dlstewart's Full Review: Simple and Delicious Magazine
I have been a subscriber to Reiman Publication magazines for a long time. So when a year ago they included promotional material for Simple & Delicious Magazine, I thought: “Why not.” Now it’s time to renew. Will I?
Basic Layout
Simple & Delicious magazine has a tagline that reads: Quick, Easy Recipes with Everyday Ingredients. Each magazine comes with over 90 recipes. The magazines run 68 pages. Each issue measures 10 7/16” high x 7 7/8” wide. There are no advertisements!
This magazine is printed on a nice weight white paper and has lots of full-color photographs. The print is easy to read, too.
Each recipe includes the preparation time as well as how long it takes to cook. The ingredients for each recipe are bolded for easy viewing. At the end of the recipe is how much the recipe yields, or how many it will serve. Some of the recipes include nutrition information.
This magazine features recipes that are quick and easy to fix. The Table of Contents features several sections which include: Express Lane (recipes with prep times of 40 minutes or less) and Quick Fix (recipes with prep times of 30 minutes or less). There are also articles featuring various styles of cooking, which are heavy with recipes.
The center of the magazine always includes several pages with four recipe cards printed on each page. There are dotted lines to cut on if you wish to remove the “cards”. One page has four cards with the front of the card featuring a photo of the food as well as a brief description, the prep time and cooking time. The back side of the card includes the ingredients and instructions.
The inside back cover of the magazine includes an Index for all the recipes in that issue. The index is broken into categories such as Beverages, Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Meatless, Salads, Sandwiches, Side Dishes. The name of the recipe has its page number beside it. There is also a key: a picture of an apple means the recipe includes nutrition facts, and a snowflake image means the recipe freezes well.
Each issue includes a fun feature where a fictional kitchen sprite named Sandy has hidden her magic wand within the pages of the magazine. Find the wand and send a postcard or note to the publication telling them where you found it. If your name is drawn, you could win a cooking-related prize.
My Experiences
I enjoy leafing through this magazine. The color photography is excellent, showing what the recipes will look like when completed, but not every recipe has a photo with it. Some of the pages combine a photo of all the recipes in that section into one photograph. I like it that this publication covers a lot of territory. The recipes include all types of dishes, everything from Mexican and Italian, various meat dishes and casseroles, to kid-friendly foods … and my favorite, desserts!
The recipes are easy to follow, too. With the ingredients in bolded type, I know at a glance if I need to purchase anything from the store to complete the recipe. For the most part, the instructions are short and always easy to follow.
Occasionally a recipe will call for a brand-name product such as Cheerios or Fruit Roll-ups, or M&M’s. However, this is rare. Most of the ingredients are listed in a generic way; such as, banana quick bread and muffin mix, or shells and cheese dinner mix, or graham cracker crust. Many of the recipes use ingredients all from scratch, meaning no boxed mixes at all.
I’m looking at the issue that landed in my mailbox a few weeks ago. (It comes in a clear plastic envelope to protect the magazine.) This particular issue contains 108 recipes. While reading through the magazine, I use Post-it Flags to mark recipes that look interesting. Some samples from this issue include:
* Rosemary Chicken (prep/total time 15 minutes)
* Teriyaki Mushroom Chicken (prep/total time 25 min.)
* Smoked Sausage Primavera ( prep/total time 25 min.)
* New England Butternut Squash (prep/total time 30 min.)
* Turkey Tostadas (prep/total time 25 min.)
* Flounder Florentine (prep time 10 min / bake 25 min.)
* Mexican Lasagna (prep time 25 min. / bake 40 min.)
* Pesto Shrimp Pasta Toss (prep/total time 30 min.)
* Potato Soup in Bread Bowls (prep/total time 20 min.)
* Zippy Potato Chunks (prep time 5 min. / bake 45 min.)
* Tortilla Turkey Sandwiches (prep/total time 20 min.)
* Apple Spice Muffins (prep time 15 min / bake 20 min)
* Cinnamon Apple Tartlets (prep/total time 15 min.)
* Oatmeal Cookie Pizza (prep time 20 min. / bake 20 min.)
Now the question is will I really cook all those delicious sounding dishes. The answer is: No. I’m great at drooling all over the magazine pages, and my intent is always good but I never try all the recipes. However, I enjoy looking at the possibilities!
My neighbor on the other hand drools over more pages than I do when I share these magazines with her. She actually takes the time to try a lot of the recipes. I have taken to giving her all the copies of these magazines once I know that I won’t be trying the recipes. Sometimes I’ll scan a few of the recipes and save them just in case my cooking creativity needs a new challenge.
And it’s always fun to look for the elusive magic wand that is hidden in every issue. I have sent in postcards to register for the prize but have not yet won.
Also, some of the issues come with a small bonus booklet that contains additional recipes. The bonus booklet is filled with advertising for various brand-name cooking products, and sometimes includes a coupon or two.
Subscription Price
This magazine comes out every other month; six issues a year.
This magazine costs $19.98 a year / 2 years $29.98 / 3 years $39.98 if the magazine is shipped within the United States. Be on the lookout for better deals that these retail prices. I have seen this magazine advertised for as low as $14.98 a year. Each issue sells for $3.99 U.S. / $4.99 Canada.
Summary
I enjoy looking through and trying some of the recipes in the Simple & Delicious magazine issues. However, I also subscribe to other cooking magazines, such as the sister publication Taste of Home. Overall, I find I gain more from Taste of Home than this magazine. Plus, it’s reached a point where I have a large collection of cooking magazines and books. And I also go online to search out recipes. How many recipes does one need to drool over?
So even though this is a well put-together magazine on quality paper with lots of color photography and easy-to-follow recipes … I will not be renewing my subscription. My neighbor is going to be very sad.
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