Customer Reviews

Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen Cookbook: 100+ Great Recipes with Foolproof Instructions

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
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When I was reading the instructions on how to make a grilled cheese, this was a clear sign to me as to the effectiveness of a book like this. Simply put, I'm am the laziest college student ever, except for my housemate who eats hot dogs raw because the microwave is too tough. So, this book is wonderfully simple and fun to read. I'm not ashamed to use this cookbook and I can make meals that are fun and lead to more experimentation in the kitchen. Thanks Kevin and Mom.

When I first moved into my apartment in college, this book is one my Mom got for me. She bought it as a joke, but it was a good idea to get my confidence up in the kitchen.

Most of the recipes are fairly easy to do, although some can be a little more challenging. If you're looking to make something quick and don't want to slave over a stove all night, there are all kinds of great quick recipes in there.

However, one major complaint I have is that it seems like many recipes call for an unbelievable amount of oil if you follow the directions to the letter. In some cases, like pancakes, this isn't a problem. In other cases, though, it can really make things tricky, or just plain disgusting.

If you're just starting out in the kitchen, though, you can get a feel for some basics and build your confidence. Just keep your eyes open and you'll get a better feel of how to tweak these recipies for the better -- and before long you'll graduate to "regular" cookbooks.

Kevin Mills and his Mom have put together a cookbook that is entertaining and useful. Although this cookbook is aimed at beginners, the recipes are creative and tasteful. This book gets beyond the ho-hu basic meals (ie chili, scrambled eggs, and hambergers) and moves onto more challengeing and palet pleasing recipes. Kevin's girlfriend is a vegetarian, and so he has included recipes that satisfy both of them. Recipes are rated from "Very Easy" to "Difficult". The sage wisdom displayed by Kevin's Mom is invaluable. I recommend this book for any beginner, hesitant cook, or unique cookbook collector!

I consider myself somewhat handy in the kitchen, but when I got my own apartment, I found that there were still some basic things I didn't know how to do. That's where this book came in. It taught me not only how to do those basic things, but also to make great meals that I had always thought were difficult (like pesto sauce). Between "Mom Tips" and ratings from "Very Easy" to "Difficult," it's hard to screw up these recipes as long as you know your level of ability in the kitchen. It's also nice because once you get the easy stuff down, you can work up to the harder stuff. There is also a good list in here of the basics for those of us who come into an empty apartment with an empty kitchen and no idea what to buy as far as staples (like ketchup, mustard, pasta, etc).

The recipes in this book are pretty much fool-proof, and they taste great. After venturing on to bigger and better things in "regular" cookbooks, I still come back to this one from time to time for great recipes. It is a must-have for any newbie in the kitchen and an awesome cookbook for anyone who wants to know the easy way to make just about anything.

This funny and easy to read book makes absolutely no assumptions about its readers. It includes step-by-step recipes, with "Mom Tips" on the side for those little hints that most cookbooks dont' bother mentioning (like to not overcook garlic when browning it, because it will become bitter, or to put hardboiled eggs immediately into cold water, to make them easier to peel).

The book really does include instructions on "how to boil water." Unfortunately, the instructions for that are wrong. The author suggests starting with warm water instead of cold so it will boil faster. As an *experienced* cook, I can tell you that previously boiled warm water has a flat taste (from being de-oxygenated) that it will impart to some dishes, and, even more important, warm tap water is much more likely to be contaminated with lead leeched from old water pipes. This isn't a deal breaker - the book is still worth reading for a novice cook. But take the advice with 1/8 tsp of salt.

Some of my friends took an interest in cooking when they were young, and can whip up fabulous desserts without batting an eye. I always joked that my best friend and I would have to live together, since I didn't mind laundry and she didn't mind cooking. Now that I'm miles away from her food and can't live on cereal, I decided to pick up "Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen."
If you're like my friend and already have a basic idea of cooking, this probably isn't for you. But if you don't know how to boil water, Kevin and his mom are here to help. The cookbook is often funny and has a lot of helpful tips that will make things far less daunting for the culinary-challenged. They also provide recipes for everything from Quesadillas to Vegetable Stir Fry to a Turkey dinner, so no matter what kind of food you're in the mood for, you'll be able to find something. Plus, most of the time the recipes for entrees include a suggestion for what to serve with it to make a more complete meal.
Also, one thing I've found most helpful is that most of the recipes in this book make two servings. For someone cooking for him/herself, this is ideal. After two meals with the same dish, it's going to get old. This way you'll be able to have leftovers without eating the same dinner for breakfast two weeks later.
So far "Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen" has made cooking a far less daunting task for me, and provided me with a healthy alternative to pizza every night. If you're afraid of your oven and don't know how to make those pink blobs of uncooked chicken itnto a meal, this book is definitely for you.

Okay, I'll admit this book does have some _very_ basic recipes, but overall I love this cookbook and use it often. Unlike other "easy" cookbooks, the beauty of this one is that most ingredients are fresh (very little packaged/canned stuff). He doesn't assume that just because you are a beginner you should only cook from a box (yuck!). By calling out the fresh ingredients, you are actually LEARNING how to cook - what to add to make it taste a certain way, etc. - versus adding in packaged seasoning that teaches you nothing. Plus nearly everything I have made tastes great! The instructions are simple and very easy to follow and the warnings and tips are quite helpful. I also like that he provides options or substitutes if you don't like or have a certain ingredient (on some recipes). One the whole, the recipes are foolproof, easy, healthy, and tasty!

There's 2 major challenges to us first-time kitchen owners: learning how to cook and unlearning all those unhealthy eating habits we've picked up.

Help! (learning to cook)
*difficulty scale: very easy, easy, not so easy
*preparation/cooking times: reasonably accurate
*mom tips: geared towards avoiding disasters or locating/selecting items in the grocery store
*recipes: 104
*nutrition info: none and can be heavy on the oil, mayo, and sour cream.
*msc: Kevin tries to stick a joke on every page. Most of them aren't funny, but they keep the tone upbeat.


Healthy College Cookbook (replacing unhealthy eating habits)
*no difficulty scale
*limited preparation/cooking time information: super-quick vs not
*mom tips: fewer tips/recipe and geared towards making recipes healthier and coping with expiration dates
*recipes: 187
*nutrition info: calories, fat, protein, carbs, and cholesterol for every recipe
*msc: servings are chintzier than in Help! go hungry or plan accordingly.

At first, I tried to subsist on The Healthy College Cookbook alone. However, I found the serving sizes too small to feel satisfied. I also wanted more comfort food options to get me through the transition to home cooking. I felt like I had transformed into a rabbit before my tastes had time to adjust. I reverted back to my plain pasta/greasy spoon restaurant routine until I purchased Help! I've stuck with Help! because it's easier to plan grocery shopping and menus when I know how long and difficult a recipe will be and realistically how many servings it will make. Also, nearly everything I make in Help! seems to call for garlic, onions, or canned tomatoes so shopping is more straightforward and perennially in season.

As a culinary-challenged Mom coming from a long line of terrible cooks, I was happy to stumble upon this. Even after many years my cooking is still hit and miss. I confess I didn't know even one eighth of Mrs. Mills' "Mom Tips." Shame on me. Happily I salted the corn water (makes the corn tough) and cooked the garlic on high heat (Wow! I used garlic, how creative.) So with my second-oldest son a week away from moving into his own place, I figured he needed some desperate help. Cup-a-noodles and Jalapeno Lays are his steady diet outside of the college cafeteria. And help he will get with this fine book, if only he will apply himself. It has the right touch. It's thorough but not daunting, has lots of info but isn't confusing. Plus there's plenty of comfort food to go around. (Pot roast included. When's the last time I made pot roast?) It's a good idea presented lightheartedly. And I actually got a "thanks, Mom" when I gave it to him.

If you're cooking just for yourself, you know how difficult it is to find recipes that won't leave you with enough leftovers to last a week. For me, that's the best thing about this cookbook. Most of the recipes in this book only serve a couple of people, but they can be easily doubled (or even tripled) if you have guests coming over. In that case, you might also use the menu suggestions in the back to find things that go well together and won't require you to have six hands to make all at once.

The recipes are all rated (very easy, easy, or not-so-easy) and have preparation and cooking time estimates so you can find one to fit your schedule. There's even an index in the front where they're sorted by difficulty. For vegetarians, there's a list in the back of all of the recipes that are vegetarian, though many more can be made that way by replacing the chicken, beef, or pork with tofu, seitan, or tempeh. I'm not vegetarian, but I actually prefer the chicken tikka when I use seitan instead.

The recipes also have enough flavor to be interesting without making you measure out fifteen spices and buy exotic ingredients that will go bad before you figure out what to do with the rest of the jar. Compared to a lot of cookbooks designed for singles and couples, this cookbook relies very little on pre-packaged ingredients. The few concessions it makes to convenience are for very basic things like frozen spinach (no more washing out sand ten times!), canned diced tomatoes (which are actually better in some recipes, as fresh ones break down and disappear), and pie crusts (since it's all about the filling anyway!). A lot of the ingredients are fresh: this is NOT one of those cookbooks where every other ingredient is some brand-name product you're essentially just adding garnish to!

I'm a pretty good cook, and I have a bunch of other cookbooks, but for good meals that won't take forever to prepare or leave me with enough leftovers to feed an army, this is the book I return to time and again.