The Ultimate Meal Planning for One Cookbook

June 1, 2024
Scaling down recipes for one person while meal planning can be a challenge, but Jagger (The Ultimate Baking for One Cookbook, 2020; The Ultimate Mediterranean Diet Cooking for One Cookbook, 2023) is here to help. First breaking down the differences between meal planning and meal prepping, Jagger goes over how to create a meal plan and instructs readers generally on how to cook for one, such as having smaller cooking equipment and adjusting cooking times. Most recipes are kept to one page and include classics like buttery herb rice, chicken noodle soup, and pasta bolognese. In addition to being geared towards meal-planning solo cooks, the book's format, shopping lists, and included meal plans make it a useful introduction for people just getting started, those who don't want to spend a lot of time in the grocery store, and anyone who doesn't want to eat the same thing every day. A short, sweet, and to-the-point addition to the cooking-for-one subgenre.

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July 15, 2024
“A little planning goes a long way toward a satisfying weekly meal plan,” promises Jaggers in this helpful workbook, the fourth in the Ultimate for One series (after The Ultimate Mediterranean Diet Cooking for One Cookbook). In an informative introduction, Jaggers encourages readers to think through their meals for the week in advance to save both money and time and reduce food waste, and offers eight sample weekly meal plans, complete with shopping lists. Recipes yield either one or two servings, with some suggested meal plans including scheduled leftovers for later in the week. Dishes are sorted into breakfast fare (including loaded avocado toast with smoked salmon); snacks (almond and date energy bites); salads, soups, and sides (a single-serving take on a seven layer salad); vegetarian mains (couscous stuffed zucchini); seafood (lobster thermidor for one); meat dishes (beef chili, the leftovers of which can be stored in the freezer for a month); and desserts (single-serving berry crumble). Jaggers notes when recipes call for overlapping ingredients to help home cooks plan ahead (both cranberry brie mini tarts and cranberry turkey meatballs call for cranberry sauce, for example) and provides both nutritional information and helpful sidebars on storing, freezing, and reheating items. This is sure to come in handy.

July 12, 2024

Jaggers (The Ultimate Mediterranean Diet Cooking for One Cookbook) writes for a specific audience--the solo eater. While this title contains some recipes that produce multiple servings, the majority make enough for only one or two. Jaggers also addresses the issue of what to do with the rest of the can of tomato paste or carton of heavy whipping cream after extracting the tablespoon or two needed for a particular recipe. In addition to the book's recipes, there is also a series of weekly meal plans and shopping lists, demonstrating how to combine the recipes over a week so that the leftover ingredients, before they spoil, are incorporated into other dishes. This approach works better in some of Jaggers's weekly plans than in others; for example, in week four, readers are advised to purchase two dozen eggs, while week one requires a bottle of dry white wine, a bottle of bourbon, and a bottle of brandy. Directions are straightforward, and nutrition information is provided for each recipe; photographs for of the dishes are included sporadically. The book's back matter includes information on reducing a recipe to a smaller serving size. VERDICT Helpful for readers trying to plan meals for one without being overwhelmed by leftovers.--Judy Poyer

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