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The Good-to-Go Cookbook: Take-along Food, Quick Suppers, and Satisfying Snacks for
On-The-Go Families

Kathleen Cannata Hanna
Storey Publishing (2008)
ISBN 9781603420761
Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (12/08)

“The Good-to-Go Cookbook- Take-Along Food, Quick Suppers, and Satisfying Snacks for On-the-Go Families” is a fun cookbook that promotes eating homemade and gives easy and fast alternatives to frozen meals and fast food.  The book is divided up into ten different sections:  Fast Break for Breakfast, Super Snacks, Grab and Go, The Lunch Crunch, 15-Minute Dishes, 30-Minute Dishes, Family Meals and One-Pot Deals, Pasta, Please!, Simple Side Dishes, and Dessert on a Dime.   

In the introduction, the author, Kathleen Cannata Hanna, suggests creating a weekly menu plan, being sure to plan around scheduled activities.  Making a list of everything that you'll need will help you be a more efficient shopper and will save unnecessary midweek trips to pick up ingredients.  At one time I used to do exactly this and I just felt so much more organized.  It is definitely a habit that I would love to get back into. 

I’ll admit, although I do like to cook, I don’t cook breakfast.  My children eat cold cereal for breakfast almost every morning.  Neither one of them will eat eggs at all so my options are somewhat limited with them.  After going through the breakfast section of the cookbook I found a few new ideas that I think my children would really enjoy.  The “Fresh Fruit Cups,” which are basically fruit in an ice cream cone, sound like a lot of fun and the “Energy-Boost Parfait” seems like a nutritious meal that they both will eat without complaint. 

I love fast meals so I was especially drawn to the 15-minute and 30-minute meals chapters.  The first recipe that I tried was the recipe for “Fast Fajitas.”  I was trying to find recipes for my leftover Thanksgiving turkey so I looked up “turkey” in the index and decided upon this dish.  They were super easy to make and ready from start to finish in less than 15 minutes.  My family enjoyed them very much! 

Another recipe I tried, this time from the 30-minute section, was the Peanut Butter Chicken.  My children could live on peanut butter if I would let them, so I figured that they would absolutely love this meal and they did.  They thought it was hilarious that I was putting peanut butter in the chicken instead of in bread or celery sticks.  Both could not wait to try it, and gobbled it right down when it was ready.     

The book is filled with so many great, easy recipes!  I have tons of them bookmarked including the BLT Soup, the Pizza Steak, and the Zucchini Lasagna.  I can’t wait to go back and try these meals out on my family.  One thing I like about this cookbook is that there are not a lot of strange ingredients.  All of the needed items for the recipes are common ingredients, not ones that you will purchase just for the recipe and never use again. “The Good-to-Go Cookbook” is the perfect cookbook for any busy family and will provide you with many new and simple menu ideas.  You truly can make homemade meals even when you are crunched for time!

 

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