Customer Reviews

New Junior Cookbook (Better Homes & Gardens Cooking)

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I picked up this cookbook in the hopes that I could teach my 7-year-old some basics about cooking that would last him well into his life. (And that it would hopefully prepare him for cooking in his single life, and possibly even encourage him to cook for his wife when he gets married someday!) I loved the bright graphics and beautiful pictures of the recipes, and the easy-to-follow format was great for my son. There was a lot of helpful information included regarding cooking basics, planning a menu, setting a table, how to eat healthy, reading food labels, and great pictures of different types of equipment used for cooking.

Some of the recipes that we enjoyed making together included Eggceptional Breakfast Bake, Tom Thumb's Tacos, Tangled Twisters, Chicken Dippin' Sticks, and Chocolate Pudding Bottoms Up Cake. He was really proud to be able to make something for the family to eat, and I thought he learned good lessons about shopping, food preparation, and clean-up. This is a great book to share with your kids! Enjoy!

We stumbled upon this book in the library and didn't want to bring it back. My 9 year old daughter has made several of the recipes completely on her own. The delicious results have been enjoyed by the entire family. Most recipes are quite nutritious with nutrition facts per serving accompanying each recipe. The "Groovie Smoothies" were truly groovy. With the variety of recipes contained in this book, there is something for everyone here. Great layout too.

I purchased this book for my son who had expressed an interest in cooking.

This is a great beginner book that lies flat on the table/counter ... you don't need 4 pair of hands to hold the book down (which ultimately might break the binding of the book).

The recipies are easy to read and sorted in a good manner.

We've even pulled a new 'favorite' recipe for Macaroni and Cheese from this book. Anytime we want homemade M&C, we dig out my this book!

My son .... we'll he's headed off to a Culinary Arts school.
Buy this book and you'll eat well. =-)

This book is fantastic for the younger set. The recipes are very clear, and they are good. The book starts out with breakfast recipes, serving up speciality pancakes, and much more. The book also has a great deal of main dish recipes that the whole family can enjoy. I like this book because it chooses recipes that are simple, but yet they are not too simple. This book is perfect for the younger person that has done some cooking and is looking to do more. The book also contains extra information regarding how to do certain things like cutting up vegetables, how to use certain appliances, and much more. This is definately a worthwhile book to add to a growing chef's library.

My eight year old can make entire dishes all on her own -- from start to finish -- from this book. She is so proud when she does it! Step by step instructions are accurate and complete. Dishes taste good, too. I am recommending this book to all of my friends.

I purchased this cookbook for my five year old daughter for Christmas so that she could become a bigger participant in the cooking process. She already helps me make dinner most nights but I wanted her to have her own cookbook so that once a week she could pick our dinner menu, help me do the shopping, and prepare the meal (with supervision). My hope is that she can form a plan and see it through to a finished meal, all the while learning about nutrition and balanced foods. I was so excited when the box with the book arrived, but that excitement quickly turned to revulsion when I saw that most of the recipes had more than 15 grams of fat per serving and they were all the things people seem to think that kids want to eat. My daughter may only be five, but she enjoys vegetables and will eat more than chicken nuggets and hamburgers. I was looking for a teaching tool, and instead I got a cookbook that wants to undo all of the work I have done to ensure that my child eats a balanced diet full of vegetables, lean meats, and lots of flavor.

Book Contents and Opinion/Review:

~Book CONTENTS:
Basics - Parental info, measuring, lingo, kitchen tools, food safety, manners, label facts
Breakfast - Pancakes, French Toast, Cinnamon Rolls, Caramelly Apple Muffins, Smoothies, Scrambled Eggs and Hash Brown Pizza, Ham and Egg Sandwich, Breakfast Cookies
Lunch - Tacos, Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Roast Beef Wrap, Pizza Turnover, Submarine Sandwich, Sloppy Josés, Gold Nugget Chowder, Mac and Cheese, Salad
Snacks - Caramel Corn, Chili Cheese Popcorn, Cracker Snack Mixes, Quesadillas, Ranch Dip, Bread Spreads, Peanut Butter Cereal Bars, Melon-Berry Popsicles, Fruit Cups, Strawberry Fruit Dip, Fruit and Cake Skewers
Dinner - Hamburgers, Crinkly Fries, Hot Roast Beef Sandwich, Lasagna, Tortellini Alfredo, Pizza, Chili, Chicken Stir-Fry, Chicken Strips, Fajitas, Ham Balls, Baked Potato Toppers, Veggie Toppers
Dessert - Monster Cookies, Berry Turnovers, Cheesecake, Chocolate S'more Dessert, Peanut Butter Cookie Pizzas, Ice Cream Sandwiches
Celebrate - Candy-coated Snack Mix, Candy Cups, Brownies, Popcorn Cake, Hot Fudge Sauce, Snowman Cookies, Sugar Cookie Cutouts, Cupcakes
Index
Metric Information

~Opinion PROS:
Sturdy binding, and can be propped up due to the spiral held pages.
Pages can sort-of be wiped off... a little love inside a cookbook just proves it gets used. :)
Very colorful and bright. The graphics are clever and fit the recipe.
Ingredient and Utensil needs are listed in easy-to-read fashion.
Recipe time length from Start to Finish and number of servings details.
Each recipe includes a "Serve with..." balloon.
Nutrition Facts per serving with exchange values listed.
Index is well-planned, with easy reference.
Metric information is basic and straight-forward with charts and alternate international ingredient names.

~Opinion CONS:
The recipe titles are in really funky fonts making it difficult to read.
Most of the recipes include some form of sugar or bread.
Some of the "Serve with..." balloons suggest prepared foods such as bacon strips and pasta salad. Too bad these aren't in the cookbook.
Many of the recipes include ingredients not commonly found in our kitchen, such as miniature phyllo dough shells, diced pimiento, angel food cake, refrigerated cooked beef roast au jus, refrigerated three-cheese tortellini, etc.
The Snacks aren't exactly a quick-fix. Some take only 10 minutes, but most take 20 minutes or much longer. (None of the recipes take into account clean-up time.)
Most of the recipes are not budget-conscious, do not use fresh ingredients, or request the use of pre-packaged grocery store items. Examples: "purchase baked cupcakes" "cook one 16-ounce package frozen loose-pack vegetables" "package frozen cinnamon sweet-roll dough or frozen orange sweet-roll dough" etc.
Sugar is not listed in the Nutrition Facts. This seems odd as Carbohydrates are listed with total fat and saturated fat. Even grams of fiber gets a listing.

~Final OPINION:
While there is some useful information for beginning chefs and the pages are enticing, over-all, I'm just not very impressed. I expected much more as this cookbook comes from Better Homes and Gardens. I still use my red & white checkered cookbook from 25 years ago. It is a kitchen staple.
My expectations included simplified recipes from the BH&G standard cookbook - simple & fresh ingredients using basic household items, low fat & low sugar recipes, and maybe even some short-cuts or tricks of the trade.
It appears my expectations were way too high.

This book offers any age from 6 and up fun recipes. It offers nutrition tips and meal plans. I am using it in my cooking classes from children. They love it!

I got this cook book for my 8 year old daughter who loves helping in the kitchen. We were really disappointed to see how unhealthy the recipes were and loaded with candy, fat, and sugar. Imagine making a popcorn cake with 1.5 C of corn syrup, 1.5 C sugar, 1.5 C. of M&M's and 1/3 C. of unpopped popcorn - wait, that is not all, add in a jar of marshmallow creme. First of all, I don't know what possessed me to make this recipe, secondly, it was gooey and syrupy sweet to the point of making us nauseated. Pretty apparent there was no test kitchen trying out this recipe. Most all of the desserts follow suit and are sickeningly sweet and loaded with candy. Most everything else in the cookbook is full of processed meats and cheeses. Recipes are the typical burger, fries, sub sandwiches and meatballs. If you are cool with thinking children's food is what you find on children's menus in restaurants, you might just like this one. Check out "Children's Quick and Easy Cook Book" by Angela Wilkes if you'd like a quality kid's cook book that has real food recipes, great instructions and photos, and is a healthier alternative.

I gave this kid's cookbook only three stars because the recipes contained within rely too often on packaged/prepared food ingredients (canned soup, crackers, refrigerated dough, etc). I cook real food from whole-food ingredients and want my children to learn this way of cooking as well. The recipes that use whole foods are fine and kid appropriate.