Make Ahead Meals For Busy Moms: Review & Giveaway
THis giveaway is now closed!!! WInner will be announced soon
I was contacted and asked if I would like to review Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms cookbook and it was a no brainer. As a work outside of the home mom I am looking for anyways I can to make dinnertime easier for my family since I am not here during the dinner hours. I work evenings as a pharmacy technician so dinner time is left to the husband. He is a wonderful cook but more often than not it falls back to the quick and easy such as chicken nuggets, cheeseburgers on the George Foreman grill, or Spaghetti with Pink Sauce (alfredo and marinara).
So when I was contacted and asked to review a copy of this cookbook I thought this would be a perfect solution to our dinner situation. Making meals ahead means simply taking the meal out and warming it up when you are ready to eat it. I have to say that has to be as easy as cooking a cheeseburger on the grill and I will actively be able to be a part of the weeknight dinner routine even though I am not necessarily here.
With special meals perfect for freezing, pre-assembling or quick reheating meals in our home should be a snap now. While I don’t have pictures of meals I will share with you a few of my favorites and tell you why:
- Flaky Pie Crust: I love this one because it is a make ahead and you can store in your refrigerator until ready to use, so there is no need to have to run to the store to get a pie crust when you have that sudden craving for a caramel pie.
- Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells: This is one you can prepare in advance and stick in the fridge if you are going to cook the next day or you can wrap them and freeze for up to 3 months. So counting down to Thanksgiving or Christmas take a weekend you have some free time and you have got the perfect meal to bring with you.
- Mini Meatloaves: My kids are picky eaters but anything that is made with hamburger meat they love, the one thing they really like about this one is that they are getting “baby” meatloaf. This can also be made and frozen for up to 3 months.
That’s just a dip into the many wonderful recipes in this book. With everything from appetizers to dessert you are covered no matter what you are looking for. If you are having a dinner party on Saturday night you aren’t going to want to spend all day in the kitchen cooking, that’s when Make Ahead meals really comes in handy, simply prepare all that you want to the day before and the day of simply pop in in the oven or on the stove and voila! No showing up to your party flushed and tired from cooking all day.
A little bit about Jane Doiron the author of the cookbook (taken from Make-Ahead Meals site):
Jane Doiron helps you, a very busy mom like herself, to put a fabulous dinner on the table every night for friends, or just for the family, with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of flavor.
Jane’s goal was to seek out main dish, family-favorite recipes that could be make ahead meals without sacrificing the food’s taste and texture by freezing. After years of home-testing recipes, Jane has compiled this must-have cookbook with specific make-ahead directions. In addition, Jane includes her best recipes for clever side dishes, flavorful appetizers and luscious desserts. Imagine opening your freezer to pick out a family-favorite appetizer, main dish, or dessert, and all you have to do is thaw and heat it!
I am looking forward to making many more meals out of this book and having for that day when I just don’t feel like “cooking live”. If you are wanting to purchase your own copy head over to Amazon and order one, you won’t be disappointed.
WIN IT: One lucky reader will win a copy of Make Ahead Meals for Busy Mom’s to make their life a little less stressful in the kitchen.
REQUIRED ENTRY: Leave a comment telling me how this would make your cooking routine a bit easier. That’s all you have to do to qualify to enter.
EXTRA (optional) ENTRIES:
- 1 Entry Each: Follow this blog through google friend connect ~ Subscribe through my Feedburner Icon ~ Email Subscribe ~ Fan A Daily Dose on facebook ~ Follow A Daily Dose on facebook
- 3 Entries: Post about this giveaway with a link back to this post (leave 3 separate comments for each entry)
- Twice Daily Entry: Tweet this tweet up to twice daily: Win A copy of Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms http://tinyurl.com/yf9xjea #dailydosegiveaways .
Contest will close on 11/15/2009 at 6:00 p.m. CST.
Details about entering contests at A Daily Dose:
- Required entry MUST be done to qualify (not thanks for the entry or great giveaway, that will be deleted)
- Extra entries are completely optional and don’t have to be done but required entry must be done for them to count.
- Winner will be picked by Random.org
- Winner will be emailed using the email they entered with and will have 48 hours to respond or prize will be forfeitted.
For more on review, giveaway and winner policies please see my disclosure policy.
*Product was given to me by sponsor for sole purpose of reviewing. Reception of product does not influence my views. I will always post my honest views on the product received here on A Daily Dose. The views on this review are that of myself only.
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11-12 tweet #1
http://twitter.com/someluckydog/status/5667410775
My family and I all have busy schedules. These make-ahead meals would definitely be a help to all of us!
This cookbook would make my routine easier by allowing my to make full meals that I can freeze. That would save a lot of cooking time through the week.
I follow through Google Friends Connect.
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I tweeted
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I tweeted. http://twitter.com/frugalmomto4/status/5684382854
11-13 tweet #1
http://twitter.com/someluckydog/status/5685633451
Some Lucky Dog´s last blog ..Win a T3 Hairdryer at Feisty, Frugal, & Fabulous
tweet: http://twitter.com/frugalmomto4/status/5693519655
11-13 tweet #2
http://twitter.com/someluckydog/status/5693737779
Some Lucky Dog´s last blog ..Win a T3 Hairdryer at Feisty, Frugal, & Fabulous
This would be so nice… We never know when DH will be home from work or if he will have to go back because of an emergency… Plus with two little ones it’s hard to cook without someone to watch them… With the help of this book I could make meals on the weekend when DH is home and then during the week not worry about trying to cook or not having the time too…
brooke´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday – In Remembrance and Honor
Life gets hectic especially for dinner of 5! I would really love the help. Planned meals ready for me… greatest gift ever!
Tweeted!
http://twitter.com/lorinalately/status/5701053205
http://twitter.com/Grandma3710/status/5706617134
http://twitter.com/Grandma3710/status/5706631366
This would allow me to spend more time with my family and less time cooking.
Making meals ahead would save alot of time on busy weeknights.
daily tweet: http://twitter.com/frugalmomto4/status/5717493357
This would make my life a bit easier since I could do most of my cooking on weekends which would leave me more time to do other things.
I follow.
I’m also a subscriber.
This would help in planning the week, which gets so crazy!
This would make my life easier because I could prep several meals at once. Also, the everyday clean up would be easier.
This would allow me to make meals ahead of time..meals that don’t come out of a box!!
11-14 tweet #1
http://twitter.com/someluckydog/status/5727033589
Some Lucky Dog´s last blog ..One For The Guys! Win at Piece of Me!
Any helpful hints and recipes encourage us to let our children be children and encourage them to do so….by spending more time with them and less time cooking. dancejamboree@gmail.com
This cookbook would be awesome! I would love to have meals ready to heat up when I was ready for them. I know it would definitely save us money on eating out. Thanks for the chance to win!
brandyblurbs at yahoo dot com
I’m a follower.
Email subscriber
I make a big meal that I can use in several small meals.
Nov 15 tweet
http://twitter.com/Grandma3710/status/5734191285
daily tweet: http://twitter.com/frugalmomto4/status/5736121467
This would make my cooking routine a bit easier by allowing me to plan ahead and know what to purchase at the supermarket ahead of time.
I subscribed by email.
I became your Facebook fan.
I follow you on Facebook Networked Blogs.
This book would make my cooking easier by saving me time. I would have delicious recipes for making meals ahead that I could serve later.
tweet: http://twitter.com/frugalmomto4/status/5743115964
I could use these recipes to make meals while my baby is asleep then freeze them. that would make life as a single mom a little easier!
11-15 tweet #1
http://twitter.com/someluckydog/status/5750064443
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