Don't Panic: More Dinner's in the Freezer - A Second Helping of Tasty Meals You Can Make Ahead

by Susie Martinez, Vanda Howell, Bonnie Garcia

Due to popular demand, the ladies who brought readers Don't Panic-Dinner's in the Freezer offer more simple and economical recipes designed to be prepared and frozen for future use.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2009

About the author

Susie Martinez is a professional counselor with a private counseling practice in Colorado. She has been married to her husband, Joe, for twenty-two years and has two teenage children. Susie adores her family, her Kitchen Aid mixer, and her purple PT Cruiser. In her free time, she enjoys shopping with her daughter, taking long walks, and home decorating. Susie also struggles with a particular weakness for palm trees and white sandy beaches.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don't need to read the first book; I didn't. There are thorough strategy guides. The math is done for you if want to make the recipes even larger, for example if you are doing what they recommend, and spending a whole day cooking with friends. There are no pictures, but most of the recipes and ingredients are fairly straightforward and easily visualized. Some are healthful, but almost none of the entrees are vegetarian. I wouldn't mind owning a copy of this one, which is pretty high praise from me.

[Chinchilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I got out of this book is that you can make ahead (to various degrees) and freeze just about everything. If you are not charging people to eat your food, there is no reason not to do freezer meals. It can save so much money and time. Recipes in this book are mainly Western/Westernized food. Though there are dishes I wouldn't mind trying myself, they aren't attractive enough for me to list in this review. These dishes carry the flavour of home-cook meals; it's "Mom's food", kind of recipes. It's worth noting that the recipes in this book are also very simple. They are made with common ingredients, and they come with very concise instructions. People just start cooking can use this as a reference book.

That being said, my "problem" with this book is that it does not have one single illustration/photograph of any dish. I find cookbooks fail to provide a picture for every recipe (or for most recipes) very unattractive by nature. Cookbooks should both instruct and advertise for their "products". Beautiful, enticing photographs are equally as important as well-written, concise manuscripts. Images of the final products allow novice home cooks to visualize what they are recreating along the way. I believe visualization is one of the most important deciding factors for making wonderful dishes successfully.

It's a 2.5 star book for me.

[Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars

I bookmarked 25 recipes that I might be interested in trying, even more than in their original cookbook.

I like that the recipes are for 1 batch, 3 batches, 5 batches, 9 batches. It's interesting that when you triple a recipe, you do not automatically triple all of the ingredients.

I LOVE the "Helpful Measurements, Equivalents, Weights and Servings" table in the back of the book. It tells you things like 2 stalks of celery = 1 cup diced celery. I'e already referred to it several times.

I wish there were some pictures.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it a lot better than the first book. More variety of lighter recipes, chicken and fish especially.

[Dori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the idea of cooking once and then freezing several meals from it, but many of these types of cookbooks have very boring recipes. Not so with "Don't Panic--more Dinner's in the Freezer"; there are a surprising number of unique and tasty recipes in this cook-and-freeze style cookbook.

I've been trying to cook more with chicken and found some great possibilities here that I look forward to trying, particularly Grilled Honey-Lime Chicken, All-Seasons Sesame Chicken, Chicken and Broccoli Quiche, and the Maui Grilled Chicken Sandwiches. Yummy! There was also a simple and delicious-sounding Herb Crusted Pork Chop recipe that I'm planning to make this week. Another thing I appreciate about this book is how simple it would be to freeze individual serving sizes of many of these recipes to reheat for later meals.

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this version of Don't Panic... much better than the original. The recipes were more flavorful and used more spices and less can of cream soups. Definitely more real food oriented.

I love making dinner and freezing the leftovers for future meals. This series of books is a little different in that you assemble the meals and freeze them, then defrost and cook at a later date.

They give plenty of tips on how to store the food, what to serve with the main dish, what you need to prepare the night you serve.

I just need a bigger freezer!

[Ellee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an especially great cookbook if you're not watching your waistline. They are very liberal with the butter, flour and oil in a lot of recipes. They do include some lower calorie options, but ONLY the "Lighter Fare" options have nutritional information. All that being said, they give great instructions and there are some things that I'll make from this cookbook. Mostly ways to jazz up chicken that I can put in the freezer and cook in minutes! :D

[Catherine Gillespie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a handy reference with each recipe so that you can make multiple batches if you’d like to freeze it bulk. So you can make the recipe once, or if you like it you can make it x3, x6, or x9. While these recipes didn't fit my normal cooking style, I did get some helpful tips and hints.

{Read my complete review on A Spirited Mind}

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are several recipes I want to try.
I borrowed the book from the library and decided that I want to buy a used copy. I really like how this book gives you the recipe, how to freeze the food, and how to defrost and reheat.

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only recently got this book and already it's been book marked for recipes I want to try. The recipes that I've looked through seem easy to make well, with ingredients that I can get at a grocery store for reasonable prices.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taught me different freezer methods & that I can basically freeze most anything.

I copied a half a dozen or so recipes out of this book. Not sure I'll freeze the baked goods but I want to try some of the recipes anyway.

[Natasha A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I prefer this one to the first in the series!
Some very excellent recipes, lots of tips, and techniques.
I'm completely loving this freezer meal cooking.
It's quick and fast and amazingly great for busy people.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got some great recipes from the first book, hoping this one has some good ones too!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Same as the first book, but more good recipes. I tagged items to copy and decided I need to just buy it as I had so many recipes tagged.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some really yummy recipes in here!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love this cookbook. Tons of great family recipes from breads to desserts and everything in between.

[Leslie Ferrari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the first book, but with different recipes. Do note, there are no vegetarian main courses other than soup.

[Dawn Gallop · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book I still refer back to it. Since I am the mom to nine I cook a lot and need large recipes and this has that!! I would like to see more pics. A good cookbook.

[Julie Dietz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many fantastic recipes, and a practical approach to food prep.

[Janie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good strategies; useful tips. Handy doubl- tripl- quadrupling tables. Pretty good index, including in-text links.