Foodie Fridays... Hungry Girl Supermarket Survival (Review)

Hungry Girl Supermarket Survival: Aisle by Aisle by Lisa Lillien
Genre: Cooking
Pages: 256 (paperback)
Source: Purchase
Hungry Girl |  Twitter
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle | B&N

Description:
Finally . . . a real-world guide that will help you navigate the supermarket and stock up on guilt-free foods, from mealtime must-haves to snack finds and more! It’s Hungry Girl’s ultimate resource for grocery-store survival---a must-own manual that makes shopping for better-for-you foods easy and fun! Inside you’ll find:

Hungry Girl’s amazingly comprehensive supermarket guide is your key to guilt-free shopping, eating, and living!

If you don't like to cook or don't have time to cook, never fear!  This is the Foodie Friday post for everyone.  Read on and I'll explain why.

My Review:

Have you ever stared at a product in a grocery store in total confusion. Let's take cream cheese for example.  They have 1/3 less fat, lower fat, fat free, and regular.  I often want to choose a lighter version but which one and how will it affect the dish I'm trying to make?  These are the considerations and questions that the Supermarket Guide answers.  For each section of the grocery store, it breaks down the various options for popular items, explains the differences (including nutrition info), and makes recommendations. 

I found this guide to be very handy.  I learned so much.  It is a small narrow book that can fit into a medium size purse or bag and the edge of the pages are color-coded making it easy to flip to the section you are interested in most.  I actually read it cover to cover and learned so much.  For example, I've begun to substitute ground turkey for ground beef in many situations because I have a difficult time digesting meat.  I've had mixed results in recipes and I wasn't quite sure why.  This guide actually explained the differences between ground turkey and ground beef and explained which dishes each kind of ground turkey (think 99/1 vs. 85/15) works best with.

So I certainly loved this resource and will use it ALL the time.

Who is this guide for?
This guide is good for people who cook, but it is GREAT for people who do not cook or have little time.  If you are unfamiliar with Hungry Girl, I would definitely recommend checking it out.  But I can brief you.  Hungry Girl recipes are short and often use food unconventionally.  They also usually serve one or two people.  They seem to be for a person on the go or a person who doesn't have time to cook but wants to be healthy.

That said, this survival guide also helps the reader choose healthy food that's already cooked or prepackaged.  What do you call this?  I always say processed food but that sounds negative.  It champions many foods that you would never find in Whole Foods, but they are usually quick and great for the calorie conscious. 

So, if you are into clean eating, you won't be able to use the entire book.  But if you are looking for healthy swaps or an explanation for the plethora of options in the grocery store, this would be a great purchase for you.