A Man, A Can, and a Plan

by: David Joachim, The Editors of Men's Health
List Price: $15.99
Binding: Board book
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.612
Publication Date: June 17, 2002
Publisher: Rodale Books

(Unsolicited Review)

Okay, you all are going to have a good laugh. That's okay! I love trying gourmet recipes and southern recipes and ethnic recipes. You name the food combinations, I want to try it. So, this cookbook seems exactly opposite to what I love about cooking.

A bachelor friend of ours invited us over for a meal. It was a yummy chicken and noodles combination, and he admitted it was inspired from a recipe he found in this cookbook. When he pulled out the entire collection for us to browse through, we realized just how brilliant this is. It's sort of like garanimals for pantry foods, to get a meal on the table quick. The recipes are good just as they are, but many times you can think of something similar that would also work in a pinch, and that new combination also turns out to be a success.

I bought the book for Russ to use since I travel so much. But on days I'm working 14 hours, we are finding these recipes a helpful alternative to trying to eat out in a town with very few eat-out or take-out choices.

So now, like Rich, I want to go buy the entire set of books. I purchased our copy "like new" through a used bookstore, so you don't have to pay retail price to get good recipe ideas.

There are ingredients in the book we don't like, so we just use those recipes as "starting off points" for new recipes using ingredients we do like. And some recipes are great as is.

For anyone needing to use staple goods more than fresh foods, or for simple cooking when crunched for time, these are great starter recipes. These would be great for hurricane recipes, camping and hunting recipes, and budget recipes.

This week, three of our meals came from "A Man, A Can, and a Plan" and I'm guessing we will try at least two recipes a week from this helpful guide. And then, on days when I have more time and money to focus on the more complex recipes, I can return to my beloved "foodie" hobby!