Customer Reviews

The Frantic Woman's Guide to Feeding Family and Friends: Shopping Lists, Recipes, and Tips for Every Dinner of the Year

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The last thing I needed was another cookbook to take up shelf space, but I needn't have worried. This one hasn't been "put away" since I bought it. That's because there are no long lists of exotic ingredients. No elaborate preparations. Just simple, quick and easy kid-friendly dishes that can be prepared either in advance or on a tight schedule. Some of the recipes have already become favorites, already requested again by my family. Time-saving shopping lists and useful tips also come in handy. The author's informal, friendly style evokes the feeling of a girlfriend sharing recipes and tips over coffee at the kitchen table. FWGFFF is a winner for frantic moms on the go and the frantic families who love them.

I've never been comfortable in the kitchen. I'm not good at timing meals or coordinating them. But even I can successfully navigate this down-to-earth, realistic guide. Mary Jo Rulnick has organized the recipes into easily-workable parts: seasonal fare, weekly and daily specials, side dishes and most important how to food shop and when. She takes two week chunks of time and breaks them down--reuses and recycles the staples to come up with meals that are different, nutritious and above all, easy. (My personal favoriates are the "Slow Cook Nights" and the "No Cook Nights.") Next time you're in the bookstore, take a minute and flip through the pages. You'll be hooked immediately by the easy-to-read, logical progression of seasons, ingredients and recipes. If you are what you eat, you'll be a far, far better--and healthier person, by eating what Ms. Rulnick sets forth in this book.

I've always been mystified by my friends who feed their kids healthy, home-cooked meals and manage to make it look easy -- and fun. I always wondered how they did it. The Frantic Woman's Guide takes the mystery (and the pain) out of menu planning, shopping for ingredients, and creating kid-friendly recipes. This book has been a big boost to my kitchen-related self esteem. My family is eating better because of it.

this cookbook is a good idea as far as helping you plan your menus and convenient shopping lists...

BUT, if you are health-conscious like me, you will not like some of the meals. Many of them center around meat and carbs. I don't fault the author, since I suppose that's what many American families like to eat. I browsed through it for a few minutes, and quickly realized that I was going to need to purchase a new cookbook, because there weren't enough meals I would feel comfortable feeding my family. I personally think meat should be a light addition to meals, not the main feature, and I'm not the only one who thinks that way--that's what doctors, nutritionists and the updated USDA pyramid say as well. However, it seems like it would be fairly easy to upgrade some of the meals to be healthier with a little creativity.

I love this book. The ingredients in all of the recipes are family-oriented and I'm able to buy them at my local supermarket. Best of all, the meals are easy on the budget. This book offers a cooking system to help you plan your family meals or you can pull out recipes that you want to make when you want to make them. There's recipes for Thanksgiving as well as what to do with the leftovers, which will save us money during a very expensive time of the year. The other thing that I love about this book is the author's personality comes through like she was sitting across the table from you. And there are a ton of shortcuts to make your time in the kitchen more efficient and some really fun ideas to do with the family. You can tell this author has a family and knows what it's like to be a busy mom.

This book has quick and easy recipes and a lot of shortcuts for busy women. This book also gives some fun ideas for spending time with your family even if time is limited. I like the girlfriend style of this book, too. Highly recommended for today's families. You can use the recipes to go along with some of your favs, too. There are so many ways to use this cookbook. One of my favorite recipes for company is the seafood bake. My kids' favorite is Mexican Pileup.

Daddy gave me the money to buy this book for my mum as a present. My mum is a nurse and works long hours. Mummy and daddy are divorce. We made the chocolate cookies. I ate a lot of them. They were good. they were the easiet cookies mummy made.

I'm a work-at-home Mom, but that doesn't mean I'm hanging out in the kitchen. As busy as my family is, I'm excited to have a book like Mary Jo's that takes care of the decision making, planning, and even gives me a shopping list. Then, when dinner time arrives, in just minutes, I can prepare and feed my family with good food that they enjoy. Thanks, Mary Jo, for taking the stress out of making dinner!

If you've ever wondered how some women seem to do everything and still get a healthy meal on the table, this book will show you how you can be that woman.

this book is awesome for buy moms. I already owned this book but bought it for my best friend...she loves it as much as I do!