One of the biggest ways that I save money for my family-other than just NOT giving in to impulses and buying a lot of “stuff” is by cooking. It’s a natural fit for me. I really enjoy both cooking and eating, and good food doesn’t have to be costly. I also like the fact that with home cooked food I know exactly what is going into my food-no hidden fats, sugars or preservatives!
On the other hand loving food has it’s downside, which is I tend to forget to *stop* eating 
As my activity level has decreased my food intake has not, and I’ve gained a few pounds. I try to be more active-but there always seem to be a million excuses. That’s why one of my new years resolutions was to exercise more and be more healthy!
This week’s giveaway can help with all that! I am giving away a copy of $3 Low Calorie Meals cookbook! This book is 256 pages long, is divided into 9 Chapters and 2 appendix and costs $14.95.
Just like the original $3 Meals cookbook that I reviewed/gave away a few months ago, this book is simply written with clear directions. Many of the recipes contain notes with possible variations and information on whether the dish can be prepared ahead. The author uses call out boxes at the end of recipes to give the reader additional information such as pronunciations, interesting history, and offering relevant tips and techniques for the recipes.
The chapters inside were:
Chapter 1: Saving Money at the Supermarket
Chapter 2: Taking the Low (calorie) Road to Health
Chapter 3: Super Sauces, Divine Dressings & Stocks for all Occasions
Chapter 4: “Little Dishes” for Less than $1
Chapter 5: “One If By Land” . . . Part I Chicken and Turkey Entrees
Chapter 6: “One If By Land”. . . .Part II Pork and Beef Entrees
Chapter 7: “Two If By Sea”. . . . Fish Entrees
Chapter 8: Vibrant and Vegetarian Entrees
Chapter 9: (Almost) Guilt-Free Goodies
Globe Pequot Press was kind enough to not only provide me with a copy of the book to review, but also with a copy to give away! One readers will win a great frugal cookbook this week.
This giveaway will run from Tuesday, March 16 to Monday March 22nd.
To Enter:
Leave a comment telling me what your family’s favorite inexpensive meal is.
Want extra entries? Here you go! EACH MUST BE A SEPARATE COMMENT!
1. Subscribe to Frugal Upstate (or tell me you already have)
2. Tweet about the giveaway.
3. Post on Facebook about the giveaway.
Good Luck!
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Hmmm – inexpensive meal – I guess having breakfast for dinner can be one of them – a few eggs, a bit of onions and peppers (or whatever I already have in the fridge) and voila – dinner that does not cost a fortune!!
Thank you.
ferdiemehta at gmail dot com
We love making our own pizza at home from scratch. So yummy and cheap!
Tweeted the giveaway under bayboymamma
I am an email subscriber
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Our favorite cheap meal is chicken soup made from the stock of the rotisserie chicken from which I’ve already carved three or four meals (our wholesale club’s rotisserie chicken is less expensive per pound/meal than if I bought raw and roasted).
Our favorite inexpensive meal is currently crockpot “sticky chicken” from Beth Hensperger’s “Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Recipes for Two” book. Chicken drumsticks go on sale often enough that even with a small freezer, we can stock up to tide us until the next sale. We serve it with frozen veggies or canned green beans and rice or couscous. Yum!
I’m subscribed already through RSS
I think our favorite would be tuna pasta salad. Can of tuna, box of rotoni and some mayo. Yummy and filling!
I think our favorite is homemade calzones. We eat them every Friday. Thanks for the giveaway!
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We love the cheap, store brand, mac n cheese….mmmmm, mmmmm!
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My favorite low cost meal is tator tot casserole. Mix can of cream of mushroom with browned hamburger, bag of frozen mixed veggies and top with tator tots.
My husband and I like spaghetti with marinara!
grossman_stacy at yahoo dot com
Our family’s favorite low cost meal is angel hair pasta with homemade marinara sauce. It is meatless and full of vegggies and the whole family loves it!
My family’s favorite inexpensive meal is Broccoli and Sun-dried Tomatoes Pasta, although it may not be for long because our local dollar store has stopped carrying jars of sun-dried tomatoes.
I’m happy to be an e-mail subscriber of Frugal Upstate!
Our inexpensive meal is breakfast for dinner! We do eggs and bisquits or pancakes.
My cheapest and most convenient meal is LeSeur Baby Peas, Rice, and Baked Chicken with Fat Free Italian Dressing (store brand), vinegar, lemon juice, celery seed, crushed red pepper, black pepper. I am also tweeted this contest under http://www.twitter.com/aafromaaa
Bean chili made with dried beans (so much cheaper!)
We love grilled peanut butter & jelly with soup. I’ll be tweeting this as @quirkywriter. Hope I win!
Pasta w/ meatballs!!
We have homemade pizza every Friday. The girls (I have 4) love it. I use up leftovers to make pizzas like taco pizza, white chicken pizza, etc.
Our favorite inexpensive meal is breakfast for dinner. Bread and eggs are always pretty cheap as is pancake mix.
Our favorite inexpensive meal is an omelet.
If DH isn’t home, then our favorite cheap meal is pancakes! (DH will not eat breakfast for dinner…)
I added you to my RSS feed.
I subscribe to the RSS feed.
We love making homemade pizzas every Friday night and then pop in a DVD to watch as a family.
One of my favorite low cost meals is one of the many items I can cook from either a home cooked chicken or a rotisserie chicken. One of the local supermarkets just had a 2 for 1 sale on whole chickens. Great buy!
I can usually get 4-5 meals out of the chicken.
After we eat a bit of the chicken the first night (usually with potatoes or rice and a veggie) I pull all the chicken off the bones and freeze the pulled chicken. After that I can usually make chicken stew with some of it, chicken casserole with some of it. We can usually have leftovers from these as well.
I will take the chicken carcass and throw it in the slow cooker and add carrots, celery and onions let it go and end up with great stock. I then will make chicken soup with that. Gotta love chicken-so versitile
Our favorite inexpensive meal is good old spaghetti.
One of the best meals that may family likes is a Black Bean and zucchini Quesodilla.
definitely eggs, homemade bread, and bacon or sausage. if it’s dinner time, we’ll add a side of applesauce
We love Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato Soup!
I just subscribed!
Our favorite inexpensive meal is macaroni & cheese with canned tuna and peas added. It really is good!
We love making white bean chile with chicken. Dried navy beans, a chicken breast, and green salsa are the main ingredients plus any vegetables lying around.
veggie quesadillas..great way to use up odds and ends
One of our favorite inexpensive dinners is spaghetti with meat sauce.
I am an e-mail subscriber.
I cook everything from scratch. My local grocery offers Perdue skinless, boneless chicken breasts every Friday for $1.99 a pound. Solid, lean meat, no waste, great value. Every week I cook either a big batch of Chicken Parmesan or marinated grilled chicken breasts and we have that for at least two meals. That way I economize on both the ingredients and my time in the kitchen without sacrificing nutrition!
Pasta and beans, Yummy.
tweeted http://twitter.com/cdziuba/status/10859445145
My favortie most inexpensive meal is spaghetti – my kids are kinda funny in that they don’t like sauce on theirs so literally a .39 cent box of pasta can feed them!! I will serve homemade meatballs and a few slices of white bread with butter as a side. VERY inexpensive!!
I just subscribed to your site!
Spaghetti!
big’o pot of chili with cornbread is a good stand-by for this busy family.
this is a great site …lots of info.i just subscribed. thnx
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