Is this the winner-winner-chicken-dinner of meal prep books?? Ugh I should have known that America's Test Kitchen would be my favorite and just gone straight to the source.

This book meets all my criteria: tips on food storage, good photos, a variety of flavor profiles, and a weekly meal planning guide with a list of what to buy, prep and cook ahead.

This book relies on the strategy of prepping ingredients and then cooking quickly the day-of so everything tastes fresh -- basically get your chopping and saucing out of the way, and then dinner comes together much faster. The majority of the meals are meat + veg and it is mostly up to you to add a carb and salad. The weekly plans, from what I could see, aren't really coordinated to use the same ingredients in different dishes, so that could be a plus or a minus for you depending on if you like variety or prefer to simplify prep work.

Each week has 4 recipes + a "pantry meal" suggestion. The pantry meals are in their own chapter at the back of the book and are super quick to toss together with stuff that you can find hanging around the back of the pantry (eg tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches). I like the flexibility with the pantry meal, a kind of take-it-or-leave-it solution to Friday nights when you are really tired of cooking. Overall the recipes are contemporary American cuisine, and some have a more mature touch with additions like arugula, goat cheese or sun dried tomatoes.

This book definitely works better as a physical book than an ebook - the page layouts just aren't as functional in the ebook format. The physical book is designed to help you quickly spot the most important information you need to know to prep efficiently.

So now the real question: should I buy it??????