Teresa Giudice on 'Real Wives,' family, and her best-selling cookbook

Real Housewives of New Jersey cast member and Celebrity Apprentice competitor Teresa Giudice has made headlines for flipping tables and for getting in fights with her Housewives cast mates. She is making headlines once again, this time for her New York Times best-selling cookbook, Fabulicious: Fast & Fit!. Giudice's first two cookbooks, Skinny Italian and Fabulicious: Teresa's Italian Family Cookbook also made it on the list.
Giudice's latest publication is the newest addition to her franchise, and features more than 70 heart-healthy recipes that go from "start to stove" in 30 minutes using 10 items or less. A nutrition guide, calorie counter, and fitness tips throughout the book aim to help readers get healthy while eating great food.

Family and food have always been important to Giudice, and some of her earliest childhood memories involve cooking. Making homemade tomato sauce, sausage, pizza, and pasta with her mom were happy times for her, and she wanted to share that with her four daughters, Gia, Gabriella, Milania, and Audriana.

"I wanted to make a book for daughters for when they have families," Giudice says. "I wanted to share my recipes with my daughters and with the rest of the world."

She is also happy to be a role model for her girls.

Teresa Giudice on The Real Housewives of New Jersey

"I'm proud of myself, and I want to show my daughters to be all that they can be and that it's good to be successful," she says.

In addition to her cookbooks, Giudice has also created an adult beverage line based on her love for bellinis called Fabellini. The drink comes in two flavors: peach and raspberry.

Her "skinny" recipe books and her new drink line have people wondering if Giudice aims to follow in housewife Bethenny Frankel's footsteps, who created an empire with her Skinnygirl products. Giudice doesn't seem to mind the comparison.

"She's the first housewife that was really a businesswoman and really made something of herself besides just being on the show," she says. "I guess people see me doing the same thing and that's why they're comparing us. I feel like Bethenny is Bethenny and I'm Teresa. We're two individuals."

Giudice says that being a part of The Real Housewives of New Jersey has given her great opportunities, and she is glad she has been able to write three cookbooks and start a drink line. But the show does have its downfalls.

Teresa Giudice on The Real Housewives of New Jersey

"The worst part [about being on Housewives] is being on the show with your family," Giudice says. "It's not something I signed up for originally. I signed up with friends and strangers. I would never be on a reality show with my family from the beginning."

She is referring to the fact that her brother Joe and sister-in-law Melissa joined the cast this season. Their presence on the production has brought a lot of drama -- something that Giudice says she didn't want.

No matter what is going on with the show or what is said about her in the press, she says that it's her family that adds meaning to her life.

"I'm who I am and I'm real. I choose to be happy," Giudice says. "I have four beautiful, healthy daughters who I wake up to every morning. I have a beautiful husband -- he's amazing. That's what makes me happy."

Meeting fans also makes Giudice happy and she is excited to come back to the Mall of America this Saturday, June 2 at 2 p.m. for a book signing in the Sears Court. For more info about the signing, visit www.mallofamerica.com/events/view/178.