Library Journal Review

Sisters Chapman and Larson are the co-creators of A Beautiful Mess, a popular blog and women's lifestyle company. Their colorful first cookbook promotes a "weekday/weekend" style of eating, which involves following simple rules during the week (eating a variety of foods and avoiding refined or artificial sugars or sweeteners as well as refined white flour or white rice, dairy, and alcohol) and indulging on weekends. The 75 vegetarian recipes (e.g., spelt-zucchini-carob waffles, chipotle-black bean burgers, double-chocolate surprise brownies, and blended watermelon mojitos) touch on fashionable food trends. Commentary from two registered dietitian nutritionists gives the text some credibility but should not be mistaken for hard and fast advice. VERDICT For readers seeking to jump-start a lifestyle change, this cookbook offers an easy-to-remember, unintimidating approach. Although it studiously avoids diet language, it is at heart a diet program. © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.