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'Hungry Girl' Rescues Nation of Snackers

Former dieter finds healthful recipes that taste great, and makes bank

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 24, 2009 10:19 AM CDT

(Newser) – With seemingly simple mantras, Lisa Lillien has become the heroine of those who would rather snack on chips than spend time transforming organic ingredients. Lillien’s standards—How does it taste? Will it make me fat?—have secured her cookbooks bestseller slots and brought fans in droves to her Hungry Girl website, the Washington Post reports.

Lillien was inspired when she found out that some of her favorite low-fat pastries were in fact terribly unhealthful. “Whether or not it’s malicious, there’s a lot of mislabeled stuff out there,” she says. Now, she manages a staff of nine, operating her site and coming up with delicious but guilt-free recipes like Cap’n Crunchy Chicken.

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (2)]

Lisa Lillien knows that no matter how strongly the experts recommend organic, local, or other healthful diets, most people will always just want to snack on things that taste good. (Creative Commons)

A screenshot from Lillien's site. (Hungry-Girl.com)

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I know exactly what people will like. I just know. I'm that way. When I taste something, I can say, 'You know what? I like it okay, but only 20 percent of the people
will like it.' - Lisa Lillien

I think of myself as everyone's crazy best friend who will go get the answers to what they want to know but don't have time to get themselves. - Lisa Lillien

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'Hungry Girl' Rescues Nation of Snackers