Rachael Ray Express Lane Meals: What to Keep on Hand, What to Buy Fresh for the Easiest-Ever 30-Minute Meals: A Cookbook

Book arrived quickly and in excellent condition. The first few pages of the Express Lane Meals are written for those who are new to cooking, tips on what to always have in the pantry, etc. I've been cooking for years and am just looking add some new quick meals.

"Rachael Ray is a very busy lady" - so says the back of Ray's new book, "Express Lane Meals". With a show on the Food Network, a slew of cookbooks and a recent magazine venture, you would think that she has no time left to write another book. But obviously, this wonder woman has found the time to do it again!This book is focused on those of us who come home from work, exhausted, but still want a good, quality meal on the table without a lot of fuss. In Express Lane Meals, Ray emphasizes that this can be done - with a well stocked pantry and freezer - plus a few simple ingredients that you can pick up at the store on your way home. The secret is this - about every two weeks (or less depending on your usage), you do a "big shop", where you buy all the staple pantry/freezer/fridge ingredients that you keep on hand(ex: eggs, Parmesan cheese, pasta, frozen corn, lemons, canned beans, etc.) and then, you combine these ingredients with a few fresh items - and presto - you have quick, delicious dinners faster than you can say checkout!The food is typical Ray fare: lots of pastas, some Tex-mex and Asain, plus plenty of Italian. The recipes are really nice and tasty with everything from Balsalmic Chicken with White Beans and Wilted Spinach to Thai-Style Grilled Beef in Broth with a Lot o' Noodles. Each recipe features the "Express Lane Shopping List" (what you need to pick up at the store) as well as a list of ingredients that you should have on hand from those 'big shop' days. This is a really handy feature and it helps you to be organized so that you are not caught without your necessities.The book is divided into three sections: Meals for the Exhausted, Meals for the Not Too Tired, Bring it On! This allows you to choose from super easy to more complicated meals. I also like the "Master List" for the big shop days - this gives a good idea of what a well stocked pantry should be. It certainly gave me a few ideas that I didn't think of!I would recommend this book for working moms, harried executives, busy families, college students or those of us who simply want a nice home cooked meal without a lot of fuss. You really can't go wrong with any of her books. Well done!

I think Rachael Ray is so cute and bubbly that she has developed into a national craze. And I also think her publisher is pushing out more books, more books and more without regard to content because of her popularity. That's why many of her cookbooks I have not rated so highly. This book layout is based on time contraints not by meal type. It's for the very rushed, less rushed and have more time concept; rather than knowing you have thawed chicken that needs to be cooked tonight you'd have to search for recipes that call for using chicken.What I do like about it is that on the way home you could theoretically stop at the grocery and with purchasing 3 or 4 ingredients have a well rounded home cooked dinner. That is after you got home, changed clothes, pulled out 3 or 4 pots/pans and then started boiling water and chopping vegetables. I don't think it's very realistic; most people who are rushed for time would just drive-thru somewhere and throw bags of dinner on the table when they got home.And if I were stopping at the grocery I'd probably just buy the cooked chicken that so many groceries have already cooked and boxed at the register. If needed I could run to the deli and buy 2 or 3 things of pre-made salads, beans, slaw, etc.So I'm not sure the cookbook is really practical from the express lane point of view. What I do like about it is if you already have your ingredients at home and with a few pantry staples you could make a quick meal. I like this cookbook much better than the 365 with no repeats cookbook.Most of the recipes I liked although Rachael likes capers a lot and I do not. I like this cookbook better than many of her others so worth it just from the Rachael Ray craze viewpoint.

This book was very helpful when I first began cooking. I had no clue what I needed for where to begin and being a busy mom and wife on the go I needed 30 minutes or less. It was very helpful and although I don't use her recipes as often any more it set me up for the basics in the kitchen. Everything required EVOO. I know it sounds silly but it helped me choose healthier choices when cooking meals with oil. The recipes in this book are excellent and I had white a few favorites from the Balsamic Chicken to the Tilapia Corn Fish. The meals in this book are very healthy and she cooks with a lot of basic spices so even if you don't have everything she gives you a great card that is helpful for tips on stocking your cabinets.Once you get started you will find that cooking is not so hard and that there are ways to feed a family without spending hours in the kitchen. I later outgrew this book and have had it now five years. Occasionally I look back every once in a whole but Rachel Ray gave me the inspiration to cook. I appreciate that and I find that every young person should have this book if they aren't sure how to make many different meals.

I love the food from this cookbook. I can make them with minimalFrustration and I love the pantry-stocking list!! My only complaint however is that I will be 400 lbs if I eat like this all the time! Most of the recipes call for huge amounts of butter, heavy whipping cream, sour cream, cheese... you get the idea.So I am mixing up my old low fat healthy standbys half the week and recipes from this book half the week. My family is thrilled at these yummy savory restaurant quality (and NEW) meals and I am definitely having fun in the kitchen.But beware: this is the opposite of low cal :)

good tips

The recipies are good and very usuafull, but i miss a lot the recipe photos on the e-book and for me its very important thing. I need to see it to make me interested to preprare them ...!!!!

Great recipes

Great book

Very good book. Lots of recipes.