Cooking Light magazine
Pros:
Great recipes that include nutritional values
Cons:
Some recipes can be hard for novice cooks
The Bottom Line:
Cooking Light is a useful magazine for those interested in eating smarter and tips on healthy living.
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Author's Review
I first found Cooking Light magazine while browsing at a bookstore 3 years ago. I was instantly fascinated and became a subscriber by calling 1-800-336-0125. I also found they have a website at http://www.cookinglight.com. The cover price is $3.50 and Cooking Light costs me $20 for a 1 year subscription of 11 issues.
I like Cooking Light magazine because it is chock full of healthy recipes and great cooking advice. Every issue contains reader recipes, letters from readers, letter from the editor, menu suggestions, Nutritional analysis key, recipe index and an article on wine tasting. The Healthy Living section covers many topics such as fitness, beauty, healthy eating, travel and exercise.
In my favorite section, Lighten Up, the Cooking Light staff takes a readers fatty recipe and transforms it into a wonderfully healthy version of the same recipe. The staff substitutes ingredients, trims fat and reduced calories without compromising the original taste.
The overall design of the magazine flows nicely from articles to recipes. The photography captures the finished product very well and makes me want to cook. The magazine contains many low fat and healthy recipes that state the nutritional values at the end of the recipe. The recipe index at the end of the magazine helps me find my favorite recipes in each issue. The nutritional analysis chart also includes a daily nutritional guide broken down by gender and age requirements.
I find the recipes clear, well photographed, easy to follow but if the reader, like my sister, is not an experienced cook, some of the recipes can difficult. There is no substitution guide or a glossary of cooking terms for her to follow so she will call me for explanations or help. It would be helpful if there were some kind of rating system to warn a novice of a more technical recipe. The Cooking Class articles are good and useful, but my sister still manages to get in over her head.
As much as I love Cooking Light magazine and have learned many tasty, new recipes from it, I can do without the classified section and the tons of advertising. Each issue can have anywhere from 165 to 190 pages. Many of these pages contain quarter or full-page ads and no less than 4 subscription cards.
I look forward to getting my magazine because I find many helpful articles and great recipes.
