What a fantastic alternative cookbook!
I like to think that I am pretty experienced in the kitchen and often stray away from recipes and add my own flourishes without fear, but sometimes you can stare in to the fridge as if you're staring in to the abyss!

Some days after work I don't have the wits about me or mental energy to cook something fancy (however much I usually enjoy it). Helpful pantry staple lists and reminders of how you can store some things for a longer life are exactly the sort of things I need to help me on those tired nights.
Ideas to substitute ingredients and stress-free cooking methods are exactly what I need to shake me out of the routines I find myself stuck in a lot of the time. Making good use of what you have on hand is means you will likely create a lot less waste and even plan ahead with leftovers or base sauces that would be ideal for a second dish too.

My favourite thing about the book is that it is written by a group of like minded people who all love cooking, no fancy chef techniques - regular people who are kind enough to share all the tips and tricks that work for them.

I absolutely love cooking. Alongside reading, it is one of my favourite hobbies and I have learnt to freestyle a lot over time. However, I often use a recipe to start with and can browse for hours before finding something that really tickles my fancy.

This book cuts all that nonsense out! It provides inspiration in the form of cooking techniques, flavours that work well together and ingredients that work in each form of cooking. There are no measurements, but suggests different ways that you can flavour the dish based on how you are feeling. There are also lots of subs so you can truly freestyle.

The images are exceptional and have really inspired me. I will be buying this one when it comes available!

What a great idea for a cookbook! My big brother is always saying “I don’t need a recipe“ but I have always used recipes and cookbooks with recipes… This book is so full of great ideas for cooking things like main proteins, grains, salads, pizzas, bowls… Etc. that I have many many meal plans going on in my head right now! So excited! Thank you for writing this book.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I haven't reviewed a recipe book before, so I felt a bit uncertain requesting this through Netgalley. I decided to go for it anyway because the premise seemed intriguing - in a way, it's the opposite of a recipe book - and I'm very glad I did.

This is a very handy book to just have about and leaf through for inspiration. It's full of useful tips, and I found myself highlighting and bookmarking on almost every page. I think it addresses the core issues with classic recipe books, which are that most of us don't have time to prepare food to a formal recipe, most of the time. The freestyle cooking techniques suggested here are a lot more practical. I'm considering giving my brother a copy for when he goes to university.

On the other hand, some of the advice here can be overly basic - maybe that's just because I've always cooked without a recipe and based on whatever food I have on hand. Also, this might be just because I'm a vegetarian, but I wish there had been more attention paid to non-meat proteins (e.g. tofu, seitan, even just chickpeas); they're often mentioned in passing in the proteins section, but there's almost no detailed advice on how to actually use them. This contrasts with various types of meat getting multiple pages each on how to cook them.

Overall, I'm not sure I would buy this book for myself personally, but I'm glad I read it. I think when I first started cooking it would have been really invaluable.

While I've been cooking for years, I am one that uses recipes as guides for making dishes. Anything 'new' is pulling from recipes and then changing it up based on what I think will work.

No Recipe? No Problem! takes it a step further. They talk about different ingredients and ways you can cook things. Then you apply it to what is in your kitchen.

I'm now feeling a bit more adventurous in the kitchen.

Okay, No Recipe, No Problem has to be one of the handiest cookbooks out there, though I suppose it's a non cookbook cookbook.

Since Covid brought with it almost a year of working and schooling from home, canceled soccer and circus practices, canceled pro sports events, yadda yadda, I've had time to cook a lot more at home. I now make bagels, tortillas, naan, and all sorts of bready goodness from scratch, natch. I can pressure cook like a boss. My husband has become a reluctant but relatively skilled griller. My older son whips up a mean marinade. But even with all these mad new skills, we don't always know how to improvise.

This book offers idea after idea, with suggestions for sauces and seasonings, meats and veggies, soups and salads, you name it. It includes recommended cooking times, suggestions for substituting ingredients, and smarter ways to shop.

This book is a great addition to any kitchen, no matter how skilled (or not) the chefs that occupy it are.

I gratefully received an ARC of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Thanks!

This year has found many people who aren't used to cooking doing just that, and possibly with limited supplies, as some food items have been difficult to purchase in stores.

Good teaches the reader techniques and ideas to use different ingredients and combine them without using a specific recipe. It's more of a freestyle form of cooking, which was a bit odd, at first, as I like following recipes. The book allows the reader to focus on what ingredients they have on hand and how much time they want to spend cooking.

If you enjoy finding new recipes or adapting things to fit the likes of your family, this is a great book to check out!

This is not your typical cookbook! Very original presentation on how to cook without a recipe found in a cookbook!! What?!? Author Phyllis Good is recognized for her famous Fix-It and Forget-It series of cookbooks. I own several and use them all regularly!

In this cookbook, she brings together 14 improvisational cooks known as The Cooking Circle to share their years of experience cooking and meal prepping. I felt like I was sitting at a kitchen table in a farm house speedily writing down all the great cooking secrets my mom, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents were passing down to me.

The concept of the cookbook is freestyle cooking and that is defined by answering these three questions: 1)what am I hungry for? 2)What do I have on hand and 3)How much time do I have? The book is organized into sections on vegetables, pasta and grains, eggs, proteins, spices, bowls, salad, soups, sheets pan meals, pizza, eggs and toast toppers! There is something for everyone!!

Flexibilitly is the key to freestyle cooking. The book shares lot's of different ways to prepare food, what goes well with what, combinations, and recipes. Noted is a list of ingredients to keep on hand to create fabulous meals and nothing is too elaborate. It's a great way to get your creative cooking juices flowing! One thing it reminded me of is that special doesn’t always mean fancy!

I’m a food lover who loves to cook! Gini, one of the 14, says you have to be passionate, or at least, interested in food to improvise. I agree 100%! If you love to cook, you will enjoy the freedom this cookbook offers you. I know I’m going to have a lot of fun using these tested ideas and recipes!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book intrigued me because while I can cook enough to keep myself alive, I am less than confident in my cooking skills. I've been working on improving my skills and confidence this year (as so many other are), but I'm still in awe of people who can walk into a kitchen, and throw together a great meal with random leftovers and some pantry staples and no recipe. This book made me feel like there is hope that I can be that person someday. So much good advice, inspiration, and ideas on almost every page. I couldn't wait to get into the kitchen while I was reading.

This book would be a great addition to the kitchen bookshelf of anyone looking to learn how to cook, or improve their skills and confidence. I've already put a lot of the tips and advice to use, and I feel like I'm already becoming a better cook for having read it. I can see myself coming back to it again and again.

Do you follow recipes religiously? Do you create a weekly menu and then buy all the ingredients to make it? Are you tired of all that work? Then you are ready to read No Recipe? No Problem!

Freestyle cooking is usually used by the non-planners among us. However, everyone can reduce food waste by using perfectly good but unused produce and meat to create a spur of the moment meal. Three questions must be asked:
1. What am I hungry for?
2. What do I have on hand?
3. How much time do I have?

The book has a valuable chart showing how each vegetable can be cooked. The choices are sauté, roast/bake, stir-fry, braise, steam, grill, and microwave. There are also two charts for cooking grains on the stovetop and with your Instant Pot. There is a meat cooking chart as well as a bunch for making salads and grain bowls.

Even though I am already a freestyle cook (admittedly using the ingredient search on allrecipes.com frequently), I learned a lot from this book. Just adding a bit of apple cider vinegar to sautéed vegetables upped my game significantly. Who knew you could sauté almost wilted lettuce with radishes? Have cherry tomatoes left over from a salad earlier in the week? Roast them quickly in the oven with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil. They’re great with mac n cheese.

There are so many ideas here. There are also quite a few old fashion recipes too. You can save the price of the book by making your own salad dressings. All the recipes are here. Also, think of all the food waste you can prevent. I’m not quite devoted enough to eat apples chewed on by squirrels. But even I see the benefit of making a big soup or salad using the leftover veggies from last week the day before doing my weekly shopping.

If you are looking to live more sustainably while also saving money and time, look no further. No Recipe? No Problem! 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars!

Thanks to Storey Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

An amazingly good cookbook, that proves that shortages of ingredients need not be a problem, in fact they can even inspire a cook to be more creative. A lovely cookbook, full of ideas.

A very intriguing cookbook designed to help folks learn to develop their own dishes. Many experienced cooks, as well as almost all professional cooks, do this naturally. Unhappily for others, the idea of cooking without a recipe or expanding out from the recipe you have is just alien. With this book, you'll get master recipes giving you the basics for a technique. Tables in each chapter show you what can be cooked this way. Building from this, you'll get variations, seasoning ideas, and additional recipes.

The entire delightful book is enlivened by tips and stories from a real group of cooking advisors from around the country.

With chapters on methods such as electric pressure cookers and sheet-pan meals, as well as a chapter on making bowls, you'll also find this book suits today's cooks well.

Thank you netgallery and the author for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review. This was a really neat concept for a book. Filled with suggestions, tips and explanations of basic techniques but no actual recipes, this freestyle approach to cooking seems like a lot of fun and a great way to get creative with the ingredients you have on hand.

Great idea, beautiful pictures, confusing approach. There are a lot of voices, figuratively and literally, and it's hard to distill the book's key strategies for freedom in the kitchen. Cooking ahead? Stocking your pantry? Mastering basic techniques? Being flexible with substitutions? Gaining confidence and creativity in flavor pairings? Yes, yes, and yes. Choose your own adventure.

It's dizzying to read, with click-baity subheads and a Greek chorus of "friends" who sound pretentious and unrealistic (one bemoans the expense of making mac and cheese with the "requisite" organic dairy and imported cheeses). The basic techniques seem solid; some of the recipes sound pretty good (but odd in a book about cooking without a recipe); but the abundance and quality of the ingredients is discouraging. If I've got fresh asparagus, pate, eggs, and brie in my house, I don't need twenty-five people telling me how to put them together to make different dishes. I'll just eat them in shock and gratitude.

I wouldn't buy this book or give it as a gift.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I loved reading this cookbook because instead of showing you recipes that you have to continue to come back to, it taught you how to make food that you can remember how to make with or without a recipe. It was beautifully designed, well written, and overall very well done! I recommend this to anyone who wants to learn how to make food by themselves.

This is a great book for people like me, who cannot follow recipes. I have always struggled to keep to recipes as I always felt boxed in by them. This book gave a nice perspective on the advantages of not following recipes and how to do it smartly. I love all kinds of cooking tips, as I am woeful at it, and I loved how easy to understand this book was. I could see myself buying this if I came across it in a book shop.

I loved this book! It read a like you are having a conversation with the author and contributors. It also compares cooking to jazz. I have always said baking is science and cooking is art and this book really shows that. Great if you are an established cook and want to try something new or look at things in a new way, or great to help new cooks gain confidence in the kitchen!

What a great concept! I'm thinking this book will be a tremendous asset to anyone's kitchen/bookshelf, especially to young adults learning to fix food and to any cooking-challenged adults needing to feed themselves. It's especially useful if you want to skip the excessive calories of take-out or fast-food but eat flavorful meals. You can do quick (or complex) at home for a fraction of the cost and the results are healthy and flavorful. No recipes, just great ideas for making meals from what is in your kitchen or at the market. There are also ideas to combine your favorite ingredients in new ways. I actually found this book fun to read; it mimics the way I learned to cook but also taught me a few things. The main takeaway from this book: once you know the 'why' of combining ingredients, the 'how' is really easy. Get yourself a copy of this book!

Thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reader's copy. I'm looking forward to seeing the final version.

I’m not quite sure what I expected with this, but found some really useful tips for making decent family meals we will all enjoy. All in all, if you enjoy cooking, especially if you like adapting recipes or just finding new dishes to try this will give you a good base to work from.

No Recipe? No Problem! By Phyllis Good is a great cookbook for teaching you many techniques of cooking with various ingredients. Easy to follow and easy to read.