The cookbook reminded me of just how popular the low fat/ fat free craze was in the '90s, as I can (and did) plan an entire nearly-fat-free menu just from this book.
Don't think we'll skip the appetizer! Have some Bean Dip-Low Fat.
I love that the recipe recommends eating the dip with WOW chips (which are not a thing anymore, for good reason, though apparently Olean is still quietly used in some diet foods today). You can't get much more '90s than deciding the possibility of anal leakage is preferable to eating fat.
Midwesterners will need some ranch dressing for the side salad to go with dinner (Christ the Rock is in Rockford, Illinois), so here's some Ranch Dressing for Everything Fat Free.
There are plenty of fat free main dishes to go with the dip and salad. If you want to live dangerously and have even more beans with the Olestra chips à la bean dip, make some Fat Free Enchiladas.
If you're in the mood for Italian, there's Fat/ Cholesterol Free Lasagna.
Granted, Morningstar Farms burgers have changed in the past 20-some years, but I think Gwen Weiland is seriously underestimating how much fat is in the vegetarian burger patties. Meat free ≠ Fat free
Or, if you want 1960s-style comfort food for the 1990s, there's Fat Free Stroganoff - Easy!
I love that this one uses veggie burgers (again) with roast beef gravy (plus just enough fat free sour cream that you hopefully won't notice how terrible fat free sour cream is).
And don't worry that you'll miss dessert! Of course we have one.
There's even an option to make a "regular" version (meaning not fat/ cholesterol free). Again, though, I have sincere doubts about how fat free the fat free version is. Even though this says "When you use applesauce and egg whites and the premade frosting, there is zero cholesterol," that doesn't mean there's no fat. I suspect the icing has to be abandoned entirely to get close to fat free.
As I read through the book, I initially marveled a little at how popular "fat free" used to be (even though I cooked that way in the 1990s when I took over the cooking duties since mom was so bad at it). I wanted to be a dietitian long ago (Glad I didn't go that route!), and I wanted to do things right.
However, as I looked more closely, I realized that fat free probably wasn't all that popular even then. My entire menu is from the same contributor: Gwen Weiland! In short, I would have been the Gwen Weiland of this cookbook. (And I might have mistaken my own prolific recipe offerings as proof that low fat was indeed popular.)
I can't be too hard on Gwen, though, as other people's ideas of being healthy didn't always sound much more appetizing. Maybe Whole Meal Pizza was Dee Block's way of trying to get the kids to eat more veggies...
...but I wouldn't want the tradeoff in soggy crust that dumping entire cans of mushrooms, green beans, and spinach on a whole pizza is likely to cause. The extra cheese on top might temporarily hide the problem, but would this be any better than the fat free stuff? I'm not so convinced. I'm just glad I'm not trying to eat '90s-style health food.
It does seem strange that they are all from one person because I remember everything being emblazoned as fat free, too. I guess it wasn't just our home, but maybe not all homes. Granted, the fact that you could buy all of those fat free franken foods should tell you that there were plenty of people worried about eating fat free. Now I embrace the anarchy of NOT following guidelines.
ReplyDeleteWe just like demonizing either fat or carbs. Now, it's carbs. I imagine it will be fat again in a while. (Protein generally gets a pass.)
DeleteI don't know what she eats, but there is an independent director and recruiter for Thirty-One Gifts in Rockford who used to work as a registered nurse, so I'm guessing that's her: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gwen-weiland-30037433
ReplyDeleteThis fat-free thing does not sound fun at all. By the way, Purple Rain is on HBO right now. So I will be partying like it's 1999 with popcorn . . . with extra butter. :)
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy your posts so much! How did you find this lot of books? Was it expensive?
That sounds like a much better party!
DeleteThe books are from a secondhand book seller-- usually $17 for a lot of five. (If you sign up for the newsletter, the store occasionally sends out discount codes, so I paid less.) The full info is at https://shop.brickcitybooks.com/collections/cookbooks/products/lot-of-20-random-assorted-mixed-regional-spiral-cookbooks-vintage-contemporary
I think that sounds pretty good! Thanks for sharing the link. I'm glad they have other books. I don't cook but I do read a lot. :)
DeleteI did see an appalachian maple cookbook. I am intrigued. . .
ReplyDelete