One of the things I did in preparation for Caleb’s arrival was to be sure we had meals on hand.  “Dump chicken” for the freezer, sauce for noodles, etc.  The only method that really occurred to me, though, for advance preparation was freezer cooking.  Then I heard about Meals in a Jar: Quick and Easy, Just-Add-Water, Homemade Recipes, and was given the opportunity to review it.

I was expecting a series of “mix”-type recipes – dry stuff that can be compiled, to have water or canned liquids added later when you’re ready to cook it.  And there are some of those here.  What I wasn’t anticipating is that many of these are actually canned.  I don’t have a pressure canner (A canner has to be larger than the cookers I currently own), so my immediate options for preparing recipes from the book are limited (more so than they already are simply by our dietary limitations).  Still, there are some recipes here I can make – and just looking through what is included is helpful for coming up with other ideas.

Breakfasts, soups, pastas, other main courses, sides, and desserts are all included.  Each recipe is very detailed, including not only the ingredients and directions, but also instructions for exactly what to write on the label, what to package together, and how to prepare the final meal when you’re ready to use it.

This is a “prepper” sort of book – we’re talking about meals that will store long-term – so there are some ingredients here that a) I probably wouldn’t use on an everyday basis and b) you’ll probably have to look for at a bulk foods store or website.  Things like powdered eggs and dehydrated cauliflower.  Of course, there’s good reason for using them here, but they’re not likely to be ingredients you just “happen” to have on hand; you’ll have to prepare to prepare these.

Although most of these probably aren’t going to make my list of everyday recipes, for all of the reasons noted above, they definitely do have their purpose.  Emergency preparation and camping are the two most obvious that come to mind, but there are also alternative reasons – like having something available after a new baby’s arrival.

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