Mug Meals: Delicious Microwave Recipes

“Mug Meals: Delicious Microwave Recipes” by Dina Cheney is a beautifully illustrated cookbook based on recipes which can be cooked in a 12 ounce mug (though the author points out that using a 16 ounce mug works as well – and maybe helps with keeping the microwave clean.) I became interested in this book because it involves more work than throwing four ingredients into a mug and heating it up. While there are a few simpler items included, this is not a book of simple flavor recipes – it is a book of interesting and somewhat complex ingredient meals/desserts that are simple to make. You will need a decently stocked pantry to make all of the recipes. Good news for beginners is that you can buy the items as you go along and you will end up with a well-stocked pantry by the time you have worked your way through the book. The Introduction explains the premise of the book, gives some background, pantry tips, and even cooking suggestions for some items. After the introduction, the book is divided into three categories: Breakfast, Lunch/Dinner, and Desserts. The recipes in the book are fairly evenly divided, which is very good news for those (like myself) who like to make scrumptious breakfasts. So many cookbooks give only a few pages to making omelets, scrambles, and casseroles (albeit with a number of variations listed in fine print.) It was a real pleasure to see recipe after recipe that varied so much in content and flavor. I'm also an individual who likes breakfast for lunch and dinner, so having unusual breakfast meals adds to my use of the cookbook throughout the day. The Lunch/Dinner section does rely fairly heavily on having certain pre-cooked items ready (e.g., ground meats, quinoa, and rice.) This is true to a lesser extent for breakfasts. The author suggests that you make these ahead of time and keep time in the refrigerator for a number of days. You can also freeze them in the amounts you need for your meals (use a zip-lock bag for easy cleanup) and thaw them overnight in the refrigerator. I really liked that the author explained how to cook each of these needed precooked items (though I generally use a one-to-one ratio for my quinoa.) It makes the recipes easier for someone with beginning cooking skills. A number of the recipes require cheese and unless you wish to shred your own (which I do), buying shredded cheese may work best for you. The Dessert section is simply gorgeous. So much choice and flavors and best of all, in sizes that won't encourage you to eat seconds of that wonderful sweet thing you made. It's even possible to make one dessert and then share it (which I just might consider doing with my husband.) Just looking at the pictures and reading the ingredients makes me want to cook every single one of them as each looks more delicious than the last. The cookbook is a keeper for the kitchen shelf. This is one to keep on hand to use all the time. It is so versatile for various cooks who want to make a portion appropriate meal: it is great for the single cook (beginner or advanced) who wants to make a great tasting recipe; for a family who wants to have recipes available for quick meals for an individual who needs their meal sooner rather than later (heading for class, practice, or what have you); and finally, for the cook, who like me, has cooked for a larger family and wants to make dishes for two that still capture the taste and feel of the “old days” while saving time and clean-up. I received a digital advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley. I also purchased several copies of the book for myself and other family members.

The recipes are good but they want pre cooked stuff like meat in them.

It's a great little cook book. I recently tried the Polenta Lasagna, and it was delicious. When your short on time, these "Mug Meals" are the way to go!

Most of the recipes are really delicious! This is super nice as a college student, because it does not leave many dishes and I do not have left overs. It is hard needing to buy some of the stuff because I have to buy more than I need for one recipe and sometimes that stuff goes bad on me... (ie, bread or vegetables). But with spices and cooking goods, it helps build my pantry. None of the recipes take more than 5 minutes to make and they are all very simple and straight forward.

I bought this little book for my college bound daughter along with a large microwaveable mug. Of course, she skipped right to the desert section and can't wait to try out these delicious looking deserts! I'd be more inclined to use it for the breakfast recipes because I find myself eating breakfast solo 9 times out of 10. I guess I'll have to buy my own!

Got this recipe book as gift for family member struggling with meal ideas. Have since bought it for 2 other people. Recipients either liked the recipes or got a lot of good ideas from it. Would be nice to have a cook8ng mug that comes with it to get recipients started

Mug meals are supposed to be fun and kooky--but mainly quick and easy with just a few ingredients. This book is great if you want to make real recipes in a mug. The recipes aren't hard, but they take more than a few ingredients and they are more "serious" than fun. We have made three recipes and all of them turned out fine: not too hard and certainly tasty. The disconnect for us is certainly not the author's fault; it's our own perception of what we were looking for.

I don't even know where to begin. So many recipes are incomplete. Go to your local library and check it out for yourself before you buy this. Look at page 52. Very nicely presented but the picture will confuse you as you see couscous rice in the picture but in the recipe there is no mention of couscous rice. You have to make that separately and they put that in the fine print. There are so many recipes like that. The whole point of mug meal is convenience. You put everything together and you're done. You're just cooking for yourself. I am an expert cook but I don't have any kids so I thought I get something that is quick and convenient. That's not the case here. Also, maybe 20% of the recipes have pictures. So you really have no idea how majority of the recipes look once they're cooked. The make things worse, and this was done for styling the food purpose, they took the meal out of the mug to style it in a plate. No mention of what size mug to use to make the meals. So I highly recommend that you go to your local library and look for this book. You'd find it most probably. I personally would not recommend this book to anyone. You're better off googling the recipes or YouTube it.

Especially for a single person, this book is great. Lots of simple and quick recipes, and many combinations I wouldn't have thought of.

Interesting book.

This is a very handy book to have to have everything in one ^^ I am enjoying this book very much :)

I borrowed this book from the library, at first. However, I bookmarked so many recipes I figured it would be better to buy the book. Now to start making some of the recipes.