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The Busy Mom's Cookbook: 100 Recipes for Quick, Delicious, Home-Cooked Meals
Bravo’s Top Chef All-Star and Los Angeles executive chef serves up more than 100 quick and easy family recipes that she developed as a hardworking single mom.
America’s 26 million working moms face the challenge of getting a delicious home-cooked dinner on the table. For Antonia Lofaso, the issue hits especially close to home, because she holds down multiple jobs—in the food world, no less. She continues to participate in activities and appearances for Bravo and Top Chef while serving as executive chef of Black Market Liquor Bar. Through it all, she has developed a fantastic repertoire of meals that keep families bonded—quick, nourishing, hearty fare that soothes the soul.
Showcasing Lofaso’s top picks, The Busy Mom’s Cookbook includes breakfast favorites ranging from pancakes to the world’s best blueberry muffins, and easy but satisfying dinners such as Beef Stroganoff with Creamy Pappardelle and Fish Tacos with Corn Tomatillo Salad. She even tackles the brown-bag lunch with choices that the other kids will envy, including BBQ Chicken Pita Pocket and Turkey-and-Swiss Panini.
The Busy Mom’s Cookbook is the first book to bring star-quality culinary expertise to the specific needs of busy parents. Laced with memories and lessons from Lofaso’s own experience as a working mom, this cookbook speaks from the heart with inspiring, real-world wisdom and plenty of lighthearted humor to encourage every reader to savor the rewards of making mealtime memorable.
America’s 26 million working moms face the challenge of getting a delicious home-cooked dinner on the table. For Antonia Lofaso, the issue hits especially close to home, because she holds down multiple jobs—in the food world, no less. She continues to participate in activities and appearances for Bravo and Top Chef while serving as executive chef of Black Market Liquor Bar. Through it all, she has developed a fantastic repertoire of meals that keep families bonded—quick, nourishing, hearty fare that soothes the soul.
Showcasing Lofaso’s top picks, The Busy Mom’s Cookbook includes breakfast favorites ranging from pancakes to the world’s best blueberry muffins, and easy but satisfying dinners such as Beef Stroganoff with Creamy Pappardelle and Fish Tacos with Corn Tomatillo Salad. She even tackles the brown-bag lunch with choices that the other kids will envy, including BBQ Chicken Pita Pocket and Turkey-and-Swiss Panini.
The Busy Mom’s Cookbook is the first book to bring star-quality culinary expertise to the specific needs of busy parents. Laced with memories and lessons from Lofaso’s own experience as a working mom, this cookbook speaks from the heart with inspiring, real-world wisdom and plenty of lighthearted humor to encourage every reader to savor the rewards of making mealtime memorable.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published August 2, 2012
30 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 7, 2016
This author obviously does not know the definition of a busy mom. I am a working mother with a 7 month old child. What kind of busy mother has time to make homemade biscuits in the morning?? Most of these recipes are NOT quick to make and have many expensive ingredients. What child under 10 years old will even eat crab cakes with chipotle adobo aioli? What busy working mother can wait 40 minutes for pizza dough to rise?? A casserole with a few ingredients is quick for me and it tastes great!! One of the recipes in the "Kids in the Kitchen" portion of the book is Samosas with Mango Salsa and Cucumber Yogurt Sauce.....are you kidding me???? I barely have time to make scrambled eggs in the morning much less homemade biscuits or lemon crepes! Maybe this cookbook is geared towards busy stay-at-home moms? That would make more sense.
November 17, 2012
The recipes are a little too fussy for the average cook.
October 26, 2012
I haven't watched Top Chef, so I wasn't familiar at all with who Lofaso is or her persona on the show. I picked up the book based on its title and recommendations from Amazon.
Overall, the recipes are clear and easy to follow. Most could be prepared from ingredients you already have or that would be easy to find. She includes lots of tips for prep and to help streamline things.
I didn't rate this book higher because I wasn't really sure who it was for. There was one chapter for 'weeknight meals' that focused on easy to prep items, but most of the recipes couldn't be prepared that quickly. Also, while most were easy, they weren't that appealing to me to prepare - they were a little too unusual for my picky eaters. So, it's a well-written cookbook, but not to my (or my family's) personal taste. If you're a fan of Lofaso, I'd definitely recommend this. If you're just a busy parent looking to streamline dinner prep, I'm not really sure that this is the answer to your problem.
Overall, the recipes are clear and easy to follow. Most could be prepared from ingredients you already have or that would be easy to find. She includes lots of tips for prep and to help streamline things.
I didn't rate this book higher because I wasn't really sure who it was for. There was one chapter for 'weeknight meals' that focused on easy to prep items, but most of the recipes couldn't be prepared that quickly. Also, while most were easy, they weren't that appealing to me to prepare - they were a little too unusual for my picky eaters. So, it's a well-written cookbook, but not to my (or my family's) personal taste. If you're a fan of Lofaso, I'd definitely recommend this. If you're just a busy parent looking to streamline dinner prep, I'm not really sure that this is the answer to your problem.
March 25, 2025
First off, my paperback was low quality. Thin paper, grey ink, small print. It occasionally said (see reference photo) when the book has no photos other than the cover. I like Antonia as a tv chef, but I didn't really care for her cookbook. Let me note that you can't make her ice cream without an ice cream maker, or her pasta without a pasta roller. She doesn't list where to get specialty ingredients like file spice other than generically to order on the internet. I can't believe she tells you to use the no-boil bake only lasagna noodles. They're gross!
I gave it 3 stars because it's average. It definitely isn't great (4+), but it's not horrible (2) either.
I gave it 3 stars because it's average. It definitely isn't great (4+), but it's not horrible (2) either.
March 26, 2021
Okay. Her production team didn’t put a lot of energy into this book... newsprint, photo-less pages with sections of multiple photos in the center like you’d see in an old biography, not a cookbook.
I saw her on Selena Gomez’s quarantine cooking show on hbo and liked her, but that was another recipe (containing an entire octopus) that I’d prob never make (tho I highly recommend watching Selena have to handle it 😳😂🤯).
I saw her on Selena Gomez’s quarantine cooking show on hbo and liked her, but that was another recipe (containing an entire octopus) that I’d prob never make (tho I highly recommend watching Selena have to handle it 😳😂🤯).
June 28, 2025
I can forgive the lack of photos, but this book was poorly titled. If it was called “Cook With Antonia” or “Cook Like Antonia” I would have read it with that lens and tried recipes from one of my favorite chefs. However, I read it with the “busy mom” lens and scoffed instead.
September 24, 2022
Really good book, the recipes are easy and taste delicious! I specially loved the chili.
April 15, 2013
I don't watch the show so didn't know she was a reality tv celeb. Regardless I was looking for a cookbook for real moms with easy fun recipes for kids that were relatively quick given the "busy moms" title. Admittedly I did not try any of the recipes as once I had opened the book (had to reserve at the library so couldn't pre-scan there!) but every one that I looked at had loads of ingredients that are primarily not staples in my home and prep/cook times totaled usually at least 1 hour - that doesn't worm for a busy mom!!
September 13, 2015
This was not at all what I was expecting. I was expecting simple recipes but these were much more involved. I am sure that many of them would be quite tasty but as a busy mom I was looking for recipes that I could make ahead of time or at the last minute. Also I am a visual person and there were only a few photos of a few of the recipes. I like to be able to see what finished product looks like, especially if it is something I am unfamiliar with.
November 19, 2012
I loved Antonia Lofaso when she was on Top Chef. However I wasn't thrilled with her recipe selections in this book. I love cookbooks with lots of pictures. There were a few pictures--not impressed with this book.
January 13, 2013
Some good ideas here but also lots of ingredients I would not typically have on hand or use.
March 17, 2013
first off, very few of these seem "easy", second, I do not think my family would eat the majority of the dishes in here! However, I did pull a couple of recipes that I am going to try....
April 9, 2013
I liked the look of some of the recipes, but there were none I could actually use.
March 10, 2016
This was a solid book but honestly after seeing her top chef performance I expected more out of it. A lot of the flavors and recipes are ones the kids would be interested in.
November 2, 2016
A little lackluster for a chef I like so much. Definitely needs more pictures situated next to their recipes.
June 25, 2021
Disappointed
No pictures. No nutritional values. Some recipes were more than a quick fix. Some recipes looked good and there are some good tips.
No pictures. No nutritional values. Some recipes were more than a quick fix. Some recipes looked good and there are some good tips.
May 10, 2018
This author obviously does not know the definition of a busy mom. I am a working mother with a 7 month old child. What kind of busy mother has time to make homemade biscuits in the morning?? Most of these recipes are NOT quick to make and have many expensive ingredients. What child under 10 years old will even eat crab cakes with chipotle adobo aioli? What busy working mother can wait 40 minutes for pizza dough to rise?? A casserole with a few ingredients is quick for me and it tastes great!! One of the recipes in the "Kids in the Kitchen" portion of the book is Samosas with Mango Salsa and Cucumber Yogurt Sauce.....are you kidding me???? I barely have time to make scrambled eggs in the morning much less homemade biscuits or lemon crepes! Maybe this cookbook is geared towards busy stay-at-home moms? That would make more sense.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews