I was so disappointed by this book. It is basically for new cooks and a lot if things they use you don’t stock in your cupboard. I thought it would be for things normally used and stocked. Some of the recipes are good but you would have to add them to your grocery list. The title is not what this book is about.

Requested this because I mistakenly thought it was a cook book on how to HACK YOUR CUPBOARD and make meals out of pantry staples and common food items you would likely have in your kitchen already. This was not that. This immediately started off as a primer cookbook for someone that has never cooked before. Bad marketing/title. My opinion of it might be higher if it lived up to my expectations.

This cookbook had some really great recipes. The recipes were easy to understand and not too complicated for the average cook. I enjoyed the illustrations.

So many great tips for using what you have on hand and just adding a couple of ingredients to make it your own. The opening part of the book takes the example of a packaged mac and cheese and then gives a large list of things that make great add-ins, many of which are things you may have on hand but would not think of adding in.

I also liked that the cookbook had a section for the times when one may not have much access to keeping many fridge/freezer things on hand. If your studio apartment only has a "dorm sized" fridge, it can be hard to eat an even remotely healthy diet. This book helped with ideas around that.

Good book for beginning cooks. Great pictures and confidence building recipes. It would be a great gift for a recent graduate or anyone cooking for themselves for the first time.

I really enjoyed a great many things about this book. Characters were fleshed out and the plot was well spaced. Some of the secondary storylines could've used a bit more page space but all in all an enjoyable read!

Ok, the title is a little misleading- I was expecting more of a "I've got this, that, and the other, what can I make?"- but that's okay. This is a good basic cookbook for teens, young adults, or anyone not that comfortable with cooking. It covers four basic kitchens: your family home's kitchen, before you've moved out; a dorm kitchen; a shared kitchen, like in an apartment/rented house with roommates; and a first kitchen of your own. The recipes move from very beginning cook to more experienced, comfortable cook, and the kitchen pantry and gear recommendations evolve as well. There are also lots of good tips, like knife skills and kitchen safety, pantry lists for each type of kitchen, plus ideas for how to "hack" recipes by changing up ingredients to suit your tastes. One point of contention: the author mentions coconut oil being a healthy alternative to butter. While I have nothing against using coconut oil in moderation, there is no scientific proof of any health benefits, and it shouldn't be presented as being healthy; it's merely a different type of fat. This is a minor complaint, however. Overall, this would make a good gift for a newbie cook, either on its own, or in a gift basket/box with kitchen tools, non-perishable spices/ingredients, etc.

#HackYourCupboard #NetGalley

Hack Your Cupboard: Make Great Food with What You've Got, by food bloggers Alyssa Wiegand and Carla Carreon is a perfect cookbook for beginning cooks, college students, and those just getting used to being in a new kitchen. Although the title makes one think that the book is all about using ingredients that are already in your cupboard, that idea is a bit misleading. There are all kinds of basics in this cookbook, including an excellent chapter with great photos of how to use a knife properly and different kinds of chopping. The recipes are fairly basic, and the instructions are easy-to-follow. The recipes are appealing, however, and there are excellent photographs. Sometimes the basics are the best, and the book includes easy recipes for Avocado Toast, Teriyaki Salmon, several types of luscious salad dressings, and a few variations of grilled cheese. There are ideas for add-ins for ramen noodles, as well as several vegetables and salads that are a bit different, but quite tempting.

This book would make a great gift for a young person or for someone who has no clue about cooking. It also includes information that is for all cooks, who can learn from the excellent suggestions.

This cook book is perfect for college students or young adults just starting out on their own. I would definitely recommend it to teens and adults at my library.

To start, I have to say that I hate the title. As a curmudgeon, I think that using trendy buzzwords in your title is off-putting and will age both badly and quickly. In addition, I think it's misleading. A hack is creating a shortcut or workaround. That covers about half the book, but the book is really about developing and building on kitchen skills. The book takes the reader from still living in their family home through dorm room cooking, the first shared kitchen, to the first solo kitchen. I got this as an advance reader copy on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've had a lot of conflicting feelings about the book. On the positive side, it covers many kitchen fundamentals including food safety, cleaning, knife skills and how to read a recipe. As the book progresses, it builds on some basic recipes and evolves them as the reader's skill, space and equipment grow. I appreciated that the authors encourage the reader to be creative and adapt recipes to what's available and to taste. I liked the explanations of ingredients and the suggestions about how to put menus together.

In addition to disliking the hacking conceit, I had a couple of other issues. One of the first things that struck me about this book was that the authors are assuming a certain level of wealth. I don't mean luxurious wealth, but there's an assumption that the reader will have access to a variety of groceries and equipment. The authors also make some cultural assumptions about what foods form the backbone of a diet. It's a very white American diet.

What I did find more problematic was the "Healthy Hack" on page 94 that recommended replacing butter with coconut oil. Coconut oil's problems are well documented - very high in saturated fat (80%!!!!!!), and it's benefits are dubious at best. I find it wildly irresponsible to declare coconut oil a healthy alternative when AT BEST it's potential health benefits are not well documented and the American Heart Association, among others still identify it as unhealthy.

I like this cookbook. It's clean, simple, and packed with good info that many young people may not know or think of when it comes to cooking. I like that it is broken into sections for where the reader may be cooking from, such as home, a college dorm, an apartment, and their "solo" first kitchen. The recipes have great pictures and easy to follow instructions. I wish I'd had this book when I was learning to cook.

Hack Your Cupboard is a tutorial guide for cooks who are learning their way around the kitchen as well as for readers who want to change up their standard 'what should I cook tonight' menus to make them a little less boring, with the ingredients available on hand.

Due out 1st Oct 2019 from Lerner on their Zest Books imprint, it's 208 pages and will be available in ebook, paperback, and library bound formats.

There were several really neat features here. First, no matter what skill level the reader has currently (including 'cereal for dinner' as they say in the book), there is usable information here. More advanced cooks can move on to relevant information for their skill level. The authors presuppose no familiarity with cooking, and whether you are learning at the beginning (scrambled eggs, tossing a salad, making vinaigrette) or more advanced, there are tips and suggestions.

I loved the suggested pantry staples lists. They're useful, basic, and bare bones. I remember when I moved into my first apartment alone and found a pantry list (from a library book), it included things I'd never used, like capers. I've lived decades without looking at a caper or pickled artichoke heart. This book includes no-nonsense sensible ingredients lists which are easily sourced, inexpensive (except potentially the -good- balsamic vinegar which is a staple and quality counts), and easy to use.

There are sections for dorm cooking, food safety (important!), first apartment pantry, cooking (with recipes), and a simple celebratory dinner menu, for a date night or convincing one's mother that nobody is in danger of starving to death since they moved away from home.

Each of the recipes provides serving sizes, ingredients lists, step by step simple instructions as well as sidebar graphics with alternate preparation and ingredients to add some variation. None of the recipes include nutritional information (outside the scope of the book). Most of the recipes are pictured with serving suggestions such as dips, sides, etc. There are sidebars scattered throughout with 'hacks' for things like crushing garlic, spicing up your ramen with other seasonings (sambal oelek, gochujang, or harissa, all available at a well stocked international grocery store), and more.

This would make a superlative addition to a 'moving out' care package for newly independent youngsters/singles/newlyweds, etc. I was impressed enough with the book that I am planning on buying one for each of my kids who are moving (or have moved) out on their own.

Five stars. There's a lot to love here.

A fascinating collection of recipes and tips to create meals from what you have hanging out in your cupboard, pantry and fridge. Helps you when you are in a bind for dinner, especially when you don't have money or the time to buy all those fancy ingredients that recipes call for. Especially when it is an expensive item that you will only use once! gosh I hate that.
Great collection that takes you from college to your first home.
#Netgalley

Lerner Publishing Group and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Hack Your Cupboard: Make Great Food With What You've Got. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

The cookbook is divided into sections like: Your First Kitchen, Dorm Room Dining, First Apartment Dining, and First Solo Kitchen. With important tips for first timers in the kitchen, Hack Your Cupboard is designed to reach those who are new to cooking for themselves. Much of the introduction is self-explanatory, but beginners might truly not have knowledge in the areas that are explored. This cookbook would be particularly useful for those just starting out.

Hack Your Cupboard is designed to take ordinary dishes and amp them up with ingredients from pantry or fridge. There are beginner techniques, like making vinaigrette, which is followed by a salad recipe. There are tips enclosed in colorful oval shapes to make them pop off the page. I like how the author has taken the time to go through kitchen essentials, like knife skills, and explains about certain ingredients with regards to preparation.

From basics like how to make grilled cheese or cook pasta, to slightly more complicated recipes like Chocolate Chip Cookies, the recipes themselves make sense for the target audience. The doom room section has many ramen dishes, for instance, or microwave recipes like Breakfast Bread Pudding and Simple Brownies.

Each section runs through essential pantry items and helpful tips for success. The cookbook shows great ways to use premade ingredients, whether they are leftovers like rice, or purchased like rotisserie chicken. The recipes get more sophisticated as the book moves through the different sections, although I personally did not find the cookbook to be challenging. I like how the author goes through different techniques and beginners will benefit from the tutorials. Overall, Hack Your Cupboard is an ideal house/apartment/dorm gift and is one I would recommend to the target audience.

FRANKSTEIN IT

That's the phrase I use at my house for kitchen hacks. SO much to love about this cookbook. Bright, cheery, informative with lots of pictures. BUT, not for a seasoned cook. I would highly recommend for new chefs, college students or folks who can't get out of a rut. For me a fun book to gift but not add to my collection.

The marketing for this book is pretty misleading. I was hoping for a book about inventive ways to create meals using whatever you have on hand, but this is really a Cooking 101 for young adults who don't even know how to scramble eggs or make a grilled cheese. (Yes, literally.) It would be a nice gift for someone going away to college, but not so useful for a 30something mom like myself who's been feeding herself and others for quite a while. Overall disappointed. Would have been a good book if marketed as what it actually is.

3 out of 5

**OMG! I cannot believe that these reviews haven't been done! I am so sorry they are so late!!!**

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review, "Hack Your Cupboard" by Alyssa Wiegand, Carla Carreon. This is the perfect cookbook for someone who is new to cooking. It has great pictures and a lot of helpful cooking advice along the way. Recipes are easy to read and understand. I am at the beginner level of cooking so this book really speaks to me. I have always found cooking to be overwhelming and complicated. This book simplifies it. I am really looking forward to trying these recipes in the very near future!

This is a good book for the new cook. It has good illustrations and is divided into three sections. Heading to college is the first, it is good if your have an apartment with a kitchen or a dorm room you can cook in. Section 2 is perfect for a newlywed or for roommates on a budget. Finally the last section is good for 1 person cooking. Most of the ingredients are common items found in most pantries. Great gift for a college student or newlywed. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The first thing that came to my mind about this cookbook was that it was cute! I know! It isn't your normal cookbook. This is made for your first kitchen, dorm living, first apartment dining and first solo kitchen. I am not either one of those. This is a book I would buy someone who is moving out on their own, or maybe even my pre teen who likes and wants to be in the kitchen. It also explains to you what some kitchen equipment is and techniques. I enjoyed reading this book and I want a hard copy!

I was given an ARC on Netgalley in return for my honest review.