The book is organized into three color-coded sections (15 minute, 20 minute, and 30 minutes) and each section is organized into breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes. Many of the lunch recipes would also work well for dinner or as part of dinner. This is the sort of cookbook that you will enjoy sitting down with and sticking post-it notes to promising recipes.

However, I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 because the preparation times for the recipes are frequently deceptive. They are not the times for fixing these recipes from start to finish, they assume that you have already performed your preps. So, a 30 minute recipe might not include the time for pulling all of the ingredients out of the pantry and refrigerator, and tasks such as slicing raw chicken breasts or steak into strips, chopping onions, mincing garlic, chopping parsley, or peeling, deseeding, and slicing cucumbers. The cookbook "Desperation Dinners" by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross (not a lowfat cookbook), for example, is truly a 20 minute start-to-finish recipe cookbook; this one is not, although in most cases the actual time will not be too much more than the stated time. One exception is the Apricot Glazed Pork Skewers with Mango Quinoa, which is supposed to be ready in 30 minutes. Even if your preps are all ready ahead of time I think you'd be hard-pressed to prepare this dish in under 45 minutes. The 30 minutes includes thinly slicing 1-1/2 pounds of pork tenderloin and threading it onto 12 skewers, which alone took me a good 15 minutes.

One thing I like about this cookbook is that it finally got me to try cooking with Fat-Free Half-and-Half, and I have been very pleased with the recipes that use this, such as a Creamy Cauliflower Soup (saute leeks in a little olive oil, add frozen cauliflower and canned chicken broth, simmer, puree, then finish with FF Half-and-Half, nutmeg, and S&P). My favorites recipes in this book, so far, are the Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Greek Chicken Pasta Toss, Chicken with Spicy Marmalade Glaze, Chicken Tacos with Salsa Verde Cream, and Sesame Glazed Shrimp with Snow Peas and Baby Corn.

160 of 164 found the following review helpful:

Real World Cooking!  Jan 02, 2002
By Robin Currier
I love cookbooks, and read them like novels. (After all, if you're always dieting, curling up with good cookbook gives some of the pleasure of eating a good meal, but with no calories!)

I have several hundred cookbooks, but how many do I really use when I cook? Well, this one, definitely. If you are looking for simple, quick, low fat recipes, I can't recommend this book too highly. When I'm stuck for a quick dinner, this cookbook is where I look first. The recipes are very quick and they mostly use common ingredients you can quickly pick up at the grocery store or might have on your pantry shelves already.

By the way, in addition to listing nutrtional info for each recipe, each recipe also gives Weight Watchers points (if you are a Weight Watcher, you know what I mean), and diabetic exchanges. So, I think this would also be a great cookbook for diabetics as well as those of us who are trying to lose weight.

67 of 69 found the following review helpful:

Simple, Convenient, & Elegant  Aug 29, 2001
By K. Collins
As a recent member of weight watchers, and a long-time cooking fanatic, I find that this book satisfies not only both sides [the healthy and the adventurous] but also saves time. The book's design is all about speed and convenience. the recipes are easy to read and follow, and each section is neatly organized to help you find the recipe you want quickly. Although each recipe does not have its own photo, there are many, many sumptuous photos throughout the book that represent the global culture [from Mexico to Italy to Thailand]. Other nice features include the points and nutritional breakdown on the bottom of every page, serving suggestions, and plenty of white space on every page so you can add your own notes or personal flair. It is definitely the type of book that will easily become a cooking reference for anyone who wants to eat healthy with precious time to spend.

44 of 45 found the following review helpful:

Not Just for WW members!  May 17, 2003

I bought this book because I am on Weight Watchers. I have other cookbooks of theirs but I needed something that made dinner quickly. It had to be able to satisfy the finicky eaters. I have two of them! I needed it to be a little more filling for my dear husband. I wanted to add some interesting recipes. Well, this book is the answer.

The sections of the book are divided into 15, 20, & 30. How wild is that? In front of these sections, it gives an index of what meals are in there. You can plan your menu out just by figuring out how much time you want to spend cooking. There are some meals that need more time. SORRY! My favorite part is that on the side of every recipe there is a list of ingredients so, you can just check what you have in the house. You can have an easier time shopping for the stuff too. There is nothing exotic in this book. This thrills me to death! I have timed some of the meals and they are pretty close. One small nitpicky thing is that there are just a few pictures. You do not see those mouthwatering pictures that draw you to the stove. The book is not glossy so, there is no resistance to damage. Another item that bothers me is that it is not organized into categories of food types such as: poultry, vegetarian, meat, etc. Itis organized by time and the food is just slopped into the section.

It has the points that you use for Weight Watchers. However, for those that are not on WW, it makes life easier by cooking less, using eye appealing recipes, and containing the nutritional info. It can help people that are just trying to eat healthier.

This is one of my two favorite Weight Watchers' books. You must buy this book. The positives definitely out weigh the negatives! Happy Eating!

30 of 30 found the following review helpful:

Love This Cookbook!!  Mar 17, 2003

Make It In Minutes is a wonderful cookbook for those of us who don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen! Even if you do not follow the Weight Watchers meal point plan, you will find the recipes easy to follow and very healthful. The book is organized into 15,20 and 30 minute sections with easy to follow instructions and full nutritional content for each recipe. My favorites so far are the Oriental Pepper Steak, Sweet and Sour Shrimp, Honey Pecan Chicken (super fast and EASY!!) and the Greek Chicken Pasta Toss. Even my picky eater 6 year old loves it! I highly recommend this book!!

See all 100 customer reviews on Amazon.com