250 Best Meals in a Mug: Delicious Homemade Microwave Meals in Minutes

Recipe-developing workhorse Saulsbury (500 Best Quinoa Recipes, 750 Best Muffin Recipes, 150 Best Ebelskiver Recipes) returns with yet another numerically-based cookbook centered on single-serving meals microwaved in a mug. Candidly admitting it's a fad but never questioning the need for recipes that amount to just a single serving, Saulsbury covers the usual basics (pantry staples, choosing the right mug, etc.) with recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The book places emphasis on ease of use and quick prep forgoing the inclusion of nutritional information. One can speculate that since Saulsbury relies on precooked meatballs for many of her meat-based dishes as well as canned broth and bacon bits, the sodium levels must be high. Even those with forgiving palates will find themselves questioning some of Saulsbury's suggestions, perhaps best represented by the "BBQ Chicken Mashed Potato Bowl" recipe which incorporates canned chicken, barbecue sauce, instant potatoes, canned corn, and cheddar into something that's more of a dare than a dish. Readers with low expectations who lack basic cooking skills will get the most out of this collection, as "Bistro Onion Soup," "Corn Chip Pie," and "Philly Cheesesteak Mug" come together in a matter of minutes. (Mar.)