Cook Book Reviews...Cheap. Fast. Good!


Cheap. Fast. Good!  Is an encyclopedia of good ideas for eating well but in a thrifty way.  It’s up-to-date for younger cooks, but we found plenty to recommend it as well.  This is a book I would consider for a wedding or shower gift depending on the couple.  The recipes give you lots of suggestions and hints to make them easier and add variety to your meals.  We think cooks who only know how to cook from the package directions will benefit the most from a book like this.
The authors wrote the Desperation Dinners cookbooks, and they know their stuff.  I like a lot of their tips for getting the preparation done FAST…tips that even experienced cooks don’t always know or forget to practice. 
They cover lots of ways to cook more cheaply…they explain how to cut up your own chickens, and how to slow-cook meats to portion out and freeze, ready to use for quicker suppers.  They talk about cutting down on waste in the kitchen, how to shop smarter, and how to get off the fast-food treadmill.
They cover couponing – from two different perspectives – and how to cook for a family on less than $100 a week.  And the recipes aren’t boring canned soup casseroles – I think that’s the best thing about this book.  Here are a variety of recipes from this great book!

Perfect Poached Chicken - Absolutely the best way to make cooked chicken

Chicken Caesar Salad -  Use that perfectly cooked chicken

Chicken and Green Bean Casserole

Simply Southern Coleslaw

Swedish Pickled Cucumbers

Terrific Tartar Sauce

Chicken Broccoli Lo Mein

3 comments:

  1. I enjoy your cookbook reviews. I just reserved this from our library. My turn should come next month! Honestly, I'm not sure I would have given it a second look om the shelf. PerhapsI'll finally learn to cut up a chicken!

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  2. Hey1 Maybe you gals could do a short post sometime.....with pics on your cookbook shelves? Mine is a little sparse nowadays. I donated all the "non practical" ones and am filling it back up with all the practical ones you suggest.

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    1. Well, you wouldn't get much from my 2 foot long shelf...the basics: Joy of Cooking, Farm Journal, Fannie Farmer, our Mom's 1940's Better Homes and Gardens, and the rest are divided between canning, bread baking, and thrifty cooking books, including some Farm Journal, Mennonite and the Mormon cookbook.
      I read cookbooks like magazines...used, they are just as cheap, I get many more ideas, and then I pass most of them on or donate them back to our local book sale. I use a computer recipe program, Master Cook, to store most of my recipes, where I can sort them and price them. The program is mostly used by food service professionals and bloggers.
      Myrna scans recipes she wants and saves them that way. She has many more cookbooks than I have, but is also cutting down.

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