NOODLEMANIA! 50 Playful Pasta Recipes {Review}

 

I’ll be honest.  When I first received this book to review, my first thoughts were that this is the type of book designed to make me feel like a failure as a parent.  Most nights I barely have time to throw dinner on the table, never mind make a “playful” and adorably arranged meal.  However, upon flipping through the book a few times I realized that many of the recipes weren’t going to take a lot of time to make or arrange on the plate and so I warmed up to the book more. 

For my first venture into this creative cooking, I decided to try the Little Birds’ Nests.  I have to admit, it was fun to reply “Birds’ Nests” to the age old question of “What’s for dinner?”   When the kids asked me what birds’ nests were I told them they’d have to wait and see when dinner was served.  This kept them intrigued and ready to come to the table when called.

This recipe was great.  Why?  Well, because it is the perfect example of a non-recipe in my book.  It took me no longer to throw this together than what I would have called spaghetti but the kids were more interested in coming to the table for “birds’ nests”.

What I love about the book:

• The recipes are easy to make.
• Many of the recipes are things you may already make but this helps you present them in a new fun way or give them a fun name.  Kids love fun dinners.
• There are even a few desserts thrown in at the end!  Who knew you could make desserts with noodles?
• Since pasta is pasta, you don’t have to have a specified noodle type to make the dish.  Swap it out for something else you have on hand.
• Other substitutions are easy too.  The green on the Birds’ Nests was supposed to be spinach.  I swapped it for fresh basil because it was what I had on hand.

What I don’t love about the book:

• Sometimes, no matter how fun the name sounds or how cute the presentation kids still aren’t going to eat.  I wish the book came with magic fairy dust to make my picky eater actually eat. 
• Not all of the recipes contained pictures to go with it.  I’m a visual person; I like to see the finished product, especially when it comes to recipes. 
• None of the recipes struck me as anything new and exciting.  Giving it a new name doesn’t make it a new recipe. 

Over all, if you are a parent looking for some creative ideas to present your food to your kids, you’ll like this book.  Your kids, especially the younger set, will think you are super silly serving up things like Curly Worms and Robot Parts. 

Disclosure: I was provided a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of this review.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.