Cookbook Review: The Six O’Clock Scramble Meal Planner

EDITOR’S NOTE: Over the past couple of years, I’ve experienced an increased interest in the topic of diabetic-friendly cooking. Not only have a married a wonderful man who has Type 2 Diabetes, but I’ve discovered that I’m pre-diabetic (which is, thankfully, reversible through diet and exercise!). This is the second in a series of reviews of books on this topic.

These days, people are so busy that they often eat more fast-food, frozen and highly processed foods, and other quick and not very nutritious meals. Much of this can be reversed with a bit of planning. But who has time to do that, right?

That’s where Aviva Goldfarb’s book, The Six O’Clock Scramble Meal Planner: A Year of Quick, Delicious Meals to Help You Prevent and Manage Diabetes, comes in. The purpose of the book is to make planning and preparing a week’s worth of healthy, diabetes-friendly meals simple and easy.

NOTE: I received a free copy of this book for review. However, I am under no obligation to write about it positively or otherwise.

Summary of The Six O’Clock Scramble Meal Planner

In this book, Goldfarb has provided readers with 160 diabetes-friendly recipes — all that can be made in 30 minutes or less — organized into 32 weekly meal plans complete with main and side dishes. They are even divided into seasons so you can have variety and make use of fresh ingredients for your menu. In addition, each week includes a shopping list for the week’s menus so you don’t have to think about that part of the planning, either.

What Worked for Me

This book is nicely laid out, easy to read and filled with extra tips to make your meal more favorable or adaptable to your life. Since I’m in love with my slow cooker (especially since I’m still recovering from being hit by a car last February and don’t have 100% use of my left hand), having the slow cooker option to cook many of the meals is an added blessing.

I like that the recipes are organized by season. This empowers the reader to use fresh ingredients more often. And fresh definitely tastes better than frozen or canned! The seasons are color coded, so you can easily find the season you’re looking for, too.

In addition, if you visit the Author’s website, you can sign up for her mailing list and receive the grocery lists in PDF format via email.

What Didn’t Work for Me

I’m a finicky eater and there are recipes for foods I just won’t eat. But that’s not the problem. The problem is that the shopping lists are by week, so if I’m not going to make all the recipes in her book planned for that week, I have to go through the list and make adjustments on my own. I would love it if each menu had its own shopping list, as well. That way you’d have the option to do just one day’s menu or the whole week.

Recommendation

Personally, I can’t wait to start using some of these recipes! If you’ve be diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes and want to take control of your health through fresher, healthier foods, this book is pretty darn cool. The seasonal and weekly organization takes a lot of the planning effort off your plate, so you can just shop, prep and enjoy.

Rating for The Six O’Clock Scramble Meal Planner

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Specs

Format: Trade Paperback, 431 pages
Publisher: American Diabetes Association (February 16, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1580405673
ISBN-13: 978-1580405676

Pick up your copy on Amazon.com here.

Previous Reviews in this Series:

• What Do I Eat Now?

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Take Charge of Your Health!

Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.

This Healthy Eating Worksheet will walk you through the process of creating a healthy eating plan. All you need to do is print it out, set aside some time to complete it, and then fill it out. Then you can create your plan, knowing that you have addressed potential obstacles and came up with some creative ways to handle them.

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