The Planet Friendly Diet – Cat Smiley

It’s the new year and everyone wants to get healthy! I recently received a copy of The Planet Friendly Diet by Cat Smiley ($29.95 CAD & USD). which is a book that features some cool tips to get healthy while also staying on a budget. I love to cook and really enjoyed testing out some of the recipes found in here. These fresh recipes are easy to make and super handy when you’re not able to think creatively as there is a daily guide as to what to eat and how large your portions are. One of my favourite recipes within the book was the Baked Tilapia and I never knew that cooking with fish was so easy!

Flipping through The Planet Friendly Diet, it’s not your usual cookbook filled with recipes. Smiley includes a few extras to help get you get on track with your new diet such as a planning guide, grocery list each week as well as a timetable to help you track your progress. She includes all of the important things you need to be aware about: weight, weekly goals, food and water intake, approximate caloric intake, cost as well as time you’ve eaten. Documenting all of these will help keep your mind in check and more mindful of what you’re eating and how much you’re spending.

Smiley advises people to start off slowly when working on changing your diet. Her regime includes two smoothies which I had for breakfast and lunch (sometimes dinner if I was too tired to cook!) as well as a meal and several snacks during the day. Since I love smoothies, I was definitely up for trying out some new recipes!

Although her recipes are not 100% plant based, don’t worry! Smiley includes vegetarian friendly alternatives so you’re not left astray. She includes them in each of the recipes on the side so they’re easy to read and have access to as you’re flipping through for inspiration.

My favourite recipe of the bunch that I tried was the Baked Tilapia and you can try it too! It was super easy for me to do and make adjustments to (incase you’re allergic to anything!). Although this recipe called for encrusting the fish with coconut, I was hesitant to do so. Instead, I went to my local Whole Foods and purchased a parmesan crusted tilapia that was on special that day.

Preparing the food wasn’t too hard at all. Although I love to cook, my knife skills are still subpar… It’s a good thing this wasn’t focused on that! The salsa probably had the most usage of those skills and because it’s so versatile, it was eaten so quickly it didn’t even matter if the cubes of veggies were irregular or not!

Although picky, my fiance nearly ate all of my fish! He loved how flaky the fish was and how perfect it paired with the veggies. Keep in mind that he is not a veggie lover (far from it!), he tried the mushrooms and thought they were pretty good.

Overall, I love how Cat integrated all of the important aspects of staying healthy while also sharing how eating sustainably may not be as expensive as well all think.

You can find more about Cat Smiley and her new book on her personal website.

Book was received from PR.