Review: SOS! The Six O’Clock Scramble to the Rescue: Earth-Friendly, Kid-Pleasing Dinners for Busy Families

Every parent has faced this dilemma:How do I feed my children a quick, healthy meal on a budget?  I know we face this problem at least 2-3 times a week!  When I was offered SOS! The Six O’Clock Scramble to the Rescue: Earth-Friendly, Kid-Pleasing Dinners for Busy Families for review, it was a godsend!  A lifesaver! In the few months we’ve had it, it’s been well used.  It’s already full of post-it-notes marking my favorite recipes as well as those I’d like to try in the future.

Here are some of the perks of this cookbook:

• Seasonal (Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall) sections focus what’s in season!  I loved this feature, particularly because I knew what produce I would be able to find at the farmer’s market or the local grocery.
• Over 300 recipes that take 30 minutes or less to prepare!
• Nutritional information for each recipe
• Ideas about what to pack for your child’s lunch, after-school snacks, and how to deal with picky eaters (I have two of those!)

And these are just the perks that you’ll find when reading the back cover.  I had the luxury of having my mom ( a consumer science teacher!) in town when I was reviewing this.  She was able to give me a unique perspective about what should/shouldn’t be in a cookbook.  It’s not only the recipes you should be looking at, but the supplemental informaton as well. Here are some of the things we discovered while flipping through the book:

• Seven steps to keeping the six o’clock scramble on schedule. For example, schedule your meals for the week based on which foods are most perishable (meat, poultry, etc) and which nights will be the most hectic. Also, starting off with a clean kitchen (including an empty dishwasher!) will help tremendously.  Clean up as you go so the final clean-up will quick and effortless.
• Eight essential pots & pans for scrambling families
• Ten best dishes for school potlucks or other gatherings
• Tips on how to connect with your local CSA (community supported agriculture)
• Quick & healthy breakfast ideas

I could literally go on and on. SOS! The Six O’Clock Scramble to the Rescue is without a doubt a cookbook that should be part of your kitchen library collection!

I’d be remiss not to mention the recipe we tried as part of this .  We decided to make the “Light and garlicky penne with plum tomatoes.”  My boys are pretty picky about the type of noodle they’ll eat, so I substituted angel hair for the penne.  Oh, and I didn’t have plum tomatoes so we used cherry tomatoes instead.  I’m all about substituting, as you can tell!

Following is a picture of the final product.  We served it with grilled chicken and some sort of vegetable.  Honestly, it was so long ago I don’t remember what it was, but it was probably fresh green beans from the farmer’s market.

Be sure to check back later this week for a guest post from Aviva Goldfarb and yes….a giveaway!