Customer Reviews

Monday-to-Friday Cookbook

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

We received this book as a wedding gift and mistakenly ignored it for several years. Two years ago, we rediscovered it and have been using it almost exclusively ever since. An incredible range of recipes, from 30 minute start-to-table meals to more elaborate menus for when you are entertaining.

It's a great cookbook for the person just learning to cook as well as the more experienced chef. Michelle includes several chapters on how stock your pantry and kitchen equipment (I never learned that in Home Economics!) as well as well-organized recipes that make menu planning easy. I have given this book as a gift to most of my family - my four siblings and parents, too!

I do have one complaint - we've exhausted the recipes in this book! So, am going to buy the M2F Chicken and/or M2F Pasta book to supplement. Hopefully that will keep us for another 2 years!

This is a wonderful book by a professional cook who explains how she makes meals at home for her family.

When the main cooking responsibilities at home fell to me -- basically a noncook for most of my life -- I needed help. Michele Urvater is now my mentor in the kitchen.

I stocked the pantry of our new home based on her recommendations and threw out several kitchen gadgets bought on impulse. Michele U. is a minimalist in many ways.

Her book has lots of insights from a professional's point of view -- such as, basically, don't try to broil stuff at home. I didn't need to be persuaded, having murdered a salmon steak and a piece of swordfish in recent memory. Her preferences -- for Newman's Pasta Sauce for example -- seem well-founded when we've checked them out. She loves corn in all its forms and loves cumin as do we -- I discovered it only recently by reverse engineering the ingredients of Curry powder

Some things she learned at home -- such as cooking with ketchup (her little girl loved the stuff) and thinking ahead to what you are going to make out of the leftovers. Her recipes often have a leftovers plan attached.

Her book is great for those of us watching our fat intake and loaded with easy and delightful recipes using all kinds of beans, rice, and pasta.

Her simple Ricotta and fresh fruit salad and a bean, cucumber, and navel orange salad have become lunchtime staples.

We have happily tried a number of her one-dish meals, including a root-vegetable ragout, a kasha casserole, and a several others. More than one rated a coveted "Great!" from my friend Joan when we tasted them. We even dared to have company over for one of our creations -- we are definitely feeling competent in the kitchen these days, thanks to Michele Urvater.

This book changed my life. It literally taught me how to cook. Michelle's common sense, philosophy of simplicity, and encouragement turned this intimidated, poorly fed college student into a real honest to god cook-something I never expected to happen in my lifetime : )...It will make you rethink your eating and cooking style- and priorities. A truly inspired and inspiring cook book that taught me how to enjoy eating again.

PS. Especially great for those of us whose kitchens don't come equipped with microwaves, fancy food processors and trendy breadmakers. Thanks Michelle!

This was a wedding gift for my husband and me, who love to cook. This is a good balance of both meatless and meat recipes. We have learned to cook so many different "beans and rice" recipes that are delicious - and the ingredients match the basics we have in our pantry. We have often resorted to this book for "last-minute" dinners when we haven't been to the store or made up a menu. Our kids love the recipes, since Ms. Urvater thoughtfully mentions ways to work in milder versions of many recipes. Finally, the ideas for leftovers that follow many recipes are invaluable. I would highly recommend this cookbook and is a favorite one to give as a gift.

Michelle Urvater designed her book for those who want to eat good tasting food, but in less time. She succeeded! She begins her book by making suggestions on how to run a kitchen in today's fast paced world. Take these suggestions! She follows with a number of recipes that use ingredients easily stocked in one's kitchen. The recipes indicate preparation and cooking time, and are carefully layed out for easy reading. She offers creative use of leftovers as well, which become a new, tasty meal in themselves. This book is good for both meat-eaters and vegetarians alike.

I have about 10 cookbooks (including popular "The New Basics") and this one is by far my favorite. As someone fairly new to cooking in general, it meets all my major requirements: 1) not too many ingredients per recipe; 2) ingredients you can actually find in the grocery store (or even in the pantry); 3) simple instructions (no fancy cooking skills necessary to produce high-quality end product); 4) recipes don't take hours to complete; and 5) includes suggestions for things to eat with the dish & what to do with leftovers.

I am a slow and deliberate cook, so I generally plan for it to take me twice as long as the timing guideline offered by the author, but even I can pull off most of the recipes in less than 1.5 hours.

Every recipe I've ever tried from this book has tasted delicious. Highly recommend it.

Who knew that one cookbook would add variety to my diet, make me look forward to food shopping, teach me how to make quick, nutritious meals, and enable me to throw a wonderful dinner party! I highly recommend Ms. Urvater's book to anyone who loves food and has a hectic schedule. Her recipes make any novice seem like an expert. They are also Weight Watcher friendly for any members looking for flavor and options.

If you are in the market for a new cookbook or if you are looking for the perfect gift, make sure that it is Monday to Friday. The meals will impress family, friends, and most important, yourself.

How did I ever survive before Michele Urvater? I have the old, loose-leaf-bound edition, and it has seen me through many a kitchen crisis! Urvater helps you stock your pantry for tons of delicious, quick recipes. Excellent recipes from the pantry are, for instance, salmon chowder and bbq beans and rice. I have made these dishes a hundred times, and they are always yummy, satisfying, and healthful. Dishes using fresh ingredients are also first-rate. My adoration of this book only has one, slight, qualification: many of the recipes have very salty or sodium-loaded ingredients. But if you don't care for as much salt as Urvater, you can temper the ingredients pretty easily. Special features of this cookbook are: tips on adapting recipes for kids, recreating leftovers into new entrees, and eating seriatim (look it up!). I've always wanted to be the kind of cook who can whip a dinner party for eight with half-hour notice--this cookbook has taken me close to my goal. Be sure to try the chestnut puree dessert, if only to buy those cute cans of chestnuts to make your canned-goods shelves look terrifically chic

This is the fourth time I have purchased this book for myself. I lent it to someone and never got it back, lost it in a move and then just plain lost it. This is the first cookbook where I actually felt like a good cook. When I buy cookbooks this is the cookbook I compare all others to. I have given this cookbook as a gift at 3 weddings and for 2 birthdays. The recipes are very well written. She writes what needs to be done in order and then tells you what to start while something else is going, she gives great ideas on what to do with the leftovers, changing them up so you don't feel like your eating the exact same thing two days in a row, she gives options to use to make some of the "sophisticated" recipes more kid friendly and the book isn't fish or cheese heavy. Excellent book I would recommend to everyone.

I bought this book about 15 years ago, it served me well as a "bachelor's cookbook".

I've been married for some years now and it still serves me well.

I've made a number of the recipes, but the one I use most is "One-Pan Chicken and Vegetable Dinner", page 143 in my copy.

Recipes are easy and instructions clear. This is a good cook book for anyone, but esp. for those pressed for time.

My copy is dog eared and nasty looking, but the content is still first rate. Michele Urvater, the authoress, gets all five stars for this book.