Showing posts with label quick and easy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quick and easy. Show all posts

What's For Dinner? Review

What's For Dinner
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I have bought other menu style cookbook but this one is the only one I can't seem to break away from. Why do I want to break away from it? Too many of the recipes use canned soup and the overall diet is high in saturated fat. Why do I love it? Because it gets a number of courses on the table with so little effort, it looks impressive and although I think many of the side dishes are only so-so, my (grown) son has loved almost every meal I've made from this book. I also save money using this cookbook. The recipes call for inexpensive, easy to find and familiar ingredients. Also much thought has been given towards incorporating left-overs into the menus, from roast beef to that bag of potatoes. There is even an ingredient index in the back of the book. I have other cookbooks that are advertised as being "budget" but the author of this cookbook seems to understand that waste is a bigger budget buster than buying chicken breasts, for example, instead of chicken thighs.
If you like economical cooking that is ridiculously easy to make, fairly healthy but uses canned soups and packaged foods a lot in the menus, you might like the online weekly meal plans on e-mealz. (Be sure to put in the dash. You want e-mealz, not emealz.) They have several different meal plans to choose from and it costs $15 for 3 months. They even have plans for certain stores like Walmart where they tell you what brands to buy in order to get the best price.

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Cooking With 5 Ingredients Review

Cooking With 5 Ingredients
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If you told me that someone had made a book of recipes that only take five ingredients and three steps to make I would not have believed it contained so many delicious recipes. From appetizers, to breads, to brunch, soups, salads, sandwiches, vegetables, side dishes, main dishes, and sweets just about any type of recipe is represented here. This is a great cookbook for the novice cook or people in a hurry. The recipes are so simple that even a young teenager can prepare a complete meal without any problems.
Some of the recipes that I really liked were the Roasted Garlic Dip, Mini Reubens, Green Olive Spread, Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken, Ranch Chicken, Sweet and Sour Spareribs, and Peanut Butter Fudge. It was really hard to pick favorite recipes from this book because everything I tried was great. This cookbook has already become one of my personal favorites. It has everything that I look for - comb bound so it lies flat, easy recipes to follow, easily acquired ingredients, minimal cleanup, and very tasty. This is a highly recommended cookbook for anyone to have around the house to prepare that elegant meal that looks and tastes like you have slaved in the kitchen all day.

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The Best of Cooking with 3 Ingredients (Flavors of Home) Review

The Best of Cooking with 3 Ingredients (Flavors of Home)
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This is a great cookbook for those with little cooking experience. Most other cookbooks have one, or at the most two recipes per page because of the space needed for complex preparation instructions. That is not the case at all with this cookbook. These recipes are simple enough that they only require two to four sentences to explain how to prepare the dish from start to finish.
Of course, when you are limiting yourself to only three ingredients you find that you end up with a lot of side dishes and vegetable recipes. But, there are plenty of main dishes so a well-balanced meal can be prepared. A few of my favorites include Rosemary-Roasted Potatoes, Honey-Orange Glazed Chicken, and June Ballard's Cajun Chicken. To keep the ingredient list to just three the recipes take advantage of many mixes like box cake mixes or stuffing mixes. Basically it hits all the high points for the new or hurried cook - quick and easy to prepare, goof-proof, minimal cleanup, and tasty results.
Another nice feature is the section with complete menu suggestions. Ruthie Warnall has compiled a suggested Valentine Dinner Menu, Easy Dinner for New Brides, Easy Sunday Dinner, Quick Gourmet Dinner, Pot Roast Dinner, Turkey Dinner, Chicken Dinner, and Romantic Dinners for Special Occasions. Each of the dinners contains only items from the cookbook and so are all easy to prepare with minimal fuss.
Comb bound so it lies flat when you are working with it, it is a recommended read for new cooks (or college kids just out of the house) and those with a tight family schedule.

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The Spirited Vegetarian: Over 100 Recipes Made Lively with Wine and Spirits Review

The Spirited Vegetarian: Over 100 Recipes Made Lively with Wine and Spirits
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To put this review into perspective for you, it is written by a serious student of cooking that has been actively studying food on their own for 25 years. I have been focusing on Italian food for the last 10 years. My favorite cookbook is "The Professional Chef" by the Culinary Institute of America.
I purchased this book on a whim prior to embarking on a vegetarian lifestyle because I love to cook with alcohol and wanted to add more healthy meals into our family diet. I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this book from day one.
The author includes a nice wine chart in the front of the book for those of you that aren't familiar with all types of wine. I found it handy since I tend to stick to the Italian wines.
Once I saw the recipe for Limoncello (a family staple in our home) I was hooked. If you have never made this yourself give it a try. The recipe is very simple and the end result is addicting. The recipe for spaghetti with beets is amazing. I never liked beets until I made this dish. It now reappears monthly in my home. Likewise, the chilled prosecco and melon soup is wonderful. It is such a refreshing start to a meal on a hot day. How about a Sangria fruit salad, that is included as well.
My only complaint about this book is that it doesn't have the pretty pictures that I love. If you are vegan this is probably not the book for you. Although I have been about to successfully adapt some of the non-vegan recipes with trial and error. If you have been a vegan and a home cook for long time you can probably do the same thing with ease.


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Vegetarian Times Everything Vegan Review

Vegetarian Times Everything Vegan
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I love Vegetarian Times. I assumed I'd love this book. I wanted to love this book. But I just don't. I didn't even notice the mistake with the eggs yet (as I've learned from other reviews), so it has nothing to do with that. I think that if your main focus in eating vegan is simply to avoid animal products, you might be OK with this. But part of why I eat vegan is for the health benefits, and for me that includes reducing my dependence on processed or prepared foods -- even vegan processed or prepared foods. There was just too much of that in here. I can figure out on my own how to substitute veggie crumbles for ground beef. I can grasp how to substitute vegan mozzarella shreds or vegan Parmesan for real mozzarella or real Parmesan. I don't need a cookbook for that. I felt very much like some of these recipes were simply pulled from the VT archives and converted. They're not vegan, they're veganized. Big difference. I'm not saying that every recipe includes processed stuff, but a lot of them do.
Many also rely on frozen veggies. I'm sure the intention there is to speed things up. But the fact is, I personally dislike the taste and texture of most frozen vegetables (except peas and edamame) so I prefer to cook with fresh.
Overall - apart from the issues I've already mentioned - I was surprised that very little in this collection excited me or fired up my imagination or made say "Wow! I can't wait to try that!" It just wasn't there for me. Even the pictures, which are nice, didn't help me shake my overall lack of enthusiasm for the recipes. I own dozens of veg and vegan cookbooks. And it's never even crossed my mind to return one before. But I see very little point in keeping this one. (Although that Morning Glory loaf does look pretty decent.)
Interestingly, I bought another newly released vegan cookbook at the same time, and my reaction has been the complete opposite - I can barely put the darn thing down before I wind up picking it up again and daydreaming about what to try next. Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes, has really knocked my socks off, and my 3-week-old copy is already covered in cooking spatters. I've made at least 15 of the recipes, every one good. They aren't fancy-schmantzy for the most part. Just good, easy, straightforward, super-tasty stuff that you could actually make on a Wednesday night after work with the stuff you already have on hand (assuming that stuff like quinoa and nutritional yeast are things you typically have on hand). To my amazement, even my omnivore spouse and my uber-picky omnivore mother have given the thumbs up to the recipes I've made from it. I can't recommend it enough.
But I'm sad that I didn't have that kind of chemistry with VT's Everything Vegan.

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A diverse and delicious collection of vegan recipes from the experts at Vegetarian Times magazine
Whether they're vegan for a day, a week, a lifetime, or even just for lunch hour, the demand among vegans for deliciously satisfying animal-free recipes has never been greater. Vegetarian Times Everything Vegan is the something-for-everyone vegan cookbook with hundreds of tasty, healthful recipes that will woo omnivores to the possiblities of plant-based eating while wowing committed vegans and vegetarians.

Beautifully illustrated and accompanied by a thoughtful and informative Foreword by noted authority Neal D. Barnard, MD, Vegetarian Times Everything Vegan is a must-have resource for anyone who lives vegan, loves cooking, or is looking for healthy meal ideas with proven weight-loss benefits. Inside, you'll find:• 250+ easy, healthful recipes with nutrition information• 50+ beautiful full-color photos• Features, tips, and sidebars that provide helpful hints on food shopping, prepping ingredients, and speeding up cooking times
Sample Recipes Seitan Satay with Peanut Sauce

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The I Love Trader Joe's Party Cookbook: Delicious Recipes and Entertaining Ideas Using Only Foods and Drinks from the World's Greatest Grocery Store Review

The I Love Trader Joe's Party Cookbook: Delicious Recipes and Entertaining Ideas Using Only Foods and Drinks from the World's Greatest Grocery Store
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Received the book this morning and have already prepared a soup and sandwich combo. Modified the "Good Luck Greens and Beans" into a soup by adding chicken stock and a little Parmesan. Could not resist the
"Croque Monsieur". Both were easy and very tasty just like the previous book's offerings.The I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook: 150 Delicious Recipes Using Only Foods from the World's Greatest Grocery Store Reading the recipes is like being in class...you can just hear her talking. Funny, informative and helpful regarding TJ's products; things in the pantry and, more importantly, what to hoard. I recommend this for newbies and established cooks. We can all use a fresh suggestion or shake up the rut we sometimes get into. This will make perfect Christmas/Holiday gifts for all. The photography is beautiful but I'm sure there will be some who think there is not enough of it. My original book is dog-eared; to me a sign of being well loved. It won't take long for this one to become the same!
Now, where's my Guinness for those cupcakes.....?

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