Rating: 
Summary: Mission accomplished, Dinner is SAVED and so much more!!!!
Review: Wow, I have only used this book for three weeks, and it seems as if everything around me is better. I never realized how much time I spent thinking, stressing, planning, shopping and cooking for dinner until I got this book. The very first day I got this book, my husband (who is a medical resident, so is rarely available to help) came home early and said he would watch the kids if I wanted to hurry and run to the store for some milk and bread. I grabbed the book saving dinner off the counter and was out the door (I only had an hour) I chose the first week in winter, got all the items on the list and returned home in 40 min. MY husband was dumbfounded. He has continued to be dumbfounded since. The past weeks have been wonderful. I feel like an organized mother and wife. I never would have thought my life would be dramatically better because of the book, but it is.
The meals are easy to prepare and use minimal dishes. The recipes are yummy and so healthy (we have never eaten so healthy and enjoyed it!!) This is the first time I have gone through the effort of writing a review for a book. Thanks Leanne for saving so much more than dinner at my house!!!
Rating:
Summary: Saving Sanity
Review: might be a good second title for Leanne's book! I have been using the book for a few weeks now and just love it! I love being able to print out the week's shopping list and just add or delete items without starting from scratch. I'm a mother of six, married for 23 years and have done lots of cooking so when my husband told me that the Crockpot Bean Soup recipe I made from "Saving Dinner" was THE best bean soup I've ever made, I knew I found a keeper. Leanne's book sits right on my kitchen counter because I use it almost everyday. Thanks Leanne, for making this into book form, it's made the grocery shopping ordeal almost enjoyable!
Rating:
Summary: Really Saves Dinner at My House!!!
Review: This is an awesome book. I consider myself a good cook, but at the end of a long day I'm just not inspired to create any masterpieces, I need simple and nutritious food for the family. This book delivers just that, but also makes it easy enough to shop for groceries that I can send my hubby with a list and know that I'll have everything I need. We have a family joke that if it comes from one of Leanne's books, everyone will love it! And it's true, I can't count the number of times that I made something I was sure would be too healthy for us to really like - only to find it a family favorite. But the best thing about the book? I feel like a great mother when I look around the table and see nutritious and yummy food being shoveled in everyone's mouths!! --Sheri Wallace, Associate Publisher, REAL Magazine
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I just recently bought this book and LOVE it!!! Delicious recipes AND shopping lists! Thank you Leanne! If that weren't enough already, you can go to her website and print the shopping lists too. Wonderful. Finally--I'm not feeling overwhelmed about what to make for dinner tonight, tomorrow, and next week. What a relief! So far, I've enjoyed all the recipes. Unlike many cookbooks, the recipes contained in Saving Dinner use COMMON ingredients and are simply wholesome dishes that won't scare off most kids. Another great feature I love is that the menus are divided into seasons to make shopping for in-season veggies a breeze. I'm looking forward to a year of discovering "new" family favorites. I highly recommend this book to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: So So Saving!
Review: Well, first the pros: You will have a detailed plan about what to cook, what items to purchase at the store, and what days to cook said items on. Ely includes lots of choices about side dishes (but she doesn't tell you how to cook any of them) and detailed grocery lists.Now the cons: My family just didn't like the food. We spent a lot of money purchasing all of the items, and most of the meals were just so so. But, if you are rushed and need a place to start your meal planning...this might be helpful. I'd recomend Christmas Favorites The Holiday Handbook by Mary Ann Crouch and Jan Stedman. It is a must have in any library.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Value
Review: I found this cookbook to be of poor value, will return it for something better.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best investments I've ever made
Review: Leanne's new book makes dinner a no-brainer! Her emphasis on whole foods that are nutritious, recipes that are healthy and tasty, and balanced meal plans have made my life so much easier. No more fretting from week to week about what to fix. No more buying a jar of this "to use sometime" and then never using it. As was mentioned earlier, I am tossing most of my other cookbooks and just following the menus!
Rating:
Summary: Fling those cookbooks you never use and buy this one...
Review: Here's a cookbook you will actually use! I love the way Leanne has grouped recipes by season. She also has a very detailed Index. You can find what you need quickly! If my kids didn't have food allergies I would LOVE to follow her menus exactly...what a time saver and great variety. Since we have pork, beef and chicken allergies we can't use all the recipes but I can substitute lamb and game for many and she has a lot of fantastic TURKEY recipes which even finnicky kids will love. Like "Layered Turkey Nachos" and "White Turkey Chili" Leanne has inspired me to make a "real" dinner every night. No more processed foods with scary ingredients. My mom always had a home cooked meal for our dinner every night...I had forgotten how good it feels to savor good food with good company...family.
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Summary: No more fretting over what's for dinner!
Review: I love to cook and I have A LOT of cookbooks. I subscribe to cooking magazines and I surf the web for recipes. I have to say that this book is one of the most practical, well-rounded, and thoughtful cookbooks out there. Leanne's objective is to give you a no-excuses approach to preparing a home-cooked and healthy meal for your family. The recipes are arranged by week according to the seasons (which allows you to take advantage of seasonal foods and preparations...like the grill). Each week begins with a shopping list for that week's meals. The recipes are simple and many have ethnic influences (Asian, Mediterranean, Italian). Meals include meatless, fish, chicken, turkey, and beef...you won't find any pork recipes--but many of the chicken recipes can be prepared with pork if you like. The emphasis is on the main dish, she suggests sides that are simple like steamed carrots, baked potatoes or a tossed salad. Also, dust off that slow cooker, because every week includes a slow cooker/crock-pot recipe---and they are not the canned cream soup kind! In fact, all the recipes are from fresh and healthy ingredients, not processed foods. Very few canned items are called for...just beans, tomatoes, broth, etc. You can learn more about Leanne by visiting menumailer.net (there's a free week's worth of menus there also). And if you can't seem to find the time to make dinner, you may also want to check out flylady.net where Leanne is a contributor. Thank you Leanne for your loving guidance!
Rating: 
Summary: Do your family a favor: buy Saving Dinner
Review: The last thing I need is more clutter - and cook books can be clutter. But I made an exception and bought Leanne Ely's book as soon as I saw it. Like thousands of people, I was first introduced to Leanne by "flylady," and I often found myself scribbling down recipes Leanne sent in her on-line "Food For Thought" column. It always seemed like my family liked whatever creative, healthy recipe she devised. Leanne doesn't disappoint with this collection of fast, easy, family-pleasing recipes. My children, who normally groan at the idea of "boring old" soup for dinner, raved over her corn chowder and cornmeal muffins the very first night I brought the cook book home. I like the way she organized the book by seasons, since I never fix chicken and dumplings in July or BLTs and lemonaid in January. I enjoy her breezy writing style, which makes her sound like she's a friend sitting in the kitchen with me. Her mini-article, "A Case for Oil" is recommended reading in itself, and a good example of her writing style. In it, she defends a bottle of olive oil in Food Court, and in the process, explains "good" and "bad" fats in a way anyone could grasp. I also like Leanne's whole premise that the family dinner, with everyone sharing their day around the dinner table, should not be obsolete. With help from Leanne, there's no reason to run through a fast food window three times a week.
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