More-With-Less Cookbook
More-With-Less Cookbook book cover

More-With-Less Cookbook

Spiral-bound – Deluxe Edition, July 1, 2011

Price
$33.98
Publisher
Herald Press
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0836191035
Dimensions
6 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
Weight
1.8 pounds

Description

Review This is not only a fabulous cookbook that has helped thousands of families establish a climate of joy and concern for others at mealtime, it can help you improve your nutrition and save money, too. It outlines three ways to eat more-with-less and invites us to consider the global implications of our dietary choices. There are sidebars with stories, pictures, prayers and verses, making this truly a distinctively Christian cookbook, solid with great recipes, and wholesome, faithful ideas scattered through-out. We have some friends that have literally worn out several of these, as they are truly that useful---with simple, helpful stuff about complimentary proteins and ways to create meals that respect what is now called sustainable agriculture. As it says on the back, these recipes are kind to your wallet, your waistline, and the larger world. Three cheers for the Mennonite Central Committee and their good work bringing global concerns to the table in such a refreshing, pleasant way. 500 recipes! -- Booknotes Blog, Hearts & Minds Books About the Author Doris Janzen Longacre was associated with Mennonite Central Committee and its worldwide ministries in the name of Christ.She grew up in Elbing, Kansas, and Tucson, Arizona. She attended Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, received her BA in home economics from Goshen (Ind.) College in 1961, and studied at Goshen Biblical Seminary. Doris served as dietician of Hesston (Kan.) College (1961-63), as MCC hostess of the Language Study Center in Vietnam (1964-67), and in another MCC assignment in Indonesia (1971-72).She was congregational chair at Akron (Pa.) Mennonite Church (1973-76), board member for Goshen Biblical Seminary (1976-79), and a frequent speaker and workshop leader at church conferences in Canada and the United States.Doris lived in Akron, Pennsylvania, and was married to Paul Longacre. Their two daughters are Cara Longacre Hurst and Marta van Zanten. In 1979, just prior to the completion of her second book Living More with Less Doris passed away at age 39 after a 31-month battle with cancer. She once said, I have always liked to cook, particularly experimenting, developing a recipe. I seldom make a recipe twice the same way. I also find satisfaction in cooking and serving foods from other countries.

Features & Highlights

  • While including no new recipes, this most recent printing is refreshed with a new introduction and detailed statistics including updated nutritional and pricing information for a new generation.
  • This is a new edition of Herald Press's all-time best-selling cookbook, helping thousands of families establish a climate of joy and concern for others at mealtime.
  • The late author's introductory chapters have been edited and revised for today's cooks. Statistics and nutritional information have been updated to reflect current American and Canadian eating habits, health issues, and diet guidelines. The new U.S. food chart My Plate was slipped in at the last minute and placed alongside Canada's Food Guide.
  • But the message has changed little from the one that Doris Janzen Longacre promoted in 1976, when the first edition of this cookbook was released. In many ways she was ahead of her time in advocating for people to eat more whole grains and more vegetables and fruits, with less meat, saturated fat, and sugars.
  • This book is part of the World Community Cookbook series that is published in cooperation with Mennonite Central Committee, a worldwide ministry of relief, development, and peace.
  • Mennonites are widely recognized as good cooks. But Mennonites are also a people who care about the world's hungry.
  • —Doris Janzen Longacre

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(394)
★★★★
25%
(164)
★★★
15%
(98)
★★
7%
(46)
-7%
(-46)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Enduring wisdom and recipes

I plan to buy a second copy of this cookbook because my copy of the original edition is stained with 24 years of use. This is where I go for ideas when I have to fix a meal and don't have anything special around to use. This food isn't gourmet, but there are plenty of plain, good recipes. This book has my favorite recipes for cornbread and tortillas, and many, many main dish recipes for basic home cooking.
The spiral binding is a big plus, allowing the book to be laid open flat while I cook. More cookbooks should be bound this way!

Of course the greatest treasure of this book is the wisdom and insight of Doris Longacre, the late author. For the reader who never plans to cook a thing, the insights she shares about life, hospitality, the world's resources and respect for other cultures all make the More-With-Less Cookbook worth buying and reading multiple times.
109 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Simple cooking, simply great

The two bad reviews of this cookbook that I've seen focus on it being too simple and "reducing" the subtlety of recipes. After growing up as a missionary kid in West Africa with a mom who relied on this cookbook and after learning how to cook out of it, I disagree. The recipes are simple so that you can modify them to suit your own tastes and what's locally available. If you're looking for a gourmet cookbook, this isn't it...but if you're looking for a superb basic cookbook that will teach you not only how to cook but also how to be more aware of the world around you, this is it. I have other cookbooks that I use frequently, but if I could only have two, I've have Joy of Cooking and this. The Oatmeal Bread, Spaghetti Sauce, Scrambled Eggs & Noodles and Chow Mein recipes are amongst my all-time favorites.
42 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

The best cookbook, bar none, you will ever own

What's a nice Neopagan elder like me doing giving a five-star review to a Christian cookbook?
I have my reasons:
Reason #1...this is, simply put, one of the best, most practical cookbooks you can own. It has a good collection of basic recipes, some fancy ethnic dishes, and a lot of useful information about what substitutions can appropriately be made if you suddenly discover you are out of something. The bread section alone is worth the price of the cookbook.
Reason #2...the author was very obviously concerned with wise and appropriate use of the land and of natural resources, which is a VERY important part of my own religious path. This book gives me the materials and the encouragement to "practice what I preach," which is important to me.
Reason #3...though I personally am not, many Neopagans are vegetarian, and there are plenty of good vegetarian (or easily adaptable) recipes in here.
Reason #4...trying to do the right thing for Mother Nature can be time consuming, and this cookbook specifically marks "Time Saver" recipes for those of us who do not have the time to spend.
Reason #5...it is important, especially in light of the events of 9/11/01, to show understanding and sensitivity to other people's cultures, and the stories in this cookbook certainly do that. We could use more such stories in these times.
Buy this book, and use it well. Regardless of your spiritual path, this is a practical and spiritual book that everyone should be familiar with.
18 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

the one I look in first

I love reading through cookbooks and finding new recipes. But I always turn to this one first since I know I'll usually have the ingredients I need, and it will be good no matter what I try. I grew up Mennonite, now live in NYC, and I will always appreciate the simple yet wide-ranging scope of the recipes. I've had this cookbook for almost 20 years and highly recommend it.
14 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Great!

This is such a great cookbook! The recipes are large but as a single I've started cooking for the week so the amount is just right. The beef & lentil recipe is wonderful! Doesn't look like much but tastes great! The comments from the various cooks have also been great! These are Mennonite women so don't be surprised from time to time they mention their faith. The recipes are often influenced from around the world because many of the cooks were missionaries.
13 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

One of the Classics!

I'm replacing my 25 year-old copy, which is dog-eared and falling apart. The author shares not only recipes but also important lessons in nutrition and frugality. I learned how food works from "Diet for a Small planet," "The Joy of Cooking," and the "More-With-Less Cookbook." I would like to see more cookbooks in its practical spiral notebook design.
13 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Recipes are GREAT. Indexing is poor.

Like many other reviewers, I purchased the 25th anniversary edition of More-With-Less to replace a very old and well used copy that I lost in a divorce. Many of the recipes are like old friends, but there is also great basic cooking advice in the book. This really is the only cookbook that I use on a regular basis. My problem is with the indexing. Some of the entries in the index, like "lentils with rice" and "cabbage with beef, au gratin" are not really recipes that you will find. At first I thought the index was wrong, but the two entries I list actually refer to the comments that are on the page listed, and not to the recipes on the page listed. It took me a while to figure this out and realize that the recipes I was looking for actually don't exist. It would have been better to list these comments index entries with the separate Index to Introductory Chapters and not with the Index to Recipes. Just a word of warning, if you can't find a recipe listed in the Recipe Index, read the comments on that page and you will get a clue as to what the index entry refers to.
10 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Simple Goodness.

I love the simplicity and practicality of these recipes. They taste good, they're not fancy, and they are thoughtfully put together and tested. I particularly like the idea of using world resources more thoughtfully when I shop for my meal ingredients. This book strives to that end. The tips for how to gather up fragments (bits of leftovers) and make them into other meals is genius! I really needed a tool like this cookbook!
9 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

excellent cookbook

I love this cookbook not only for the wonderful recipes, but also because it teaches you inventive combinations and replacements ingredients when you don't have things on hand or don't have the money to go and get certain items. This cookbook has helped me come up with new recipes using ingredients I find in my cupboard rather than going to many different stores to find different stuff. My kids love the dishes as well!
9 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

3 years of More with Less

I thank my mom and this book for providing my sisters, father, and me with sustinence during our 3 years of missionary service in Jamaica. Although today I have access to every type of food from around the world, this was a lifeline to my family when we were effected by shortages and sanctions on the island.
9 people found this helpful