Frozen Assets: Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Following the premature birth of our first child, a group of friends from church filled our freezer with over two weeks of frozen meals..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Frozen Assets is small in stature, but jam-packed with meal-planning advice. It contains recipe ideas, plus detailed instructions on how to get the maximum value from your food dollar, while also slashing meal preparation times.

Deborah Taylor-Hough, mother of four, is as organized as a soldier. She shops one morning in less than an hour, chops and prepares ingredients the next night after dinner, and then spends one long day cooking. Making double and triple batches of 10 recipes, she ends up putting 30 meals for two adults and two children into the freezer, ready to heat and eat. Taylor-Hough's plan uses simple, familiar recipes. Her family eats meat loaf, baked ziti, and chicken and broccoli casserole made with canned soup. Each dish is repeated several times a month. To keep her grocery bill under $200 a month, she uses store brands and buys ground meat in bulk, and only when it's on special. As much a manual for a way of life as a cookbook, Frozen Assets tells how to create your own meal plans, cope with a small, "in refrigerator" freezer, and how to use this bulk-cooking method even if you are single. If you are into efficiency and want a guide to reorganizing your culinary life, this book is a must-have. It even offers advice on how to recover from a whole day of cooking. Taylor-Hough's recommendation: go out to dinner that night! --Dana Jacobi

From Library Journal

This book offers relief to those tired of eating restaurant fare or expensive, overpackaged convenience foods at the end of a hard day. Bulk cooking, the practice of preparing numerous meals and freezing for later consumption, was a survival strategy the author employed after the birth of her first child. After a decade of experimentation, she shares her menu ideas, recipes, and tips for shopping and preparing these thrifty, frozen treasures that can simplify the daily meal rush. Recipes are for family favorites, but the author encourages readers to adapt their own recipes to the freezer method. Suggestions appropriate for large families and singles are included along with forms to help organize the cook. With more emphasis on frugality than Mimi Wilson and Mary Bath Lagerborg's Once-a-Month Cooking (Focus on the Family Pub., 1992), this will appeal to both the thrifty and the time-conscious. Recommended for public libraries.ABonnie Poquette, Whitefish Bay, WI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc. (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891400614
• ISBN-13: 978-1891400612
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #89,189 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

149 of 149 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book is definitely worth buying!, February 11, 2000

By	Ivonne Wittig "domesticengineer" - See all my reviews

I have been "budget-cooking" for a while now and have found there is not one "do-it-all" book for saving money, freezer cooking or simple recipes. I use a variety of cookbooks and pick and choose the recipes we enjoy as a family. Everyone's tastes are different, so the bad reviews I have read here about this book surprised me. Yes, there are a couple of recipes here I probably won't try, but as an experienced frugal cook I found many great hints that saved me time and money, enough so the book went from my library list to one I purchased last month. We enjoy many of the recipes, they are simple to make(I even prepared two weeks worth of meals with my two children underfoot in the kitchen). If you are looking for french cuisine or five star restaurant entrees you won't find them here, but if you need some simple dishes to prepare ahead to save time and money (especially on those hectic soccer game or scout meeting days) this book is a very helpful tool.

88 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great time saver!, November 6, 1998

By A Customer

For those of you who are overwhelmed with trying to plan, shop, and cook for your families after a busy day, this book is for you. Once a month, or bulk cooking is not a new concept,but what I find refreshing about Frozen Assets is OPTIONS. My mantra has forever been "there's no ONE way to be organized", and this book shares that philosophy. Bulk cooking is just that; cook double batches for a week and have another week's worth of meals for your freezer. Cook once a month and have 30 days' worth of meals in your freezer. Try it out, a little at a time, and if you like the concept, tweak it for your lifestyle.

Deborah walks you through step by step, from planning to shopping to cooking to storing. I'm always looking at the way books are organized for quick reference, and this one delivers. The table of contents provides a quick look at recipes, which are cross-referenced for ease of use. Frugal tips for shopping and budgeting are included as well.

I highly recommend Deborah's book, and urge you to pick up a copy of your own.

105 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One star for the recipes, five stars for the plan!, March 17, 2001

By A Customer

I would give this book 2-1/2 stars, averaging the great information on once-a-month cooking (5 stars) with the recipes (1 star). The strong positives about the book are the highly organized plan for OAMC cooking (which is all available on the OAMC Website) and useful tips for grocery savings. Also, the author has a wonderful, warm friendly tone. Strong negatives include the fact that there is not one recipe (except for a cookie recipe) that I would eat or serve to my family. To my taste (and I'm not picky, but I realize taste is subjective!) the recipes are bland, and each one has some odd ingredient (canned olives in everything, rice crusts for quiches, etc.). I love casseroles and one-meal dishes, and was very disappointed to find not one usable recipe. Another strong negative is that the material was s-t-r-e-c-h-e-d to fill the book--i.e, one recipe per page, and repeating the recipes in different sections. I see that some reviewers love the recipes and some hate them---my very strong advice would be to check out the recipes before you invest in this book. (As an aside, I loved Debi's book "A Simple Plan" and would highly recommend it!)