I’m a very busy Mom with Twins + 1. Parenting three kids combined with everything else I do on a day-by-day basis leaves me very little time for meal preparation. Usually I rotate through the old standby, trying nothing new just because I don’t have the time. Jane Doiron published her own cookbook entitled, ‘Make-Ahead Meals For Busy Moms‘ and the name alone peaked my interest, I was very happy when it came to my door,
the first step in breaking the drab routine!
Make-Ahead Meals For Busy Moms is a collaboration of popular and family-favorite recipes that can be either entirely made or partially made ahead of time – thereby alleviating that busy before-supper time in the day. With myself, the Twins are awake, Isabelle gets home from school and wants to share stories about her day. The kids are getting tired and either want to eat or have my complete attention. If I am cooking during this time period, I usually have 3 kids at my legs and it becomes very stressful. I was excited to get recipes for Appetizers, Breakfast & Brunch, Dessert, Main Dishes, Side Dishes, and Soup. All of them can be made ahead of time and frozen,
without losing flavor or taste in the process.
What I like about the book is that the recipes are simple. I detest recipes that make you go shopping for most of the ingredients before cooking it. Alas, more time that I don’t have! So, when I saw that the most of the recipes included items that I had on hand – I was impressed. I also like that some of them can be made days ahead of time to the morning of. This allows me to choose the right stress-free time to prepare a meal. And, since they can all be frozen – I like being able to make a double batch and freeze for a later time. Yep, another time saver right there!
The font is big, the directions are easy and clear to read. And, when freezing – there is instructions on how to do that too – to keep the flavor and taste. Of course I haven’t tried all the recipes in this book, but I have sampled a couple from each category now. I have to say that they are just as convenient and helpful as it claims. And, delicious as well. Best of all, the recipes are delicious, the kids are really liking the variety. And since I seem to have a lot more prepared food available, I am thoroughly enjoying some stress-free time when my daughter comes home from school and not panicking at 4:30 about ‘what do I make for supper?’
Disclosure: I received product to facilitate this review. The opinions on this blog are my own.
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Mini cheesecakes!
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I would love to make the Big Ginger Cookiesbluebelle0367(at)hotmail(dot)com
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Chicken Parmesan appeals to me.cdziuba@aol.com My email is easily seen in my profile
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today i'd like to try the Chicken Marsala with a Twistmverno@roadrunner.com
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Meatballs and Gravy in the Crock Pot sound tasty.chipdip2010(at)hotmail(dot)com
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I would like to try to make the Meat Pies.monster6236(at)gmail(dot)com
I'd like to try the Chicken Enchiladas recipe.missdeb1@earthlink.net
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I'd love to try the Honey Mustard Chicken Fingers recipe. asthenight at gmail dot com
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I'd like to try the BBQ Country Ribs/Pulled Pork
I would love to try the Chicken Cannelloni
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would love to try the baked chicken chimichangas recipechromiumman (at) mail (dot) com
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I would like to make the Chicken Marsala with a Twist.cln1812(at)gmail(dot)com
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Would love to make the Sausage Calzones at home.
I would love to try the Pumpkin coffee cakeTarahtarah716[at]ymail.com
Great cookbook! This was made for me!!!
I would love to try the chicken cannelloni.
I would love to try the Italian Restaurant Chicken recipezooscapejennifer@rogers.com
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A recipe in the table of contents that I would like to make is the Freezable Lemon Bars.chirpatme at rocketmail dot com
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teriyaki chk wings sound yummy with Cinnamon rolls. itzacin@gmail.com
I'd like to make the BBQ Country Ribs/Pulled Pork. Thanks!
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I would love to try the strawberry bread. I've never tried that before.
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The Chicken Cannelloni looks Yummy 🙂
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I'd like to try the Chicken Enchiladas.erma.hurtt@sbcglobal.net
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I'd like to try the crab cakes.
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honey mustard chicken fingers sounds good – regnod(at)yahoo(d0t)com
I love baking so the Hawaiian Bread looks interesting… but otherwise I would try the Chicken Marsala with a Twist… weeshenanigans (at) gmail (dot) com
Baked Chicken Chimichangas, Baked Manicotti to only name two! The whole list looked enticing to me! I want to read this book even if I don't win it!!
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Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells for me!theyyyguy@yahoo.com
I like the Italian Restaurant Chicken recipe.
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The mini cheesecakesjim.coyne2@verizon.net
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I want to try the Blueberry Breaddonna444444@yahoo.com
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I would like to try making the chicken enchiladas.
id love to try the Chicken Parmesan
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The Warm Crab Dip recipe sounds very tasty!
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Blueberry Bread 🙂
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The baked manicotti sounds great I always say I should make larger items or make ahead but never have…Husband being diabetic and potassium free meals can make it hard…kayMI kaysweep at att dot net
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The Chicken Tortellini Tetrazzini sounds good.
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