Frugal Eating: The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook

The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook by Erin Chase  (check our her blog by following the link in the book title)

This book finally came available at the library a week before we were to leave, so I read it quickly so I could turn it in before we left.

I thought it was a good book. Her premise is that you can plan and prepare dinner, including sides, for a family of four for less than $5. In some ways it was similar to the Family Feasts for $75 a Week and Make it Fast, Cook it Slow cookbooks that I read earlier. This isn't a bad thing, by the way.

Erin has a good section on coupons- I think I'll give it another try once we're moved and settled. She uses a price book too (like the $75 a week lady). She buys very little canned goods and processed items, so she's making couponing work without buying the items most coupons are for.

She advocates buying mostly from the outer edges of the store: produce, dairy, and meats- and staying away from aisles full of refined {expensive} foods. Since that's what we should be eating, that works for me.

She also talks about portion control- be aware of how much you're eating and what- protein, starch/grain, veggies, etc, and not just loading up your plate and mindlessly eating.

She also said to be careful about snacking- a quote she used is 'You crave what you eat'. So true. If I eat one piece of chocolate, I crave more. If I don't eat it at all, I don't crave it (unless it's that time of month...). Good for saving money too. Have fruits and veggies on hand for snacking instead of candy, chips, etc.

She talks about meal planning, which I have to say has got to be one of the biggest ways to control your food budget- plan what meals you're going to have, then plan the shopping list, then stick to it.

The recipes Erin includes are cooked from scratch. Like the authors of the two cookbooks I mentioned above, she makes her own 'canned' soups for cooking and uses very few canned items.

Her recipes include lots of produce, beans, lentils, etc. They're not intentionally gluten free, but a number are naturally. Most of those that aren't can be easily tweaked by substituting gluten free pastas, flours, or bread products. This does increase the price per meal, but the price per meal is still doable. Gluten free pastas, flours, and bread products are significantly more expensive than 'normal' varieties, are hard to find in bulk, and rarely go on sale (I've never seen them on sale in the 9 months I've been gluten free, but I'll be paying closer attention from here on out).

I'm looking forward to trying out some of the recipes she included in her book, and giving couponing another try. Has anyone else read this book and tried any of the recipes?