Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I really liked Sandi Richards' first book The Family Dinner Fix: Cooking for the Rushed and just knew that I had to have this one when it came out.
This book has 10 weeks of menus for 5 nights of the week. It only includes 5 evenings of meals because it is expected that one night you will dine out and perhaps another you will eat leftovers or have pizza. The meals are divided into color coded meals of green, blue, red, and yellow. What this symbolizes is the time it takes to prepare each meal so you decide when night you're having which color.
The red and yellow coded meals are designed to be ready in under 30 minutes with the red requiring less cutting and chopping. The green and blue coded meals are designed to have dinner ready in under 60 minutes, it allows for doing something else while dinner is cooking. The green means less cutting and chopping. So while dinner is cooking you could be helping the kids with homework, starting laundry, etc.
Each week has at least one of every color so you mix and match as your evening plans dictate. There are fabulous pictures and nutritional information with each recipe. Food exchanges are also included for those who need that info. Additional serving suggestions are provided to complete the dinner meal such as the addition of rolls, salad, side steamed vegetables, etc. This would be a great gift for someone who is new to cooking and dinner preparation. It really is an uncomplicated approach.
Grocery lists are also included so make sure and check out her website, www.cookingfortherushed.com it's a great supplement to the book. I would also suggest Getting Ya Through the Summer (cooking for the Rushed) if you can still find it.
I set my timer and made the Pecan-Crusted Salmon, sweet potato fries and broccoli per her timeline. This is a yellow coded 25 minute meal so I set the timer and started. It took me 31 minutes from start to finish. I think my delay was in reading and re-reading just to make sure I didn't miss a step. That is just my newness and inexperience with the recipe. I think her timelines are definitely within reason.
Her biggest suggestion is to have a menu prepared for the whole week ahead of time. So as you as you get home you know to start water boiling or turn the oven on, etc. Then you go change clothes while the water is boiling, oven is preheating vs. starting it after you've changed when you're more likely to say "let's just order pizza."
I highly recommend this book for those who need a jumpstart with dinner and getting meals in order. Family meals should be a priority and not an afterthought. Fast food is not a healthy, nutritious meal...this cookbook is. If you like this genre of cookbooks I would suggest The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner: Easy Family Meals for Every Day of the Week as well as The Candy Bar Cookbook.
For the publishers, the front cover of this cookbook does not do Ms. Richards justice. It looks too similar to her first cookbook and when I initially saw it I thought it was her first one, The Family Dinner Fix. This cover should not have included her picture and exact same pose as her first book. Regardless of that this one is a keeper.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Dinner Survival: The Most Uncomplicated, Approachable Way to Get Dinner to Fit Your Life
10 WEEKS OF DELICIOUS , HEALTHY, COMPLETE DINNERS "I can climb over the laundry heap, but I can't climb over dinner." Dinner is a lot bigger than food. It's about family, health -- both physical and spiritual -- economics, commitment, time and your sanity. And whether you love or hate to cook, chances are you really don't like it much during the workweek. But what if everything was organized for you, from shopping lists to 10 weeks of meals? What if you could involve everyone in the process, from choosing menus to helping get food to the table? What if each meal just took as little as 20 minutes to prepare? Meal planner and mother of seven Sandi Richard will help you achieve dinner hour, without stress and struggle. She will free you from your feelings of guilt over falling into the take-out trap -- and show you how to plan, shop, prep and cook fantastic-looking and -tasting meals that even a picky 6-year-old will like. In Dinner Survival, Sandi passes on her vast personal experience and that of the hundreds of families she's studied and advised. Don't take hours of precious weekend time to cook, she says. A little preparation -- chopping and freezing a few ingredients -- will make a huge timesaving contribution to the busy workweek. Got teenagers? Involve them. After all, knowing how to cook makes one even more independent. Do you cook for anyone with special health issues? The book is packed with nutritional information and substitution charts that will keep everyone at their best. And of course, all the meals will help your family maintain a healthy weight and a healthy body. So what is it going to be? Another store-bought roast chicken that tastes of its plastic container or vibrant, flavorful Ginger-Lime Chicken ready in 30 minutes? Rather than soggy, drive-through tacos, how about the sizzle of a delicious Beef Fajita Stir-Fry on Pasta, ready in just 25 minutes? Save time, money, health and peace of mind with Sandi Richard's simple, great-tasting plan for dinner.--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.
