Devin Alexander - Fast Food Fix: 75 Amazing Recipe Makeovers of Your Fast Food Restaurant Favorites

I try to make healthy eating choices, but sometimes the allure of fast food is sometimes hard to resist. I know it's not good, but it just tastes so good.

A couple of months ago, I was at the bookstore browsing through a pregnancy magazine and saw some low-fat versions of popular fast food items. I was so intrigued that I decided to look for the cookbook the recipes came from right then and there.

Devin Alexander's Fast Food Fix contains over 75 recipes for creating some of the most popular fast food items. And as if that wasn't enough, all the recipes are considerably lower in fat and calories.

The recipes have been divided into nine categories:

Burgers
Chicken entrees
Fish/Seafood
Sandwiches
Fries/Sides
Pizza
Mexican
Breakfast
Sweets

As I have mentioned, this cookbook contains some of the most popular fast food items. All the popular fast food eateries are here- McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Jack in the Box, and many more. Also, many of the items are regional. I grew up in California, eating In N Out and Tommy burgers, but they don't have these restaurants on the East coast. So it's a treat and a half to be able to have these items without taking a six hour flight.

The recipes are presented in an attractive format. Alexander always includes a paragraph introducing the item. The ingredient list is in bold text with the precise specifics needed (i.e. 5 inch bun, tomato sliced 1/8 inch thick, etc). This helps in recreating an authentic experience.

The preparation instructions are in paragraphs (as opposed to numbered directions), so it is important to read a recipe several times before beginning to make it. The paragraphs are broken up nicely, so there is not too much dense text.

If an additional sauce is needed (i.e. Big Mac special sauce), then the recipe for that is also provided within the main recipe.

The ingredients Alexander uses are fairly common, and the instructions are easy to follow. You don't have to have too much cooking experience to make these recipes. Early in the pregnancy, before I had broken down and given into my Big Mac cravings, my husband made me the Fast Food Fix Big Mac. He's not a kitchen novice, but his repertoire is not that broad. People who are moderately comfortable with cooking should have no problem following these recipes.

At the end of the recipe, Alexander provides the nutritional information for the food you have just prepared. Of course, the exact numbers might vary depending on brands used, but it's a good gauge. Alexander is also kind enough to provide the nutritional data for the original items from the restaurants, which are accurate as of the publication of the book. At the top of each recipe, Alexander tells the user how many calories and fat are shaved by using her version of the recipe.

So, how does she do it? How does Alexander cut the fat down so much? It's simple. She just uses…low fat ingredients. Instead of regular mayo, she uses light mayo. I've been doing this for years, and I can't tell the difference between the two. Alexander uses lean beef and 2% cheese and it is surprising to see the difference it makes in terms of reducing fat and calories. Personally, I'm not such a big fan of low fat cheeses. I can taste the difference. So, I just go with my plain old regular cheese. Feel free to do the same. Obviously, this will have some impact on the overall nutritional information. But if you make other substitutions like leaner beef and low fat mayo, you should be able to sneak in regular cheese and still have a much healthier meal than the original fast food item being replicated.

I suppose that a cookbook of this nature cannot help being compared to the Top Secret recipes line of "clone recipe" cookbooks. I own and use both cookbooks, and I have to say, that it's tough to pick one over the other. Fast Food Fix does not have any pictures, and TSR has those blueprint-like diagrams. And while TSR is more versatile- fast food items, grocery and snack items, and chain restaurant fodder are all covered in the various TSR iterations. But there are also a ton of TSR books out there. Fast Food Fix has an amazing collection of recipes in this one little book and it is a valid contender in the "make restaurant food at home" market. (This market doesn't consist of much more than these two contenders, but who's counting?)

One thing that I don't like about this cookbook is the format. It's a paperback book, and it is very hard to keep it open. The pages need to be weighed down in order to keep it from flopping shut. This has been a gripe of mine in previous cookbook recipes (curiously enough, the TSR books have this problem as well). IT would be so much easier to use this book if it was spiral-bound or in a binder format.

Overall though, Fast Food Fix is a great cookbook. Even though it's fairly obvious that switching to lower fat ingredients leads to a healthier sandwich, it's nice to have all these recipes in one place- even if the book does flop shut. Devin Alexander has some great ideas for saving time in the kitchen, storing extra materials, and much more. If you love fast food, but aren't too crazy about the nutrition (or lack thereof), then this book is for you.