The Parenting Cookbook

I received this cookbook as a gift when my son was 14 months old. I was starting to law school and my mother knew I wouldn't have time to spend an hour cooking dinner for my family every night. Now, three years later, I'm graduating from law school with honors, my family is well-fed and happy, and my in-laws whisper to each other how amazing it is that I've managed to cook dinner at home most nights and still maintain my GPA! Thank you, Parenting Magazine!This cookbook is divided into chapters according to the type of meal and the complexity of the recipe. You have Quick Everyday Breakfasts, Quick Everyday Lunches, Quick Everyday Dinners, Weekend Breakfasts, Weekend Lunches, Weekend Dinners, and some additional chapters on meal-planning, snacks and desserts, and party menus. The recipes themselves are plain and simple good food. There are some "fancier" recipes that I've used to impress dinner guests (lamb, pork tenderloin, etc.), but even those are easy to follow and relatively quick to prepare. Each recipe has serving sizes, nutrition guidelines, cooking time, and prep time, all in easy-to-read format.A word of warning: The recipes in this book were designed with healthfulness in mind and they tend to be low in fat, sodium, and carbs. However, this book is not for parents trying to follow specialty diets. If you are wanting a book that shows you the three easy steps of raising a vegan child, look elsewhere. But if you want to be one step closer to walking in your kitchen and waving your magic wand for a wholesome delicious meal, buy this book!

Not just for parents, this book offers some of the classics, along with some great dishes for entertaining. Most are simple and the ingredients are usually already in your kitchen cupboard. Great for parents, but still good even if you're not cooking for a family. One warning--the recipes in here are not low-fat, so if you're dieting, skip this.

We just acquired this book, after reading a review in the Boston Globe. It seems to be a delight, especially with a large number of straightforward, simple recipes that can be prepared in a short (<30 minutes) period of time. We have only tried a couple of the recipes, but they were good. And there are many many more to try