We’ve been giving you some sneak peeks of our new cook book over the past couple of months, and we thought it was time to announce all of the details! If you haven’t heard yet, our newest book, 400 Calories or Less with Our Best Bites officially releases in just a few weeks!
Over the 7 years we’ve been blogging, we’ve always posted a good variety of healthy recipes, but many people didn’t recognize them because they also taste amazing! There’s a common misconception that delicious food must be bad for you, or, on the flip side, that in order to lose weight or simply live a healthy life, you can only eat steamed fish and vegetables. We wanted to show people that both of these ideas are faulty. When I shared my own 50lb weight-loss experience a while back, the number one question people asked was, “What did you eat??” What most people were surprised to hear was that it wasn’t any specialized regulated diet. I made real, normal, great-tasting food. The food that’s in this very book. This is exactly how Kate and I manage to have careers that require us to cook (and eat!) constantly and still maintain healthy balanced lifestyles. We’re never “on a diet,” we simply make smart choices, and this book is full of those smart choices.
This book isn’t about hiding vegetables or tricking your taste bus into thinking black beans are brownies. This is the real deal- tried and true food your family will eat, food you’ll want to eat, whether you’re actively trying to lose weight or if you’re simply striving for a balanced diet.
We’ve included meatless, low-carb, and gluten-free chioces. There are recipes you could easily serve at dinner parties, and recipes your kids will ask for again and again. And because we’re big believers in balance in everything, we also have some sweet treats and easy snacks to keep you on track no matter what.
The book design is a little different than our previous books. This book is listed as a paper back, but it’s somewhat misleading because it’s actually more of a flexible hardback. The cover, and all of the pages are incredibly thick and beautifully colored with a soft gloss. It’s a very high-quality book and we’re so thrilled with how it turned out.
Here are some items of note:
-Every single recipe has a full page, full color photograph
-Every recipe includes nutritional information
-The book contains healthy favorites from our blog (never before published in books) and also brand new book-exclusive recipes.
-Recipes include “Add-on” options to customize your serving
-There are tags included for gluten free, low-carb, meatless, etc.
In the sidebar of every recipe, you’ll not only find nutritional info, but also ideas for things we would serve along with a particular dish, and how many calories that would add. We’ve also included our popular “Rollover Index” like we have in previous books which is designed to help you find other recipes where you can use certain fresh ingredients that you’ll probably have rolled over from the given recipe.
Another favorite feature is The Salad Bar. A huge index of all of our favorite salad ingredients including proteins, fruits and vegetables, grains, condiments and more. It’s an easy way to craft your own personal salad and know exactly how much to put in and know what you’re eating.
All in all, this is our favorite book yet! It’s what Kate and I use in our personal lives and kitchens, and we’re so excited to share it with all of you!
You can buy our book right now on Amazon! It’s also available for pre-order at Target, and also the locations listed below. The official release date is April 7th, but many of you who pre-ordered got notice that your pre-ordered copies are shipping as soon as this week! You may start seeing it pop up in stores earlier than the release date as well. It will be available at select Costco, Barnes and Noble, and Walmart locations nationwide as well as many independent retailers and Deseret Book.
We’ll be in the Salt Lake City area next month for some really fun events, so keep your ears open for details on that, they’ll be coming soon! For now, mark your calendars for the weekend of April 10th! We’ll also each most likely be doing local book signings in our own towns of Boise, ID and Louisiana.
If (or when) you’ve got your hands on a book we’d love for you to tag us on social media so we can see! Use #OBB400CalsOrLess so we can connect with you and see where the book it popping up. And who knows, we might reward those who use the hashtag!
*Speaking of ordering, you can save 15% on all Shop purchases right now with code: LUCKY and we also have an Amazon discount where if you buy any 2 olive oil items from Amazon, you’ll automatically get 15% off, Happy St. Patty’s week!
I just got mine yesterday, and I already made the herb and garlic Parmesan popcorn for my book club. It was fantastic! I’m so excited to try out more. 🙂
I got mine! I tried doing the hashtag on facebook but I don’t think it connected me to anyone else’s posts.
I am so excited to have received mine yesterday. It is gorgeous, and I’m glad it has different binding, since the pages of your other cookbooks stuck together. I have already dog-eared so many recipes I want to try. Thanks for putting out a ‘lighter’ cookbook that I know will have delicious recipes!
So excited!! Gorgeous photos as always.
I can’t wait!!!
Congrats on publishing again! I love your recipes because my family actually eats them! Keep up the good work!
I love, love, love cookbooks with pictures of what I’m making. A book can have the most amazing recipe but if it doesn’t have a photo, I’m probably not going to make it. 🙂 Looking forward to this book. Great job ladies!
That’s how we feel, too!
Just checked my Amazon preorders, it has shipped and expected tomorrow by 8pm! So excited to try these recipes.
Oh, I’m so excited about this book! Thank you for including carb counts, too! I was recently diagnosed as type 2 diabetic and have lost 50 pounds through watching my carbs and exercising. I’ve completely improved my diabetes numbers and have maintained my healthy habits for over a year. Your book will help me continue without having to do all the research on everything I make…you’ve done it for me! Thank you so much! Ordering today!
I’m Jessie Spano saved by the bell so excited for this! I lost 37 lbs 2 years ago and am doing my darnedest to keep it off! I make so many of your recipes on a regular basis and I am so excited for this book to come out. Thank you so much for this!
Mine will be here Wednesday!!! I can’t wait!!!
Amazon says mine will arrive this week! So excited!
Mine is supposed to be here on Wednesday and I’m SOOOO excited!!!!
Mine is supposed to arrive on Wednesday! I am SO excited, this cookbook sounds amazing!!
I mean to Salt Lake!
Yay, mine says it’s coming Wednesday!!! When you come in April will we also be able to purchase oils?!
We’re working on it- but yes, I’m pretty sure you will be able to!
Awesome, thanks!
I just put the book on my Amazon wishlist! I’m going to see if my mom can find it at Walmart while she’s in the States, if not I will bite the bullet and pay for shipping because I need to have it!
Super-thrilled that my copy should be here in TWO DAYS!!! I have just started to try to lose my baby weight (she’s 8 months old) and have already lost about 16 pounds over the last two months. My biggest struggle with eating and the idea of dieting is exactly what you said in your post – I want to eat things that I would normally eat when I’m not watching my weight as carefully. I don’t want to try a bunch of new “diet” food recipes that I’m not going to enjoy and wouldn’t normally eat… hello, husband and two (now three, I guess!) kids will not eat “diet” food. I don’t have the time or money to cook separate meals for myself and for them. So I don’t. I just make good choices and count my calories and everyone’s happy. I love the idea of this cookbook and am so happy to see the nutritional info in there. Can’t wait for my copy to get here! Thank you so much!!
What I REALLY REALLY appreciate about your light recipes is that they use real ingredients. I don’t need a cookbook to tell me that I can lighten any recipe by using low fat cheese and turkey bacon, but I don’t like to feed my family franken-foods. I want to use real cheese and bacon, just in moderation. When you do use a light ingredient, like light cream cheese in your alfredo sauce, you make sure it tastes just as good as the real thing, before recommending it to us. Thank you!
Yes. This.
Amen.
Can’t wait for mine to get here. You girls are awesome!
I am BEYOND excited to get my copy! Amazon says it will arrive on Thursday!!
Mine’s coming on Wednesday, which is also my birthday – coincidence? I think not!
= )
I would love it if you could bundle all your cookbooks at a small discount…
Backordered at Amazon 🙁 Hopefully mine will come soon.
Don’t worry- from our experience right about now the “backordered” and “out of stock” notices are only because the books are in transit to Amazon warehouses. Yours will most likely be come soon!
Thanks for letting us know the Amazon may not actually be “out of stock”. I am so every excited for this book!!! Thank you so much for doing a “low-cal” book!
I ordered mine as soon as I heard about it and it is going to be here tomorrow! I cannot wait!
I pre-ordered and got an email late last week that it will be here Wednesday by 8pm!!! Yahoo!!! cannot wait!
I ordered mine at Christmas time and it’s supposed to get here Wednesday!! I can’t wait!!! I love you other two cookbooks, and can’t wait for this one!
Yes! I ordered from Amazon over the holiday and have a shipping notice for this Friday! It is certainly going to be a weekend highlight … watching the mail this week 🙂 Also found the feature in LDS Living Magazine with a few recipes to get a jump start … slow cooker pot roast is on the menu … It’s going to be an exciting month, can’t wait to see you in SLC ladies 🙂 Congratulations on another successful cookbook release!!
According to Amazon, mine is supposed to arrive on Thursday! Can’t wait!