Product Description

The editors of Parenting Magazine have compiled their favorite family recipes to prove that eating healthy need not be bland. Includes more than 325 recipes for daily meals, complete menus for special holidays and occasions, tips on how to deal with picky eaters, micro-waving, and grocery shopping. There are also dozens of tips, menus and theme ideas for birthdays, holidays and other special occasions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1389952 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 492 pages

From Amazon.com
Getting your children to eat well takes more than recipes. In The Parenting Cookbook, Kathy Gunst, mother of two, gives advice for dealing with picky eaters, eating out with the family, kids at the supermarket, and dinnertime en famille. She claims even "exhausted, overworked" parents can handle the recipes, which emphasize fresh ingredients. Believing that children should be introduced to a variety of foods, along with tips on how to present new ones, she includes recipes for gumbo and chicken satay as well as mainstream dishes like spaghetti with turkey meatballs and a quick apple crumble. Gunst helps with food for breakfast, snacks and birthday parties. Her advice is sound if sometimes idealized.

From Publishers Weekly
In these times of pressure and over scheduling, the idea of the entire family gathering regularly to share a meal may seem a quaint concept. Maintaining that that scenario is more easily within reach than many family cooks imagine, Gunst (a Parenting columnist and author of Roasting) combines tasty recipes with sensible advice on issues from stocking the pantry to tempting the picky eater. To promote healthful, enjoyable family meals, she suggests that parents project a positive attitude about eating new foods and limit their own intake of junk food. She observes that kids may be weaned from their attachment to a pizza/macaroni/peanut butter diet by becoming involved in food choices and preparation; practical advice to that end includes taking children to farm stands or ethnic food stores and letting them select items, as well as enlisting their help in making snacks and helping to fix the family dinner. The 325 recipes, ranging from breakfast to birthday party menus, are fairly quick to assemble, especially if the kids help, and don't require exotic items. Although Gunst favors healthy food, she's no Puritan. Recipes for Chocolate Pretzels and some killer desserts like Peanut Butter Fondue are included. Nutritional analyses are given for each dish. Such dishes as Grilled Marinated Pork Tenderloin and Chicken and Sausage Paella may well have kids choosing the family dinner table over the local fast food outlet.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Along with more than 300 recipes, this big cookbook includes readable, informative essays and mini-essays on such topics as picky eaters and "Entertaining with Kids, or How To Have a Dinner Party Without Losing Your Mind." There are separate chapters of quick recipes for weekday breakfasts, lunches, and dinners and somewhat more involved ones for weekend meals; snacks and birthday parties also get their own chapters. Gunst, a Parenting contributor and columnist, is the author of several appealing cookbooks, including Roasting (LJ 12/90) and Leftovers (LJ 12/93), which obviously provided inspiration for some of the good recipes and suggestions here. Highly recommended.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Not for kids I know
I got this book heavily discounted at a major chain bookstore. Paged through, and was surprised at the sophistication of the ingredients used. Feta cheese, salmon caviar, leeks.

"Wow," I thought to myself, these folks are really something if they can get ingredients like that into foods that kids actually like!

Tried one recipe: Fish Cakes. Fish and potato (both cooked) mashed together, with flavorings, into cornmeal, than cooked. Something first of all was really wrong with the basic ratios - 2 eggs was way too much liquid for 2 potatoes and 1 pound of fish. I went ahead anyway, to see if the outcome was something worth trying to fix a 2nd time. Results - yucky. As I was telling a friend about it later, she made a face at the basic concept.

Looking more closely now, my sense is this is a book for parents who need to retain the sophistication of their single life, and want stuff around them that makes them think they can successfully do that. This isn't about what kids want to eat, or what's best for them (as others have mentioned, high fat content in lots of things). There may be some things in here that are interesting to try with kids, but that's not what this is about.

Examples:
Nut and Orange Zest Saute
Fried eggs w/ grated cheese and olive oil drizzled on it
Sour cream and salsa chicken
Zucchini, Pea and Walnut sauce

Come on. May be applicable to some kids palates, but not any I know.

Busy Moms (And Dads) Need this Cookbook
I received this cookbook as a gift when my son was 14 months old. I was starting to law school and my mother knew I wouldn't have time to spend an hour cooking dinner for my family every night. Now, three years later, I'm graduating from law school with honors, my family is well-fed and happy, and my in-laws whisper to each other how amazing it is that I've managed to cook dinner at home most nights and still maintain my GPA! Thank you, Parenting Magazine!

This cookbook is divided into chapters according to the type of meal and the complexity of the recipe. You have Quick Everyday Breakfasts, Quick Everyday Lunches, Quick Everyday Dinners, Weekend Breakfasts, Weekend Lunches, Weekend Dinners, and some additional chapters on meal-planning, snacks and desserts, and party menus. The recipes themselves are plain and simple good food. There are some "fancier" recipes that I've used to impress dinner guests (lamb, pork tenderloin, etc.), but even those are easy to follow and relatively quick to prepare. Each recipe has serving sizes, nutrition guidelines, cooking time, and prep time, all in easy-to-read format.

A word of warning: The recipes in this book were designed with healthfulness in mind and they tend to be low in fat, sodium, and carbs. However, this book is not for parents trying to follow specialty diets. If you are wanting a book that shows you the three easy steps of raising a vegan child, look elsewhere. But if you want to be one step closer to walking in your kitchen and waving your magic wand for a wholesome delicious meal, buy this book!