Let me confess right up front that I have read other books in the “Not Your Mother’s” series and been less than impressed.  (Not that they were bad; they just weren’t anything I got too excited about.  Probably because I think they were all slow cooker cookbooks, and I just can’t seem to love my slow cooker.)  So I probably wouldn’t have looked at Not Your Mother’s Make-Ahead & Freeze Cookbook twice except that I landed on the author’s blog — probably through a Pinterest search.  The blog was great, and I saw that she was coming out with a cookbook soon, so I kept my eyes open for the cookbook.

I haven’t done a lot with it yet but, so far, I really like it.

A Glimpse of the Book

There are a few “overall” things about it that I really appreciate.

• It uses real food.  I can’t swear that every single recipe uses only ingredients we would choose at our house, but it uses pretty much whole, from-scratch ingredients, not a bunch of pre-packaged items.  I’m not having to go substitute for cream of mushroom soup and boxed mac & cheese in every recipe.
• Because it uses whole ingredients, it’s also much easier for me adapt what I need to adapt for my gluten intolerance.  When you’re dealing with individual ingredients, you can substitute for individual ingredients.
• It’s written by a mother of six.  This not only means that recipes are scaled large enough for us (a “side perk,” in my opinion); it means that the book is realistic.  Freezer books I’ve seen in the past have often had completely unrealistic plans (time-wise) or been full of recipes that kids would never eat (or parents could never afford!)
• It acknowledges and allows for multiple styles of freezer cooking.  Maybe you aren’t a “once a month” cook.  Maybe you just like to triple a recipe here or there.  Jessica still has you covered. 🙂

Tell Me More

The book begins with the basics.  It talks about what can and can’t be frozen (more can than can’t, by the way), how to package and store foods for freezing, etc.  All the “nitty-gritty” stuff you need to know.

Then there’s a chapter of cooking plans.  Based on recipes provided in the book, these tell you how long they’ll take, how many people they’ll feed, and how many meals they create.  They list which recipes to make (and how many batches of each), provide the grocery list (including necessary packaging), tell you what “gadgets” you need to prepare the included recipes, and give you the prep list and cooking plan.  In other words, these plans are completely prepared for you.  (If none of them float your boat, you can use them as templates for your own plans.)  There are two breakfast plans, a meatless plan, a beef plan, a poultry + seafood plan, a meat + poultry plan, and three “everything” plans.

The following chapter is all about an element that almost every freezer cooking book I’ve ever read leaves out.  (I only know of one exception.)  It tells you how to create your own cooking plan.  In my opinion, this is essential.  Of course, it’s really nice to have the plans already done for you — and if they work for you as-is, great!  But what if they include a recipe your kids hate?  Or what if there’s a recipe or two that doesn’t adapt well to food sensitivities in your household?  Or what if you just want to put your own family favorite recipes in the freezer?  With most freezer cookbooks you’re stuck trying to figure out what to do on your own.

This book includes an entire chapter about creating your own plan.  It explains the process step-by-step (and makes it look really simple/doable).  It has a small section about adapting your own recipes.  It even includes a few planning forms to help you along in the process.

The Recipes

The rest of the book (almost 300 pages) is recipes.  Although servings vary, on average, a single batch of each recipe serves about 6 (4-6, 6-8, etc.).  There are chapters for beef, poultry and seafood, pork and sausage, meatless meals, soup, pizza, breakfast, breads, and desserts.

Each recipe has a brief introduction (of the “where this came from” or “why I included it” variety) and tells you the yield.  Then it tells you what packaging is recommended and lists the ingredients.  Step-by-step preparation instructions are following by freezing instructions, then thawing/serving instructions.

“Help boxes” are scattered throughout the book, containing other tips, suggestions, or ways that freezer cooking can be of benefit.

All the Rest

There aren’t pictures in the book (‘though there is a pleasing two-color layout), but it is well-indexed.

We’ve not actually frozen any of the recipes from the book yet, because I wanted to try them and make sure we like them before we go doubling or tripling anything!  The Bean and Cheese Nacho Bake we started with was a hit, though.

I would recommend this.

Disclosure: I was provided by the publisher with a copy of the book to facilitate this review.  As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.