Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms, Jane Doiron

I guess the fact that I've posted all of three times in October versus roughly fourteen (which is still not great, BTW) in September qualifies me as a busy mom. So this was definitely the book for me to road test. Click the link in the title above to go to the book webpage. This review is part of a book tour sponsored by Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours. I received an ARC for this review.

TBH, I most likely would've purchased one of these from a bricks and mortar bookstore. I try very hard to be organized, and one of the keys is good tools to help you become and remain organized. This book is one of those tools. Funny observation- the dessert section is pretty early on in this book. To my way of thinking placing it there matches up pretty closely with how my days go sometimes- I just want to start with dessert and skip the main course entirely. IIRC Garfield agrees with me!

On a slightly more serious note, I appreciated the tips pages in the very front of the book the most. They helped keep me on track and out of the woods several times. The recipes themselves are as advertised: quick, familiar, and easy. Even your fussiest appetite will find something to love in here. Most of all the recipes use mainly pantry staples, which means no buying an unfamiliar ingredient that will then sit on your shelves unused. Which is always a plus nowadays with the economy being what it is.

Around my house the earliest bus pick up is 6:15 am. Obviously that means sleeping in until 5:45, racing through a shower and running out the door at 6:10. If I'm lucky this child remembers to grab the premade lunch & a quick yogurt or piece of fruit for breakfast. I tried some of Ms. Doiron's breakfast recipes, some of which can be 'bus stop friendly' or carpool friendly or what have you. Now, I tried them over the weekends, so we've yet to try and incorporate them into the am frenzy, but we're going to give it a try.

Another child despises standard breakfast fare and is known to eat hot chili or tuna salad in the morning before school. Make Ahead Meals came to the rescue for this child too, because the recipes I tried hold up quite well for reheating any leftovers the next morning. If you're lucky enough to have leftovers, that is. I don't always have those. The hubby is on a supervised diet, which the side dish and soup sections accommodated with only a few changes here and there.

Overall, Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms was a success for our house. The recipes are teen friendly (both to cook and to eat), fussy-eater friendly and sure to save your bacon in an emergency. Plan out a week's menu using this book, go to the grocery store and try it out. Ms. Doiron's book is a winner in the daily struggle to feed the kids and maintain some sanity.




Cover image found on Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours