I own probably 50 cookbooks. I adore them all but this one was different. In the first few pages, most cookbooks educate and inform you about what's within the cookbook (think keto intro, vegan options, etc), this book is about cooking with limited sugar added. The first thing that grabbed my eye was the page "Your Daily Limit of Amount of Sugar" - it has a guide by age/gender based on how many teaspoons of sugar you can have a day. I LOVED THIS. I have a 5 year old so this information was very valuable to me in that regard but also because I do all the cooking in our household. It also helps me explain a lot to my daughter who loves to assist in the kitchen.

This book is light on sugar but heavy on recipes. I love a cookbook with a substantial number of recipes because I think it's fun to work through. Some of the recipes I've heard of or tried BUT I would say a lot of them I'd never heard of or made. My daughter loved all of the breakfasts we have made so far (we've made 7 out of 17). I do wish there were more snack recipes but it was not a breaking moment.

Under each category of meals are "types" - think Pizza, Meats, Fish for Dinner options. Several of the recipes piqued my interest and we enjoyed most of the dinners we made.

The GAME changer was the desserts. My husband and daughter have INSANE sweet tooths and the recipes inside were a hit! My husband loved the brownies and my daughter loved the PB cookies.

I loved this cookbook and I'm so happy to add it to my collection.

If you are of the opinion that most of us, including children, eat way too much sugar, and that many foods are way too sweet, then you will enjoy Half the Sugar, All the Love: 100 Easy, Low-Sugar Recipes for Every Meal of the Day by Jennifer Tyler Lee and Dr. Anisha I Patel. It may surprise you to learn that many foods we eat, such as condiments (i.e., ketchup) and ingredients like Hoisin sauce are full of sugar. Many convenience products are also full of sugar. If you want to cut down your family’s consumption, you will want to make the recipes in this excellent cookbook.

While you would expect to find a book full of lower sugar desserts, this cookbook has recipes for appetizers, beverages, salads, main dishes, and desserts, as well as basics and condiments such as ketchup, barbecue sauce, Hoisin sauce, jam and salad dressings. Some of the favorite recipes, that are absolutely delicious with less extra sugar, include Shrimp Pad Thai (a new favorite), Chinese BBQ Pork Fried Rice (lower in fat, too), and Pumpkin Spice Waffles. In the queue are BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad with Creamy Ranch Dressing (a lower sugar version of that served at California Pizza Kitchen), Pineapple Teriyaki Short Ribs, and Citrus Chicken Stir-Fry with Green Beans. Desserts, many relying on sweeter fruits such as dates rather than sugar, include Pecan Pie Bars, Double Chocolate Brownies, and Caramelized Pumpkin Pie.

Honestly, knowing that too much sugar in our diets can lead to poor health and obesity, you can’t go wrong with this excellent cookbook. There are beautiful photographs (although there should be more – in a perfect world every dish should have a photographed), and the instructions are easy-to-follow. Some of the ingredient lists are quite long, and some recipes are time consuming, but that is to be expected when preparing healthier foods – the extra steps are worth it.

This cookbook is definitely recommended for everyone who wants to feed their family’s healthier food.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

This was an very good guide for sometonewho does'nt know where to start to have a better and less sugary way of life. I made many of the recepes and loved them.

ooh.. Honey Peach breakfast pops.. another way to use up chia seeds.

There's a section each for what kids can do, quick tip and make ahead.

Kids will love the monkey toast, owl toast and the bear toast with bananas, strawberries and blueberries.

Strata

Maple Yogurt

Newtella and banana roll-ups with bread

You will be surprised to find all meals in the book as the recipes have very less or no sugar compared to what you eat outisde where sugar is hidden.

I received a free electronic copy of this cookbook from Netgalley, Jennifer Tyler Lee and Anisha Patel, and Workman Publishing. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read Half the Sugar, All the Love of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to refer this cookbook to friends and family.

I received this book in June and have been working recipes and ideas from it since then. Some of the sugar cuts in especially beverages and desserts had to be made incrementally or my family fussed, but we have managed over time to adapt to this wonderful idea, and most of the cooking I do now is, as Jennifer Tyler Lee recommends, half the called for sugar, prepared with all the love.

Even if you don't have family members with diabetes, excess fluff, or other health problems, cutting our sugar consumption is half can only be a good thing. Following the advice of these ladies makes for an easy transition without resorting to artificial sweeteners.

This is a great idea if you want a healthier lifestyle. I love to cook sweets dish for my family and cutting to half the sugar is great.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for this book.

Lee and Patel’s Half the Sugar, All the Love is a great cookbook for parents and caretakers concerned about their family’s daily sugar intake, laying out the facts about sugar, debunking common myths and offering a sustainable way forward: lowering added sugar in a well-balanced diet, rather than cutting it out completely, for better health.

The book is full of delicious recipes illustrating how, with a little adjustment, many family favourites can be made low- or no-sugar. Recently I’ve been growing interested in including more health-conscious recipes in our repertoire, and there were several new-to-me techniques used in Half the Sugar which I’m excited to try out and explore further in my kitchen.

I loved the family-focused advice included throughout the recipes, with tips on getting your kids involved in the food prep and cooking, to strengthen relationships and build lifelong healthy habits - what a precious gift that will serve children through adolescence and into their adult life. Many recipes can be prepped beforehand or frozen to fit in the weekly schedule or meal plan. Each meal has an easy sugarcube counter, enabling to to plan out meals for whole days while staying within the recommended daily intake of sugar.

There’s a variety of cuisines represented, from American baked classics to lunches and dinners with an Asian bend, including reduced-sugar home-made sauces and dressings. Some recipes do require a lot of effort and time - a trade-off for letting go of store-bought shortcuts and condiments, but they are worth the investment and pre-planning required.

The authors do a fantastic job of teaching readers that with a bit of work, it’s easy to reduce to sugar in your family’s diet, while serving up delicious, wholesome food.

Half the sugar all the love
By Jennifer Tyler Lee and Anisha Patel
Prior to reading this book I could say I was confident in my view of sugar. I have done the Whole 30 and Trim Healthy Mama diet plans which educate on cutting sugar from the diet. This considered I appreciated that the author was not for cutting sugar out but promoted using natural sweeteners, as “sugar free is not sustainable.” By reducing added sugar in your diet, you are cutting out much unneeded sugar. I am always surprised looking at labels and find sugar snuck in. It is literally in everything. Knowledge is power. I enjoyed the charts: “Your Daily Limit of Added Sugar” and “Grams of Sugar per Type of Added Sugar.”
The recipes were all pretty simple with common ingredients. I didn’t feel like I had to shop around for anything special. All the recipes contained a combination of sugar (but only a fraction) as well from the natural sweetness of items such as dates or honey.
All this being said I prefer to use Monk Fruit and erythritol sweeteners in recipes combined with natural sweetener such dates and honey. I feel that it is necessary to think about both added sugar and natural sugar in your diet although I think this is a start. These recipes introduce what life with less sugar looks like and might but a stepping stone for changing your diet.

The amount of added sugar in our foods is incredible. While sugar does add flavor and even stabilizes shelf-life, it also plays the role of deteriorating our health over time. In fact, when we look at many of the foods where sugar is added, many people can agree that there must be a better way. The authors of this book have presented a solution: sweeten foods naturally with fruits and vegetables. This is a wonderful approach when you consider that not enough fruits and vegetables are consumed by the average American.

In this book, the authors take on many of the common food choices made for breakfast, lunch, dinner snacks and desserts along with adding other recipe ideas. In addition, they present recipes for beverages and various condiments. Along with nutrition information, the authors also compare the amount of sugar in the recipes given with the amount in the traditional recipes/foods people make/purchase. I also like the information they provide on common myths about sugar as well as recommendations on daily added sugar intake.

For those concerned about this issue of added sugars and looking for a way to make changes, this book is an excellent start

I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book that was provided by the publisher through Net Galley. However, the thoughts and opinions presented here are my own.

Recipes sounded good, contained ingredients the reader would likely have easy access to, and the pictures were inviting. (I wish there'd been photos for all of the recipes.) Recipes are ones that could be familiar, but they have less sugar in them. I do have a sweet tooth, so finding yummy recipes that have reduced sugar is a good thing. Substitutions are provided.

The author explains how to read labels for added sugars and how to make better choices while shopping. Recipes are provided for all meals, as well as sauces. Nutritional info is provided that compares the original recipe with the author's recipe. It was a bit odd that the amount of sugar in the "new" recipes isn't included. While the sugar is reduced, that doesn't mean that the recipes are necessarily healthy, and people with specific allergies still need to be aware with these, as they're not allergy-friendly. That said, I do look forward to trying many of the recipes.

Rating 3.5 stars

This is a family cookery book that is primarily aimed at the children in your family to help you reduce the added sugar without sacrificing the flavour in your meals. I've noticed in recent years, as well as the authors of this book, that too many times a supermarket will mess with a product to reduce the added sugar but in doing so either make it bland or add salt and fat to mask the change.

The Introduction explains about added-sugars, why it is important to reduce added sugar, sugar myths, how to read a food label, and simple tips for reducing added sugar. Also included is a table that explains how to compare similar produces and calculate how much added sugar has been added in teaspoons - it's quite scary really especially when you compare it to the table (USA recommendations) that shows how much added sugar you should try and limit yourself to! Also provided is a list of key ingredients that can be used for less added sugar.

This book is divided into a further seven main chapters: Breakfasts, Snacks, Lunches & salads, Dinners, Desserts, Beverages and Basics & condiments.

There are some of the usual family favourites in this book, including pizza, tomato soup, granola and cookies. Some of the recipes from Snacks and Desserts appear to be the perfect treat to put in your kids lunchbox instead of a shop bought cake.

Each recipe comes with an introduction, all the ingredients needed and plenty of steps to follow. There is a little tip box making suggestions on how the kids can help with the recipe, which is aimed at the very young children and whether the recipe can be made ahead or has a quick tip. some of the recipes refer to a sauce that is found in the Basics chapter.

The recipes are only in imperial measurements. However there is a conversion table to the rear for metric measurements, but when it comes to dried ingredients in cups, there isn't always a conversion into grams for the Brits. Not all the recipes have an accompanying colour photograph. Provided at the beginning of the recipe is the added sugar content shown in sugar cubes with an equivalent comparable recipes added sugar and at the bottom of the recipe is the nutritional information.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review

I appreciate Lee and Patel's cookbook, "Half the Sugar, All the Love" because of the sheer amount of work that went into compiling these recipes and the educational portion about hidden sugars. The book has many recipes that are easy to follow. The ingredients are easy to come by, and I don't think anyone will have a hard time trying them out. The photographs are pretty as well.
I look forward to purchasing the book myself and sharing these recipes with the family.

Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of Half the Sugar, All the Love.

When I saw my request was approved, I quickly downloaded it. I love sweets and I'm always on the lookout for ways to improve my eating habits but without having to sacrifice my love of all things dessert.

But, the recipes weren't what I expected, namely for the following:

1. Many of the recipes include white flour, which frankly is no better than added sugar. Refined flour raises blood sugar and could be considered nearly as addictive as sugar itself.

2. Most of the recipes reduce the sugar content by half but at what cost? The recipes include white flour and butter so you're replacing one vice for others.

3. Some recipes are very labor extensive and I can't see a mom or anyone with a busy life slaving away in a kitchen to make onigiri.

4. If you are diabetic or have any food allergies, this is not the book for you.

5. Not enough pictures! I love food porn!

This book would be helpful for those looking just to reduce sugar content in their meals who have no food restrictions or allergies or are just looking for ways to shake up their eating routine.

Sugar, sugar and more sugar. Addictive yet but delicious. Actually who doesn't like sugar. So when I saw this title, I was like, really, half the sugar in these recipes, especially for dessert? How can that be? I have tried various recipes by decreasing sugar but it didn't always turn out great.


Why not check this book out to see what's it's like? Besides this isn't just a dessert book but it's about cutting sugar out during breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snacks.


What I actual reading was the introduction of why reducing sugar is important for our health and then goes to talk about various myth about sugar, like honey is healthier option (dummy...it's still added sugar) or no sugar = no dessert. I really like this portion of the book, it's very educational.


The author goes on to teach us how to read the nutritional labels, which can be pretty complicated.


the recipes are all simple with easy ingredients that we all have in the pantry. For example, the granola, the only added sugar is a 1/4 cup maple syrup. Rest of the sweetness is from natural dried fruit.


I love how she has pictures of sugar cups on top which tells you with a visual how much sugar in each recipe and when possible compares the sugar in the recipe against what is generally added for the same recipe.


I highly recommend this book for all who are looking to cut back on their sugar but still get the delicious sugar taste in their food.

I admit, the same afternoon I was approved for this, I immediately looked through every single recipe! This is such a wonderful cookbook. I think it would be a great staple cookbook to have on any home chef’s shelf, whether they are needing to cut down on sugar as per doctor’s orders, or if they’re merely health conscious and watching their sugar intake. I appreciate the introduction to this cookbook and the nutritional info, along with the comparison to mainstream versions of the recipe. Another fun part is how the recipes have tips on how kids can help out! I think this would make an excellent gift this coming holiday season!

This recipe book is filled with interesting information. While it's not quite what I expected, less a guide and more recipe comparison, I still managed to learn a thing or two. It explores the ways to cut down added sugar and how to get natural sweetness, which at times can be a bit challenging, but this book makes it seem so possible.
It's definitely a great start if you're looking to learn how to cut down sugar, it can help rewire you to think more about the type of food you're consuming, one recipe at a time.

Title: Half the Sugar, All the Love

Author: Jennifer Tyler Lee and Anisha Patel

Stars: 3

Review: Watching my sugar something that I have been curious in learning more about and this book does a great job in describing artificial sugar, natural sugar and an average of how much sugar is in common dishes and common store bought items. I liked the different sugar substitutes and recipes provided and would recommend it to anyone looking to watch their sugar intake.

This cookbook is easy to read, contains simple and obtainable ingredients, and has real family-friendly recipes! I liked the information about sugar in our diets and practical ways to sweeten foods without going overboard. We all need this information today in America!

While I find it difficult to use cookbooks in Kindle format, I love this one so much that I am pre-ordering the physical copy! I recommend this one especially for families trying to kick bad processed food habits.

Some great recipes that made me want to go to my kitchen. Sometimes you just need a few new ideas to try when you are trying to change your eating habits and this sparks the imagination. Join in the fun of trying new desserts and sparking up your meals.

I am always on the look-out for cookbooks that cut the sugar, and this one did not disappoint. Chock full of sugarless, or almost sugarless versions of favorite meals, along with creative takes on common ingredients. I liked the way the recipes were arranged, and tested several. All were delicious. Recommended.