The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook: 200 Recipes for Quick, Delicious, and Nourishing Meals That Are Easy on the Budget and a Snap to Prepare – Bargain Price Author: Visit Amazon's Erin Chase Page | Language: English | ISBN:
B0043GXYAK | Format: PDF
The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook: 200 Recipes for Quick, Delicious, and Nourishing Meals That Are Easy on the Budget and a Snap to Prepare – Bargain Price Description
Review
"Erin's $5 Dollar Dinner approach is ideal for my family--her recipes are simple, healthy, delicious and always affordable. She proves that budget cooking does not have to be boring!"--Stephanie Nelson, author of The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half
About the Author
Erin Chase is the creator of www.5dollardinners.com. She has previously shared her savvy tips for saving on “The Rachael Ray Show” and “The Jean Chatzky Show” on Oprah Sirius Radio. She grew up in San Antonio, TX, went to Texas Christian University, and served as a missionary in the Dominican Republic where she met her husband. They live in Dayton, Ohio with their three children.
See all Editorial Reviews
- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (December 22, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312607334
- ASIN: B0043GXYAK
- Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
When I became interested in saving money on my grocery bill, I purchased both this book and Mary Ostyn's book, and have read them both thoroughly. Honestly, you will be better off just getting Mary's instead.
Before I get to the negatives, I'd like to state the few positives. I give props to Erin first for recognizing that Americans eat too much, and second for working vegetables into every meal. The reviewer who said that this book is overall unhealthy is exaggerating a little. Yes, she uses regular ground beef, but processed foods are in only a few recipes and frozen vegetables are still vegetables (and she does encourage growing your own). Both Erin and Mary emphasize eating less meat and offer vegetarian meal options. Erin does mention the use of a price book, but Mary does to a MUCH more thorough extent.
Now the other stuff...
The tips in this book are all commons sense-stock up when it's on sale, match coupons to sales. You don't need a book to tell you that. Every positive aspect of this book can be found in Mary Ostyn's book Family Feasts for $75 a Week, and you'll find lots of other information as well. Erin gives an ingredient by ingredient price breakdown in every recipe, which is a good concept, but the problem is that price can vary largely depending on where you are. There are some items that she's apparently been able to find at prices that I've never, ever seen anywhere I've been, and I'm a very price-conscious shopper. So, a lot of her "$5 meals" I would not be able to make for $5.
I cook a lot. Before my kids were born, I would have called myself somewhat of a gourmet cook. However, once my first kid was born, I had to adjust my recipes and my food budget. Kids (especially little ones) don't appreciate a lot of "adult" food and feeding them a lot of it would break the bank. I have struggled to find cookbooks that fit what I want, tasty, healthy food that can be had at a budget but that kids will eat. I picked up this book at the grocery store after thumbing through it.
First the positives:
Most of the recipes are quite healthy and if they aren't the way she has written them, you can easily substitute more healthy ingredients.
The recipes don't require any exotic ingredients that young kids might reject. The way the recipes are presented, you can add your own spices if the food isn't spicy enough for your family's taste.
The directions are clear and easy to follow.
It's all here for you in one place, you don't have to spend hours surfing the internet. I'm glad that so many reviewers have so much time to surf the internet for recipes. I don't. My time has value, too.
I like that she has recipes for basic sauces and soups to use in her recipes. I have sauces that I often substitute but I have also used hers and they serve their purpose.
The recipes are good and very appropriate for families with young children. This is NOT gourmet food. But, it is good food that is tasty for kids and relatively inexpensive to make.
She has some slow cooker recipes and some recipes that are appropriate for making ahead of time which is great for those of us who typically have the "dinner time rush" and are crushed for time to get a meal out before the kids need to be in bed.
The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook: 200 Recipes for Quick, Delicious, and Nourishing Meals That Are Easy on the Budget and a Snap to Prepare – Bargain Price Preview
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