The Working Mother COOKBOOK: Fast, Easy Recipes from the Editors of Working Mother magazine

By Working Mother Magazine

In response to reader demand, the editors of Working Mother magazine bring together stylish, flavorful recipes that will satisfy the family and fit into every working mom's busy schedule. With the magazine's no-nonsense, practical approach, this useful, idea-filled cookbook presents inventive new twists and comforting old favorites. The recipes include:* 29-Minute Meals that truly take less than half an hour to prepare* Freeze-Ahead Meals to cook when you have extra time, and serve when you don't* Seven-Day Dinner Plans that take advantage of one-stop shopping and cook-ahead strategiesFilled with step-by-step game plans, time-saving suggestions, and simplifying ideas, this is an indispensable guide to making fast, delicious meals that appeal to the whole family without eating up all your time.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312266987
• ISBN13: 9780312266981
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: Golden Guides from St. Martin's Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.6" x 0.9" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Flawed, but still an inspiring favorite

I really really like this cookbook. It not perfect (but what cookbook is?), and I have a number of small issues with it, but I have found it to be an inspiring resource for meal planning, and the recipes are, on the whole very very good. I have had it less than a year, and it is already one of the most well-used cookbooks in my kitchen.As a measure of how much I like this cookbook, I have already bought a copy as a gift for at least one person, and would do so again.What I like best about it:It provides a lot of creative ideas for both quick meals and planning meals in advance, and most of them are relatively straightforward and very good -- with a lot of variety. (Much better than your average "easy meal" cookbooks.) I've particularly enjoyed the 7-day meal plans, and all three I've tried have been all been excellent, and fun to execute. Similarly, there are some very tasty quick recipes, as well as some good ideas for meals that can be prepared in advance. You really can't go too far wrong.My (very minor) complaints (or, why I gave it only four stars): -- Some of the recipes in the 7-day meal plans and the master recipes (make one thing, use it three ways) seem a little forced -- things you would never choose to make unless you were trying to use up ingredients from some of the other meals. Likewise, sometimes the "time-saving strategies" are a little silly (e.g. "save 1 TB lemon juice for use later in the week"). -- Overall, I've found the 7-day meal plans to be pretty heavy on premium ingredients and animal protein. For me, 4lbs of beef, 2lbs of lamb and 3lbs of chicken (admittedly the "hale and hearty" meal plan) is really a whole lotta meat for a family of four for a week. (And in our family, only two of us are actually eating these meals.) For smaller families or appetites, you may need to cut back on the quantities, or plan to make only some of the recipes in a week, having leftovers the other nights. -- Not everything in the cookbook is really that simplified. You have to be a sufficiently experienced cook to know what you're up against, and how much time you really have, and make your meal decisions accordingly. Nothing is really complicated, but you're not necessarily going to be able to whip up dinner in 15 minutes in each case. Plan accordingly.All that said, if you like to cook good food, but are busy, tired, and uninspired, this is a terrific resource and well worth the investment. The recipes are good, and the meal-planning ideas have been useful as given, and have inspired me to think of other ways to organize our family meals. But you're still going to have to put in some effort -- it's not going to cook your meals for you!

Yes, 29 Minutes---Really!

Back in the old days when I was young and childless, I spent my Wednesday evenings cooking from Pierre Franey's weekly "60-Minute Gourmet" column in the NYTimes. I considered the enterprise a loving weekly gift to my new husband, but 60 minutes? No way. More like 2 and a half hours. Since then I budget at least twice the time for cooking that 'time-saving' recipes claim, and often I'll still be scrambling. This book really makes good on its promise: of 8 weekday meals I've prepared so far, none took me longer than 30 minutes. Better yet, the food is really delicious. Many of these recipes do honorable double-duty in the "terrific-for-guests" file as well as the one for "when-I-get-home-after-8PM". There are recipes for 29-minute meals and recipes for freeze-ahead one-pot meals, but the section that's changed my life, that has made me so much happier about cooking for my family while I work 55 hours per week that I am writing this review like some kind of Born-Again Home Ec major, are the 8 weeks' worth of weekly meal plans. You get a shopping list for the week (bliss! a shopping list that really is so efficient for the week that 1 trip does the job without wasting food) and recipes with logically laid out preparation plans for complete dinners for the week. The trick is you cook like a demon on the weekend to prepare the foundations (meats, sauces, soup bases etc) for the weekday meals...but the results, during the week, are quick, delicious, and interesting. This is a deceptively slim volume which is actually a goldmine. Bravo, Susan Ott.