Customer Reviews

Mix and Match Recipes: Creative Ideas for Busy Kitchens

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

 

 

I'm adding this book to my list of gifts to give at Bridal Showers. If you're like me, you have days when you stare into the pantry wondering what to make for dinner. There's food in there but does it make a meal? With this helpful little book, I've been able to go to the cupboard and pull together a complete meal for my family without running to the store for missing ingredients. My two favorite ideas in this book are the Master Skillet Meal and Master Soup recipes. A bit of this, a dab of that, throw it all in the pot or skillet, cook for awhile, and dinner's served. I'll never buy those convenient pre-packaged boxed dinners for tuna or hamburger again!

"The recipes in this book are a result of creatively meeting the needs and desires of my family over many years of living on a tight budge with competing demands on my time and energy. Sounds a bit like the story of modern American life, doesn't it? Extremely busy, sometimes broke, but always resilient and resourceful." ~Deborah Taylor-Hough

Have you ever thought of making cookies with a cake mix? Well, lately, I even made biscotti from a cake mix. It seems there is no limit to what you can do with a cake mix when it comes to cakes, cookies and all things dessert.

Deborah shows you how to "mix and match" various items from your pantry so you don't have to run out to the store every time you want to make something different. Of course you will want to have a certain number of ingredients on hand. There is a nice list on page 21 that gives you a list of pantry items. You probably already have many of these items lurking about on your refrigerator shelves or in the pantry.

Sometimes I like to challenge myself and see how long I can go without buying anything at the grocery store. This book is helpful in that regard. Sometimes all you need is a bit of inspiration and you can turn a few ingredients into an appetizing meal.

In Deborah's Mix and Match Soup, you have so many choices. You are sure to have one of the ingredients for each section of the recipe. If you don't have rice, you can use corn or pasta. If you don't have tomato soup, you can use chicken. It is that easy.

Some of the recipes you will enjoy include:

Create a Casserole
Mix and Match Quiche
Super Smoothies - lots of ways to make delicious fresh fruit smoothies
Mix and Match Quick Bread
More Creative Cookies - one recipe with three variations
Warm and Wonderful Drink Mixes - Fireside Coffee Mix and Café Vienna Coffee Mix. Remember "Russian Tea with Tang?" This book has the recipe.
Plenty of Pies - Pies you make with ice cream and ready-made crusts

The last section of the book starts with a "master" mix recipe. You make the mix, store it and then use as many cups as needed to make recipes like Biscuits, Snack Cake and Shortcake.

Now, this book is not just about edible recipes, you can also make a spa milk bath, facial mask or fizzing bath bombs. So, there is fun to be had. Kids will enjoy making sidewalk chalk, soap crayons, homemade stickers and edible finger paints.

Mix and Match is a tiny treasure of a cookbook that will get you in and out of the kitchen in a hurry. The recipe for the Mix and Match Fruit Crisp is worth the price of the book. I love this recipe, especially served with ice cream.

~The Rebecca Review

This cookbook maybe thin but it is jam packed with recipe solutions. One of our favorite meals is the mix and match skillet recipe. A definite buy!

Mix and Match is a new idea to me and I love it! Great size I can throw it right in my purse when I go shopping.

This is a very small book. Looks self published as well. But it is full of very useful methods for putting together easy meals from stuff you already have on hand.

What you end up with depends on what you put into the recipe, but because you are given pretty good guides on how much of which type of ingredient, you not only end up with tasty meals, the consistency and texture turn out amazingly good.

This was a good book with some helpful ideas. I'm sorry to say though it was mostly old news, and fairly expensive ($... for 64 pages with few new ideas.)