What do you think?
Rate this book
Saving Dinner: The Menus, Recipes, and Shopping Lists to Bring Your Family Back to the Table
Certified nutritionist Leanne Ely has a simple “Make it and they will come.” Dinner, that is. Take-out, opening a can, or microwave fare shouldn’t pass for a nice, healthy meal–and nothing can replace a family’s time together. Believe it or not, preparing dinner can be a stress-free endeavor. Even your time in the supermarket can be cut in half!
Full of practical tips on simple, healthy meal planning, Saving Dinner is the ideal solution for today’s busy parents who would love to have their family sitting around the dinner table once again–sharing stories along with a nutritious meal. Efficiently divided by season, each section features six weeks of menus with delicious recipes, side dish suggestions, and an itemized grocery list that is organized by product (dairy, meat, produce) to make one-stop shopping a snap. Plus the book is packed with helpful hints and short cuts in the kitchen that make cooking easier and more fun.
From Big Basil Burgers and Salmon Carbonara to Crockpot Chili and Spicy Apricot Chicken, Saving Dinner will have your family coming back to the table– and back again for seconds!
Leanne Ely is considered the expert on family cooking and healthy eating. Between her popular “Heart of a Woman” radio show in Southern California and her weekly “Food for Thought” column on the ever-popular Flylady.net Web site, thousands of fans have already discovered Leanne’s secrets to easily prepared, well-balanced meals.
Full of practical tips on simple, healthy meal planning, Saving Dinner is the ideal solution for today’s busy parents who would love to have their family sitting around the dinner table once again–sharing stories along with a nutritious meal. Efficiently divided by season, each section features six weeks of menus with delicious recipes, side dish suggestions, and an itemized grocery list that is organized by product (dairy, meat, produce) to make one-stop shopping a snap. Plus the book is packed with helpful hints and short cuts in the kitchen that make cooking easier and more fun.
From Big Basil Burgers and Salmon Carbonara to Crockpot Chili and Spicy Apricot Chicken, Saving Dinner will have your family coming back to the table– and back again for seconds!
Leanne Ely is considered the expert on family cooking and healthy eating. Between her popular “Heart of a Woman” radio show in Southern California and her weekly “Food for Thought” column on the ever-popular Flylady.net Web site, thousands of fans have already discovered Leanne’s secrets to easily prepared, well-balanced meals.
301 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2003
32 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
November 16, 2022
Not everyone's style, but her recipes usually work well for us. (I think she goes too far stretching ground beef with oatmeal, though--a little of that is enough.)
September 19, 2011
This might have been helpful when I was first married and had no idea what I was doing. I have since learned how to meal plan and make grocery lists though so a lot of this information was not pertinent. I found 2 recipes I'd like to try...the others I knew we wouldn't like or were too meat-based or expensive or had foods we're trying to avoid. I also have a lot of "tried and true" recipes that I'd rather use instead of her version of chili (or whatever).
I do appreciate that the author plans a vegetarian and a fish meal every week, and takes into account the seasons (if you live in an area with seasons!). But often, in making a dish with chicken, she'll call for 6 chicken breasts or other large quantities of meat. Holy Expensive, Batman. It's not the most budget friendly book out there.
If you're new at cooking or meal planning, this might be a good reference to get you started. Eventually you'll want to incorporate your own recipes though.
I do appreciate that the author plans a vegetarian and a fish meal every week, and takes into account the seasons (if you live in an area with seasons!). But often, in making a dish with chicken, she'll call for 6 chicken breasts or other large quantities of meat. Holy Expensive, Batman. It's not the most budget friendly book out there.
If you're new at cooking or meal planning, this might be a good reference to get you started. Eventually you'll want to incorporate your own recipes though.
August 31, 2014
I'm the kind of person who comes home from work and searches through the fridge for food and then gets upset because all I can find are ingredients. I do not like to cook. This book did not change that; what it did is make me realize that with a little effort, I can make food at home that tastes a whole lot better than anything I can get at a restaurant. This was a revelation. I have made most of the recipes in this cookbook, and everything I've made is easy and delicious. I still don't like to cook, but once or twice a week, every week, I grab this book and pick a recipe and follow the directions and get a terrific result.
February 24, 2011
I got myself this book as an early Christmas present. I can't believe the difference it has made in my life. We have gone from eating out and scrounging for dinner at least half the time to having a home cooked meal every night.
The menus are great and the shopping lists make it all so easy. I can take it and buy everything I need for the week.
My sons, the best of the picky eaters, are eating things I never dreamed they would eat. I am actually able to get the eat fish (something they never did before). When they discovered that I was using cod, they got all excited and said they were eating Captain Hook. I realized soon enough that it was their own little joke about codfish. So now, they look forward to their weekly serving of Capt'n Hook, LOL.
I can not say enough good things about this book. It is a must for any kitchen. Even if you don't use the menus and only use it for the recipes it is worth it(though I wouldn't pass up such a great time saver if I were you). The food is so good and it is easy to follow the directions.
I have already decided to buy one for my sister and my best friend. Everyone needs this cookbook.
The menus are great and the shopping lists make it all so easy. I can take it and buy everything I need for the week.
My sons, the best of the picky eaters, are eating things I never dreamed they would eat. I am actually able to get the eat fish (something they never did before). When they discovered that I was using cod, they got all excited and said they were eating Captain Hook. I realized soon enough that it was their own little joke about codfish. So now, they look forward to their weekly serving of Capt'n Hook, LOL.
I can not say enough good things about this book. It is a must for any kitchen. Even if you don't use the menus and only use it for the recipes it is worth it(though I wouldn't pass up such a great time saver if I were you). The food is so good and it is easy to follow the directions.
I have already decided to buy one for my sister and my best friend. Everyone needs this cookbook.
February 15, 2010
If I could give this book 10 stars I would!!! It has really helped tame the dinner monster in our house. The recipes are GREAT! Lots of yummy crockpot ideas without a single mention of Campbells soup!! My 12 yr old daughter exclusively made the Garlic Lime Chicken and we all loved it. The ginger beef roast is cooking in the crock as I type. Really easy wonderful ideas to help simplify dinnertime without sacrificing quality! I bought my book used on amazon for $2! The only thing is that the recipes are lacking in salt and pepper. We use both liberally and just add them in and the end. An easy change.
December 28, 2012
There are a couple recipes in this book that make the regular rotation at my house, namely Asian Honey Chicken & Garlic Lime Chicken (I highly recommend them both). This is a book filled with basic, simple recipes to serve on a daily basis when you gather your loved ones around the dinner table. The ingredients are all easily obtained and mostly inexpensive. This is not the cookbook to turn to for flavor innovation or new & exciting recipes. But if you're looking for dishes that both you and your picky/fussy tablemates might all like so you can sit down and eat a meal together, I'm sure you'd be able to find several that fit the bill in this book.
December 30, 2013
Literally read it in one day- lots of great recipes that are organized not only by week, but also by season. Very helpful and works hand in hand with the Flylady approach.
January 2, 2025
I've had this book for many years. It is filled with delicious and budget-friendly recipes, organized into weekly menus, with a grocery shopping list for each week!
This is an 8-week menu plan organizer right at your fingertips.. and each season has its own set of 8-week plans, so you never get bored! The recipes are also plain but delicious, so there are no weird ingredients and a million steps. Either way, the shopping lists help ensure that you've got all you need, including spices and such!
Some people complained that the book calls for too much meat. That can obviously be adjusted to the size of the family, or cook as instructed, and you'll have food the next day come lunch! Who doesn't love leftovers!
Or if you have grown kids in the family, then the recipes are actually perfectly portioned. Either way, don't let such comments scare you. This is a 5-star recipe book which should not lose its rank because of amount of ingredients which can be cut down according to your family size and budget.
Delicious.
This is an 8-week menu plan organizer right at your fingertips.. and each season has its own set of 8-week plans, so you never get bored! The recipes are also plain but delicious, so there are no weird ingredients and a million steps. Either way, the shopping lists help ensure that you've got all you need, including spices and such!
Some people complained that the book calls for too much meat. That can obviously be adjusted to the size of the family, or cook as instructed, and you'll have food the next day come lunch! Who doesn't love leftovers!
Or if you have grown kids in the family, then the recipes are actually perfectly portioned. Either way, don't let such comments scare you. This is a 5-star recipe book which should not lose its rank because of amount of ingredients which can be cut down according to your family size and budget.
Delicious.
November 14, 2019
I would not recommend this book to families with picky eaters. I also would not recommend for people who are very time constrained while making dinner.
A lot of the recipes involve measuring and chopping a lot of ingredients. While it is nice having things planned out and purchased for the week, I found after using this book for 3 weeks of menus I was more stressed out because after working all day, dinner took an hour to make and there were way more dishes to do (by hand) afterward than I would normally have with a 3-4 ingredient recipe.
As with most FlyLady related things, I find this book is best suited for people who do not work outside the home full time, or for batch cooking and freezing on the weekend.
A lot of the recipes involve measuring and chopping a lot of ingredients. While it is nice having things planned out and purchased for the week, I found after using this book for 3 weeks of menus I was more stressed out because after working all day, dinner took an hour to make and there were way more dishes to do (by hand) afterward than I would normally have with a 3-4 ingredient recipe.
As with most FlyLady related things, I find this book is best suited for people who do not work outside the home full time, or for batch cooking and freezing on the weekend.
October 19, 2022
I also own this cookbook by Leanne Ely; once again, it's autumn and that's when I get my cookbooks out and actually read through them again.
Like her other cookbook, The Frantic Family Cookbook, she has really good, mostly easy to prepare, and tasty recipes in this one as well. Always use your own intuition about the liquid-to-rice ratio, that's really my only negative comment about the recipes.
Everything I've ever tried from this cookbook has been tasty and well-received by my family.
OH. This cookbook was written during the low-fat/no-fat dietary heyday, but it's not difficult whatsoever to substitute ingredients that speak to a more rounded way of thinking about good fats in your diet. I do highly recommend this cookbook.
Like her other cookbook, The Frantic Family Cookbook, she has really good, mostly easy to prepare, and tasty recipes in this one as well. Always use your own intuition about the liquid-to-rice ratio, that's really my only negative comment about the recipes.
Everything I've ever tried from this cookbook has been tasty and well-received by my family.
OH. This cookbook was written during the low-fat/no-fat dietary heyday, but it's not difficult whatsoever to substitute ingredients that speak to a more rounded way of thinking about good fats in your diet. I do highly recommend this cookbook.
October 19, 2020
A great way to take the pain out of meal planning. You get recipes, shopping list and even side suggestions for every season. She has even considered make-ahead meals and planned meals to overlap to reduce your prep time - think making extra potatoes today to use in tomorrow's meal. And the meals are delicious.
January 19, 2020
Simple recipes you can cook in a half-hour. It's been my go-to cookbook for years and the place I store other recipes - although I've moved most to Evernote.
Great for busy people who think they want a meal delivery service (I tried Blue Apron, ok but didn't work for me).
Great for busy people who think they want a meal delivery service (I tried Blue Apron, ok but didn't work for me).
October 21, 2018
This has helped us plan meals and eat healthier. We have favorite meals from this cookbook, so I don’t necessarily use the week by week menus. Everything is so flavorful!!
October 2, 2023
I’m a sucker for these types of “how to” cookbooks! But a full star off bc of the terrible cover.
February 24, 2014
Love this book - love photocopying out shopping lists when the brain has been too overworked/underslept to function well and still be able to provide a meal plan for the family. Only reason it has 4 stars is that I had to convert ounces to grams a lot and although it was good for my math skills it was not a favourite thing to do:) Being an American cookbook, and us living downunder, I did a bit of substituting of ingredients. A big bonus was that we tried things like Vietnamese Chicken Salad that I would never have thought of feeding the family . Amazingly, only one child didn't like it but still managed to clean up their plate. This tended to be the result - most of the family would like the meals even if a recipe wasn't everyone's favourites. Having cooked from this book for a year we now have some delicious new recipes to add to family favourites and if things ever go back to "hecticness" I know I have a good backup plan for a shopping list in seconds. Highly recommend having this one on the shelves.
August 31, 2012
I LOVE this cookbook. I love how it is organized seasonally. The shopping lists are perfect for our budget, and the recipes are delicious. With my family of a hubby and 3 growing boys, ages 11, 6, and 4, we have had 1 meal in 4 solid weeks of menus, that they wouldn't want to repeat, although they still cleaned their plates, because it still wasn't bad. I love how none of the summer meals use the oven, and how there are weekly soups scheduled for the colder months. The variety every week is nice, too. I plan on using this cookbook as my main planner for an entire year. Those of you counting calories will like the nutritional info, and most of the meals are very reasonable. Using her serving suggestions makes every dinner a healthy meal. I have MS, and while I love to cook for my family, I also get easily overwhelmed in planning healthy, yet delicious meals my hungry brood will love. This book completely takes that burden away.
December 31, 2009
I love Leanne! I ordered her menu mailer after I had my first child, and it really helped me lose the baby weight, by helping me to eat healthy(her idea of healthy is a very balanced diet). I like that in this book she goes through some of the basics of food preparation, like how to use the chef knife to cut an onion. She is a big promoter of family dinner time, healthy homecooked meals, etc. I am planning on reading more of her books. I haven't tried the recipes in this book yet, but am going to. If you like this, you should also check out her website at www.savingdinner.com. She has free menus and some recipes to try.
March 9, 2012
So, I have to admit that I only tried one recipe out of this cook book and it was pretty yummy. It didn't have many ingredients, it was easy to prepare and pretty quick to make.
However, my first experience with this cookbook was annoyance. I had pork that I needed to use and I was trying to find a new recipe...there is not a single pork recipe in this cook book. And no explanation as to why that might be.
I may not have given this cook book a totally fair shake after that. But, honestly, most of the recipes did not appeal to me and they didn't really seem all that healthy...glad I got it out of the library.
However, my first experience with this cookbook was annoyance. I had pork that I needed to use and I was trying to find a new recipe...there is not a single pork recipe in this cook book. And no explanation as to why that might be.
I may not have given this cook book a totally fair shake after that. But, honestly, most of the recipes did not appeal to me and they didn't really seem all that healthy...glad I got it out of the library.
April 9, 2012
This was okay, but really frustrating. I really like the idea of it, having a menu and shopping list to help plan out your own meals, but almost every single recipe had meat in it, or chicken broth, and since I dont really know much about cooking I wasnt sure how to adapt them to be vegetarian and still have them taste good. I will try a couple of her sides - the potato salad looks really easy and is meat-free (though it does have mayonnaise). I see she has a vegetarian version of the book which I would love to try but my library doesn't have it, and I cant buy any books right now. Still, a neat idea and if you eat meat this could be great!
July 12, 2015
Love the idea. It's not just a cookbook; it's a flight plan. If you've ever wanted to start meal planning for convenience and budgetary reasons, this is a good start. An even better start would be visiting her website and buying the e-menus. She's added so much content over the years and the flexibility of downloading a set of recipes that fits your specific dietary needs can't be beat.
Meal planning takes an initial investment of energy, but once you get rolling you'll never want to go back to the haphazard shopping and last minute omg-what's-for-dinner last minute panics of an unplanned menu.
Meal planning takes an initial investment of energy, but once you get rolling you'll never want to go back to the haphazard shopping and last minute omg-what's-for-dinner last minute panics of an unplanned menu.
November 2, 2016
Some of these recipes look pretty good, but the nutritional info is pretty dated, using non/low fat ingredients and vegetable oils. Plus, there's a lot of processed, convenience ingredients. I like that it has optional side dishes included, but I wish they were chosen to go with the seasons the way the recipes were. I don't eat salad in the winter; it's too cooling, and it's more expensive as it's out of season. Oh, I don't like that she adds a dessert chapter to the contents, but when you flip to it, it's nothing but a lecture about diabetes, and then she has a whole 30 page chapter of testimonials. Really? One or two pages would've been fine.
August 14, 2008
I'm having another go with this one...I bought it on clearance at B&N...FlyLady highly recommends this book, so I couldn't pass it up in hardback for $4...It gives you a menu & shopping list for the entire week, but I wasn't sure that my family would go for the recipes...However, after spending my summer "winging it" on dinner (I was pretty good about planning meals out during the school year), I decided to pull this book out and use it as my inspiration for planning meals to start this school year!
September 25, 2008
Not really a book to 'read' exactly. It's a reference book of recipes by week and includes the weekly shopping list. It is really easy to use, pick a week, buy those groceries and then you don't have to worry about 'whats for dinner' all week. Only problem is that we've been less than thrilled with the results. I'm a picky eater and have so far eaten most of the meals, but neither of us have found any of the recipes to be favorites or even something we'd eat each week. We are going to keep using for a few weeks and see what we think after trying more of the recipes.
October 3, 2009
Borrowed this one from the library as it is so highly recommended by FLYlady. Lots of great recipes, but a bit too fiddly and too long to prepare for my taste. I don't have that much time to get dinner together. But for those that like to have a full shopping list prepared by someone else with meal plans etc to match (and also dont' mind googling up "food substitutes" for what strange food names mean in Australian, LOL) then this could be an invaluable tool.
April 29, 2009
I perused “Saving Dinner” by Leanne Ely recently. Can’t really recommend it – I tried three recipes and . . . while they weren’t “bad” recipes, they did not impress my family and I won’t be making them again. I don't consider my family to be picky or hard to cook for.
But, I did like some of her time-saving tips and healthy alternatives. The cookbook is nicely arranged by season for those who live in colder climates and want soup in the winter and cold dishes in the summer.
But, I did like some of her time-saving tips and healthy alternatives. The cookbook is nicely arranged by season for those who live in colder climates and want soup in the winter and cold dishes in the summer.
April 3, 2012
I like the concept of the book and the author certainly helped me get into the menu planning mode. However, I am not a big fan of the majority of the recipes and they don't work for my household.
I keep the book since I have been starting a cooking class and have been asked about menu planning. I think it is a good starting place.
Also good if you are a big fan of FlyLady.net. Which is why I bought it in the first place.
I keep the book since I have been starting a cooking class and have been asked about menu planning. I think it is a good starting place.
Also good if you are a big fan of FlyLady.net. Which is why I bought it in the first place.
January 18, 2016
Pretty disappointed. Lots of recipes but they're all pretty similar. Cook protein with a sauce and serve with a starch. Lots of casseroles. Was hopeful that the freezer kits would be helpful but again the recipes are just okay. Plus she uses way too many convenience foods...packaged seasonings, BBQ sauce, corn muffin mix, and on and on.
Keep hoping that one of these books will give recipes using real food for those of us limiting or eliminating processed chemical junk
Keep hoping that one of these books will give recipes using real food for those of us limiting or eliminating processed chemical junk
June 15, 2008
Half the recipes I tried simply didn't work. The recipes were incomplete. For example, a recipe would call for garlic. No idea if it was chopped, minced or whole. This makes a huge difference. The recipes were pretty bland and just plain not good. I was very disappointed because I am a huge FLYLady fan and she highly recommends this book.
October 5, 2008
I like her ideas about having a menu each week that allows you to plan ahead by cooking extra meat to put in a dish on a later day. She even included weekly grocery lists, but I didn't find as many yummy recipies as I was hoping for. She has different tastes than I do. Some of them were good though. Good tips, too.
July 24, 2017
The idea of this book is great and I have a bunch of recipes from this book I use regularly. Some recipes are rather odd, using ingredients I don't regularly have on hand, but overall, it's worth buying or checking out at the library for a few weeks!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews