Cheap & Easy: A Cookbook for Girls on the Go

This book is perfect for single women on the go. The recipes are easy and don't require a lot of time. Also, the list of ingredients is not long at all which means you won't be stuck with items you won't use again for months or may have to throw away because they are rotting in the refrigerator. Its nice that menus are put together for you based on the event i.e. romantic dinner, the morning after, picnics, etc. I've made the lasagna, meatloaf, and pasta puttanesca and they were all delicious. My roommate has sampled them all and was equally impressed. You won't go wrong buying this book. If you are looking for another good cookbook for beginners, then check out Now Your Cooking by Elaine Corn. I've tried 90% of those recipes and they are both easy and tasty.

I'm a bit of a cookbook-aholic, and have several shelves devoted just to them. But you can tell which I actually use by the warped and stained pages, and the way they lay open to favorite recipes. This is one of those books -- perhaps the most used in my collection. It includes everything from breakfast favorites to exotic cocktails, quick side dishes to easy desserts. Some cookbooks make new recipes seem daunting with long lists of hard to find ingredients. This book uses short lists of easy to find ingredients to take the intimidation out of trying your hand at quiche (which I'm baking right now), homemade granola (which turns out delicious), or fresh flavored whipped cream (which is so simple it's embarrassing). And many of the recipes include ways to 'play the field' and mix up ingredients to make the recipe your own -- including lots of tasty vegetarian suggestions. My favorite of the book has got to be the Peachy Ginger loaf w/ Spice Icing. It's always a crowd pleaser at brunches, and takes no time at all to throw together with ingredients I usually have in the pantry. I highly recommend this book to any girls or boys on the go.

I purchased this cookbook after my live-with-boyfriend transferred to nights. I wanted a cookbook that would have ideas for quick easy recipes that I could make and pack for my lunches and his dinners. I bought this and thebrownbaglunchcookbook, and patiently waited for them to arrive. Upon opening the packages, I continued to read Quick and Easy from front page to back cover, completely forgetting about my second acquisition. This book is chucked full of helpful, healthy, and lip-smacking recipes and advice. It is also a fun little read with quirky titles and interesting introductions. All the recipes are easy to make, and I was surprised how many I could say "well I could make that tonight" with just the stuff I currently had in my refrigerator and pantry. Coming from an Italian family I cook a lot, and I cook fairly well; but even I was impressed by the easiness of the directions, the variety of recipes, the healthy options, and just in general with the entire book. I would recommend this to anyone who has a 20-30 something daughter/friend/sister as a perfect gift. Or do yourself a favor and treat yourself by buying this book...you won't regret it. As for whether it filled it's purpose in my household by helping me make healthy, yummy, cheap, and easy meals for myself and my boyfriend, the answer would be YES! I adore the different kind of salad dressings, and he really likes the different varieties of soup. Our fast food bill has gone down a lot, and even my friends at my university ask for my recipes! What better critique can you get then that!

I love this cookbook! The recipes are so easy, tasty, and successful that I've made over half of them in the 5 months I've owned the book. Ingredients are readily available (i.e. mostly already in my kitchen) and portion sizes are perfect for my little kitchen - make 6 muffins not 12. Plus the book is really quite an entertaining read. The perfect cookbook for "girls on the go" - buy it, you'll have fun cooking and save money too. Sandra and Alexis - please write the next one soon!

This book is great! It really is cheap and yet the recipes have lots of flavor. One of the best things about it, that you don't see in other cookbooks, is how the recipes use a lot of the same stapel ingredients. If you buy something for one recipe, it won't be sitting in your fridge forever, because it's in other recipes in the book. What a great idea! (that apparently doesn't occur to other cookbook writers). I also loved the lunchbox section for suggestions on portable meal ideas for office lunches. I would have liked some more entree recipes, there are only 7 including a couple of things that don't really seem like an entree to me, but other recipes in the book can of course be eaten for dinner.