Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This cookbook is intended to mimic those places you go to and assemble your meals then take home to freeze. This cookbook is a little different in that I think it's geared more for those who want to swap meals with other families. Their intended assembly method is what they call the "tray" method, where you purchase a large tray of meat at a warehouse club and then come home and assemble 3 like meals out of it. You cannot make less than 3 meals, the ingredients are geared to be mixed together and then distributed among 3 freezer bags. I suppose there are a few recipes where you could in your head divide all the spices and mix-ins by 3 and then just make one freezer bag but if you make a mistake there's no correcting it. I'm not sure my family would want to eat tequila lime chicken 3 times in a month but if you menu planned far enough in advance I guess you could have it once a month over the next 3 months. What I think is fantastic about this cookbook is that you could find, for example, 2 other families (whether relatives or neighbors) and then you each make a recipe from the cookbook and swap meals with eachother. That way you're getting 3 different meals and only assembling 3 of the same meal. That for me was the best part of the cookbook. It would also be perfect if you were providing meals for someone else. You could easily assemble and give to elderly parents, shut-ins, sick friends or relatives, new moms, etc and all they'd have to do is cook it. While that would take some work on their part sometimes it's the prep work and assembly that prevents seniors from cooking not the actual cooking itself. I know my senior mother has a hard time reading small print to see if it's 1/4 tsp or 1/8, etc. Also, chopping hurts her hands. But in this instance you've done all that work with the aid of this cookbook. And it still gives her enjoyment to know that she can put a nice meal on the table for dinner. But even if you needed to cook it before delivering it to someone else you could do that too. All the final preparation and cooking instructions are included in the book to be copied or you can also download from [...] and put on avery sticky labels to attach to the freezer baggie just like at dream dinners. Most of the meals are geared for serving 4 but throwing 6 chicken breasts in a freezer bag wouldn't change the amount of other ingredients needed significantly or even decreasing it to 3 would be no problem. In this cookbook, there are no pictures which is why I gave it a 4 rather than 5 stars. For some reason I think pictures are a needed treat in cookbooks. Most of these meals you freeze first then thaw and cook. Their suggestion is to pull the meal from the freezer the evening before and let it thaw overnight in the fridge and then prepare for dinner the next evening. If you're not willing to make 3 meals of the same thing at once then this cookbook is probably not for you. I just think dividing spices and ingredients to come up with one serving might be too much trouble when there are so many other cookbooks that are already out there. Suggestions would be Super Suppers and Don't Panic: dinner's in the freezer. Both are very good cookbooks themselves. But this cookbook is highly recommended for a MOPS group who want to start a dinner swap club; if you provide meals for others on a regular basis, or just want to ensure you have 3 meals in the freezer even if it is the same meal. Great cookbook.