Frantic Family Cookbook (ISBN 1891400541)

Frantic Family Cookbook - Not for the Frantic!:
I guess I am the only person who finds this cookbook horrible. I ordered this book as a result of reading the reviews and the word "Frantic" in the title. I assumed that the meals would be quick, easy, and tasty, but I was wrong on all 3 counts. I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 star because I've only made 3 of the recipes and assume that the rest are just as disappointing. A quick rundown of the recipes: 1)Cheap-o Cassoulet - Took a while to make as I had to thinly slice 4 carrots & 4 leeks, chop 2 onions, & 4 slices of bacon, press 4 garlic cloves, in addition to the 11 other ingredients. Result was bland and watery - my boyfriend preferred pasta and butter. 2) Make Ahead Cheese & Hamburger Casserole: Took about 45 minutes to make and then had to be refrigerated for 1 day. The result was an average tasting hamburger helper. The real Hamburger Helper can be made in about 7 minutes and with ground turkey. The result would be quicker, tastier, and healthier. This dish has 20G of fat!!! 3)I'll spare you from the bland "Autumn Chix Breasts" which took at least 40 minutes to prepare with a bland result. I recommend any "shake and bake" coating or a home-made similar one. Try one of the Loony Spoons or Crazy Plates cookbooks instead. It will save your $ and time!!

Recipes even your kids will love!:
This book is chockfull of recipes that are quick and easy to make - plus even my picky 10 year old will eat them. The only reason I didn;t give it 5 stars is that I think it could have been printed a little nicer. The ink ran a little when I got one of the pages wet. So just be careful about those splats. Otherwise this is a great cookbook to add to your family's collection.

Has several misprints:
I like the way the recipes are healthy, from scratch, and introduce new vegetables, and for the most part are kid friendly. Almost all of the recipes are easy to make, and do not require a lot of fancy ingredients. HOWEVER, the reason for only 3 stars is several recipes have misprints! I've never seen a cookbook with misprints before. If you do decide to get this book, I would suggest reading through the entire recipe before attempting to cook it to be sure it is right. For a couple of examples: pg. 31, Double Cheeseburger Pie, it list the ingredients, but also lists the ingredients to a recipe two pages before it, the only reason I knew this is because I read the directions, and they said nothing about half of the ingredients that were in the recipe! Another example: pg. 76 Your Basic Beef Stew, in one part of the directions it tells you to transfer the beef to a crock pot, then they continue on for cooking in the dutch oven, and says nothing about a crock pot! It makes me nervous to try any of the other recipes.

From Stir Fry to Pasta Pie:
The Frantic Family Cookbook is an enjoyable escape into meals you can create in minutes instead of hours. There are no complicated instructions and the ingredients are readily available at your local grocery store. The author is a food columnist and writes for E-Diets. She is a nutritionist and former caterer who loves cooking and enjoys creating healthy recipes that are delicious and nutritious. She also loves to save money, so the recipes in this book won't break your budget. She gives advice on how to save money and shares her tips and tricks for saving when buying ingredients for the recipes in this book. There are tips on stocking the pantry and a glossary of cooking terms. Throughout the recipes, Leanne Ely's witty comments bring a smile and her creative writing style makes the recipes easy to read. Comfort recipes like Cottage Pie use ingredients like mushrooms, beef, onions, garlic and carrots. Worcestershire sauce is also a favorite in this cookbook and also gives flavor to Mini-Meaty Loaves. The ideas about "Clean out the Crisper Vegetable Soup" have served me well. I use a rotisserie chicken and make a chicken stock with vegetables and then after straining the stock, make a soup. You can't imagine how many ways you can make a chicken soup once you dive into such adventures. This cookbook also gives you ideas for your own culinary discoveries. Other delicious recipes include: Fragrant Lemon Chicken and Potatoes Turkey Tetrazzini WAY Easy Chicken Stir Fry Quick Orange Ginger Chicken Curried Lentil Soup Barbecue-in-a-Pot Beef Baked Fish Four-Cheese Vegetable Lasagna Peach Melba Very Berry-Lemon Pudding Cake Yes, this cookbook even has the recipes for Chicken with 40 cloves of Garlic! The recipe for the Lemon Chicken with garlic reminds me of my childhood. As a bonus there is a section of "Masterful Mixes" to save more money. You can make your own Oatmeal Pancake Mix, Mexican Seasoning and Italian Seasoning. The Frantic Family Cookbook is a wonderful mosaic of recipes and cooking knowledge that will benefit many families who want to save time and money all while having fun cooking up delicious meals. You may also enjoy reading the taste-testers comments which are cute and add a playful element to the well-organized pages. ~The Rebecca Review P.S. Yes, there does seem to be a problem with the Double Cheeseburger Pie recipe, but you can still make it without the extra ingredients not listed in the instructions. Strange misprint. That is the only mistake I see so far and hopefully they have fixed it in additional printings.

A Good Start:
After loving her later cookbook, Saving Dinner, I hoped this cookbook would be more of the same. However, I was disappointed. There are some good recipes, but this book contains fewer main dishes. The number of people the recipes serve vary, which means there is more adjusting. Delicious, nutritious meals are still Leanne Ely's specialty.