Susan Whetzel - The Everything Busy Moms Cookbook: Includes Peach Pancakes, Asian Chicken Noodle Salad, Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry, Meatball Pizza, Macadamia Coconut Bars and hundreds more!

Dear Reader,

Four years ago, after the birth of my only son, I took a leap and decided to become a stay-at-home mom. Little did I know it would be the toughest job I ever had! Despite previous jobs in the food and beverage industry, and despite owning my own business, nothing prepared me for the challenges I faced in becoming a homemaker. The toughest part? Meals! I had no knowledge of cooking or baking, no experience in the kitchen other than knowing how to artfully decorate a fruit and cheese display for a party!

So I turned to the world of food blogs and found a plethora of dishes to try out almost immediately. I began a small blog of my own, www.doughmesstic.com, and over the next few months began baking multiple times a week and preparing meals that surprised not only me, but my family as well!

Today my food blog is thriving, and I have become a full-time professional blogger, a recipe developer for multiple companies, and a freelance writer and food photographer. I work on average twelve hours a day (even weekends), and all the while, I have my son here at home with me! Of course, we all have our own unique work challenges, but I do know how it feels to be a busy mom (even you stay-at-home moms, I know for a fact you are busy!). I hope that youll find some comfort in knowing you are certainly not alone, and that this cookbook will lend you a hand in keeping it all together.

Enjoy!

These handy, accessible books give you all you need to tackle a difficult project, gain a new hobby, comprehend a fascinating topic, prepare for an exam, or even brush up on something you learned back in school but have since forgotten.

You can choose to read an Everything book from cover to cover or just pick out the information you want from our four useful boxes: e-questions, e-facts, e-alerts, and e-ssentials. We give you everything you need to know on the subject, but throw in a lot of fun stuff along the way, too.

We now have more than 400 Everything books in print, spanning such wide-ranging categories as weddings, pregnancy, cooking, music instruction, foreign language, crafts, pets, New Age, and so much more. When youre done reading them all, you can finally say you know Everything!

PUBLISHER Karen Cooper

MANAGING EDITOR, EVERYTHING SERIES Lisa Laing

COPY CHIEF Casey Ebert

ASSISTANT PRODUCTION EDITOR Mary Beth Dolan

ACQUISITIONS EDITOR Lisa Laing

ASSOCIATE DEVELOPMENT EDITOR Eileen Mullan

EVERYTHING SERIES COVER DESIGNER Erin Alexander

Visit the entire Everything series at www.everything.com

BUSY MOMS
COOKBOOK

Susan Whetzel

FIFTY YEARS AGO, when women were fighting their way into the working world, they not only had to raise their families while climbing the corporate ladder; they had to do so without the aid of multiple automobiles, cell phones, many household appliances, and computers. Despite the lack of these modern accessories, women were still expected to keep dinner on the table, lunches packed, and kids tucked carefully in bed.

In todays world, moms no longer have to fight for a position in the workplace. In fact, most moms are expected or even required to work to make ends meet. Gone are the leisurely days of book clubs and Tupperware parties, and in their place are conference calls and business lunches. Its not easy to keep work and home under control, and more often than not, it still falls on mom to keep everything balanced.

On top of everything, children are also much busier than in the past. Multiple sports for both boys and girls keep kids after school for extra hours each day; games are scheduled out of town multiple nights a week; and other extracurricular activities tie up precious family weekends. With music practices, study groups, and advanced classes (often on the collegiate level) cutting into family time, how can you expect to keep your family together, healthy, and engaged with one another?

Mealtimes.

Nothing brings the family together like a shared meal, and despite busy schedules, it is important to remember that there is still time to dine together several times a week as long as a little effort is made. Prep work on a Sunday afternoon can lead to no prep on a busy Wednesday night; a batch of muffins made on Saturday morning before soccer practice can be frozen and reheated for a quick grab-and-go breakfast on Friday. Bringing the family together for a Sunday breakfast of waffles can be a great way to start the impending action-filled week. A surprise picnic down by the lake later in the day can turn into a lasting memory for you and your children.

The important part is the preparation. Arming yourself with an arsenal of quick, family-friendly meals and desserts is a timesaving strategy. Simple ingredients that even your picky eaters will appreciate, basic cooking techniques, and a smartly stocked pantry are all key in making family meals work. It also helps to spend fifteen minutes or so making a menu plan for the upcoming week in order to save yourself from hours of indecision later on. It is this menu plan that can lead to a detailed shopping list, which will surely save you multiple visits to the grocery store (and money). With a few tips and tricks, and a little perseverance, youll find yourself becoming an old pro at managing both work and home life.

Enjoy your family, and enjoy your children while you can. They grow up so fast! Though they have so much on their young plates already, the meals you prepare and eat together will stick with them throughout their lives, bonding you forever.

When it comes to being a mom, one of todays biggest challenges is finding time. Time for the childrens homework, baths, sports, school, and of course, eating. So often our meals become a matter of convenience versus nutrition, and on stressful nights, a trip to the drive-through wins out over a home-cooked meal. However, this doesnt have to be the case! The meals in this book can all be prepared in about the same amount of time as it takes to put on your shoes, head out to the car, and make a trip into town. If you start using some of the strategies found throughout this chapter, meals can be a breeze. Thirty minutes is all it takes from start to finish!

We all face challenges as parents, whether we work outside the home or from within. There just never seems to be enough time to get it all done! Obstacles such as nonstop schedules, picky eaters, and staying within your household budget can all prevent your family from having nutritious family meals. But youll find that with a couple of deep breaths and a few tips and tricks, youll be on your way to domestic bliss in no time!