Wow!!! I am so impressed at this amazing cookbook! The pictures are just beautiful! The steps and directions are great and easy to follow! I so look forward to making so many of these amazing recipes! It all looks so good! I highly recommend!

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this for my honest review.

I discovered this cookbook on NetGalley and am surprised that I had never heard of The Taste Better From Scratch blog until now. So many of the recipes in this book look and sound great and I can’t wait to try some of them. I will definitely be referring to this cookbook as well as following the blog. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of the Tastes Better From Scratch Cookbook.

“Tastes Better From Scratch Cookbook” by Lauren Allen
Looks Good
I read through the cookbook as best I could. I was reading a digital edition and encountered some issues getting my device to enlarge the font size. I am pretty sure the problem was with my limited technology knowledge and the size of my display screeen!! I did enjoy browsing the recipes and I think I would enjoy having a printed edition of the cookbook in my library. Happy Reading !! and Happy Cooking, too!!
NOTE: This review expresses my honest opinion.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

I am the type of cook who likes to follow recipes (not yet ready to improvise) so this book is perfect for beginning or slightly more advanced cooks who like clear step-by-step instructions as well as photos of the finished dish. A real bonus is the QR codes throughout that take you to a video of the making of the recipe. I only wish that instead of music, there was voice over instructions on what the dough should feel like, etc. I loved the Skinny Banana Bread recipe because it tastes great and has much less sugar than other recipes. Besides, I find bananas to be sweet enough for me. She also include "how to freeze" instructions which is a great addition to these recipes. The book is very visually appealing with the time to prep, total cook time and portions laid out clearly at the top. I noticed on her website that you can see how ingredients change if you want to double or triple the recipe. She also has a total calorie count on the website. The only thing missing for me in this book is the nutritional content -- that would be very beneficial. Otherwise, I recommend this book to beginners and for families who want to cook with their kids.

Thank you to Netgalley and Greenleaf Book Group for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Hi everyone!
(rating is 3.5)
This book is all about simple and typical recipes from scratch.
It goes from pancakes to muffins with many ‘healthy’ version of recipes like banana bread and others.
She uses a lot of buttermilk (that isn’t available in my country) but she also offers some variations.
At the end of the recipe there are also tips on how to freeze and sometimes even some variations for high altitudes.
I can’t say anything about the layout since my reader messed up some things, but the picture were cozy and clean.

Overall, I would recommend this book to beginners and intermediates in the kitchen. Everything is explained very well and there is a great variety in each chapter.

freeze tips for altitude

What a great cookbook! It's easy to follow and has delicious recipes, plus necessary tips for making your scratch cooking easy. The recipes are healthy without being overly so and they are breakfast, main meals, and desserts that your family will like. The photos of the foods you can prepare are clear and will make you hungry! The scratch cooking recipes are clear and easy. No long complicated directions. With ingredients, you most likely have and are familiar with. I highly recommend this cookbook on scratch cooking. I think it would be great for new cooks and those who want to get away from fast food type cooking. These are easy tasty basics. Thank you NetGalley and publishers Greenleaf Book Group for this eARC. This is a must have cookbook for all cooks and a great gift.

A triumph of a book! Delicious recipes with simple photography-I felt like I was sitting right at the author’s kitchen counter.

These recipes are mouthwatering, and I want to make every recipe in this book. I love that there are photos for all the recipes. If you’re looking for a little bit healthy, but want some homemade comfort food thrown in the mix, this is the cookbook for you. She has everything from breakfast, homemade breads, soups, and dinner - I love how she tells you how to freeze the meals or make them ahead of time. This book really caters to a few different audiences, which is great. You will definitely want to pick this one up to add to your cookbook collection!

Thank you Greenleaf Book Group, Tastes Better from Scratch, LLC, and NetGalley for the ACR of this book!

Author Lauren Allen sounds like a creature from another age. She and her twin would arise early so that they could experiment in the kitchen. She helped her mother out in the kitchen from the time she was tiny. Her mother sounds more tolerant than I. The home was the fun place where everyone wanted to hang out.

"When I was very young, she let me make simple things all by myself or devise cookie creations with my sister and friends. We made big messes, we were loud, and we had so much fun."

Forgive me as I shudder.

As this cookbook’s title indicates, old soul Allen is all about preparing meals from scratch; however, she’s clever enough that the resulting recipe isn’t so overwhelming as to discourage using fresh and healthy ingredients and eschewing additives and processing.

Allen has created a wonderful cookbook for beginning cooks, including all the favorites: pancakes, biscuits and gravy — both from scratch! — Spaghetti Pie, chicken noodle soup, potato wedges and more. Yes, even an experienced cook will find some gems here, but it’s mostly for newbies.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars
A beautiful cookbook. Some simple and some fun recipes for the whole family. I really look forward to attempting the mini meatloafs with my daughter. I love the extra tidbits like alternative cooking methods and how to freeze. Lots and lots of pictures. I think I would've rated this a solid 5 stars if the nutritional info was included. Classic recipes for all meals and snacks that even the pickiest eater would try.

Net Galley Feedback

Thank you to NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy of this cookbook for an honest review. (Publish Date: September 27, 2022)

“Tastes Better from Scratch Cookbook” from Lauren Allen is filled with over 100 recipes that are well-liked favorites from her website. I loved how Lauren used QR codes with the recipes to link to videos of her making them. So clever! I wish more cookbooks offered this feature! I tried a few of the QR codes and was delighted to see that the videos were short, helpful, and showed Lauren making the recipe from start to finish. (Also, Lauren is also a joy to watch – she’s so warm, welcoming, and gives instructions like she’s talking to a close friend.)

I loved how the author offered tips, swaps, how to make ahead, and how to freeze and store her recipes. My family mostly follows a pescatarian diet, so I was happy to find several recipes that worked for us in this cookbook. I’m most looking forward to making the Healthy Granola, Black Bean Burgers, Banana Bread Bars, and Salted Caramel Rice Krispie Treats.

Overall, this cookbook offers a great variety of delicious recipes with enough tips and swaps to accommodate about any diet. I would highly recommend this cookbook for newlyweds as the perfect collection of great, well-loved recipes. It’s also a perfect gift for anyone wanting to make more of their meals from scratch.

THIS COOKBOOK!!

A cookbook has finally been written where every single recipe is one I would (and could!) make. No ingredients I’ve never heard of. No dishes with ingredients that cost more than my mortgage. I love the addition of notes with substitutes and freezing instructions. So helpful as a mom. And she has QR codes to take you to videos for each recipe.

I think I’m going to cook my way through this one next year.

I actually recently came across Lauren’s recipes online, so I was really excited to come across her new cookbook. Just like a good meal, I am very curious to how cookbooks look! And how they are organized and how it uses pictures. I was pleased to see how many recipes were featured, their beautiful pictures, and the very clear categories. Also all the recipes are so yum! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this cookbook!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group for gifting me a digital copy of this wonderful cookbook by Lauren Allen - 5 stars!

I love cooking and cookbooks - especially ones like this one with beautiful pictures accompanying every recipe. But I also love cooking from scratch, without relying on processed foods or ingredients. This book fits the bill perfectly, plus the recipes use ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. Most of these recipes are ones that are perfect for families - no weird ingredients, just her take on good, healthy meals. I always wish that cookbooks could include nutrition labels, but that is my only gripe. To counterbalance that gripe, however, many recipes include a QR code link to a YouTube video showing how to make it - how amazing is that?

I've flagged so many recipes that I've given up and will be ordering a hard copy of this book to have in my kitchen. Highly recommended!

Really yummy recipes in this cookbook! My son and I had made 2 recipes so far (muffins and cookies) and he is excited to try more (pretzels and desserts). He and I give this cookbook two thumbs up!

What's not to like about this book??!! As soon as I saw the name and the cover I knew it was going to be a winner...and indeed it is! I love the intro chapters where we see inside the author and her drive behind developing this cookbook. I love that she has included "how to freeze" with her recipes...because that is always the part that I question "is it able to be frozen?" "what's the best way to freeze/thaw/use?" The pictures are beautiful and draw the eye to the recipe. The QR code is also a great addition to the cookbook - as seeing how to do something often makes the task so much easier! Great job....can't wait to get this book on my shelf! Thank you to NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group for the opportunity to read and review this advance reader copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. ##TastesBetterFromScratchCookbook #NetGalley.

I have a wide collection of cookbooks and none compare in any way or how To Laurens. I love how she told her story before the recipes started and love the fact that they were not mixed in through out the book. That was absolutely genius it makes you feel like these recipes are not just recipes someone somewhere got off the Internet and made their own. I feel like they really came from a home for a family. If you read her story first and then go to the recipes you can really feel the love she put into this amazing. I love different side notes variations substitutions and the QR codes amazing I love how you can interact with There pies and not just you but your little helpers can help interact as well! Very thoroughly thought out, the layout pictures everything is immaculate I would like to know if Lauren would be doing another one can’t wait to try all these recipes with my family can’t wait to actually have a book in my hands!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this since there was very little information in the description and I had never heard of the author. I was immediately surprised by how limited the included recipes were and how simple they seemed. It starts with breakfast and quick breads, then there are dinners, soup and salad, and dessert. It has to be a very new cook that is not aware that breakfast like pancakes and waffles taste better made from scratch than from a box but that’s what is in the description. She includes a very basic recipe for both that if included for new cooks is very limited. I was excited about the description stating there are QR codes for each recipe and I find myself underwhelmed by them. The links are to quick 1 minute YouTube videos with very little instruction. For instance the waffle recipe calls for sifting the ingredients but the video does not show that, but it does show beating the egg whites which could be really helpful it PPH you wanted an idea what that should look like. I love baking so I already have my bread and muffin recipes down so again to me these seem like easy basic recipes and not what I had expected in a cookbook. For some reason she lists a garlic parmesan pretzel that does not actually have any garlic which is annoying and makes me wonder how many other mistakes are in this book. There’s also no QR code for the pretzel recipe in case the video had the garlic. On the plus side there are lots of pictures, weirdly not always included until after the recipe but maybe that’s something unique to my digital copy.

The dinner section has a lot of recipes that seem similar, like teriyaki variations and pasta variations, but there are a few more unique ones like the Indian recipes such as the Navajo Tacos with Indian Fry Bread. The Soup section actually has a lot of heavier stews which might be of interest during the winter. It’s the dessert section that my kids are the most excited about. There are a variety of cookies, bars and pies and they want to make them all. The desserts do stand out for their variety but also seem to show along with the breads in the first section that the author has a fondness for baking. As a cookbook I’m underwhelmed by the meals here. If you want a fun variety and are new at baking, especially with breads, this could be a fun book for you. My kids are always excited about trying fun recipes so while I didn’t find many new dinner recipes they are excited about making the desserts here.

Oh. My. Goodness! I could not put this book down. Not only am I so incredibly thankful I was able to receive the ARC, but I am also going to buy this in hardback as soon as I get paid, and I am going to get ones for my family members too! I know when it gave the recipes for the Buttermilk Pancakes I thought, I wonder how I could contact her about my cousin's amazing Buttermilk Syrup?!! But then, there it was! I especially loved the stories at the beginning, and Lauren, I hope I may call you Lauren, has led such an amazing life, and I was happy to feel like I was part of it. One of my favorite sections was on feeding picky eaters. I am an extremely picky eater, and my mom growing up would make different items for the different people in my family. I wish I tried more, but I just cannot at this point. But, if I am ever blessed with children, I want them to eat all kinds of foods, and will use this as a wonderful guide. This book has recipes for all types of taste buds, ages, and even diets. I am doing low carb right now, but the avocado and tomato toast would be perfect for my mom with our keto bread. I plan on making that as a surprise for her! I could eat the breakfast casserole with my low carb too! For my sister’s cookbook I am going to highlight the pumpkin bread! The mini meatloaves sound adorable, and I am going to try and see how low carb I can make it while being true to the recipe. I could go on and on about the different recipes, but I loved the stories, the little stories or tidbits before the recipes, that is always one of my favorite parts, and the stunning pictures. I also want to let Lauren know she has a beautiful family.

I want to personally thank Lauren Allen, the publisher, and Negalley for the ARC of this awesome book in exchange for an honest review!

I LOVE Lauren Allen’s recipes! I am always struggling to find weeknight dinner ideas to satisfy my picky eaters and this collection of recipes is a helpful go-to tool. I’ll be recommending this cookbook to all my cooking friends.

Many thanks to Lauren Allen, the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.