The Convenience Cook: 125 Best Recipes for Easy Homemade Meals Using Time-Saving Foods from Boxes, Bottles, Cans and More

by Judith Finlayson

How to make delicious meals from prepared convenience foods. Create sensational family meals that taste like they were made from scratch, yet actually use convenience foods -- canned, frozen, bagged, boxed, or from a jar. For soul-satisfying weekday meals to decadent desserts, all you need are common and convenient supermarket ingredients. With the 125 recipes in The Convenience Cook , managing mealtime has never been easier. Take a can of salmon and create an inspired Thai-Style Curry , simply by adding some coconut milk and a few pantry ingredients. Create an Easy Shepherd's Pie by using convenience foods like ground beef, canned beef broth and frozen hash brown potatoes. A dozen recipes use one of the most commonly available convenience chicken. When kids need a quick treat, simply unwrap the crescent roll dough, add some applesauce, dried cranberries, a little sugar and cinnamon and presto! you have an easy and delicious Apple Cranberry Pan Dowdy . Included is a listing of pantry staples and lots of helpful tips, techniques and imaginative variations for each recipe.

Genres: Cooking, Food

Paperback

First published September 6, 2003

Reviews

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far I've tried two recipes and liked them both a lot. I'll try more once the weather cools down.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this cookbook because the recipes have a bunch of short cuts but no one would ever know by the taste. The recipes are delicious and quick to prepare, my favourites are: Cream of tomato soup, broccoli cheddar soup (one of the best I have ever had), Red pepper and sausage risotto (she outlines a method to avoid all the stirring and it is really good) and Black bean pie. There are many other recipes that are good and quick but these are my faves.

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these recipes sounded really good - until I looked closer and saw that the items which make the recipes easy to put together also tend to make them high in sodium. And after reading an article about BPA in can linings, the last thing I want to do right now is use an abundance of canned goods in my cooking. I probably could have found substitutes, but then it's no longer convenience cooking.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has some really good recipes. I'm definitely going to try some out on my family soon. Great quick fixes, a good book for busy families.

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book with sensible recipes.