News and Reviews Archive

  • The Gourmet Pregnancy book giveaway

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    To promote the upcoming Vancouver Island Baby Fair (taking place on Sept 25 & 26), the event’s organizers are giving away a copy of our book, The Gourmet Pregnancy on their Facebook fanpage.

    If you are interested, join their page & post your biggest pregnancy food craving for a chance to win. http://www.facebook.com/vibabyfair

    Good luck!

  • Gourmet Pregnancy recipes featured in First Step Nutrition newsletters

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    Starting in August 2010 and continuing for several months, First Step Nutrition will be featuring one recipe from The Gourmet Pregnancy in each of their monthly newsletters.

    First Step Nutrition offers up Prenatal, Postnatal, Infant & Toddler nutrition services.

    Browse to their site to sign up for their newsletters, or to get more information:
    http://www.firststepnutrition.com/

  • Review: Suite101.com

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    How to Eat Well When Pregnant – The Gourmet Pregnancy Cookbook

    June 16, 2010 by Mary Luz Mejia

    Many women will say that being pregnant during the hot, sticky summer months is hard on their bodies. Bloated feet, sore, tired legs and bellies that expand as baby grows don’t make for much frolic or fun in the sun. And for some, the idea of cooking is just as unpleasant.

    Mom and cookbook author of “The Gourmet Pregnancy,” Leah Douglas, might point out however, that while the heat can get tiresome, at least the summer affords a bounty of fresh fruit and vegetables to make eating while pregnant fantastically flavourful.

    Food Trends recently asked Douglas what she would recommend moms-to-be (or anyone) enjoy this summer using local fare from their regions. Without much hesitation, she responded, “The grilled peaches with pink grapefruit and mint. It’s light, refreshing and can be served alone or with chicken or fish,” adding, “Best of all, if you take omit the onions, you can turn this into a dessert by adding vanilla ice cream.” Versatility such as this on a hot day- what else could a girl ask for?

    And the clincher- these grilled peaches take next to no time. Ask him to grill, you put your feet up, sip something cool and relax until dinner is served!

    Grilled Peaches with Pink Grapefruit and Mint recipe
    courtesy of Leah Douglas as fou    nd in The Gourmet Pregnancy

    Serves 4 | Total Time 15 Minutes | Active Time 15 Minutes

    Douglas writes, “These luscious, juicy peaches are incredible, and the pink grapefruit and mint are a perfect contrast. Grilled fruits taste so fabulous, so if you’re feeling adventurous, throw whatever other fruits you have on the barbecue as well.

    INGREDIENTS

    • 2 ripe peaches
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
    • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
    • 1 pink grapefruit, peeled and sectioned
    • 2 tablespoons diced red onion 8 fresh mint leaves

    METHOD

    1. Peel peaches. Cut in half and discard pits.
    2. Brush peach halves lightly with olive oil and place on barbecue or indoor grill over medium-high heat.
    3. Barbecue for 3 minutes; flip and grill on the other side for another 3 minutes.
    4. Meanwhile, in a saucepan over high heat, bring champagne vinegar and sugar to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
    5. Cut each grapefruit section into 3 or 4 pieces.
    6. In a bowl, mix grapefruit chunks and onion. (NOTE: omit onion if turning this into a dessert).
    7. Chop 4 of the mint leaves and add to grapefruit mixture. Pour vinegar mixture into the bowl, stirring to mix lightly.

    TO SERVE

    Serve each peach half individually, topped with a spoonful of the grapefruit mixture and garnished with a mint leaf. (Add ice cream or sorbet if you are making this for dessert).

  • The Gourmet Pregnancy is now available at Hip Baby

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    The Gourmet Pregnancy is now available for sale at Hip Baby in Vancouver! Thanks Jen and Michael for carrying it.

    Check out their site at: http://www.hipbaby.com

  • Feature: WestCoast Baby Guide 2010

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    The Gourmet Pregnancy has been featured in the WestCoast Baby Guide 2010, the 11th annual guide to everything baby & belly. The book is featured on page 38 of the guide:

    The Gourmet Pregnancy
    by Leah Douglas

    As all pregnant women find out, there are foods that should be avoided while they are expecting. The advice can be confusing, and eating out can be a minefield. The Gourmet Pregnancy was written to offer pregnant women a chance to eat well, without confusion, and, always, with health. With healthy, flavourful recipes to satisfy every type of craving and great ideas for entertaining.

  • Contest Winner: Listen to Lena

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    The Gourmet Pregnancy… Winner!

    June 2, 2010 by Lena
    From:     http://www.listentolena.com/

    Thanks to everyone who entered the Lena Loves… The Gourmet Pregnancy giveaway. I can officially let ya’ll know that even though Baby Reid has arrived, we have continued to use the cookbook on a regular basis, and actually just enjoyed a light, sumptuous dinner of Lemongrass Tiger Prawn and Chickpea Salad last night!

    I really do encourage everyone to grab this book as a “Congratulations!” present for moms-to-be; she’ll thank you again and again over the course of her pregnancy as she enjoys no fuss, delicious meals that are safe and nutritious. I was also quite impressed with some of the entries from non-preggos, including:

    the brother: You had me at: Sweet Potato Fries with Truffle Aioli ;) Who doesn’t love a good pork crown roast with roasted seasoned potatoes and sauteed asparagus? Shhhh…don’t tell anyone this dude likes to cook and try new recipes!

    Shauna: What a great idea for a baby shower gift! I’m not pregnant, but there’s always hope for baby #3! My favourite home cooked meal? Pan seared pork tenderloin cooked in homemade tomato sauce served over linguine. Potato leek soup is a close second.

    Thanks for all the great gourmet feedback!

    Now, without further ado, the winner is Joyo! Congratulations!

    Joyo said: Favourite gourmet meal to prepare is cheese soufflé. However, expecting our first child in October has made my favourite gourmet food to prepare anything quick! Trust me, this looks like the ideal cookbook for my life as I currently know it! :-)

    Joyo, please send me an e-mail with your full mailing address so that I may have the prize sent to you right away. Thanks to everyone who entered, and to Mom Central and Leah Douglas!

    Lena

  • Review & Giveaway: Simply Stacie

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    Book Review & Giveaway: The Gourmet Pregnancy

    June 1, 2010 by Simply Stacie
    From: http://simplystacie.net

    Fall in love with your changing body, pamper your palate, and start loving up your kitchen with dozens of delicious, nourishing recipes that can be found in the book, “The Gourmet Pregnancy” written by Leah Douglas with a foreword by Dr. Jan Christilaw, MD.

    As I was flipping through the book looking to see what recipe I was going to make I was pleased to see that this was not only a book filled with yummy recipes and life like photos that make your mouth water, but information about food that should be avoided during pregnancy, recipes that can be picked out due to what you are craving, and little quotes throughout the book.

    I was excited to share the book with my sister…who as of today is 8 days over due.  As we flipped through the book together we of course stopped at the dessert at the dessert section.  We chose to do the Chocolate Raspberry Fudge.  I went out to get the stuff we needed and started to make the special treat for my much deserving sister carrying my niece (hoping she would share of course).  The recipe was laid out for me in step by step details which I loved.  A simple yet for decadent dessert and soooo yummy!!!  It took about 2 hrs to make start to finish and although we cut the fudge a bit bigger then we probably should of we still got around 10 pieces.  Perfect for a small get together.  I highly recommend this recipe to any chocolate lover and the raspberries make it healthy….right???

    I had to chuckle at the serving instructions.  “Serve squares of fudge to guests on individual plates.  If pregnant, just eat directly from the refrigerator with your fingers.”  Well said!!! For more info on this book go to www.gourmetpregnancy.com

    Giveaway

    One of my readers is going to win The Gourmet Pregnancy by Leah Douglas. Details are here.

  • Review & Giveaway: The Best Mom on the Block

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    Saturday, May 29, 2010, by Amanda
    From:     http://thebestmomontheblock.blogspot.com/

    I was contacted a little while ago by someone I follow on twitter and she asked me if I would be interested in reviewing a cookbook. I was absolutely flattered that someone would want my opinion and so I jumped at the opportunity. I was told the cookbook was called The Gourmet Pregnancy, which was perfect considering my belly has reached epic proportions!

    Pregnancy is a time you battle with food. Either it’s making you queasy, or you just can’t get enough of it. You crave the weirdest things and hate your usual favourites. And then there’s the ”forbidden” list. The foods you just shouldn’t eat, which inevitably, makes you want them for the whole torturous nine months. (I’m dying for a sushi roll and a caesar!) The author of The Gourmet Pregnancy, Leah Douglas, struggled with what to eat when she was pregnant also. She found that there were so many conflicting opinions on what was safe and what wasn’t that she wanted to create a cookbook that would make meal planning easy and worry-free. She partnered up with a doctor to make sure that the recipes included were not only tasty, but met the nutritional needs and restrictions of pregnant women.

    Now, just because it’s called The Gourmet Pregnancy doesn’t mean that everyone won’t enjoy these recipes! There is something for everyone in this cookbook from soups and sandwiches to burgers, pizzas and seafood dishes. And the desserts… oh lord the desserts, I read over each recipe like I was studying for the SATs! There is a picture with every recipe which is always something I look for in a cookbook (we eat with our eyes first!) and the photography is gorgeous.

    I received the cookbook in the mail the day before the Canadian May Two-Four Weekend(or as it’s officially know, Victoria Day Weekend) and we had guests coming to visit. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to make some of the recipes for my guests and treat them like guinea pigs. We flipped through the book and picked out a few recipes we wanted to try.

    So here are the judges:

    Phil – my husband’s best friend, he’s a Doctor (bonus!) and a health nut/runner
    PJ – Phil’s wife, a now stay-at-home mom to their adorably impish son Kieran who is also very health conscious
    Jason – my husband, a lover all things junk food and picky eater when it comes to “green stuff”
    and Me – pregnant, stay-at-home mother of two who will eat just about anything these days!

    We tried 3 recipes which I will share in separate posts along with our reviews. We graded them on my patented cupcake scale:

    White Peach Bellini

    For our first recipe we tried from The Gourmet Pregnancy was the White Peach Bellini. A simple drink using fruit, ice and a bit of flavouring. It was so good on a hot spring morning alongside our eggs. This will be a repeat recipe in my kitchen for sure!

    Review: Phil and PJ both said it was refreshing and not too sweet which they loved. Jason didn’t have any cause he hates peaches. I loved it, peach is one of my favourite fruits and I thought it was a great summery drink. We gave it 4 cupcakes!

    Mild Curry Chicken Pizza on Naan

    For our 2nd recipe from The Gourmet Pregnancy, we tried the Mild Curry Chicken Pizza on Naan for lunch. The recipe calls for you to pan sautée chicken breasts, but the night before I was making chicken breasts for the girls for dinner on the grill so I threw a few extra on for the pizza. It was excellent! I also cooked the pizzas on the grill (it was far too hot to turn on the oven!), as the toppings were already hot all it needed was 5 minutes on low for the cheese to melt and the naan to heat through.

    Review: We all thought this was delicious. We wanted a light lunch as we had early dinner reservations and this was perfect. Phil and PJ loved the curry flavour and Jason was too busy eating for me to get anything more than a thumbs up out of him. I loved the chicken and onion and monterey jack combination. I also loved how quick and easy this recipe came together, the whole lunch took me about 15 minutes to make. We gave it a score of 4.5 cupcakes!

    (It would have been a 5 but Jason never gives out a perfect score… he’s weird!)

    Cherry and Fresh Mint Tart with Rustic Vanilla Shortbread Crust

    For our final recipe from The Gourmet Pregnancy we enjoyed the Cherry and Fresh Mint Tart with Rustic Vanilla Shortbread Crust. The title is a mouthful and so was the dessert! The crust was heavenly, so light and crumbly and buttery and it was the perfect base for the minty cherry filling. I can see doing this recipe several times and switching up the fruit to strawberries, raspberries or peaches.

    Review: Once again my husband didn’t have any because cherries “aren’t his thing” but Phil, PJ and I weren’t sad about it, more for us! We all agreed the crust was amazing, definitely the star in this recipe. Phil and PJ both liked the cherry/mint combination and liked how impressive the dessert looked for how easy it was to make. The mint/cherry combination left me a little perplexed. I’ve never had minted fruit and I wasn’t sure if I loved it. I think the next time I make this I will take the muddled leaves out of the water before making the cherry filling as I personally found the leaves to be over-powering in the tart. But the bites I had without any of the mint leaves were excellent! We gave this recipe 3.5 cupcakes!

    And now for the GIVEAWAY!

    The good folks over at Wiley and I would like to give away a copy of The Gourmet Pregnancy to one of my luck readers. To win, simply leave a comment here telling me either:

    a) What your biggest pregnancy craving was/is, or
    b) if you’ve never been pregnant, what your favourite food is.

    The Rules

    1.) Open to Canadian and continental USA residents only.
    2.) One winner will be chosen on 05/06/10 by using random.org.
    3.) Make sure that I have a way to contact you when you leave a comment; either through your blog or an email.
    4.) I will contact the winner via email or commenting on the winner’s site.
    5.) You have until 05/06/10 to claim the giveaway, or I will have to choose another winner.

  • Review: The Bewitchin’ Kitchen

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    The Gourmet Pregnancy Review & Giveaway
    May 23, 2010 by Randa Lee
    From: http://bewitchinkitchen.blogspot.com/

    I recently received The Gourmet Pregnancy in the mail, and let me tell you, this was something I was excited to receive. I checked the mail every day just for this cookbook.

    “Though Leah Douglas was thrilled to find out she was expecting, she soon found herself longing for the days of cooking and eating whatever struck her fancy. Now that cocktails, sushi, and nights on the town were out of the question, she decided to search for new ways of experiencing food, friends, and fun. With a few tweaks, she discovered guilt-free–and doctor approved–gourmet meals that made her feel sexy and confident in her changing body.

    Discover the recipes that made Leah’s pregnancy luxurious and nourishing. Each mouth-watering dish has been reviewed by women’s health specialist Dr. Jan E Christilaw, MD, FRCSC, MHSc, and features ingredients that are rich in the vitamins and nutrients a growing baby needs. Filled with easy gourmet recipes and beautiful photography that celebrates the changing bodies of pregnant women, The Gourmet Pregnancy will help you or a woman you care about shed worry and stress, tackle cravings wisely, and indulge in nourishing self-care and delicious eating. Celebrate your pregnant body, pamper your palate and start loving up your kitchen!”

    I tried the Mild Curry Chicken Pizza On Naan. (But without the naan, since my grocery store was out so instead of naan I used a whole wheat pita.) My taste buds exploded. It was so amazing, it is a new favorite. It’s a great meal for either lunch or dinner. It was so simple to make and not too many ingredients for the quality flavor you receive. I like spicy food, to a certain extent. I love spice for the flavor, I’m not a fan of when your tongue is on fire. This was the perfect mix of a little spice, and I didn’t even get heartburn after (I’m prone to heartburn). I will make this again, even on regular pizza  crust.

    In pregnancy it is so hard to eat! Everything is bad for you (or at least suggested that you don’t eat): deli meats, hot dogs, tuna, etc. I think The Gourmet Pregnancy is a wonderful tool to have during your pregnancy. My favorite part of the cookbook was the index. All the recipes in the index are classified by cravings (chocolate, ice cream, salty, etc). The recipes themselves are classified as: breakfasts & brunch, snacks & sidekicks, appetizers, lighter fare, entrees, desserts, drinks. I appreciate the drinks section. Sometimes when you are pregnant and you are at a gathering of friends, you can feel a little left out of the fun (especially if it’s a themed drink party). So now when that happens, you have your own special drinks you can pour into a martini glass and feel a part of the fun (and drinks like blueberry lychee kiss sounds great to me).

    Another smart feature about The Gourmet Pregnancy is the menu section. There are menu ideas for all sorts of occasions, such as: romantic picnic for two, baby shower, fine dining, and girlfriends brunch. Although men figure out pretty quick what you can and cannot have, here is an easy guide to building a nice meal for the two of you. I think this cookbook is absolutely amazing and would be one of the best gifts to give an expecting mother as a “congratulations you’re pregnant” gift. It really helps with the guess work and helps make meal planning while pregnant less stressful, the way eating should be.

  • Review: Strocel.com

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    The Gourmet Pregnancy

    May 22, 2010 by Amber
    http://www.strocel.com/

    I recently received a copy of The Gourmet Pregnancy by Leah Douglas, an author who just happens to live in my own backyard. It was given to me for free, for the purpose of writing a review on this blog. And while I’m feeling all disclose-y, I will also say that if you click on the Amazon links and purchase the book, I will earn a small commission. Also, while I am reviewing a pregnancy cookbook, I am not, in fact, pregnant. Not even a little bit. Transparency achieved? Good.

    I must confess that initially, I found the idea of a pregnancy cookbook a little … odd. After all, the time that you spend pregnant is really pretty short in the grand scheme of things, unless you happen to be Michelle Duggar. I’m not sure that I, personally, would buy a book that’s targeted so specifically to cooking while you’re pregnant. Especially because I get pretty sick when I’m pregnant. It’s one time in my life when thinking about food and looking at pictures of food is completely unappealing to me. I actually had to leave a restaurant once during my 2nd pregnancy because people had the audacity to eat right in front of me. The nerve!

    My opinion changed a little when I got my hands on a copy. The book opens with a comprehensive listing of what foods an expectant mother should avoid, and what foods she can consume in moderation. It advocates for enjoying food, and it manages to avoid an alarmist tone. The recipes themselves are varied, and they’re more about eating what you like, and less about ensuring you get your daily recommended allowance of folate. I’d sum up the book’s feel as: “Food can still be fun when you’re pregnant, even though your approach changes.” It came across to me as a gorgeous resource, that manages to avoid finger-wagging about fish consumption.

    I am only one woman, though, so I decided to get some more opinions. Luckily, I just happen to have a pregnant sister. Gretchen is expecting her first child, a boy, in early July, and last weekend she had her baby shower. I prepared some recipes from the book and brought them along. I made tempura dill pickles with sambal oelek dip, fresh tomato, basil and bocconcini skewers with lemon olive oil, chocolate raspberry fudge and fresh mango strawberry lemonade. The quality of my photos isn’t very good, because the light was low, but here they are:

    Tempura dill pickles (L) and skewers (R)

    Chocolate raspberry fudge (L) and mango strawberry lemonade (R)

    What I loved about the book was that every recipe had a beautiful accompanying photo. I liked the way the book was broken up into sections, and had a wide variety of food choices. I also appreciated that the instructions were simple and straightforward, at least the ones I tried. The skewers were especially fun, because my 5-year-old was able to help. I can see a lot of skewers in our future. On the whole, the food was fancy, but not fussy to make. Which is a bonus, because what pregnant lady wants to spend 2 hours on her feet making dinner?

    What I didn’t love as much was that almost every recipe called for ingredients I didn’t already have on hand. I suppose that’s going to be true of most gourmet recipes, though, since my pantry runs more towards cheddar, apple slices and ketchup than bocconcini, fresh lemons and sambal oelek. On the upside, I did discover that my local suburban grocery store stocks sambal oelek, so that was fun.

    Tempura dill pickle recipe

    I thought the recipes I tried were delicious, and I went back for more. I especially thought the tempura pickles were fun. Gretchen said that she enjoyed all of the food, too, so it has an actual pregnant lady’s stamp of approval. As for the other shower guests – most everyone liked the the mango strawberry lemonade, and the skewers were also a hit. The pickles were hot and cold – folks either loved them or hated them. And the fudge? Well, it was fudge. I had to cut my 5-year-old off at 2 pieces, and then I had to peel her off the ceiling.

    As for the book, Gretchen was a fan. She is much cooler than I am. In fact, she always has been, not that I’m bitter or anything. She and her husband live downtown, and they eat out and entertain a lot. She thinks that she would actually use a book like this, in order to make food that she really enjoys for herself and for others. She also thinks that many pregnant women aren’t very well-informed about what they should and shouldn’t eat, so having a fun resource is helpful. Plus, she managed to escape pregnancy without any nausea, so food is maybe less scary for her than it was for me.

    If you are a pregnant foodie, or you are a foodie cooking for a pregnant lady, then The Gourmet Pregnancy may be a good book for you. It’s certainly gorgeous to look at, if you enjoy poring over recipe books. I passed my copy along to Gretchen, and she’s loving it. She said that she would absolutely buy it as a gift for a pregnant friend. As for me, I bought some more tempura mix and I plan to try the pickles again. They don’t seem to be everyone’s thing, but they’re a hit with me. Pickles are good, man!

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