Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms

Summary from Author's Website: Your busy mom lifestyle dictates quick get-on-the table meals, but how do you prepare and cook a delicious meal at the end of your busy day when you are simply out of time and energy?

It’s simple! Here's how: Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms Cookbook. This is Jane Doiron’s cookbook of savory, family-favorite recipes that were individually home-tested and selected. Make Ahead Meals are:

• Simple to prepare.

• Simple to assemble ahead of schedule.

• Simple to freeze ahead.

• Simple for the whole family to enjoy.

Jane Doiron helps you, a very busy mom like herself, to put a fabulous dinner on the table every night for friends, or just for the family, with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of flavor.

Jane's goal was to seek out main dish, family-favorite recipes that could be make ahead meals without sacrificing the food’s taste and texture by freezing. After years of home-testing recipes, Jane has compiled this must-have cookbook with specific make-ahead directions. In addition, Jane includes her best recipes for clever side dishes, flavorful appetizers and luscious desserts. Imagine opening your freezer to pick out a family-favorite appetizer, main dish, or dessert, and all you have to do is thaw and heat it!

Make-ahead meals are a healthy and economical alternative to take-out and preservative filled, pre-packaged foods. With make ahead meal planning, you are making fewer trips to the grocery store, and saving money otherwise spent on unhealthy, take-out and fast foods. It’s simple. Give yourself a break during the hectic weeknights with Jane’s make-ahead meal recipes. Spend the time that you save outside of the kitchen doing something that you enjoy.

Review: How many times has your family succumbed to the “OMG its 5:30 pm and I don’t have time to make dinner” drive thru blues? Unfortunately, this scenario reoccurs regularly at my house. Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms by Jane Doiron is premised on the idea that with a little preplanning on-the-go families can enjoy meals that are quick, tasty, economical, and light years more nutritious than the typical take out fare.

The recipes in Make-Ahead Meals appear simple to make and are a mixture of freeze-and-bake; preassemble-and-cook the next day; and cook-and-reheat. I particularly enjoyed the cookbook’s freeze-ahead recipes and tips. For instance, I am now following Doiron’s advice to keep the freezer stocked with frozen marinated meats (e.g. Teriyaki Chicken or Thai Chicken Thighs) for quick dinners. Holiday bakers will also appreciate Doiron’s freezable cookie dough recipes (e.g. Big Ginger Cookies, Macadamia Nut Cookies etc.). Less helpful, however, were the recipes that simply called for the dish to be served the next day (e.g. Angel Food Cake). While these recipes sounded delicious too, they did not fit into the “make-ahead” mold. Also, apart from the cover photos, Make-Ahead Meals does not contain any pictures. While the lack of photos does not diminish from the cookbook’s usefulness, it should be noted if you are a cook that likes/needs photos.

Overall, Make Ahead Meals is a wonderful resource for harried cooks.