Busy People's Fast & Frugal Cookbook

I love cookbooks. I'm growing quite a collection. (And as soon as I figure out how to upload pics from my phone to my blog, I'll illustrate a post with photos. But for now, be a dear and use your imagination.)

So I jumped at the chance to review a cookbook for Thomas Nelson. Especially one with Fast & Frugal in the title.

There's a lot to like about this Dawn Hill's Busy People's Fast & Frugal Cookbook. There are slightly over 300 pages with a solid 294 pages of recipes. The book is laid out well and I think this is it's strongest point. Categories are well represented. Recipes are simple with clear instructions. A sidebar lists supplies and grocery list needed for the recipe. Also listed in the sidebar is a suggestion drawing from another recipe in the book for a total meal. The grocery list ingredients are divided into categories. Dietary information is listed at the end of the recipe with all of the recipes being low-fat and low calorie. Sodium is high in only a few of the recipes.

The cover photos and each photo dividing the sections of the book look professionally done. The food looks appetizing and the lighting is well done. The good news is that there is a photo to accompany many of the recipes. The bad news is that these photos look amateurish with unflattering angles and poor lighting which makes the food look plain and unappetizing. Also, some of the recipes seem as if the author is grasping at culinary straws just to have a recipe.

Now that I've griped about the things that irked me, know that there are some decent, basic recipes in there. Unfussy, filling and balanced meals abound in Busy People's Fast & Frugal Cookbook.