There’s always something new going on in the Hectic Family. In a little over a month our second grandchild will be born, and to say that everybody is excited would be the understatement of the year. Even Hectic Grandson is gearing up, including wearing his “I’m the older cousin” shirt!
With the arrival of a new baby though, my daughter and her husband will be facing new challenges. And among the biggest will be getting meals on the table. They’re pretty typical of young couples…they’ve had loads of time to prepare meals, and haven’t relied on planning very much. I’ve seen this pattern over and over with our kids as they’ve entered adult life. The idea of meal planning isn’t something they picked up at home. I guess I did it in the background and it never soaked in that everything was part of a well-orchestrated system.
As they’ve moved out, they’ve winged it in the kitchen. Quite honestly, that was the impetus for my College Student series of meal planning books. I figured if I got college students to do meal planning, they would retain those skills when they’re out in the workforce. At least that’s my hope. In the coming months I’ll be working on another series of books aimed at newly married couples. It’s hard enough figuring everything else out without having to struggle to make dinner every night.
The combination of several newly married couples within the Hectic Clan as well as the arrival of a new baby created the perfect storm for me to begin thinking about efficient ways to get meals on the table. I searched my array of resources, and landed on Holly Clegg’s Trim & Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals as a great solution. I’ve tested out several of the recipes and I can vouch for the fact that they taste great!
When you have a lot of cookbooks, it’s really easy to be picky. I definitely have my favorites, and I have strong opinions about the design, organization, and structure of how I want my cookbooks to be. Holly Clegg’s Trim & Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals definitely is a huge winner on the physical structure front. It’s a spiral-bound book, so it lays flat. This is essential, since I’m a really messy cook, and I don’t want to ever have to touch my cookbook once I start preparing the food. I have a cookbook stand with a splatter guard, so a book that lays flat is ideal and it stays much cleaner. Like I said, I’m not a neat cook!
One of my complaints about spiral-bound books is you can’t read the title on the spine. With over 400 cookbooks, not being able to read the spine means I’m always struggling to find a particular book. The team at Running Press should get an award for wrapping this cookbook in a traditional cover. Yup, there’s a cover over the spiral, so it looks like a regular cookbook when it’s sitting on the shelf. Not only does this make it easier to find, but it also protects the spiral from collecting food gunk. Genius!
The intro section in this book is priceless. If you’ve always wondered why some things you freeze turn out great and other things are gross, Holly has the answers. Not only does she have a section on Freezing Facts, including Foods that do not freeze well and Foods that change after being thawed, she’s also got a great Freezing Guide, a section on Freezing Containers: What Not To Use, she even includes a piece on Packaging Hints. Frankly, the intro section is probably worth the entire price of the book!
Like any good cookbook, this one is broken up into sections, including:
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Appetizers
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Muffins, Breads, and Brunch
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Chilies, Stews, and Soups
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Sides and More
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Poultry
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Meat
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Seafood
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Desserts
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Pies, Cookies, and Cakes
Each recipe has three parts within the directions that set this cookbook apart for all the pretenders. Since this is a cookbook about freezer-friendly meals, the directions include
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To Prepare and Eat Now
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To Freeze
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To Prepare After Freezing
I’ve started to include the prepare after freezing instructions right on the container of my frozen meals because, quite honestly, I’m the worst one about looking that up. My default for anything coming out of the freezer is 350F for 45 minutes. Sure, that works much of the time, but I’ve also managed to have some spectacular failures. Don’t get me started with the “I need to speed this up, so let’s try to defrost it in the microwave and then salvage it in the oven” approach. I’m sure the Hectic Kids will never forgive me for a couple of those attempts!
Holly’s direction are extremely clear and easy to follow. My only complaint about the recipes, there are an awful lot of ingredients. And when there are lots of ingredients, the directions tend to get kind of long. While they’re easy to follow, the recipes appear to be a lot more complicated than they really are. And with a long ingredient list there’s always the increased danger of not having one or more. Be sure to read the recipe completely before you start preparation. Of course, this is just general good sense, but nobody ever accused me of having much of that. Hopefully you’re better at it than I am!
Things I Don’t Like
I do have a couple of niggles with Holly Clegg’s Trim & Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals, but nothing that should keep you from buying this cookbook.
I really missed having tabs on the section dividers. I found myself looking at the table of contents, finding the section I wanted to go to, and despite having the page number, still struggling to get to there. Let’s face it, I’m a man…so I’m not going to ask for directions. You have to put road signs in front of me and practically beat me over the head so I don’t miss my turns. The same goes for cookbooks, you’ve got to give me clear direction or I’ll get distracted.
Of course, being who I am, I put tabs in my book using Post-It tabs. Since the book has a cover over the spiral, I managed to keep the tabs from sticking out too far beyond the book. That has kept them from getting bent (which is another pet peeve of mine).
I also struggled a bit with the order of the recipes within each section. For instance, the section labeled Meat appears to be organized by type (beef, pork, etc.), but after the pork, there are more beef entries. It’s a little niggle, but I did stumble over it several times while trying to use this cookbook. I found that I couldn’t comfortably browse through recipes within the sections without looking at the section header page first. The upside is that the section header page lists the all the recipes on one page and the page numbers are indicated right there.
Finally, the Suggested Menus listed in the back of the book are a bit of a misnomer, it’s really more of a quick lookup by category. Because of the frustrating organization of the individual sections, this part is necessary if you’re looking for all the Lasagna recipes, for instance. I did like the inclusion of Feeding Sick Friends that collects up all sorts of great things to take over to a friend who’s not up to cooking. Honestly, I would’ve included quite a few more recipes in this part!
Bottom Line
I’m finding that all my reviews tend to end up telling you to buy the book. With as many cookbooks as I’ve got, I guess I’m just gravitating to the ones I really like. I do have a stack of duds that I’ll probably get around to writing about someday…but don’t hold your breath. I’ve got a lot more gems to share with you.
Frankly, you can pick up a copy of Holly Clegg’s Trim & Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals for as little as $3.40 (plus shipping) on Amazon, and most independent bookstores can get it for under $7. That’s still quite a bit less than two Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks, so don’t kid yourself that this cookbook is too expensive. Like I said above, the intro section on how to freeze foods and then cook them afterwards is worth this entire price!
If you’re looking for an addition to your cookbook collection, or know someone who would benefit from a cookbook on freezer-friendly meals, Holly Clegg’s Trim & Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals is a sure winner. It’s one of the best ways I know to make it a great day in the kitchen!