Drummond - The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime: Comfort Classics, Freezer Food, 16-Minute Meals, and Other Delicious Ways to Solve Supper!

Matt Ball

TO MY FAMILY. Youre my favorite. AND TO ALEX. (If youre reading this for the first time, youre in college. Our dinnertime isnt the same without you!)

1. 
   Breakfast for Dinner
2. 
   Salad for Dinner
3. 
   Soup for Dinner
4. 
   Freezer Food
5. 
   16-Minute Meals
6. 
   Pasta Pronto
7. 
   Comfort Classics
8. 
   New Favorites
9. 
   Veggie Sides
10. 
    Starchy Sides
11. 
    Quick Desserts

Dinnertime is my life.Dinnertime is my religion.Theres no time like dinnertime.Dinnertime... because youre worth it! I could go on and on! The truth is, in case you havent gleaned this already, I love dinnertime.

Its the time of day when the work, school, and grind are coming to a close and you can reward your loved ones (and yourself!) for a job well done. Its the time of day when you gather around the dining room table (or the kitchen table... or the patio table... or, heck, the coffee table!) and enjoy delicious food while touching base with one another about how your respective days have shaped up. Dinnertime also happens to be the one time of day that home cooks struggle with the most! I mean, we can always rustle up some eggs for breakfast. Slap together a sandwich for lunch.

Snack on fruits and nuts and Twinkies and raw vegetables all day long. But when it comes to churning out dinner several nights a week, Ive learned through the years that I just cant fake it till I make it, or things start to get boring and lifeless really fast. Matt Ball (Did I just say Twinkies out loud? Oops.) Anyway, thats why I was so very excited to write this cookbook: Ive determined that as a wife, mother, woman, and citizen of this planet, all I really want and need on a daily basis is something to make for dinner tonight. Tonight. Not a party Im having next summer. Not a luncheon Im hosting next millennium. Not a dinner Im hosting on the eve of my babys graduation from college.

Not a cocktail hour Im hosting on the fifth of never. But dinner. Tonight. Tonight, tonight, tonight! Because before long, and I literally mean here in about two hours, my family members are going to be banging their forks on the table and looking at me with longing (read: ravenous) eyes, and the only way Im going to be able to get them out of my hair (and okay, spend some quality time with the cuties), will be to whip up something simple, scrumptious, and absolutely satisfying. In this cookbook, I show you how to attack the greatest meal of the day, using lots of different angles to suit whats going on in your life on any given evening. (Who says you cant eat pancakes for supper?) Main-dish salads and soups are some of my girls favorite dinners, so youll have plenty of those to add to your arsenal. (Who says you cant eat pancakes for supper?) Main-dish salads and soups are some of my girls favorite dinners, so youll have plenty of those to add to your arsenal.

Also, because life is crazy and unpredictable, Ive found that having ready-to-go meals and recipe components in the freezer has been a lifesaver through my years of raising kids, so the Freezer Food section is chock-full of my favorites! For years, Ive had fun creating tongue-in-cheek (and delicious-in-mouth) 16-Minute Meals, and theyve become a well-loved feature on my cooking blog. Youll love how quick and easy they are. And theres so much more in the book: irresistible pastas, classic comfort foods, new favorites for my family... not to mention amazing sides and super-quick desserts that will top off your familys dinnertime in sweet style. I also share my favorite fridge, pantry, and freezer staples so youll be all stocked up and ready to start cooking! I hope you love the recipes in this cookbook, friends. I hope you dive in and start cooking them right away.

And I especially hope they become a part of your dinner table for years and years to come. Lots of love,

I laughed as I typed that headline, because there is no such thing as a typical week in our house, unless I were allowed to use a one-word descriptor, in which case Id probably just type chaotic. Well, maybe chaotic isnt the right word. Unpredictable might be more like it. On any given day, there might be a grass fire to put out, fence to fix, a flat tire to tend to, or a calf to bottle-feed, not to mention all the normal things that happen in a family of six: football practice, soccer practice, cattle working, homeschooling co-op, cows in the yard, dogs on the porch, and a five-mile stretch of gravel road before we even get to the highway. And once we get to the highway, the journey has just barely begun. eating dinner on a set schedule. eating dinner on a set schedule.Next page