Feeding a Family: A Real-Life Plan for Making Dinner Work Hardcover – April 11, 2017

I have loved Sarah's recipes for some time, and love the new ones in her book. I find the recipes to be delicious, satisfying to the many taste preferences in my family, and really pretty simple. I rarely have to go out and buy ingredients I'll never use again, and she is really clear about how use the recipes flexibly (e.g., don't have sweet potatoes? try squash or another root vegetable!). I love the organization of the book into seasons. For example, even though its July, when I woke up yesterday if felt like the fall - so I flipped to the fall section for a recipe inspiration (the Lemon-Tahini Sweet potato and Chick pea Salad - so delicious, so simple, a total hit at the dinner party I went to.). I also love the photos (beautiful) and tone that Sarah sets in her writing - though the photos make living on the Vineyard seem idyllic, Sarah is both very realistic in her writing about the rhythms of every day life (recipes for those days you're just so tired, or those days you want to do something special) and encouraging - you really hear her cheering you along saying, "you got this!" While there are many sources for recipes online, I personally am happy to own this cookbook because it feels like a having a friend at the ready, willing to help me think through whatever meal challenges and opportunities come my way. And its art - the photographs really lovely. I'm attaching a photo of the first recipe I made from the book - we all gobbled it right up.

I've got a meat and greasy food loving husband, yet when I make Sarah's meals for him, he ALWAYS loves them! Sarah has had such an impact on how I feed my family because I've gotten so many great recipes and tips from her blog over the years. So naturally I jumped for this book as soon as it came out!It's a practical, delicious, yet fun cookbook and gave me new ideas for wholesome, healthy meals that aren't compromised in flavor. I think her book is so well-rounded because she has vegan options, vegetarian options, meat lover meals, healthy dessert options, yet she's not afraid to INDULGE too. Which to me, is a more realistic approach to food. Moderation, freedom, having FUN with food (not being afraid of the "bad" stuff), but also valuing food for it's nutrition too.Other things I loved about this book:-She gives great pointers on how to build your pantry and meal plan for the week. (She recommends having a couple of easy "pantry" meals each week with 2 or 3 meals that require more effort).-If your cooking for company, she has laid out complete meal plans already, so you don't even need to think about what kind of side dish and dessert would go great with that main course (she's already done the work for us!).-For each main course, she gives ideas on how to use leftovers for an easy throw together dinner the next night.This book inspired me to head back into the kitchen and feed my family seasonal, yet EASY meals. I highly recommend it.

I am very impressed with this book. I read it through cover to cover and thoroughly enjoyed the photography and short personal touches along with the engaging recipes. The recipes focus on vegetables and variety, but not a bunch of odd, hard to find vegetables just to stay in season. It tries to make all foods appealing for children, but not heavy on salt, sugar and starches like their sensitive palates crave. We have made the homemade pasta and the peach yogurt frozen pie (made into ice pops) so far. Both were wonderful. I am planning on trying out a number of other recipes as the week continues. So many recipes really do seem week day friendly with just a little planning. I have been trying to find vegetable centric, realistic, seasonal recipes for a long time and finally found it all in this book.UPDATE two weeks later: if there were a 6th star I would add it! I’ve made the chick pea stew, crispy seed and nut crusted chicken with tomato avocado salad, sweet and sour potato salad, German apple pancake with cheddar and gado gado. I am so excited to make all these recipes because everything I have made so far has been great and my kids hardly complained! I’ve loved the tips for how kids can help and so have my kids. The chick pea stew recipe was particularly fun for us!!

Not a fan of this book. It’s pretentious and totally disconnected from reality. Lots of shiny, beautiful photos, but poorly organized and literally half-baked recipes. Most importantly, it’s careless in an attempt to put forward an image of laid back perfection. I find it annoying. And I wouldn’t recommend this book to any one, let alone someone with kids.Of the several recipes I’ve tried, the only one that brought any joy to my life was the “Banana Milk” recipe, which is really pretty basic: Take some milk, blend in some banana and add a dash of cinnamon. We usually just call it a smoothie. And it’s better with blueberries. While I appreciate the simplicity, there are dozens of yummy smoothie recipes you can find on the internet.But the recipe that put me over edge was the “Simple Dutch Oven Bread” in the Spring section (who only eats bread in the springtime?). Simple it is... just add 4 cups flour to 2 cups water. What you get, however, is a very wet, unworkable doughy mess. Only after trying to make this dough work (by adding lots more flour) did I realize that’s a hydration level of 90% (500g of dough to 450g of water!) which is ridiculous. This recipe is just careless. Hard-working bakers like Ken Forkish, while finicky, offer much better and careful advice.This book has now been delegated to the basement.

I adore a good cookbook, and for me, Feeding a Family by Sarah Waldman ticks all the boxes. I love the styling of the book (clean, fresh and modern but maintaining a charming homey warmth). This book is alongside my copy of Tessa Kiros’ Apples For Jam, when I need a boost of inspiration or positivity!The recipes are set out by season, however the index is well laid out if you’re after a particular dish by name or ingredient. There are also sections covering pantry staples, how to help overcome picky eating and getting the kids involved.For those still knee-deep with weaning, each recipe gives hints on how to adapt your baby’s portion to suit their stage of development, so you can all eat together (how I wish I had this book when my two were younger!). Each recipe also suggests how to use leftovers in a different way for a second meal. Sarah also provides some great menus in each section. This is delicious, unfussy and informal relaxed family food.All recipes I’ve tried have worked a charm, even when I’ve had to replace ingredients to accommodate gluten and dairy sensitivities in our household (like-for-like swapping Doves gluten Freee flour for normal, oat milk for dairy). The same is true for Sarah’s other book Little Bites, which I also couldn’t do without. I can’t wait for her next book....

I love this book. I've tried a number of recipes and the kids lap them all up. I like the way it's segmented into seasons so you can eat whats fresh and local where possible. Very tasty meals with easy to follow instructions and inspiring photography.