Rachel Ray Cookbook - 365 - no repeats

[apwendy]

I just ordered the Rachel RAy book 3"65 No Repeats." Lots of good dinner recipes. I'm hoping to find something new everyone can agree on in my family.

[karaoke]

That sounds good. Ive seen her show and its pretty good - down to earth food people will really eat.

[Rhonda Dunaway]

I received this cookbook for Christmas. I'm not yet sure how much I'm going to like it or how much I'm going to use it. When I briefly reviewed it the other day, I realized that many of the recipes are not particularly healthy. For example, there was an awful lot of sodium in the recipes I read. I was also disappointed that the recipes don't include any nutritional information such as calories, fat grams, milligrams of sodium, etc. per serving. I rely quite a bit on that type of information when I'm selecting things to cook for my family. I was also a little disappointed to find that the recipes aren't particularly quick or easy to make. Many require 15 or 20 or even more ingredients and have many, many steps. You're supposed to be able to prepare the recipes in 30 minutes. That might be true if you're Rachel Ray, but I can tell you right now, it's not going to be true if you are Rhonda Dunaway.

For some reason, dinnertime is about the worst time of day for me in terms of my energy level, mental alertness, and patience. I was reading one recipe where you have to have three pans going all at once (meat in one, couscous and almonds in another, and sauce in another), and I wondered aloud to my husband how I would ever manage to make something like that when I am constantly interrupted during my cooking time by him, my son, and my 14-year-old dog, who in his old age, has decided that he needs to be right next to me every minute so that I am constantly tripping over him every time I reach for a pan or a utensil.

Still, I know that Rachel Ray is wildly popular, so I'm determined to give a few recipes a try and see what all the fuss is about. I think I'm going to start with Pina Colada Shrimp and Honey Nut Crunch Chicken Fingers. I'll let you know how everything comes out.