The Family Dinner Fix: Cooking for the Rushed Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the fourth book in the "Cooking for the Rushed" series by Sandi Richard and I think the best. She is the expert on meal planning. She mentions that the most stressful part of the day is dinner, and I can believe that because so many of us don't start thinking about what's for dinner until 5 minutes till six. But she has developed a system to change that.
The book has 10 weeks of meal plans, each divided into colors. The red and yellow meals are dinners that can be prepared in under 30 minutes. The green and blue meals are dinners that can be prepared in under 60 minutes. The average family spends 38 minutes preparing dinner each night. But at a glance you could easily see which meals you could have enough time to prepare and get out of the house in time.
This cookbook has some very nice pictures (all recipes had a full color picture, what a treat!). There are vegetarian substitution suggestions. The pages are glossy so splatters would clean up somewhat easily. She also gives suggestions on which meals are "having company" type meals, crockpot meals, there are calorie and nutritional information provided, there's an equipment list so you'll know all the pots and pans you need, and there are also food exchanges. All is great information that many many cookbooks don't provide.
Her recipe for Mexican Hamburgers calls for 90% lean ground beef but you could easily substitute turkey or tofu. It was delish; I loved the avocado salsa. There are also make ahead (freezer) suggestions for this recipe for those who like to do weekend cooking.
Most of the recipes call for a full meal suggestion. The red snapper with pineapple salsa, pecan wild rice and asparagus is a complete meal. And it's all ready in under 30 minutes.
All of the recipes use fresh ingredients. I didn't see any packaged foods (bottled BBQ sauce maybe) so her recipes by naturally being healthier and less fat will most certainly cause weight loss. They are not specifically low-fat but that is the usual outcome when you stop eating fast-food and start cooking with fresh, natural ingredients.
There were no unusual combinations, I think most people would have kids who'd very easily try these meals. We had the crispy chicken and the kids just raved. The secret ingredient was crushed crispy rice cereal. The serving suggestions were baby potatoes seasoned with garlic herb seasoning and a side salad. All very doable in the evening. It cooked in the oven so we could do homework in the meantime.
Her main suggestion is to get all your equipment out as soon as you get home, start the water boiling, etc before changing clothes. I hadn't thought of this but I can see where this would be a big motivator to continue cooking once you changed. I've found myself returning from the bedroom and just sighing because I now had to drag out pots and pans and start cooking. While not a big deal in itself, it's easier to jump in the car and go to a restaurant especially when the kids are begging. But after a few of these meals the kids will be begging for more home cooking!
There are grocery lists provided broken down by category. Each week has 5 recipes for the week not 7, I saw in another review that bothered someone. I find it doable because at least one night you want to have pizza and another you're out and about anyway.
She also has spice combinations for those spices you don't want to pay extra for (i.e. pumpkin pie spice). She has all kinds of suggestions and cooking terms that would make this book excellent for a young family getting started.
Check out www.cookingfortherushed.com to find more information.
Well worth the investment.


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