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Summary: Brings "cooking ahead" to a higher level - simply superb!
Review: A year ago I picked up a copy of "Table Talk" which is a book written by Mimi Wilson & Mary Beth Lagerborg. It impressed me both with the recipes and the ideas for dinner table activities and family get-togethers. I found it truly an inspiration and it has changed the way my family eats dinner and communicates. In the book "Table Talk" the "Once A Month Cooking" book was referred to. For a year I've looked for it in various bookstores and it wasn't until I became a customer of Amazon.com that I found it. A month ago I ordered this book. This past weekend I cooked for 6 hours and now have 17 meals in my freezer. It is truly a wonderful feeling to be organized an prepared for evening meals. Weekday evenings have become the hardest part of the day in our household due to dual working parents, and busy schedules for all. This method is so logical, efficient, time saving and stressfree - just buying the groceries was easier, even though I bought twice what I normally would. With a pre- written list and virtually no decisions to make at the grocery store itself, I was out of there in half the time! I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to put nutritious delicious meals on the table night after night with far less stress. This book is especially helpful for me because it allows me to prepare meals at a time of my choosing, when *I* have the energy to spend doing it, not when I have to pull something together after a tiring and busy day. Thank you thank you to both Mimi Wilson & Mary Beth Lagerborg for this book. By writing this book, and sharing this logical efficient method, you've provided a service that I can now pass on to my children, my husband and others.
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Summary: Great idea and still holds up
Review: I have used and reused the original version of this book. I must say it changed my life and the way I approach meal planning. I found that doing the 30 days all at once just about killed me--it's a lot for 1 person btwn shopping, cooking and cleaning up nor is it recommended but I needed to try. I did enjoy incorporating some of my own recipes which is encouraged. Remember to slightly undercook noodle recipes and don't freeze sour cream recipes--they get watery upon thawing--try to incorporate before reheating and serving if possible. I still use the same basic philosophies a dozen years later planning meals a month in advance and including the 'Eating Out' days as suggested. I'll double and triple up on recipes and cook about 2 weeks at a time. I'm not a slave to the schedule but mix and match as the mood dictates. Now that my kids are teenagers with active schedules, the habits/techniques learned keep complaining and problems to a minimum and we still eat well. I also always have a stash to feed all the teenage boys who are inevitably here. I've thanked Ms. Wilson so many times to myself that it's a pleasure to do so more publicly. I'm looking forward to the new, updated version to sit next to my dog-eared original!
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Summary: A good way to start if you don't like cooking
Review: My daughter gave me this book for Christmas because I don't like to cook but need to restrict sodium and fat and therefore have to cook. I'm 66 yrs old and have been cooking since I was 8. I like the explanation of the process and of how to vary it. I started with the 2-wk low fat series. Since I am now a family of one, I had to cut most of the recipes in half or even thirds. With the help of a photocopy of the master shopping list for that cycle, I had no problem deleting the items for recipes I didn't like and adding items for my own preferences--mainly more fish and vegetarian meals. Even so, I got more than a month's worth of meals, with considerable repetition, which I don't mind. It has also inspired me to measure out baking mixes for both quick breads and my bread machine, also portions for hot cereals that I need to eat for the fiber.I am now working on refining this technique for another cycle with more heart healthy recipes. It's not the solution for everyone but, with some thought can help both the busy person who has to cook for a family (which I once was) and for others who need to control both their diet and their budget. Warning: this isn't a "money-saving" plan per se. It helps because there is less waste and, with thought, can be more economical.
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Summary: Cooking Freedom!!
Review: This book revolutionized the way I approach cooking. I never really enjoyed cooking before, probably due to the drudgery of thinking each day, "what on earth am I going to make for dinner tonight?" This book introduced me to the idea of cooking multiple meals all at the same time, thus reducing trips to the grocery store, reducing nightly meal clean-up (wash all those pots and pans at the same time!!), reducing food prep (ie. chop all veggies at the same time, cook all the beef/chicken at the same time, grate all the cheese at once), and reducing nightly stress!! As someone who enjoys efficient processes, I really got excited about the ideas in Once-a-Month-Cooking. So I tried my first two-week plan about three years ago. It took me two days to make 14 meals that lasted our family about a month. The recipes are far from "gourmet", but they give you great guidelines for the types of foods that can be frozen, and a we've made a couple of the recipes into family staples (the joes to go are GREAT as is the teriyaki chicken). I quickly decided that it wasn't most efficient for me to work with so many different ingredients all at the same time, so I tweaked their ideas into "chicken," "ground beef," and "spaghetti sauce" cooking days (doing this, I can crank out about 14 meals in half a day!). But the greatest part of this cooking technique that Wilson and Lagerborg introduced me to, is that I have discovered that I really do enjoy cooking. Now I cook WHEN I want to, and on the nights when I don't want to cook, I just pull some goodies out of the freezer!
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Summary: Lo-Fat Menu had NO TASTE
Review: This was the first OMAC book I tried. I was so excited that they had a low-fat entree plan so I made the whole 2 week menu. What a dissapointment!!!!!! I nearly gagged on the Mandarin Orange Chicken, and I was serving that meal to guests. The Split-Pea soup had no flavor and the recipe for Italian Tomato Sauce made everything it touched gag-worthy. I am so glad that I checked this one out from the library instead of buying it...a great dissapointment.
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Summary: A great hand-holding guide into the world of cooking ahead!
Review: This book is EXCELLENT for people who have NO CLUE how to tackle cooking ahead and freezing. It gives you 3 separate 2 week menus (one of which is low-fat) and 2 separate one-month menus complete with shopping lists, required containers and preparation steps. Each menu set ensures that you're not eating the same thing twice in that menu's timeframe. This is especially ideal when you're new to this because you only make enough for one meal in the timeframe--so if you hate the recipe, you're not stuck with it again and again and again...! A major pitfall when you're new to this stuff! This is GREAT if you're new to this stuff. In fact, unlike most cookbooks (including the freezer cooking ones) the table of contents doesn't group food recipes into groups like "Beef Dishes", etc.--it breaks it up by what type and length of menu you want. For those who don't need the hand-holding and shopping lists, etc., there is (thankfully) an index in the back to lookup recipes that you want. It's a little frustrating, but the recipes are worth it. Now that I have some experience, I generally go to the index and look for recipes. No nutritional information for these recipes is given--so if you need it, this is not the book! But they DO provide a section devoted to helping you adapt favorite family recipes to freezer-friendly versions.
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Summary: busymom
Review: I am a little disappointed with the recipes in this book. My husband and I like to eat meals that have a lot of vegetables. For good health and economy, we prefer to eat meat only a few times a week. Almost all of the recipes in Once-a-Month Cooking are meat entrees. Also, while the recipes look very yummy, quite a few of them seem a little heavy. If you like to cook light, I'm not sure that this is the book for you.
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Summary: The only cook book that delivers what it promises
Review: After years of fighting the clock trying to figure out what is going to be for dinner, we have finally found the solution. This book is full of creative, tastful, and nutritious recipes. It is well organized and has made our evenings at home as a family much more enjoyable. Even the one day we spend cooking has become a great time for my wife and I to talk more. I highly recommend this book. My advise is to follow it's directions to the letter and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
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Summary: Once-A-Month-Cooking is a HIT in our home
Review: I was tired of the kids asking the same question every night, "What's for dinner", with my standard reply, "What type of hamburger helper do you want this time?" I am NOT a cook my any means, but I saw this book and its reviews and had to try it. With a family of 6 (4 kids ages 9-2), I spent LESS THAN $200 for all the ingredients for a 2-week menu. Prior to this book, our grocery bills exceeded $500/month! The serving sizes are large, thereby extending the prepared meals from 2 to 4 weeks. We absolutely love it and the kids are actually eating vegetables!
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Summary: Glad I bought the book....
Review: I admit I grew up where we always made extra when cooking so that we could freeze a meal for later use. This book is along those lines and will probably be invaluable to someone who has never learned the value of batch cooking. What is nice about the book is it gives 2 week entree plans as well as low fat two week plans, and various plans which will fit most people eating styles and likes. And it encourages the reader to choose the foods they like and learn to cook those foods in batches to freeze for 2 or more meals in the future. And the instructions on what a well stocked pantry should have and how to be better prepared when one cooks are excellent. Organization is the key and once you have that down, not only is cooking more fun but it goes faster. There is also a unique and if I do say so refreshing section near the end of the book about table talk. About how to bring talking while eating dinner used to be a relished ritual and needs to become the norm again. It is actually one of my favorite sections of the book. If I had any cautionary note it would be to non-christians who might want the book but be turned off by the small Biblical passages at the beginning of the chapters. But I am not turned off any more than I would be if reading a book on Asian cooking that had saying of the Buddha or a Jewish cookbook that would have texts from the Torah. I actually think this add charm to the book.
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