Cheap Eating: How to Feed Your Family Well and Spend Less

Offers advice on how to save money on one's food bill through bulk purchases, gardening, canning, meal planning, and smarter cooking and shopping, and shares economical recipes

This book is packed with ideas on how to cut grocery bill costs by smart shopping (using co-ops, buying in bulk, clipping coupons) and smart cooking (making your own instead of using convenience foods). About one third of the book is devoted to recipes that emphasize inexpensive but nutritious ingredients; others are simple recipes to replace packaged foods. Also included is a sample shopping list and recipes to feed a family of four for $30 a week (which is less than half the cost of the thrifty plan recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture). The book is low in meat and emphasizes bread products and bean dishes, but it does demonstrate how a family can "eat cheap." In addition, it offers chapters on gardening and canning, eating out, and cooking for dieting and eating problems. Edwards, a social worker, has drawn upon her own personal experiences of shopping and cooking. Her ideas are not new, but this book will inspire many to consider ways to stretch the food budget.
- Judith M. Nixon, Purdue Univ. Lib., West Lafayette, Ind.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.