Carrots ‘N’ Cake Book Review

I may not have gone on about it recently, but trust me, I’m as big of a dessert freak as ever. Not only do I love the challenge of baking complicated new desserts from scratch, I also love to eat them!

Luckily, I’ve tried the strategy of typically only baking for gatherings and leaving the leftovers with someone else. Of course, I have my weak moments when I bake a batch of brownies that my husband Michael and I devour in almost a single night.

As you can imagine, I was excited to read a book with the subtitle Healthy Living One Carrot and Cupcake at a Time.

Carrots ‘N’ Cake by blogger Tina Haupert allows readers a long glimpse into the struggles, motivations and ultimate successes of one sweets-loving woman who is very determined to live the healthy life of her dreams.

Carrots ‘N’ Cake is not a Mayo Clinicsort of dieting book. In other words, Haupert’s book isn’t an information-packed textbook that makes you feel a bit like you’re in school, but rather it’s like reading a personal journal/blog with just over 50 interesting recipes mixed in.

For example, Haupert explains how she tackles the challenge of maintaining her healthy lifestyle while on vacation, and follows that with recipes for Trail Mix, Spiced Pecans and Brownies with a Secret. After discussing workout motivation, she includes a recipe for Workout Cookies.

To encourage longer workouts, I’ve been sitting my iPhone on the elliptical machine to watch shows with my HBOGo app, but workout cookies are something I’ve never dreamed of! Yes, said cookies (in moderation) are healthy, providing good carbs and protein to get you through your workout.

While you get to know Haupert better, you’ll also learn her tricks for ordering healthy meals while dining out, planning ahead for an indulgent weekend, how to handle an out-of-control sweet tooth, and more.

Some of the ideas discussed in Carrots ‘N’ Cake are simple, but they’re things you may not have thought of applying to your daily life. For example, I always have walnuts, bananas and honey around, but I’ve never dreamed of putting them together for a quick snack. Haupert also suggests putting healthy snacks in clear containers in the refrigerator or at eye level in the pantry so you’ll be more likely to see them. Of course, you should try to hide the chocolate chip cookies from yourself.

Regular readers of Haupert’s blog and fellow bloggers will especially appreciate reading about Haupert’s transformation to her dream job — blogging and working in social media for a living! (Disclosure: I received a free review copy of Carrots ‘N’ Cake.)

The negative:

The book reads a lot like a blog without being a direct copy of Haupert’s blog posts. Being the English major nerdy type I am, I did find the structure of the book somewhat confusing at times, but I still think it has plenty to offer.

To sum it up:

Carrots ‘N’ Cake succeeds by inspiring and motivating you by example. Haupert isn’t perfect, but neither are we. She slips, but she gets back up. And a lot of her advice (and recipes) could stay with you, helping you to balance your carrots and cake too!

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