Dinner is Ready - 30 Meals in One Day

by Deanna Buxton

Dinner is Ready is a new cookbook designed to change your life. Learn to prepare 30 meals in just one day. With easy to read and clear instructions, this book details every aspect of the process that will put 30 meals in your freezer in one day, a fraction of the time it would take to make each of those 30 meals individually. Don't have a day to spend in the kitchen? Choose one of the shorter options!

Every meal you put in your freezer is one day of freedom in your future!
With delicious dinners in your freezer - no matter how busy your day - you can always say "Dinner is Ready!"

Beautiful 240 page 6" x 9" softcover cookbook contains clear instructions plus more than 150 freezer-worthy recipes. No strange ingredients. All simple, freezable and delicious. Easy to read, large print format. One recipe to a page.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking

236 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was introduced to the art of freezer-worthy cooking by my sister-in-law, Melanie, who introduced my other sisters-in-law and me to this book. The concept is brilliant. I can make one of these recipes for my husband and me then stick the leftovers in the freezer to use as dinner for another day. There is something so satisfying about stocking my freezer full of home-cooked meals that only need to be re-heated before they are ready to eat.
The 30-Meals-In-One-Day method is one that I am not ambitious enough to try, but I have learned a lot from Deanna Buxton's freezing tips. Most of the book are recipes organized by the method it takes to cook it: slow cooker, stove top, oven, and those that only need to be assembled before freezing and cooking. I've tried eight of the recipes, and so far have been impressed (the Honey BBQ Pork Ribs are amazing!) This has become one of my new favorite cookbooks.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

We bought a big freezer for the garage on President's Day, and I must say I am digging this idea of freezing meals in advance so that you don't have to cook every day. I just needed someone to explain the basics to me (like apparently you can freeze dishes with pasta in them, you just have to undercook them by 2 minutes less than the lowest time on the package so that they will turn out perfect when defrosted and cooked). This book also has a bunch of pretty simple recipes that freeze well and taste good. They may not be the healthiest meals in the world (like you'll find canned soup and pre-packaged mixes in lots of the meals), but they are easy and the kind that taste good no matter what. (Because any recipe that has a package of onion soup mix in it is delicious, even though I can't explain exactly why. I just love it. Amen.)

I haven't read any other freezer meal books to compare yet, but I thought this had valuable information and some good recipes to get started with.

[Breanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a guide to making 30 meals all in one day, and includes over 150 recipes of meals that can be frozen. This is really quick to get through, as only about a third of the book talks about how to actually get everything done in one day, and the rest is filled with recipes. I especially liked the recipes because they are quick and easy to do - you won't find too many with tons of ingredients and steps.

So did I do it? I paired it down to 10 meals for my first trial-run. I spent about $50 on the groceries, and about 2 hours in the kitchen, and packed 9 meals away in the freezer (we ate the 10th that night). I actually found the process kind of fun, and the tips and guidelines she gives in the instructional part of the book really did help a lot as I put this all together. Plus, what I've eaten so far was yummy!

[Shelleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the concept (make 30 dinners one day and freeze them) but I think she spent too much of the book stating why freezing meals was a good idea and not enough time saying how to do it (we are already reading the book we do not need more convincing that it would be convinent to have all dinner's for a month ready). She also seemed to just give too many plugs about her computer program that goes in conjuction with this (not that I can blame her: royalties). Still one day when I have someone watching Ariah all day long, I am going to do it. (and I am sure that I will not want to cook for an additional 30 after that).

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love this cookbook--I read it cover to cover. Have I ever tried making 30 meals in one day? No, although I will someday. I have done it in smaller pieces, though. I have just really enjoyed the simple recipes in this book. Many of them have become our regular family favorites. While the recipes aren't for the health-nut or the gourmet cook, they are easy and family-friendly and use normal stuff that I have in my pantry. And all instructions are included for how to freeze these meals for later, so I find it extremely useful!

[Kristen MacGregor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw these books at a boutique and wanted them, but didn't want to fork out the dough. So I requested for the library to purchase them for me to borrow and it was worth it. The recipes aren't my favorites, but the ideas in the books are great- as soon as I get a second freezer I'm going to be making and freezing meals!

[Jessica Hartzell · Rating 4 out of 5]

To say I've read it isn't fair- I've skimmed it many times at my sisters house, and I use the CD she made quite a bit. I have used her tips a lot, and it's really made my freezer meals better, I would say it's the best reference for freezer meals I've found.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is THE book to own if you'd like to get into Freezer Meals aka Once-a-month-cooking. It covers all the basics and I learned a few new things as well and it is jam-packed with recipes that I'm excited to try. I think she's done "Sides" and "Lunches" books as well. I want to check those out.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of recipes I use for everyday cooking. I did the 30 meals in one day, but it was a LOT of work! I didn't have enough room in the freezer for it all! But great concept if you have an extra freezer :)

[Annalise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freezer meal cookbook. I LOVE it! I use it all the time, my family likes the recipes, and I can make big batches and freeze what we don't eat. Started using it when kid #4 was born.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the older version of this book, but I really loved her advice and organization! Not so crazy about her recipes...

[Elisabeth]

tried the meatballs recipe - kids liked it... got a few bags of it in the freezer

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave it a try and I am ready with a bunch of freezer meals for when baby #2 arrives.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information for storing freezer meals. I am going to try this out this week!

[Rachel Nielsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had some good tips in it but there weren't very many recipes that I wanted to try.