Desperation Dinners

The recipes in this book use lots of simple staple ingredients, are quick to cook, and are very tasty!

I've had this book for about 5 years now, and while I only rarely use it now- it literally saved my sanity 5 years ago. I bought this book after seeing one of the authors on a Discovery channel daytime program. She was cute, perky and promised to have the answer to my prayers- how to cook dinner every night. At the time I had just moved 2,000 miles away from everyone I knew, had a 7 yr. old, an 18 mos. old, and was pregnant with child number 3. My husband had just taken a new job where, for the first time in over two years, he was not traveling. That meant he suddenly expected to come home every night to dinner! Sheesh! I was in no shape to suddenly start cooking, and the two kids had no desire to eat anything "weird". This book provided simple, kid friendly, easily made recipes that really hit the spot. The recipes in the book are easily done in a half hour- 20 mins. if you follow their directions and devote the entire time to cooking. I usually am in the middle of checking homework, making phone calls and finishing laundry so it adds a few extra mins. Still, easily finished in 30. There is a pretty good variety of recipes, especially if your family is open to eating shrimp, fish, and salads. It is broken down by groups, such as skillet meals, pasta, and breakfast for dinner (always a hit in our house). The recipes do rely on "convience" foods such as frozen, chopped onions, ready to eat mashed potatoes, and bottled ginger. I balked at the expense of many of these items, but their use is what makes it possible to get the meal on the table in 20 mins, and even with their high price the resulting meal is still cheaper than fast food. I used this book steadily for the first two years, and then found out one of my children was Diabetic, and another one has food allergies. In the third year I took the recipes that I could adapt to the food allergies, plugged them into my Diabetes software to calculate nutrition information, and thus haven't touched the book in a while. I still make my new versions of many of their recipes, and continue to use many of their ideas for how to get a meal on the table in a short amount of time. I also took their ideas and combined them with the "once a month" philosophy and have had good results. I buy hamburger and cook it with onion and garlic and then freeze in one pound portions. Then when the recipe calls for ground beef I just pull out my cooked meat and go from there. I also buy onions and freeze them, chopped, so when the recipe calls for "frozen, chopped onion" I pull out my baggies. Ditto the frozen peppers. This has allowed me to save money by not relying on their convience foods, but still make fresh meals in under 20 mins. That's important because I don't have the freezer space to do full "once a month cooking". I do understand some of the complaints about the recipes lacking flavor, but when you're feeding picky kids the lack of spice is a bonus. My kids really enjoyed the "Slop

I admit that I was skeptical when I purchased this book. I was expecting yet another book full of "canned" recipes -- you know the type: a can of this, a can of that, few fresh ingredients. Boy, was *I* surprised! While the book does take advantage of convenience foods -- pre-chopped veggies, frozen chopped onions, etc. -- it uses mostly fresh vegetables, meats, and readily available herbs, spices, and condiments. I've made several recipes from this book and haven't had a problem yet. My first was the cream of wild mushroom soup -- a heavenly silky concoction made with several varieties of mushrooms that reminded me a soup I'd eaten in an excellent Swedish restaurant some years ago. Outstanding! And the authors are true to their word -- if you follow the directions, you'll complete each dish in 20 minutes or less. You'll keep busy for those 20 minutes, but you WILL finish. Each recipe is marked to let you know if you need to pre-heat the oven, boil water, etc. -- which aren't usually included in the 20 minutes. As a cookbook collector, I purchased Desperation Dinners as another example of "quick and easy" cuisine. It's now on my "most used" shelf! August 2007: It's now six years later since I wrote that review above, and this is STILL my most-used cookbook. I have over 2500 books in my cookbook collection, but this is the one I reach for first. I've made probably 30-40% of the recipes in the book, but I still have my favorites (that cream of mushroom soup, for instance). If you're looking for down-to-earth recipes that use everyday ingredients, but use them in creative ways, this is the book for you. Seriously. It's worth the investment.

This Book is my kitchen "bible". I love this cookbook over any other book in my kitchen, and believe me, I have a ton. Beverly and Alicia take the simplest things in your kitchen and turn them into masterpieces. I live in the midwest so our tastes are not caviar and pate. My family likes a good homecooked sit-down meal. This book can give a simple cook like myself a sense of confidence in the kitchen I've never felt before. A "whatever" attitude. I've had this book for a year now and feel like I am a better cook now than I was two years ago. I am not new to the kitchen. I'm a 37 year old wife and mother of two boys. Until I owned this book I felt like there was a right and a wrong way. Now I know different. I can't tell you how wonderful this book is. It gives you ideas and shortcuts in areas you would never dream of. And when they say dinner will be on the table in 20 minutes flat; they're not kidding. I've made some fabulous dinners I'm almost ashamed of. Dinner tastes like you've been in the kitchen all afternoon. But it's 5:30 and you didn't even start dinner until 5:00. This Cookbook teaches a person how to use what is on the shelf. How to use convenience foods and make a meal taste wonderful. If I could, I would give this book an eleven star review. I've never found a cookbook I read as often as I do this one. Like I said, it's my "Kitchen Bible".

I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend that runs a cooking store. Wow! I'm always short on time and ideas, running for fast food when my brain goes numb - it always happens near 6 p.m. - well, this book stopped ALL that! Not to mention side effects I hadn't anticipated! The recipes are simple, full of flavor and healthy. I'm not saying this book is solely responsible, but my husband's cholesteral level dropped significantly and I lost 15 pounds. I normally have 5-7 people at the table each night - 3 generations - and this book has something for everyone. I'm giving it as my Christmas present to all my friends, making sure my daughter has a copy to take to college with her, and moving all my other cookbooks off the kitchen shelf. I even packed this book for our 2 week vacation at the beach. This is the one cookbook no cook (busy or otherwise) should be without!

Because of this cookbook, I attempted my very first meatloaf. Previously, the reputation of my mother-in-law's meatloaf intimidated me. My husband loved the Desperation Dinner meatloaves and he couldn't believe that I did it in such a short time. The chicken caesar salad was so good that my husband had two servings - virtually a miracle for someone who disdains vegetables. My daughter enjoys helping me cook the real-life lasagna (which I call "crazy lasagna") - she breaks the noodles - and she doesn't mind eating it two days in a row, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I actually look forward to cooking, just to try out the new recipes from this book. The book is packed with hundreds of quick, easy, and nutritious meals, is well-organised, and gives so much information even for a non-beginner like me. There is a lot of variety; I appreciate the Asian-inspired dishes so much. I definitely recommend this book - in fact I've given one as a gift and will soon be giving another.