CF Fabulous Finds: Hungry Girl
We all have it–that perfect dress that we keep hanging in our closet, lovingly gazing at as we reach in to grab our daily garb. And there is nothing better than finding that perfect occasion to wear said dress out… unless, that is, you have indulged in a few too many late night cookies and pizza and chips and said dress no longer fits like a glove.
Unfortunately, one of the well-documented dangers of college life is veering into an unhealthy lifestyle filled with fast food and sleepless nights. This sort of lifestyle is conducive not only to putting on pounds, but also to getting sick (which hard enough to avoid in college)!
Of course, that leads us to the problem many of us are facing–we want to be healthy, and we don’t want to gain the “Freshman 15″, but we don’t have time (or space and tools) to cook ourselves good meals. Plus, let’s face it–a late night study sesh is much more enjoyable when it is fueled with chocolate than celery!
That is where my food savior and idol, Hungry Girl, comes in. I first heard about the Hungry Girl website from a friend and after one visit, I was hooked. And here’s why:
- The Hungry Girl brand has recipes for literally every occasion, ranging from special holiday ideas to food for everyday life.
- There are recipes for people with all different levels of experience, from simple recipes that only require a refrigerator or microwave to recipes that require whisks and ovens and a bit more time. However, it is important to note that all of the recipes are detailed, so it is totally possible for someone who is not necessarily a star chef to try them out!
- You can sign up for daily e-mails on the website that include new recipes, as well as the answers to readers’ questions and great new product finds (the product finds are super helpful for girls who do not want to cook but just want to get some smart snacks).
- The recipes are delicious, the food is healthier, and you will be shocked at how low the calories are per generous serving!
- Hungry Girl even does fun “food swaps” for popular restaurant items that are high in fat and calories, allowing you to make your favorite food items at home (without all the unnecessary and fattening additives restaurants often add and charge extra for)!
Now, I expect you to be skeptical at this point. For the most part, low-fat and diet food tend to be a bit lackluster and unsatisfying. But as a Hungry Girl-practicer (who also happens to be a terribly picky eater and a junk food addict), I can assure you that these recipes are truly easy and do not taste “diet” at all! My friends have been continuously impressed by the pies, brownies, and chicken I have cooked from Hungry Girl recipes, and I have already converted all of my roommates.
In fact, I loved the Hungry Girl e-mails so much that I bought the latest Hungry Girl cookbook, Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 (pictured above covered in the post-it notes my roommates and I could not help but mark all of our favorite recipes with). This book actually includes 200 easy and yummy recipes under 200 calories eachand even has a seemingly too-good-to-be-true section devoted entirely to cupcakes!
While I know this product is not exactly “fashion related,” I think it is an essential for any stylish college girl. In order to look your best you need to FEEL your best, which I can promise you Hungry Girl will help you do. And once you have your health in check, you can go back to focusing all of your new found extra energy on going on a power-shopping trip (after all, the holidays are quickly approaching)!
What Do You Think?
Do you often make food for yourself at school or do you rely on restaurants and dining halls? Do you have any other healthy food options you have discovered? Have you tried any of the Hungry Girl recipes? Let us know in the comments!
Posted on on November 22, 2009 / Filed Under: College Life / Tags: cookbook, Diet, Food, Health, Hungry Girl
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Valeria
Amazing site! Definetely is added to my bookmarks.
Coco
I usually love this site because it tells students that they can be beautiful and fashionable the way we are, without having to fall for things like this. So many college girls struggle with eating disorders, and having a fellow student suggest a cookbook with meals under 200 calories (wayy too low) is just a trigger. I am 100 percent for eating healthy, and not living off of pizza and chips, but this cookbook is not healthy. It depends on things like fake sweeteners and creates recipes that, although low in calories, do not have enough nutrients. There are plenty of healthy cookbooks that can be recommended that do not encourage girls to eat obsessively little and even disordered. Please continue with your accepting fashion posts of the past, and not with ideas that are potential triggers to an already vulnerable audience.
Sam
Great post!
Also, I don’t believe this article is saying it’s a good idea to eat meals under 200 calories. I think the things from that cookbook are meant to be snacks, not full meals. Also, the cookbook doesn’t suggest you eat that little either. The book has an entire section on cupcakes. Cupcakes are obviously not meals. I think this article is fine and doesn’t in any way, shape, or form suggest that college students should starve themselves.
Katie
I gotta say I’m kind of with Coco here — Zephyr was always so careful to write about the figure-obsessed fashion industry in such a way that NEVER put dieting in the forefront. I guess it’s just a feature of having so many different writers now that not everyone would share her views, but that was one of my favorite parts of the site.
I’m also kind of surprised — even though the editing is always pretty rough on the new writers’ posts (making me believe that Zephyr wasn’t always reading them), I assumed that all the post ideas went through her. If that’s not the case, OK, but if it is, I’m interested in hearing her view on why this post still fits into her whole anti-body-judgment view.
Colleen - NYU
Hey guys,
I would like to share my point of view on why I wrote this article.
I am not in ANY way suggesting that all sizes are not beautiful or that one must look a certain way to be fashionable. What I was trying to say is that I think we can all admit that college is not necessarily conducive to healthy eating/living, and gaining extra weight is just one aspect of this that I tried not to focus on here–I know I mentioned much more about being healthy and feeling YOUR personal best, nothing about subscribing to a certain view of beauty.
As I pointed out, I think looking good has to do with feeling good, which to me includes living a healthier life style. If you do go on the Hungry Girl website, you will see that it is NOT about living on a diet to look a certain way at all. It is about finding smarter and healthier alternatives to some of the worse-for-you food that many people (including us college students) often indulge in.
I absolutely did not mean to make this sound like readers should be stringent about dieting while they are in school. As a girl who just got her first in-room kitchen, I found this book (which is, as Sam said, more about smaller snacks than meals, though the actual website has meal recipes available, as do the company’s other books) extremely helpful to making myself healthier snacks and smaller meals to bring with me throughout the day–as well as the great cupcakes and desserts I mentioned!
I know we have posted articles on CF before about going to the gym and such and I believe that this article fits right in with those. I am not writing this so girls feel bad about their bodies, I am writing it to help those girls who are–like I am–interested in ways to eat all the delicious foods we love without suffering all of the unhealthy consequences that often come with them!
I am sorry if this article came off in any other way.
Renee
this article was great! There is no reason why college students should eat fast food every day of their life- and this is just suggesting a book of recipes to cook–not any any way does it suggest that you should go on a diet –if you go to the main page- it says “make our batch of peanut butter fudge”. obviously you didnt go to the website and look around.
great post :) im interested in the book 200 under 200!
Zephyr - CF Editor
I knew this post would be controversial, because it does deviate a bit from the topics we normally feature here. But contrary to what some may think, I read and edit absolutely EVERYTHING before it hits the site, and I did not see anything wrong with this post, which is why I published it.
Coco – I agree with you 100% on the fact that much of the fashion industry is figure-obsessed, and I’m glad you’ve noticed that we do not play into that on this site. It’s certainly a conscious choice that I work hard to maintain. That said, I just think you’ve missed the point of the article. There is nothing in this article telling girls that they should lose weight – it’s about being healthier, showing easy meals to make in college, and making better-for-you junk food swaps instead of downing the typical college student diet of fast food. I’d like to think the average girl knows that cupcakes are not meant to be dinner, and can easily see that an article featuring a cookbook with recipes under 200 calories is not telling her she SHOULD eat only meals under 200 calories. I’m sorry you got a different impression, but I just don’t think that’s what the average girl would take away from this article.
Sam – Glad you understood what it was about! :)
Katie – Not really sure what you mean by “the editing is always pretty rough on the new writers’ posts”. Could you please give me an example of what you think is “rough” editing? I read and edit EVERYTHING before it hits the site – EVERY article goes through me and things can’t get published without my approval, period. And since I’m human, sure, the occasional typo gets through. But I think you should get your facts straight before you accuse me of being lax with editing or not caring about what goes up on the site, because that’s so far from the truth it’s almost ludicrous.
Anyway, I’ve already explained how this article fits in to the site’s anti-body-judgment view, but I’ll repeat it – it’s about making healthier choices instead of relying on fast food, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing in here telling girls they should lose weight or judging people on their bodies. Period. I am truly sorry if someone takes this article to mean something else. But that’s not the intention and I think most people will see that.
M
This is not a comment about the appearance of this post on CF, but rather on Hungry Girl itself.
I used to be a Hungry Girl fan but in recent years, have veered away from her sites in favor of sites that encourage more healthy eating. I think HG serves a purpose – the junk-food swaps and snack reviews are certainly helpful, but I think it’s easy to get caught up in the HG world. The healthiest snacks and swaps are NOT packaged products on the shelves but instead can be found in the produce section and outer perimeter of your grocery store. i wish HG would emphasize foods that naturally contain fiber, protein, and antioxidants. Rather, I feel she/it leans toward encouraging consumption of packaged, processed food that has such nutrients artificially added in.
While I agree that college students lead a busy, hectic lifestyle that doesn’t always give them the chance to grab the most nutritious choice, and while I agree that HG helps some girls figure out swaps to their favorite junk food, I think it’s also important to point out that healthy eating really isn’t about such things. Healthy eating is about natural foods, and getting the right amount of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals from them.
Coco
I understand what you were going for here-healthy eating, easy recipes, fast food swaps- and I am totally for that. I think the reason I got a bad feeling from this post is because I have seen sooo many hungry girl recipes and all that they focus on is calorie counting,fat grams et cetera. They never bring up nutrition and the fact that some things are calorie dense because they are full of nutrients. Such a calorie focused outlook on food it what leads to trouble. Looking at HEALTHY food as an enjoyable way to live well and be happy is an all around better mind-set for eating. Anyway, I did not mean to bring up such controversy, I really do love this site!
Coco
M, I agree with you completely!
Suzanne
Hungry Girl is AWESOME. The recipes in this particular book are not for MEALS, per se– they are for snacks. This book has been on the NY Times Best Seller list for like a year or so now — so don’t knock it. It rocks! Loved this article!!!
rachelle
Sure, Hungry Girl advertises the amounts of calories which is usually a tell tale sign of calorie counting or obsessive bahavior, but this is most likely part of their advertising. Girls see “under 200 calories”, and lets face it, they are interested. But please ladies, you KNOW these 200 calorie foods are snacks. Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t believe how many people put words in Colleen’s mouth with this article. Sure cupcakes are fun and not healthy, but this book is mostly designed for girls who don’t think they can cook but don’t want to rely on fast food. There are hungry girl books with meals too, which are well over 200 calories. So RELAX! Its completely dramatic to say that this article promotes eating disorders or obsessive calorie counting. I feel like there is always a girl who does not like an article and makes really extreme judgements. Don’t like hungry girl? Fine, but don’t accuse these girls of being body obsessed or promoting such obsessions.
Maria
Thanks for telling us this website! I love trying new recipes and the since the snacks are low-cal, it’s perfect for me coz I have to munch on something when I study. :D
Julia
Hey– I just wanted to say thanks for including this feature. I noticed that the emphasis was on health and well being and feeling good about yourself, rather than dieting to meet certain standards, and I really appreciated that. I think that is definitely the way to go with young women– teach them to put the priority on their health and that their beauty and self worth will increase along with it.
Katie
Hey y’all, I hope I didn’t offend! Thanks for that explanation, Colleen, I think it was just that I, as always, immediately followed the link and then saw BAM calorie counting, calorie counting, calorie counting, which kind of got my back up. So many girls in college are SO calorie conscious that it’s kind of a sore issue for me, but as you rightly pointed out, your choice of this was more about feeling good than looking good, which I totally respect and love about this site!
M makes a good point about how HG seems to rely a little bit on artificial things like Splenda, but still — I’m definitely going to check out her pumpkin pie recipe for the break. Thanks, Colleen!
And Zephyr, I really didn’t realize how accusatory that “editing is a little rough” comment came off. I remember we’d talked about this stuff before in previous threads (I’m not sure if you remember — you must have your hands full with so many posts every day), and I just meant something along those lines.
It feels ridiculous just to mention specific instances, but I guess I just meant that I’d seen a couple more typos, like you’d said, along with little grammatical stuff that I hadn’t noticed when it was just you. But maybe it’s also that there are just so many new posts now (which is obviously awesome; I’m pretty much checking this site several times a day now!), so proportionally, there are just more mistakes than there were before.
Again, I don’t mean at all to bash the effort that all of y’all are putting into this — I obviously check this site so much, and it’s just taking me some time to readjust to the new style of everything. But I love CF and again, I hope I didn’t offend anyone! Happy T’giving, everyone!
Grace
I feel like 200 calories is definitely snack sized, and this book/hungry girl in general is a very good transitioning point for girls used to having fast food as an easy fix, because this is also easy but lower fat/sodium/calories.
However, Hungry Girl is not a substitute for eating real food, with all natural ingredients, at any calorie level. Once one is ready at the Hungry Girl stage to transition forward, one should really consider the change! Its much more filling and nutritious, and as one gets better with making food, the substitutions to make a 200 calorie snack or more calories meal will come easily, and there will be no fake sugar and artificial other stuff!
Chelsea Morgan T.
I decided to leave a comment letting you know that I was so excited about this post that I am adding HG to my Christmas list!
However, in reading the other comments, I’m finding that a few ladies are a bit offended by the cookbook and the message that is coming across to them from the post.
I have to say that one of the things that has me checking CF several times a day, is that it is the one place I can come to feel great about fashion, budgeting as a college student, and body image. When Zephyr was solo, I felt like she might as well have been a body image spokesperson for all of us 20 somethings. She was always encouraging us to try different outfits no matter our body types, and to rock skinny jeans, even if we did gain the freshman 15, if those were the jeans we loved!
I think the other writers realize the message of this site as Zephyr created it, and uphold it beautifully. Bravo!
I’m glad there is a site that encourages me to embrace who I am as a college student and lover of fashion, and thankful for the healthy cooking (snack) tips as well. Keep up the great work ladies!
Chelsea Morgan
Collette
Ok first thing you need to know is that I am totally addicted to pancakes. Can’t go more than a day or two without em!
On Thanksgiving someone brought my mom a can of an organic (!!) pancake in a can called Batter Blaster! She looked at me right away and we both started laughing.
So we made them the next day and I figured they would be nasty but no – they were really good!
I just found some last night, at Costco. Perfect for when I need a flapjack fix and I’m in a rush! Woo-hoo!
Bridget
I got this Hungry Girl cookbook a couple months ago, and I absolutely love it. I complement these smaller meals with healthy snacks during the day, as recommended in the book and on the website. Everything I have made from the cookbook has been absolutely delicious and doesn’t taste like no-flavor diet alternatives to real food. The meals are also surprisingly filling in most cases and very satisfying.
As for the emphasis on dieting and losing weight that was brought up in earlier comments, I have to say I didn’t get that at all from this post. This book does provide some great alternatives to some REALLY unhealthy restaurant foods. For example, I LOVE the Southwestern Egg Rolls at Chili’s, but they have so many calories it’s just ridiculous. This cookbook provides a great version of these that actually leave you some calories to eat other things during the day.
Love the book, love the post! Nice job, Colleen! (For the record, I recommend the Chicken Fajita Lettuce Cups and the super super yummy Pineapple Cupcakes from this book!)