Better Than a Box: How to Transform Processed Food Recipes Into Whole Foods Favorites

I cook everything from scratch and have followed the Weston Price diet for years. I grew up that way in a small mediterranean country (where a chicken dinner started with killing the chicken), so boxed American food does not appeal to me. Campbell soups, mac and cheese, hamburger helper, and chicken pot pies were never part of my diet, or that of my parents and grandparents for that matter. I do not crave the taste, or associate these meals with fond memories of childhood and grandma visits. So, for these reasons, the recipe section of the book is not something I value very much. I am into experimenting with different cuisines, but the goal of the recipes often seems to be to replicate the taste of the boxed version. I much rather prefer upgrading both the recipe and the ingredients, rather than just the latter. For e.g. Alton Brown has a mac-and-cheese recipe that is out of this world, but much more inventive than boxed mac. However, if these are the dishes you want to eat, but now, aware of the junk in supermarket food you no longer can prepare them the supermarket-way, this is the book for you. If you are on GAPS or Paleo diet, you will not be able to use the recipes in this book, as most of them (all?) include pasta, rice, beans, flour, corn, and dairy.What I do appreciate most from this book are the tips for cutting down on kitchen work. I thought I was an expert in speed-cooking, but Katie taught me a few things. For e.g. I love the idea of re-casting leftovers not by just reheating them, but by doing something with them (add some ingredients, etc.) to turn them into a new meal. I hate leftovers, but cooking extra is a necessity for busy moms. This idea solves the dilemma.Advice on prep work to stock the freezer is also very useful. I was doing a lot of that myself - e.g. I always buy one vegetable a week in bulk at the farmers market and either freeze, ferment, or can it. However, I never froze pre-cooked meats (shredded, cubed, etc.) to use in quick recipes. It's definitely a winner.The best advice of all: meal planning. I have heard all about it, yeah, yeah, sure, I kinda do it too (as in defrost meat the night before), but Katie really brought the idea home. The reason that struck a chord with me for why meal planning is very important: ensure variety in the diet.Buy the book - there's some gems for everyone!

We have been eating mostly from scratch, whole foods etc. for a while, but when I read about Homemade Cheeseburger Helper on a post Katie wrote for the Keeper of the Home blog, I realized that I missed some of those old comfort foods from growing up. I wanted a treat. I made the Homemade Cheeseburger Helper TONIGHT and it was fantastic! My husband and son loved it too. I purchased this book for the recipes but was delighted with all the information on creating my own substitutes for the popular box foods out there. Until now, I've just eliminated them instead of replacing them, but I think my family will thank this book for some good old comforts.I was one of the purchasers that downloaded the version of the book that didn't have a table of contents functioning. I emailed Katie to let her know and she emailed back with an attachment of the updated file that she just updated on here for purchase too. You should be getting a very easy to read and navigate book that teaches you how to transform your favorite box meals - and if you want to go straight to the recipes, that is easy too! Even if you never eat box foods, these recipes in here are fun. It includes recipes for all sorts of things like sausage, freezer meatballs, velveeta substitute, dressings, dips, homemade barbecue sauce, one dish meals, muffins, hot chocolate, chocolate syrup, and homemade whole wheat graham crackers.You know you should avoid MSG. Do you know what umami is? I didn't. This info helped me understand why they keep putting MSG in everything and why it is so hard to replace (you'll find this information in the "Bouillon Cube Substitute" section of the book). I'm sure there are more things like that I haven't read yet too.I'm loving this book because it accomplishes something I wish I could - I've tried to organize my base recipes, favorite recipes, substitute recipes (for mayo, ketchup, relish, chocolate sauce...), and extra information like this for my own personal use and I've only done 5% of this book! I'm impressed with the organization, the details, the extra information, the many links, and the examples she takes the time to explain. This would have taken a lot of planning, thought and time and I really appreciate this.(Review written by the wife - not Joel Brown.)

This is an amazing book, and I recommend it highly. It provides some awesome basic, foundational recipes with which to be able to health-ify some of the recipes you've been using, or some you'd like to use. I am forever stymied, for example, when I find a recipe I'd love to try but can't because it uses one of those old "cream of" soups in a can. Now that will no longer be a problem -- I am armed with my own healthier version. This was worth the cost of the entire book, as far as I'm concerned.I also love the BBQ sauce recipe with the variations. And while I haven't tried it yet, but the healthy workaround for dry Onion Soup Mix looks fabulous. And there are many other recipes that look interesting.Another huge plus is that she offers gluten-free options in a good many of her recipes -- but not atl. And that brings me to one of my disappointments -- not big enough to be a complaint, but just a disappointment: I'd have liked more of the recipes to be thorughly wheat/gluten-, dairy- and soy-free. Increasing numbers of us need that, and those who don't (yet) would do well to get on board.My other disappointment is the organization of the book. Again and again it confuses me. She wants to teach you how to re-engineer favorite unhealthy foods, and sets up a chapter to do that -- but almost includes the whole recipe, but not quite, and then repeats it in a later Recipes chapter. It's redundant and, as I said, confusing.But the information she shares is solid gold, so don't let a little thing like that keep you from buying this. Unless you're very clever and creative in the kitchen (as I am not), it has the potential to change your life. No kidding.

I just bought this a few days ago and have already tried a handful of recipes from this book as well as Katie's website kitchenstewardship.com. Her instructions are clear, easy to follow, and this book features recipes that are truly from scratch. I am so glad to have this resource for real food recipes that I can actually have ready by dinner time!