Cookbook Club: Dinner Solved and The Mom 100 Cookbook by Katie Workman #weekendcooking

Weekend Cooking hosted by The Intrepid Reader includes badge which is a collage of four cooking related photos

For our virtual cookbook club meeting in March, I tried several recipes from the main selection Dinner Solved! 100 Ingenious Recipes That Make the Whole Family Happy, Including You! (Workman, 2015) by Katie Workman.

Sample pages from Dinner Solved! by Katie Workman

The alternate selection was Katie Workman’s earlier cookbook, The Mom 100 Cookbook: 100 Recipes Every Mom Needs in Her Back Pocket (Workman, 2012).

Sample pages from The Mom 100 Cookbook by Katie Workman

All of the cookbook club members liked the way both cookbooks were laid out and found the directions and the ingredients lists clear and easy to follow. In Dinner Solved! , the author provides “fork in the road” modifications for every recipe, making it easy to use a single recipe to satisfy a variety of tastes and dietary requirements. There are numerous vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free possibilities, although the majority of the recipes are pretty mainstream with an emphasis on healthful whole foods. The author loves lists, so take a look at the recipe lists she has on her Web site, The Mom 100, categorizing them and giving you a good idea of what her recipes are like.

The Mom 100 Cookbook is geared towards cooking for a family with children, and offers tips on how the kids can help with meal preparation.

I made several recipes from Dinner Solved!, and had several more bookmarked to try. Everything was delicious, and made great leftovers, too. The Warm Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Mustard Vinaigrette is the only recipe that’s online, but the others are definitely worth looking up in the cookbook!

Warm Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Mustard Vinaigrette
Saucy Seafood Stew
The recipe for Saucy Seafood Stew called for pasta but I served it over spaghetti squash. So good!
Korean Spinach
The recipe called for spinach but I through in some bok choy that I had on hand. Garlicky & good!
Sweet Potato Rice Pudding
These didn’t come out as pretty as the cookbook photo, but I cut the recipe in half and otherwise modifed it too much to really say I had tested it, but I had been wanting to try making rice pudding with arborio rice for a long time.

Recipes I still plan to make:

  • Light Green Crunchy Salad (couldn’t find kohlrabi in time)
  • Korean Sesame Tofu and Mushrooms
  • Scallion and Ginger Sweet Potato Fries
  • Fish Tacos

You may have noticed the author’s name and the publisher’s name are the same. Yes, Workman Publishing was founded by Katie Workman’s father, but the cookbook author had her own career in food and cookbook publishing at Clarkson Potter, and with Cookstr, an online recipe site (now defunct), before starting her blog, The Mom 100. Check out her recipes and sign up for her e-newsletter there.


Weekend Cooking is hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader and Baker. Visit for more Weekend Cooking posts from other bloggers!

Weekend Cooking hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader and Baker