Review & Giveaway: $3 Meals by Ellen Brown

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

How could any frugalista worth her salt resist a book with a title like “$3 Meals~Feed Your Family Delicious, Healthy Meals for Less Than the Cost of a Gallon of Milk”?

Here is a little disclaimer. Since these brand spankin new cookbooks only arrived on my doorstep a few days ago, I have not had a chance to try out any of the recipes. I will post an update later when I’ve made a few. . . after all the proof, as they say, is in the pudding!  The cookbook is written by Ellen Brown, the founding food editor of US Today, the former senior feature editor for the Cincinnati Enquirer (which included the restaurant & food sections) and the writer of 17 cookbooks~obviously this lady knows a thing or two about food.  I’m willing to go out on a limb here about the quality of the recipes

On to the review/overview.

The original $3 Meals cookbook is 242 pages long, contains over 200 recipes, and costs $14.95.  The book is separated into 8 Chapters.

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.

Chapter 1: Strategies for Shopping and Cooking

Saving money while cooking not only comes from the recipes themselves, but from being organized and purchasing your ingredients at reasonable prices.  This chapter talks about being organized and shopping frugally.  Right away she recommends is having a weekly meal plan-you know I love that!  She then covers most of the basics.  Ways to save via coupons, sales and using alternate brands. Stocking up but not wasting food either.  Alternate places to shop.  It’s a good section for newcomers to the frugal life, or a refresher for those of us already on the path.

Chapter 2: Starting with the Basics

Here she attacks some of the basic building blocks of meals.  Dressings. Marinades. Sauces. Breadcrumbs. Stocks.  These are indeed the things that can take a ho-hum meal and dress it up. . .

Chapter 3: Meals in a Bowl

This section is all about soups that make a meal. I soup is frequently a “use it up” frugal style meal at the Frugal Upstate household. I rarely use a recipe. . . but the “Chinese Vegetable with Meatball Soup” and the “Tuscan White Bean Soup with Sausage” have me salivating.  One of those might have to go on my menu plan in the near future.

Chapter 4: Fishy Business

Every week when I make my menu plan I tell you all that I am trying to work fish into my family’s diet.  Yet I seem to use the same 2 or 3 dishes over and over.  This chapter had some basic variations on baked & poached fish, but also had some more unusual ideas such as  “Fish Pot Pie”, “Fish Corn & Pea Risotto” and “Peppers Stuffed with Tuna and Rice”.

Chapter 5: Poultry with Panache

The chapter on poultry starts out with a discussion of  the less expensive cuts to use.  There is a nice description of how to cut up a whole chicken and how to debone bone in breasts.  I keep promising myself that I will try that eventually.

Although there are many basics in this section-”Chicken Pot Pie”, “Chicken and Dumplings”, “Oven Friend Chicken”, “Turkey Meatballs”-there are also some more unusual offerings.  The ones that jumped out at me? “Chicken Cooked in Red Wine (Coq au Vin)”, “Chicken Croquettes”, “Chicken Hash”, and “Moroccan Chicken Salad” (although that last has some ingredients I don’t normally keep on hand).

Chapter 6: “Meating” the Challenge

The meat chapter stays true to the frugal theme by concentrating on the cheaper cuts of meat that benefit from braising (a cooking method where food is cooked in liquid at a lower temperature for a longer time).  I found the lead in to the recipes in this section to be particularly informative.  Ms Brown covers how to choose your cut, some procedures (such as browning the meat first) that increase flavor, how to cut back on fat and even briefly how to substitute different types of meat for a recipe.

There are the standby’s in this section. “One Step Lasagna”, “Shepard’s Pie”, Spaghetti with Bolognese (meat) Sauce”, “Stuffed Peppers”, “Sweet and Sour Cabbage Rolls” and “Spaghetti Carbonara”. Some new recipes I would happily try in this section are “Garlicky Rosemary Meatballs in Tomato Sauce” and “Vietnamese Pork Loin” (although I’d have to find some Lemon Grass & Fish Sauce for that one).

Chapter 7: Vegetarian with Verve

Another goal I frequently mention in my weekly meal plan is adding in one meatless meal a week.  Meatless meals can be big budget stretchers, as well as healthy and tasty!  Many meatless dishes rely on beans for their protein punch, which not only are extremely inexpensive, but naturally winds up lowering the fat content and upping the fiber. Win Win!

Ms Brown starts out the section with some basic information on beans and pastas.  I was happy to see that she took the time to explain the concept of “completing proteins”.

This section had a lot of new recipes for me.  “Italian Bread & Tomato Stew”, “Asian Black Bean “Chili”", “Curried Lentils”, “Southwest Spinach Loaf”, “Risotto Style Barley with Spinach” (I’ve been meaning to try cooking barley), and “Southwestern Squash and Bean Stew”.

Chapter 8: Bakery Basics

There are procedural points at the start of this chapter for folks not familiar with baking.

There are your basic all purpose recipes like those I already use frequently (several of which I’ve posted here on Frugal Upstate). “Basic Muffin” (with variations), “Beer Bread”, “Banana Bread”, “Buttermilk Biscuits”, “Pie Crust” and “Homemade Pizza Dough”.  There is a nice savory twist on a quick bread I need to try: “Basic Herb Quickbread” as well as “Focaccia” and her own version of “No Knead White Bread”.

Overall this is a nice cookbook for those trying to be more frugal in the kitchen.  I wholeheartedly recommend it if you have basic skills but haven’t cooked much from scratch-she explains the frugal philosophy well and I think it has a very nice combination of basic recipes and a few more unusual/advanced.

If you are a long time cook you may find those basic recipes to be just that-basic.  You probably already have a favorite Spaghetti Bolognese or Chicken Pot Pie in your recipe file and aren’t likely to replace it with one of these.  There are quite a few new recipes spanning several cultures-Asian, Mexican, Greek, French-so I would suggest pick up a copy at your local library or bookstore and flip through it to see if this is a cookbook you’d use frequently.

Now on to the fun part!  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, Nov 10th to Monday Nov 16th.

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!

((NOTE: I will have limited access to the internet for a few days.  If you have never commented on my blog before, your comment will go in a queue for me to approve prior to posting.  You won’t see it appear until I approve it-don’t worry if that doesn’t happen for a few days-it will get approved and it will appear in the order that the original comment/entry was made-waiting for approval does not affect that.))

***This is a sponsored post***

Note: Coming soon. .. a review of  “$3 Low Calorie Meals~Delicious, Low Cost Dishes That Won’t Add to Your Waistline” by Ellen Brown. So keep your eyes peeled!

Giveaway & Coupon: Clorox Toilet Wand

Those of you who have read me for a while know that I’m pretty much a homemade cleaner kind of gal.  I find that bleach, Bon Ami, baking soda, vinegar and plain old “joy” dish soap can tackle most messes around my house.

I also am not big on “disposable” things.  I’d prefer to use a microfiber cloth that I can wash and reuse rather than something made out of electrostatic paper that I have to toss after one use.

All that being said, I don’t mind trying out something new when it is offered.  Clorox offered to sponsor a review of their Toilet Wand system and give me 3 kits to give away.  To learn more about Clorox in general and the toilet wand in particular visit the Clorox website.

The kit consists of a reuseable “wand” (aka handle), 6 disinfecting toiletwand refills (single use) and a stand/refill storage caddy.  To use you snap the disposable head onto the handle then completely wet the head in a flushed toilet bowl for a couple of seconds and then scrub.  If you wait 10 minutes before flushing then the cleaner will have a chance to disinfect as well.

I tried the Clorox system on the toilet in the kids bathroom.  That particular bathroom gets the heaviest use, and there are hard water stains under the brim that I have tried my best (but with limited results) to scrub with a traditional brush and scouring powder.  I was really hoping that the Clorox system would be a miracle worker.

When I used the brush the cleaners embedded in the scouring pad head foamed up very nicely-there was an extremely thick foam of cleaner that was more than enough to clean the bowl and leave a visible layer behind to disinfect as well.

Unfortunately the scouring pad and cleaner combo did not have any more effect on those stubborn hard water stains~although it did a great job on the normal every day grime.

There seemed to be so much cleaning foam that I decided to test out the “single use” theory and cleaned my other two toilet bowls in the house with the same head.  There was nowhere near as much foam on the second and third toilets, but the scrubber did a fine job.

When I was done I just pushed the little button and the disposable head popped off into the trashcan.

Final analysis?

The system works as advertised–it cleans your toilet bowl without having to deal with any mess.  If you are especially concerned about germs and the idea of having a traditional toilet brush that sits there all covered in who knows what totally skeeves you out then you will be all over this product!

Personally I don’t think this product is for me.  I’m not very germ phobic and in this particular case I’m not willing to trade the convenience for my cash.  I will happily use the additional 5 cleaning heads, but when they are all gone I will most likely go back to my scouring powder/toilet brush method.

Interested in trying them out for yourself?  There is a great coupon available for $5 off a Clorox Toilet Wand.  Each computer can print up to 2 coupons.  Also the Clorox Toilet Wand box I got had a $3 off coupon attached as well~so you could save even more!

And remember, I also have 3 Clorox Toilet Wand kits to give away!

This giveaway will run from Monday October  12th to Monday October  19th.

To enter:

#1-Go to the Clorox website and check out either the “Cleaner Homes” or “Healthier Lives” section. Come back and tell me one thing you learned that you didn’t know before!

Want extra entries? Each one requires a separate comment.

#2-Subscribe to Frugal Upstate (or let me know you already are)

#3-Tweet/post to Facebook about the giveaway with a link back to this post.

#4-Blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post.

Good luck everyone!

For more fun and more prizes make sure you attend the  Twitter Party on Oct 23rd from 10-11pm EST.  There are great prizes for the Party including  3 Clorox Toilet Wand Kits and (1) $100 Visa GC for a Bathroom Makeover.  To join head on over to ConsumerQueen.com and sign up on the Mr. Linky she has posted.

***This is a sponsored post***

Giveaway & Review: Keurig Coffee Maker

I love my coffee. Love, love, love.  I think it’s genetic. I come from a family of coffee lovers~well except my brother Doc. We always say that we don’t fully trust anyone who doesn’t drink coffee.

Lately the coffee from my pot at home it hasn’t been tasting so fantastic.  I’m not sure what the reason is. Have my tastebuds changed? Is there mineral buildup on the pot? Is it just the cruddy bargain basement sale coffee I’ve been drinking?

I keep finding myself doing the totally un-frugal thing and, *gasp*, buying coffee out.

Yes, I know. After all I’ve written on how that can dribble your money away.

So enough was enough. I needed to change something. I had owned a espresso/cappuccino maker back in the early 90’s, but honestly I had barely used it. It just seemed like too much effort. The regular coffee pots didn’t seem to brew right, even when I tried different brands of coffee. I started researching different options. The one that jumped out at me over and over again was the single cup coffee maker.

I balked. After all, a single cup anything doesn’t sound very frugal.  And did it even taste any better?  Although I don’t mind spending money on an item that I will truly use regularly and contributes to the quality of my life, I don’t like buying an item when I’m not really sure I’ll use it.

So I wrote the kind folks at Keurig and explained the situation to them, and asked if there was any way I could review the Keurig Coffeemaker and give one away on my blog.

They agreed, not only sending me one of their Keurig Platinum Brewers (valued at $169) but also 4 boxes of the coffee K-Cups.  They also  generously offered to give the same to one of my readers.

In order to give you the full flavor of my Keurig experience, I made a Whrrl story.  Don’t worry, by clicking through you do not have to create an account or anything~it’s just a very slick & easy way to do a slide show of pictures & text! Just click on the picture below and a new window will pop up with the review:

Long story short? The Keurig makes an great cup of coffee~although in using the same exact brand of coffee so did the standard pot. The Keurig coffee was much hotter & retained it’s flavor longer. The coffee is more expensive than standard coffee, but at about $.54 a cup, it’s still much less expensive than the coffee shop alternative.

Now, on to the giveaway!

This giveaway runs from today, August 1st through Midnight EST August 8th.

To enter you need to go to the Keurig site and check out all the different kinds of K Cups (coffee, tea or cocoa).  Come back here and tell me in the comments which kind you like the most.

This giveaway is only available to folks in the US (sorry!).  My family members, as always, are not eligible. Sorry Mom!

But wait! There’s more!

There are additional ways to enter once you’ve completed your initial entry (each requires a SEPARATE COMMENT or it doesn’t count).

#1 Subscribe to Frugal Upstate or let me know if you already are.

#2 Subscribe for the joint newsletter Lynnae from Being Frugal.net and I publish over at Frugal Coast2Coast under the “Never Miss a Show”

#3-Tweet about the giveaway sending folks over to the review.  Use this link: http://budurl.com/b3×6

Good luck!

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