Dinner in under 30 minutes, three ways, from a skinny cookbook that is now more than 50 years old. A vintage cookbook fan named Anna put the Better Homes and Gardens Afterwork Cookbook to the test, and she says every recipe she tried was a winner.

Anna runs Cooking the Books, where she tries recipes for her vintage cookbook collection. She has been collecting for more than 30 years.

The book was published in 1974, and the promise on the cover is quick and easy. She aimed for recipes that take about 30 minutes or less, because the end of the year gets busy and everyone still needs to eat.

Sausage Macaroni Skillet Tastes Like Homemade Hamburger Helper

Her first pick is a sausage macaroni skillet, which she describes as a chili mac made with bulk pork sausage. She cooks 8 oz of regular pork sausage, then adds 1/4 cup chopped green pepper from her freezer and 2 tablespoons of chopped onion.

In goes 8 oz of tomato sauce, half a cup of dry macaroni, and a pinch of salt and sugar. Chili powder rounds it out, and she goes generous because she feels vintage recipes never include enough.

She found a trap along the way. The recipe never lists water in the ingredients, but the directions call for 3/4 cup. “This is why we read the recipes before we start cooking.”

After covering and simmering for 20 minutes, she finishes it with 1/4 cup of sour cream. The verdict: “Oh, that is good.” She says the sour cream gives it “a cheesy quality without adding cheese.”

The whole dish took just under 30 minutes and makes two servings. She says it looks and smells like homemade Hamburger Helper, and suggests a can of Rotel for chunks of tomato.

Ham Barbecue Is A Sweet And Salty Dinner In 15 To 20 Minutes

Next is something called ham barbecue, a sweet and sour dish. She heats a teaspoon of vegetable oil and adds about a cup of fully cooked chopped ham.

That ham came from her freezer. Before leaving town for a few days, she chopped and vacuum sealed it so it would not go bad. Her tip: before a trip, ask yourself whether you can freeze it.

She drains an 8 oz can of pineapple tidbits, saves the juice, and simmers the ham with that juice and 1/4 cup of barbecue sauce for about 10 minutes. Then she mixes 1/3 cup of cold water with 1 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch to thicken the sauce.

The pineapple and half a green pepper cut into strips go in last. She tops hers with sesame seeds, which are not in the recipe, and serves it over frozen veggie fried rice from Trader Joe’s.

“I love this flavor combination.” She says it tastes about the way she expected, and she thinks leftover chicken, beef or pork would work in place of the ham. The whole thing came together in 15 to 20 minutes.

A Tiny Meatloaf For One Cooks Up Under The Broiler In 11 Minutes

The third recipe is for people who love meatloaf but not three pounds of it. The book’s version is for two, and Anna halves it to make a single small portion.

She mixes 1 tablespoon of fine dry breadcrumbs with 1 1/2 tablespoons of milk, adds a dash of nutmeg, salt and parsley, and works in a quarter pound of ground beef. She forgot the green onion and used a little dehydrated onion instead.

The meat is patted into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick and broiled about four inches from the heat. The book says to allow about five minutes a side. Hers took about 11 minutes in her countertop toaster oven, and she checked the temperature to be sure it was safe.

The Mushroom Sauce Felt Like An Afterthought

The meatloaf comes with a quick mushroom white sauce. She melts a tablespoon of butter, stirs in a teaspoon of flour, adds a quarter cup of milk, and folds in chopped canned mushrooms.

The sauce needed a pinch of salt, she says, and she found it was not very seasoned. After tasting both, she gives her honest ruling. “The mushroom sauce, I’m going to say I probably would not make that again.”

The meatloaf itself, though, earns praise for its “very nice savory flavor” and a nice crust from the broiler. She suggests brushing on barbecue sauce or ketchup for a more traditional meatloaf, or adding cheese and other seasonings.

Why The Skinny Cookbook Is Worth Owning

The Afterwork Cookbook is one of the skinny Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks. Anna has a whole shelf of them, published from the late 1950s into the 1980s.

She says the company had thousands of recipes to pick from, so some turn up repurposed across books. This one focuses on dishes you can make fast or prepare ahead and finish after work. The back cover advertises “285 tested recipes.”

It also has a bright yellow cover with a circle of dishes, which she says makes her think of a clock. Her final word: “all three of the recipes I made were pretty great. They were all winners.”

Tips To Steal For Your Own Busy Week

• Read the recipe all the way through before cooking. Vintage cookbooks sometimes leave water or salt out of the ingredient list.
• Freeze chopped ham, green peppers and ground beef in small portions before a trip.
• Look for small-batch recipes if you cook for one or two.
• Check meat temperatures, especially with meatloaf and meatballs.

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