Customer Reviews

Dinner's in the Freezer!, More Mary &Less Martha - 1995 publication

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this book because I wanted to learn more about "Freezer Cooking" and "Once a Month" Cooking. What I got was a book that wasn't so much about cooking as a manifesto of Evangelical Christian Stay at Home Motherhood. Now, as a Christian Stay at Home Mother, this book kind of worked for me and I did actually enjoy reading it; however, if I were of a different background I would have found this book HUGELY frustrating! It truly should be marketed as a book on Christian Motherhood - not as a secular book on Freezer Cooking. [Although I think the subtitle "More Mary and Less Martha" is a clue, it isn't clear enough that this book is for a very narrow audience].

The book isn't really even about Freezer Cooking, although it does have some helpful chapters on that subject [though I was 1/3 the way through the book before I got to them]. It is more about Managing the home as a stay at home mother, instilling Christian values and faith in one's children, and being a frugal "good steward" of God's gifts. The book is full of interesting stories about the author's family and experiences. I found it very entertaining and helpful, though in completely different ways than I expected.

It is worth noting that this book appears possibly self published - the editing is very poor and there are many typos, mispellings, and my copy even had a whole section repeated in the book [pages XX-YY appeared twice as exact duplicates].

This book is more like reading a mother's journal or diary of her family life and religious life than it is like reading a book on cooking. Which may be exactly what you want to read, but be forewarned if that's not what you are looking for! I see that this author has released a new book _Mega Cooking_ - I'm curious to buy that one and see whether it is more of a "real" Cook book or not.

I read the whole book and tried the MegaCook method. I had tried the Once A Month cooking method (too many different dishes - too much time and stamina needed), and the idea of making mega batches of foods that your family likes (chili, spaghetti sauce, etc.) was appealing to me. The charts were very nice, but I was surprised that the book gave very little information on how to fill them out. There were too many pages discussing her personal views on life, which had nothing to do with the actual cooking. It was a bit frustrating trying to find information as there was no Index. I had to make my own index and personal notes to find what few explanations I could on how to fill out the charts. I still use the charts for my own recipes - her method is very good, but the book was too disorganized. I hope her newer version has corrected these mistakes because her methods are really good (if you can figure them out). I recommend that you check this book out from your local library first and read it for yourself before spending the money.

There was a lot of good information about cooking ahead in this book, but there is no organization to it what so ever. If you want to look up, for instance, if you can freeze a certain food or not, you can't , there's no index. I can't believe it got past the publisher in that condition. Also, there were a lot of personal stories about her life, some of which were interesting and pertained to the issue, but a lot just didn't have anything to do with cooking or freezing in bulk. I didn't find the recipes very tasty, my children don't really enjoy casseroles, and that's about all there was in it. I think with some organization and order and less stories and better recipes this could be a much better book, and I do like her household tips, they just need to be in some kind of order and you shouldn't have to read through pages of stories about her life to read them.

A lot of personal anecdotes interspersed with information about cooking in bulk to freeze. The main purpose of this book is to convert the reader to evangelical Christianity. I found a fair amount of useful information, and was surprised that there are general household tips as well as marriage and family philosophy in addition to the cooking information. The information concerning actual bulk cooking constitutes about one tenth of the book; you have to read amazing amounts of irrelevant text to get to information the title would lead one to believe the book contains.

Seems like folks either love it or hate... I liked parts of it---was disappointed with others. The charts are helpful. The sermon is frustrating. The recipes are so-so. The technique and method is great. The personal comments are long winded. Not the best book in the world---but not the worst, either. If you're into the idea of freezer cooking and bulk meals, you'll benefit from the book, even if you do need to wade through a lot of unrelated side stuff. If you're a Christian homemaker looking for more than just a cookbook (inspiration, homemaking tips, etc.), you may be thrilled beyond belief with the book. But as I said before, I could take it or leave it.

First of all, I'm a Christian, so my criticism of Mrs. Bond's book is not an attack on her beliefs. I thought I was buying a book on freezing dinners. Instead, I got a book that covers everything from her ideas on recycling and homeschooling to anecdotes about her stay in Panama. While these insights into Mrs. Bond's world may be of interest to some, the title of her book is misleading. The recipes are lackluster and there is very little information about what kind of foods freeze best, etc. Its definitely NOT a primer on getting dinner in the freezer. Nevertheless, there are some good tips and if you are looking for a Christian home management program, this may be your book. The author needs to rewrite a consise book on getting dinner in the freezer or retitle this one.

I am very thankful that I could preview this book through my local library. I LOVE to cook. I don't find it to be a horrible chore. I just thought it would be great to have a selection of "home cooked" meals waiting in the freezer for those crazy days. I am a wife, a mother, a teacher, scout leader, a scout service team member, active in the schools, and on and on. The one thing that I am NOT is a Christian. This does not mean that I am not spiritual or religious, mind you. But, we are not here to talk about religion are we? I thought this was a COOKING book. More than that, I thought this was a book about planning, making and freezing foods in bulk. This is NOT what this book is at all. This book should be labelled as a book for Christians only - who would like to hear stories about other Christians and might enjoy a few recipes. In any event, if you are Christian an think you would enjoy this book, then order it now. If not, borrow it from the Library and maybe you will glean something from it. My copy will be returned as soon as my hectic life allows. Blessings to all -- no matter what religion you practice!

I was surprised by the amount of home management information in this book (because of the title, I was expecting a book strictly about cooking for the freezer). After I recovered from my surprise at the surprisingly different focus of the book, I found quite a bit of helpful information. Bond's book differs from other cooking for the freezer books because of it's emphasis on cooking in bulk for extended periods of time. Rather than cooking once a month, Bond's book can teach you how to cook twice a year! Not sure how I personally feel about cooking six months worth of food to store that long in the freezer, but her mega-cooking(TM) method is a valid and helpful alternative to frequent fast food for busy families on the go. If you don't mind a bit of preaching, you may really enjoy this book. Great charts too.

This was not a bad book, it just seems to be directed at one particular audience to the point of alienating everyone else. Her charts were pretty good, although there was not a whole lot in terms of recipes.

Her story was interesting to read, ONCE, but not worth the price of the book if you are buying it for a cookbook. I would buy it if it were re-written without the life story and religious opinions--maybe she should have two versions out for sale.

I'm only halfway through this book and already I've gleaned a bunch of helpful tips from Jill! I was pleasantly surprised to see how she has taken this concept of OAMC and is, at the same time, using this as her ministry! I have a lot of respect for this attitude, especially in today's world. Personally, I feel this book is VERY organized and walks you through each step thoroughly. I can't wait to get started cooking!!