More-with-Less: A World Community Cookbook

By Doris Longacre and Rachel Marie Stone

How we cook can change the world.

With one small idea, a movement was born. The essential cookbook of simple eating and Christian compassion, More-with-Less has given generations of cooks basic, healthy recipes that are gentle on the budget and mindful of those who are hungry. This 40th anniversary edition preserves hundreds of timeless recipes and tips from Doris Janzen Longacre’s bestselling cookbook and offers updates by award-winning food writer Rachel Marie Stone.

If you own just one cookbook, More-with-Less is the one. Serve your household nourishing meals and inspiring stories about sharing resources and living with less. Join a community that is cooking with a conscience.

The World Community Cookbook series benefits the work of Mennonite Central Committee, a worldwide ministry of relief, development, and peace. Nearly one million copies sold.

Simple. Wholesome. Generous. Faithful.

Key features of the 40th Anniversary edition include:

• Classic recipes with tips for contemporary cooks
• Colorful photographs throughout
• New recipes featuring fresh, healthy ingredients
• Updated nutritional information and cooking techniques
• Inspiring stories of living joyfully and simply
• Recipe labels on vegetarian and gluten-free dishes

• Language: English
• Publisher: Herald Press
• Release date: Sep 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9781513801742

Doris Longacre

Doris Janzen Longacre home economist, theologian, and advocate for the world's hungry, wrote the More-with-Less cookbook, which as sold nearly one-million copies, and Living More-with-Less.

Book preview

[Eloise Chan · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I was so thrilled that this cookbook is on Scribd, I read until I got to the recipes and I can't read most of the words on the margins. Super bummed. I'm sure the book is great; it's just impossible to read.

[2FatChicks · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

It is mostly unreadable. Text from different lines being superimposed makes reading the steps difficult. Even worse, though, is that you can't read the ingredient lists!

[Katayoun Izadi · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The text size, the recipes aren’t clear, the lines overlap with each other so half jf the ingredients and directions are are hidden under the previous lines!!!!!

[wishanem · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The most important part of this cookbook is the philosophy and principles laid out in the opening sections. The author argues in a warm and inspiring way for simple and frugal cooking, with occasional indulgences as a special occasion. Reading this book reaffirmed what my parents' taught me (and I'm sure they owned this book) and made me feel more resolved to put more effort into my cooking. Most of the recipes didn’t suit my tastes or capabilities, but that's true of any cookbook. I'll definitely keep this around as a reference.

[bookqueenshelby · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of my favorite cookbooks of all time. I kept the library copy until I thought they were going to come to my house and take it back. I finally have my own copy :)

[marchpane-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My copy of this cookbook is now over 30 years old and maintains its original elegance, even after being spattered with egg and tomatoes. Its recipes are quite diverse, and are accompanied by notes on how to change, extend, or reduce them if necesssary. The book also conveys a strong sense of the community, place, and purpose uniting the contributors. Plus: the page design and typography are very nice; the wire binding is practical; and the cover graphic, representing the Mennonite peace dove, emerges out of beans, grains and Swiss cheese.

[patricia_poland_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My best, most favorite cookbook. Everyone should have and/or read this cookbook - it's more than a book of recipes, it's a way of life. Reading the introduction is an eye opener and a reminder of how fragile our planet is and how selfish many of us are (without even realizing it). I've tried many of the recipes and like 95% of them. Many are simple and some are a little complicated. If I could only pick one cookbook - this would be it.

[bbexlibris · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I know that a kick is a kick, but as far as kicks go...I really hope this one lasts. I just got my "More-with-Less" A World Community Cookbook in the mail that I ordered from amazon.com. written by Doris Janzen Longacre.
I am amazed at the information in this book, so I'll tell you about it, because that is what I do!

It begins by explaining what less with more actually is, that it is not about not enjoying what we eat, it is not about starving or being less creative with our meals. It IS about "simplifying [our] meals in order to reduce food expenditures...while in no way depraved of tasty, nutritious food" (p.12). The author goes through a list of reasons this should be done, including topics such as: World Shortages, North America: Five times as Much, Overspending Money, Overeating Calories, Overeating Protein, Overeating Sugar (my HUGE downfall), Overeating Processed Foods, and Over complicating our Lives.

I was amazed at how much information was in these sections which I had not fully thought about, but that I completely see the point of. I love America, I love the beauty of it all and the incredible people and diversity in our country...I do not love our need to enjoy the richness of it all and expect "someone else" to do something about the world's poverty. It is easy to continue on just buying things at the expense of others when you do not know what you are doing, and who it affects, but when you do know...well, that then is another story. I used to think that what I did with my money, my time and my donations really did not have a big affect on anyone but my family and I. Now I have just figured out that what I do does impact, it does change others, and that I can choose to have a positive impact on others, and not live in luxury at their expense.

Today as I was reading the reasons to change what we eat, and how to do "more-with-less" and in reading I realized something that bothered me. In the Overeating Sugar section, where the author writes about how, " much of the land used for sugar beets and cane could produce crops far more beneficial to a hungry world. Sugar provides calories, not a smidgen of protein, vitamins, or minerals"(p.17). This immediately made me picture the times of kings and queens where the royal family would be sitting in a huge elegant dining hall and the people they were serving were rioting outside their castle walls because they were not receiving the foods that they needed in order to survive. I have also heard of feasts that the wealthy had where they would cause themselves to puke up what they had eaten in order to continue on eating the delicacies of the festival. Ahhhhh! This picture happened many times throughout history because the people with less are the easiest to ignore, and it is happening now as well. We as Americans are the wealthy, even if we only have enough food to eat and a place to sleep...we are the wealthy! This is a blessing that I feel was given to us for a reason, and that reason is not to see how much we ourselves can indulge, but what impact we can have on the people around us who do not have. I realized that I need to look out of my castle walls, and reach out to the people that are hungry, week and just need something, anything. Yes, you can see...conviction has captured me, and I am oh, so thankful. Guilt is rotten but conviction....that is one of the huge blessings of having a functioning conscience.

I realize that helping those who lack is not a "calling" or a gift, or a different way of "spiritualizing" it away so that we can continue to do nothing about it....it is what we are told we need to do. It seems Jesus made it all SUPER clear in Matthew 25: 31-46...when he talks of those who actually knew Him...read it, I guess I see it pretty much as life and death, it is what we will do if we really do follow what he is asking of us...I guess unless we long to hear the: "depart from me! for you do not know me". This is not religious, it is not pious...it is obedience, and that is what God is continually working with me on OBEDIENCE.

Anyway, I know it is hard to read something like this...well, really know that it is hard to write something you are feeling convicted about because you fear the readers to assume that you are saying you have it together, or that you are trying to get them to do it, or the grand 'ol one "preachy". At this point though, I am beyond worried about what people will think, I figure if you really know me, you'll know what I am like. So, just know, this is my conviction...not yours, unless you feel it should be and then, well it is yours too. right?

So yeah....that is probably the most conviction anyone has gotten from a cookbook....but there you have it... I'm fully convicted.

[northernjudy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Many of the items considered everyday staples in 1976 are luxury items now. It says a lot about the devaluation of the dollar. And some of the cheaper meats may no longer be eaten because of various diseases like mad cow disease.

[reigningstars · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I hate menu planning and trying to find cheap healthy recipes that my family will want to eat but this cookbook has really helped me out with menu planning on a budget with lots of delicious recipes and tips. I definitely recommend it.

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ann Coulter, eat your heart out! Not only am I a granola-consuming "liberal," I even make the stuff from scratch!

This wonderful, one-of-a-kind cookbook, originally commissioned by the Mennonite Central Committee in the 1970s, focuses on preparing simple but tasty food, with a minimum of waste and expense. It advocates eating more whole grains and fresh produce, consuming meat and dairy in moderation, and avoiding over-processed convenience foods. The idea is not simply to provide a healthier lifestyle for the individual, but to foster an ethic of food that promotes planetary health and human welfare.

But despite its very earnest intention to "do good" in the world, "More-With-Less" never comes across as heavy-handed. Instead, it is infused with a sense of warmth and humanity, with personal stories about cooking, spirituality, and world food issues interspersed among the recipes. If this book has one over-riding "message," it is that world hunger is not unrelated to our own personal food choices. But have no fear, it is not a proselytising book, despite the fact that many of the personal stories come from missionaries and their families.

This book was recommended to me many times by a very dear friend from my college days, who used to swear that no matter how few ingredients she had in the house, "More-With-Less" always gave her a recipe that could transform them into a tasty meal. Whether you want to address ethical issues through your food choices, live more frugally, or just adopt a healthier lifestyle, this is the book for you.

[devandecicco · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good, cheap, economically and environmentally-sound recipes from the Mennonite Central Committee.

[bluesalamanders · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Many of my favorite recipes growing up (and now) come from this cookbook. I wish my copy was spiral-bound like my parents' copy, though.

[billlund · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the best "every day" cookbooks we have. The very simple receipe for stew is a stable at our house. The approach of the book is that we need to eat simply, using total resources sparingly, such as meat.

[shawnmarie_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A grass roots book from the early 70s which has achieved great fame, for good reason. It shows our responsibility to feed ourselves sensibly and not overuse resources. Simple, healthy and affordable recipes abound in this book. Though religion is a central theme, it is not offensive in any way to me as a non-religious practitioner.