The Imus Ranch: Cooking for Kids and Cowboys

by Deirdre Imus

The Imus Ranch ransports the reader to a unique place that the author and her husband, talk-show host Don Imus, created: a 4,000-acre working cattle ranch set in rolling hills and mesa country 50 miles east of Santa Fe. The children--who have cancer--visit the Imus Ranch and work alongside authentic western ranch hands, learning to ride horses and rope calves. The experience refuels their bodies and their spirits, and they leave stronger than when they came.

As Deirdre Imus explains: "We welcome kids who have known too much sickness and too much death, and we give them something they urgently need: a sense of independence and purpose through healthy, vigorous living."

Not only do the kids enjoy adventure at the ranch, but they learn from the Imuses that nutritious foods are fundamental to a happy, healthy life. Illustrated with full-color photographs that reflect the ranch's warmth and vitality, the book presents more than 125 vegetarian recipes that meet the true taste test: kids and cowboys love them! Readers will come away with a new appreciation of how important and how easy it is to incorporate healthier living into their everyday lives.

Genres: Cookbooks

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Deirdre Imus is the Founder and President of The Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology® at Hackensack University Medical Center and Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer. Deirdre is the author of two New York Times bestsellers -- the newest book in the Green This! series, Growing Up Green, Baby and Child Care; a practical family guide to raising children in an ever increasing toxic world; and Green This! Volume 1: Greening Your Cleaning, offering a wealth of insights and expertise for protecting families from harmful chemicals. She is also author of The Imus Ranch: Cooking for Kids and Cowboys, a national bestseller, and a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post.

Reviews

[Angel Ackerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing recipes. Everyone I know loves her crabbiless cakes

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm on the hunt for family-friendly vegetarian meals and thought this cookbook might help. It didn't. While there are some interesting looking recipes for vegetarians/vegans, I don't use soy or white flour products (even if it's unbleached), and we limit our tomato consumption (due to allergies) so many of the recipes just won't work. Most of them looked rather expensive or time-consuming as well. I was hoping for budget-friendly, done in 30 minutes or less.

The book itself is lovely. Wonderful, clear pictures of the ranch and many of the recipes. It also includes several chapters about the ranch and the work they do with sick kids. Hats off to them for that! I'm very impressed with how they are trying to help and are making a real difference in the lives of many people.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vegetarian Cookbook, with quite a few recipes adapted from meat beginnings. For example, a vegetarian meat loaf, with fake meat. Not a lot of original ideas, but some recipes that seem worth trying. There are some unusual ingrediants that I don't have in my pantry already, such as unrefined raw sugar, but nothing that seems like it would be too hard to find if you know where to look. There are some nice pictures, which I always appreciate.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whatever mixed feelings anyone has about Imus, the recipes here are very good, and very easy. I'm a vegetarian, and this book has been very helpful.

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A vegan (option) cookbook for the west...not everything is actually vegan, but can adapt most that isn't. I love it!

[Challis · Rating 3 out of 5]

if you can get past the snobbery, (seriously the first section about the cooks that have been fired is horrifying on her part)interesting book and the recipes look great.

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Checked this out from the library a while ago. As I recall, some nice recipes, but a bit more processed food than I care for in the ingredients.