“What’s for dinner?” A daunting question for any cook, but the new parent faces a special challenge. Chances are her new bundle of joy picks the dinner hour to be fussy and demanding. How can mom get dinner ready with a baby on her hip?

The One-Armed Cook (Meredith Books) has the answer. This fun and fresh read fills a void in the market by combining inspirational and informative narrative with more than

120 baby-holding, mom-tested recipes. It is the first book to address the need to feed the parents, the family and friends, all while juggling the needs - and demands - of a newborn.

Cynthia Stevens Graubart is a former television cooking show producer. Catherine

Fliegel is a registered nurse and former childbirth educator who loves to cook. Together they wrote The One-Armed Cook, which, besides recipes, includes sound advice and girlfriend-ly reassurance for new and not-so-new-moms. Each year, more than 3.8 million babies are born in the United States, and their joyful but overwhelmed parents face many challenges. One of their most formidable tasks will be heading into- or back into- the kitchen to prepare a family meal, only this time with a baby-in-tow.

“Your pregnancy lasts only nine months, but your new baby will alter your life for years to come,” writes Graubart, a mother of two, in the book’s introduction. “It’s time to get practical and prepare for your new life in the kitchen with baby.” “Even if you’ve already had your baby, it’s still not too late to get started with an easier strategy in the kitchen,” adds Graubart. “There is nothing like a baby to temporarily turn a household upside down, and we can all use a few more helpful hints and greater tasting, easy recipes to add to our repertoire.”

The first seven chapters of The One-Armed Cook help moms prepare a game plan for success. Starting with the necessary kitchen equipment, refrigerator essentials, freezing and re-heating tips and supplies for the pantry, the authors guide readers through every step to make cooking, and navigating around the kitchen with baby-in-tow safer, faster, easier and more fun.

Quick and easy recipes that can be prepared start-to-finish in 30 minutes or less fill The

One-Armed Cook and cover everything from appetizers to soups to main courses to desserts and reflect the multi-ethnic influences on American cuisine. The authors also provide guidelines for kitchen safety; tips on supermarket and even restaurant survival; and step-by-step instructions for entertaining including sample menus and timelines for preparation. There are 36 appetizing menus for everything from a romantic dinner for two, to a birth celebration brunch for 24, and every occasion in between, all created specifically with the new very busy mom in mind.

“Life with baby is truly wonderful, but it is also a huge adjustment and undeniably exhausting,” said Fliegel, mother of three. “The focus of The One-Armed Cook is to empower new parents with information and support so they can spend less time in the kitchen and more time at the family dinner table. Although the book is aimed at new parents, it’s equally well suited to anyone who wants to prepare nutritious, attractive meals and get in and out of the kitchen in a hurry.”