Cook Once A Week

Guaranteed to silence the dreaded 5:00 p.m. “What’s for dinner?” wail—not to mention a solution to the “pizza or burgers?” dilemma—Cook Once a Week is the innovative cookbook whose easy-to-follow system delivers a week’s worth of meals in a single, one-stop planning, shopping and cooking session. This is a book that takes into account what every mom knows: family schedules and budgets are incredibly tight; not everyone will be eating together every night; convenience foods cost; and kids are picky eaters. With Cook Once a Week, Theresa Albert-Ratchford, a personal chef, cooking instructor and food columnist, has done the impossible—she’s turned dinner-hour insanity into an enjoyable, family-friendly time. Here’s what’s inside:

• From Better Basics to Vegetarian Visitors: 12 balanced, weekly dinner menus, plus a bonus week for the pickiest of kids
• Step-by-step recipes that allow you to prepare the whole week’s meals in the same amount of time it would take to make just your Sunday dinner
• Budget $100 or less for food each week: there’s no waste, just lots of great eating
• Detailed, photocopy-ready weekly shopping lists that eliminate waste, impulse buying and multiple trips to the grocery store
• Breakfast and lunch plans for families on the go, including 10 lunchbox ideas
• Grab and go: handy tips that incorporate leftovers into fast and tasty all-new meals
• Invaluable advice: on nutrition (each recipe has a complete nutritional analysis), getting the kids involved, pantry must-haves, and freezing and serving tips
• Over 25 two-minute ideas to make entrées, side dishes, snacks and desserts