Real Life Dinners: Fun, Fresh, Fast Dinners from the Creator of The Chic Site

I read Rachel’s book “Girl, Wash Your Face” and knew I had to pickup this cookbook! I was not disappointed! Her charm and wit are throughout the pages and so relatable, who knew a cookbook could be this fun to read? The recipes are also perfect for the entire family as they use real ingredients you can find at your local grocery & the instructions are super easy to follow. I love the step by step photos offered as I’m a visual learner, especially when it comes to food since I am no pro cook. I also enjoy how it’s broken up into sections such as make-ahead dinners, kid-friendly dinners, and even breakfast for dinner - because hello, who wasn’t craved breakfast for dinner?!

I read Rachel's book "Girl, wash your face", then I noticed her cookbook was coming out. Hello!!! No one could take my money fast enough. I was stalking my porch the day it was scheduled to arrive. I browsed recipes on the first day, then made one of the salads for dinner the next night. It was most delish! What I love most about this book? First, Rach explains basic table manners. Bam. Thank you. Second, these are recipes a real person with a regular kitchen can make. It was as if your good friend shared a recipe, instead of Martha Stewart showing you how to make your tomatoes grow by having your own bee hive. (I also love Martha, but that isn't my daily life.) I posted a pic of the Italian chopped salad I made. The directions were easy to follow, and the photos in the book look REAL. You are missing out if you don't have this cookbook in your kitchen!

I made the Hawaiian Chicken and Barbacoa Tacos... and y'all. It was so good. They were super easy to prep ahead of time and throw in the slow cooker. Delicious. And can we talk about how beautifully laid out this book is? The photo's themselves are beautiful and the layout is so gorgeous plus easy to follow. This stays on my counter displayed in a cookbook stand and opened to whatever recipe I'm making for the day/week. Love it and makes me drool every time I walk by and see whatever recipe I'm displaying at the time! If you need easy to make, easy to prep, easy all the way around but also DELISH... this is your book. Plus, Rachel is just too funny and I enjoy the opening page to each recipe often talking about why she chose a recipe or what it reminds her of. It adds such a fun personal touch. This is definitely a go to for our house and should become yours, too!

In Real Life Dinners, Rachel shares easy to make recipes for the busy mom on the go. She provides meals that even the pickiest of eaters will enjoy eating Easy meals that you can prep early in the week, to pull out and fix during the week on a limited time schedule. Ingredients are everyday things that I always pick up at the grocery store. My kid enjoyed helping out in the kitchen making the pizzas and the steaks worked great for a quick salad for a late summer day. There were many recipes that I had seen or made before from other cookbooks or sites. However, some of them were just different enough to give a twist to how I had made the dish before. *I received an Advanced Readers Copy of the book.

I love this cookbook! I am a girl who is drawn to everything simple. If I'm scrolling for dinner ideas and see 27 exotic ingredients I just keep on going. Real Life Dinners is filled with super simple recipes that don't make my brain shut down. I love the gorgeous step by step photos. In addition to the amazing delicious food(mushroom kabobs, creamy basil tomato soup, balsamic roasted carrots, and crispy brussels sprouts are a few of my favorites so far)it is more than just a cookbook...it has stories and practical advice. It is sweet, funny, and I found myself smiling as I read many times. I think maybe a tear or two might have rolled down my cheek too. My biggest takeaway as a wife and a mom who often gets overwhelmed with the task of feeding my fam(really, they want dinner every night?)is how much of a lasting impact dinner and food can have on my family. What a sweet mindset change from man-I don't want to cook dinner again-to how can I bless my family and build these traditions that they will hold dear? I'm happy to be excited for dinner tonight!

Fell in love with Rachel Hollis’ Girl Wash Your Face” so when I saw Rachel wrote some cookbooks I HAD to check them out! This cookbook “ REAL LIFE DINNERS” seemed to suit me the best so I started with this one. I’m so happy I got it! The recipes are easy to follow, no “Martha Stewart skill level” required. So far I’ve tried 5 recipes, 3 main courses & 2 sides ALL were delicious! A bit hit with my husband, 2 teens boys & myself. Lots of useful tips, things to keep on hand/items to stock in your pantry etc. The make ahead dinners are great! With 2 boys in football, I work 50-65 hours a week & my husband who works 5-6 days a week these make ahead recipes are convenient & DELICIOUS! I will get A LOT of use out of this cookbook &definitely plan on purchasing the other cookbook she wrote!

I enjoyed reading this book more than the actual recipes that were in the book. I will say I have yet to try any of the recipes in this book. They are either ones I already have my own personal recipes for or simply don't fit into our families taste profile and overall it feels basic. However, I am a collector of cookbooks and a fan of Rachel Hollis so I am happy to add this to my shelf of cookbooks regardless.

Rachel Hollis has done it again!! Her first cookbook was adorable and full of great recipes, & this one didn’t disappoint. I’ve cooked a few of the dishes in here so far, & the family has not left even the tiniest bit over. The favorite has been the Cowboy Steak Salad so far. All my meat & potato loving men in the family raves over this salad! The format is so user friendly - short & sweet directions, beautiful photos to show each step of the process, & an incredibly handy time guide on the side so you can make a quick decision on what to make based on the time you have to cook. One of my favorite parts was the introduction where Rachel provided her kitchen staples, as well as the dinner time rules she keeps at her house. The content is flawless, the pictures are stunning, & Rachel has just knocked it out of the park once again. 5 stars for sure!!

This book has some nice hearty recipes which are mostly straightfoward and kid friendly so thats good. My only gripe really is that the first huge chapter is all about table manners. I am 36 years old and dont feel like I need a recipe book to lecture me on manners. I think this is mostly aimed at american women and maybe some of them lack in confidence or life skills and want to be told how to do things and the correct way to do things, unfortunately I find that a little patronising.

This cookbook is so wonderful! One of my new faves. It's got beautiful pictures, including easy-to-read step-by-step photo instructions, and the best part is that it uses real food that we use in real life (as the title claims), much of which already exists in my pantry, or is a staple in my fridge/freezer. Thanks Rachel Hollis for knocking it out of the park again! I can't wait to make all the recipes!

This is book is everything it claims and more. I've made many of the recipes since receiving it last week and they always turn out great. They are healthy and delicious which is hard to do sometimes. The thing that impressed me the most about this book was the fact that the meals are affordable to make. You don't need to visit five different specialty stores to find the ingredients. Love this book and looking forward to making more!

super easy manageable recipes. pictures with every recipe. let me think a book.

Amazing cookbook that I received as a gift. Recipes are fantastic. Only I was very disappointed that my copy’s pictures were black and white and not nice thick paper with coloured pages and photos as I had seen in someone else’s copy. The paper is just a step above newsprint. This may not matter to some cooks and does not take away from the wonderful recipes.