing a pale shadow of the original is closer to deprivation than is just avoiding those supposedly “bad” foods altogether.

buying them for all the other moms at school

its a winner…

Update-2/10/10 I have had this toaster over for awhile now and I am very happy with it! It still toast bagels & bread very evenly. I have put 4 slices of Orowheat bread in it and it still toasted it evenly. It doesn’t take as long as my regular toaster did. So I am still a happy camper. The best part is it is not very expensive! Wow to get what you want and not have to pay a high price! Woohoo!!

That other post with 1 star was kind of bizarre, getting the wrong rack?? Maybe he got a return or something but these come very well packed. A few features I like about this one is the wire shelf is reversible, no surprise there, but turned one way, it has a wire lip that the enclosed tray can slide under attached, which helps during the baking process to catch any overflow drips. Then your baking pan can sit right on top of the rail. I also like the pull out crumb tray from the front, easy to clean and put al. foil. The sides have little hooks that the wire rack can slide into and it pulls out the rack a slight bit when you open the oven, makes it easy to grab your toast. The front handle is screwed in, all very secure. The cord is shorter than most, but I consider this a plus. Most people place the oven right by a plug anyway and too long of a cord gets in the way. It’s long enough to pull the oven out to the front of the counter tho if you are cleaning behind, etc.

Black & Decker made a good one with this model.

The trick to cooking flavorful, healthy and low calories meals is using–no surprise–flavorful, health and low calorie ingredients and understanding how to combine them to make a dish that satisfies. Using such ingredients is how Rocco achieves this. He uses aromatic herbs and spices that are packed with flavor, for example. Another great substitute that Rocco uses for butter, sour cream or cream is Greek yogurt–yum! If you haven’t tried Greek yogurt, you’re in for a treat. I substitute it all the time in dishes and don’t miss a thing.

Rocco was inspired to write this book after being a guest cook on The Biggest Loser. He was asked to turn traditional comfort foods–laden with fat and calories–into low calorie, tasty and healthy dishes.

The book itself is eye candy–bright, beautiful colors and lots of sexy photos of the dishes.

To keep the calories at a minimum, Rocco uses cooking spray. Cooking spray is great for faux frying and in some other instances, but I would use a bit of extra virgin olive oil in some of the other recipes. Olive oil is a “good fat” and is good for you. Sure, it adds calories, but it also adds flavor and gives the diner the feeling of satiation and satisfaction. (I can’t help but believe that some of these meals are so light in calories that they would lead to hunger an hour or so later later and a possible unhealthy binge! For instance, his macaroni ann cheese recipe calls for 4 ounces of pasta for 4 servings!I do not know any pasta lover who could eat 1 ounce of pasta and be satisfied…)

That said, these are terrific recipes if you are trying to lose weight! Instead of the same old boring diet dishes, this book could keep you on track because of the variety in the dishes.

If you just want healthy and tasty meals, this cookbook is still fine. You can always eat a bigger portion or add some olive oil!

Overall, I like this cookbook and have earmarked several recipes to try very soon.

Author, HARMONIOUS ENVIRONMENT & SELL YOUR HOME FAST

Pros

Gets hot fast

Basic controls work well

Easy access crumb tray

Even toasting and heating

Cons

Not many

The top and sides do get hot so don’t store anything on this!

The trivet is a great cooling rack and the bottom makes a lovely serving tray, this product is so versatile and has a permanent place on my table where I store my Mountain Woods Original Fiddle Bow Bread Knife and Mountain Woods Fiddle Bow Cheese Knife Asian Hardwood inside so I never have to look for either knife.

I will be buying lots more from Mountain Woods in the future!

Today I cooked rice, it took only 8 minutes, Rice tastes much better than those made without using pressure cooker.

I would give it a 5 star, but the manual is a little confusing. if you haven’t ever used pressure cooker before, it’ll be hard for you to make certain what the signs on the safety valves exactly mean and when to use. Figure 8 and 9 are particularly confusing and IMO not accurate. I had to use some deduction, along with my past experience to eventually figure it out.

This uncoated beater has to be hand washed or it will discolor….if they just went back to their old coating formula, we wouldn’t have this problem!

Yes, it is sturdy. And yes, it fits. But it does not have the same durable finish that the original beater has and that KitchenAid has been using for decades. I wish KitchenAid had given me a choice to buy the traditional white replacement or this one. I finally bought a second beater from a different manufacturer: New Metro Design Beater Blade for 5-Quart KitchenAid Tilt-Head Mixers, White

– Debbie Lee Wesselmann

It is entirely too short to reach down to the bottom of the mixing bowl.

Very good buy!

“Before use, wash with hot soapy water. Season pan with a solid or spray vegetable shortening before each baking use”. There is nothing on the label to ensure these pans are dishwasher safe, but I’ll just have to assume that they are.

Non-coated aluminum pans by Nordic Ware are the best pans I’ve ever had, and the lids make them even more convenient. I already have other sizes and I expect the half-sheet to perform just as well.

UPDATE November 2009: Still washing in the dishwasher, still fine.