I love this magazine. It is hard to believe that all of the gorgeous, mouthwatering food in this magazine is ‘light’ and healthy! No only do the recipes surprise me each issue, a figure friendly pancake or low fat peanut butter banana bread, but this magazine has some really great tips to eat healthy and overall useful cooking tips.
Here is a review of Cooking Light Magazine:
Pictures: Yes!
Every single recipe in this magazine has a color photo to accompany it!
Prep Time, Cooking Time, and Number of Servings listed: Yes
All recipes have ‘Hands on Time’ and ‘Total Time’ as well as servings listed. While the exact cooking and prep time is not listed you can figure it out by the information provided.
Clear, easy to follow directions and ease of preparation: medium
All of the recipes have clear directions and most are fairly easy to prepare but some of the recipes have rather intense cooking/steps required.
Variety of recipes: yes
The variety of recipes in Cooking Light is one of the many things I love about this magazine. When you are trying to eat healthy, lighter, or heaven forbid “diet,” the last thing you want to feel is deprived. Cooking Light has recipes to cover everything (breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, etc., etc.) that you may need with a lighter touch!
Easily available ingredients and budget friendly: medium
Most of the recipes use easy to find, budget friendly ingredients. However, as with the stigma of healthy eating, a lot of the recipes have fish and an abundance of fresh fruits and veggies as well as some pricier ingredient substitutes (egg substitute, whole wheat flour, etc.). But since there is a variety of recipes, and since most recipes in each edition center around seasonal produce, I am sure you can find recipes in your budget.
Special feature:
Nutritional information! Having this information (which is hard to find on a lot of recipes) is extremely helpful if you are trying to watch what you eat. I also love that they share healthy cooking tips and feature different products that the editors have taste tested to find the tastiest healthy food option.
Cost: $3.99 per issue or $18.00 for one year subscription (12 issues)
So in case you missed them, here are the recipes I featured.
Peanut Butter Banana Bread: Nothing will ever top my Mom’s classic banana bread recipe but this peanut butter version is a yummy way to change things up!
Oatmeal Pancakes: These are a heartier, denser pancake, but the fiber from the oatmeal is sure to hold you over til lunch.
Root Beer Can Chicken: The kids will surely gobble this dinner up if they know it’s cooked in their favorite drink!
Black Bean Hummus: This is one of my favorite snacks to date! I love all the flavors going on in this hummus, that it has become a regular in my house! Don’t forget to serve it up with some homemade tortilla crisps.
Couscous Salad with Chickpeas: This salad is so light and refreshing, perfect for a side dish or vegetarian main dish.