The Perfect Portion Cookbook

Sorting through all the pitches that come through my inbox to feature food products or restaurants or other items, one caught my eye. It's the Perfect Portion Cookbook, which makes managing your diet much easier by breaking down all your servings into 100 calories (or in increments of 100 calories) and showing you what you can really eat for that many calories by providing recipes for some favorite meals (many with better-for-you ingredients) and showing how they breakdown into this 100-count puzzle.

However, I have to admit that what really caught my eye at first was the name Anson Williams. Could this be THE Anson Williams who is a co-author of this book?

I was taken back to the early 1980's. I was in grade school. I had a mad crush on Potsie Weber, one of Richie Cunningham's silly buddies on the show Happy Days. While others were swooning over the Fonz or covering their bedroom walls with Brat Pack faces, my allegiance was to Potsie. Those boy-next-door good looks. The sense of humor. The quiet confidence. He was just dreamy. And as sure as Joanie would marry Chachi, I was sure one day I'd be exchanging vows with my Prince Potsie.

Anyway, thanks for allowing me to indulge in my gushing, girlie, nostalgic fantasies for a moment, but back to the book.

So, it turns out it is THE Anson Willams who was involved with this book. He's referred to as the "architect" of the book and chief tasting officer. It was co-written with New York Times best-selling cookbook author and QVC host, Bob Warden and food/nutrition expert Mona Dolgov.

The book includes 150 recipes of favorites like French toast, Waldorf salad, chili and cheesecake and allows you to enjoy them in moderation without sacrificing taste or flavor by dividing servings to fit the 100 or 200 or 300 or 400-calorie mark. It also has tasty recipes for things like oven-fried potato chips and fruit parfaits, offering a healthier version of these common foods. For those who don't do "diets" that force you to sacrifice the foods you love, this book allows you to meal plan and fit your favorites into an adequate daily calorie intake - no need to give up your favorite foods. And the photos - oh, my the photography is BEAUTIFUL!

I also love that it helps you manage those sauces, dressings and extra little things that you don't often take into consideration when gauging your overall daily calories. You also have the recipes at your fingertips to make from scratch items of condiments and snacks without all the additives and not-so-good-for-you preservatives - not to mention that Bleu Cheese Dressing from scratch tastes a ton better than what comes out of a bottle. Snacks like cheese crackers and granola can be easily made via this cookbook all with ingredients you can easily pronounce and probably have on hand in your pantry.

The cookbook launched last week on QVC and is available on Amazon. You'll find it at this link.

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