Cheap. Fast. Good!

Author : Beverly Mills Number of Pages : 480 Publisher : Workman Publishing Company List Price : $14.95 Amazon Price : $5.07 Used Price : $5.06

Product Description

Not a penny-pinching cookbook—a "get smart!" cookbook.
No more staring helplessly at rising grocery bills or, too harried for time, shelling out twenty-five bucks for mediocre take-out. The work of two brilliant problem-solvers, Cheap. Fast. Good! cuts through both the budget dilemma and the time dilemma with 275 recipes for great, family-pleasing dishes, most of which take under 25 minutes to prepare and average out to cost less—and usually far less—than $2 a serving.

Home Ec simplified
Saving money in the kitchen is as simple as one four-letter word: Cook. But cooking to save means cooking food you and your family are going to love—and cooking (and shopping) smart. In dozens of time-and-money-saving tips, techniques, strategies, and solutions, the authors show how to make the right choices again and again.

They'll never know you're thrifty
Pan-Fried Pork Chops with Pepper Medley
Stuffed Peppers with Kielbasa Rice
Zesty Chicken Sauté
Bayou Stew
Catfish with Pecan Crust
Cinco de Mayo Skillet
Quickie Cacciatore
Perfect Spinach Pesto Pizza
Moroccan Meatballs Over Couscous
Salmon Pasta with Tomatoes and Dill

...Even when it's time to s-t-r-e-t-c-h
Onion Chopped Steak with Easy Gravy
Oven-Baked BBQ Chicken Thighs
Fall Sausage and Cabbage Sauté
Ultra-Easy Veggie Quesadillas
Pasta e Fagioli
My Beef and Barley Soup
Ziti Mexi-Cali

Customer reviews

Wonderful for Families on the Go! by .. K Hall (MT, USA)
This book is fabulous!! The recipes are great-and items that are usually 'staples' in your pantry. One reviewer was disappointed with the make ahead 'shredded beef' for the cowboy pie-obviously not a working mom who needs to make things do in a pinch. I made the same cowboy pie using left over rump roast from an earlier crock pot dinner-it turned out awesome! The potatoes and carrots from this same crock dinner became the ingredients for the chicken hash. Another great recipe! My family used to wrinkle their noses when I rattled off a recipe from this book, but now they know even if it sounds 'odd', chances are it is really good. Like any recipe, you need to tweak it for your individual 'constraints'- I use this book at least twice a week; never been disappointed in ANY of the recipes.

I'm really torn on this one by .. Lori Freeman (Milford, OH USA)
I checked this book out from the library and I've been trying a lot of the recipes to figure out if I want to buy the book. I love the concepts. The batch cooking is a great idea, and I have been looking for a way to stretch "leftovers" without them tasting that way. Here's the problem: The recipes themselves are hit-or-miss. We've tried - and liked - Winter Minestrone with Pesto (made with a budget-minded Spinach-Parsley Pesto that is really pretty good). We're going to try the pesto soon in another recipe in the book, Spinach Pesto Pasta with Chicken. The STRETCHED Meat Loaf and Oven-Fried Drumsticks were just okay. The Simple Chicken Stew and Shipwreck Skillet Dinner were just bad - under-seasoned and boring; the Simple Chicken Stew was just a bland chicken soup with a bunch of flour tortilla strips dumped in to make "dumplings." Only they didn't taste like dumplings, they tasted like soggy flour tortillas. Maybe we are just spoiled because we have been cooking from the Best Recipe series for so long!

There are also a few recipes that I probably wouldn't want to even try. "Beefed-Up Chinese Burritos" sounds horrible to me, for example, as does "Hot Dog and Baked Bean Soup"; and I will have to adapt some of the recipes to avoid using canned condensed soups, since I don't find making a simple white sauce with fresh and/or homemade flavorings all that difficult and infinitely preferable to the sludge-in-a-can that is Campbell's Cream of Mushroom.

Given all that, I am still going to buy the book. There are a LOT of recipes to pick and choose from, and like I said, I love the concepts. I'm an experienced enough cook that I'm sure I can tweak any of the recipes that sound good in theory but don't come out all that well in practice.

LIVES UP TO ITS TITLE by .. Mary F. Goddard (Fuquay Varin NC)
Had bought one for daughter last year and decided I needed too. It has great many useful recipes for all taste, children to senior citizen and uses items you have on hand or can buy even in small town grocer.

Save Money and Wonder Why You Ever Spent So Much by .. Linda Armstrong (Grand Junction, Colorado USA)
I have shelves of cookbooks, and I wasn't going to buy any more, but I love this one because it uses just a few ingredients, which are even available in the Colorado mountains in winter. Too many cookbooks are written by people who live in California where exotic ingredients are easy to find.

A few reviewers have mentioned that some of the quick meals use the results of long-cooking recipes. This is true, but often other options are given that utilize prepared foods. I love the recipes for the frozen meatballs you buy in a bag, for example.

If you have time on the weekend, or in the evening after dinner to prepare the base recipes--the meat mixes used in other dishes--you will be able to whip up daily variations easily. The book gives hints about using the microwave and freezer effectively.

Most of the recipes serve from 4 - 6 people, and hungry teens would just eat them up : ). This is not Nouvelle Cuisine. It's stick-to-your ribs food.

If you enjoy homemade food without putting in hours after work, you might also like an older book.Make-A-Mix Cookery

Not awful, but not great. by .. Molly (Spokane, WA)
This is not a bad book. It has quite a few good tips on saving money on groceries and a good variety of recipes. It just didn't really fit our needs. I made four or five recipes from this book and then sold it. None of them were bad, but they were all either a little bland or a little sweet. I imagine this may be a plus if you're cooking for small children or someone who doesn't like strong flavors, but we prefer our food more highly seasoned. I could have adjusted things but the recipes weren't interesting enough to motivate me to do so.

Related Search : cheap fast

365 Ways to Live Cheap: Your Everyday Guide to Saving Money

Author : Trent Hamm Number of Pages : 240 Publisher : Adams Media List Price : $7.95 Amazon Price : $5.52 Used Price : $21.22

Product Description

Use cold water for most clothes washing and save up to $63 a year. Minimize your carload and reduce your gas mileage by as much as 5 percent. Invest in a deep freezer and fill it up with meat discounted at 30 percent or more.

Take a look at your life and you’ll realize that there’s almost always a way to make do on less. This book offers up a bevy of ways to cut down on costs and still enjoy a satisfying lifestyle in any situation. From practicing good gas conservation habits to learning to love leftovers, this book will help every aspiring penny pincher stop the unnecessary spending and find the fun in frugality!

Customer reviews

Save Your Hard Earned Money by .. Wind Chill (Emerald, PA)
I am a quasi-regular reader of Trent Hamm's Blog (The Simple Dollar). I purchased this book with high expectations; sadly, it's little more than trite, over-circulated "advice" that anyone above 18 pretty much already knows (e.g. tie your shoes so you don't trip on the laces).

Trent's Blog is well written, and, ironically more substantive than this book. Skip it.

All the best tips in one place by .. Bryan ()
The Simple Dollar has been one of my favorite blogs for a very long time and over the years Trent has shared so many great tips it's great to see some of the best ones in one place. I enjoyed reading through the 365 Ways to Live Cheap: Your Everyday Guide to Saving Money it's a quick read and afterwards it's great to have on the desk or coffee table to pick up any time for a refreshing tip.

While I will say that many of the tips I've read before on the blog, I think this is a great addition to the bookstore shelves for those who don't follow The Simple Dollar. Every day, millions of people wander aimlessly through life spending money and surviving from paycheck to paycheck. A small $7.95 investment now can save them so much money later on.

This book also makes a great gift for anyone who is in need of a little financial makeover, don't let it's small size fool you - it's packed with lots of great information.

Great gift! by .. Carolyn Cornett ()
I read Trent's blog daily, and of course immediately bought the book when he made the big announcement. While I can agree somewhat with the criticism that a lot of the material can be found online, I think the real value of the book will be for those who aren't yet seeking information on frugality online.

Several of my family members live beyond their means, have expressed a desire to change their ways, yet have done nothing about it thus far. This is a perfect book for them!

I remain highly impressed by Trent's ability to relate to his audience, and think the information in this guide is much more applicable to the average person than the "Tightwad Gazette". Trent- I commend you for not recommending rinsing and reusing ziploc bags! :-)

Why buy the cow? by .. Michael Clark (Houma, La United States)
There isn't a single word in this book that isn't freely available on the author's blog. The Simple Dollar is one of the better-organized blogs out there, and the author has made many "compilation of tips" posts in his two or so years as a blogger. Here's a free tip: go find them there, and put your $8 in a piggy bank.

I shall return! by .. J. Worth ()
OK, I havent read the book yet, so I will come back and review it when completed. Be that as it may, I am one of Trents 43,000 daily readers on his blog. Great guy, fun writer, lots of ideas. I doubt the book is perfect, but how many good ideas would you need for the $7.95 investment to make a good investment. One? If you could get 5 good ideas for $7.95 you would be in the arena of extreme ROI. Will update when I finish the book. Hope you all are well & at peace. jcw

Related Search : 365 ways , saving money , everyday guide

Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-of-the-Century New York

Author : Kathy Peiss Number of Pages : 244 Publisher : Temple University Press List Price : $24.95 Amazon Price : $18.76 Used Price : $9.12

Product Description

What did young, independent women do for fun and how did they pay their way into New York City's turn-of-the-century pleasure places? "Cheap Amusements" is a fascinating discussion of young working women whose meager wages often fell short of bare subsistence and rarely allowed for entertainment expenses. Kathy Peiss follows working women into saloons, dance halls, Coney Island amusement parks, social clubs, and nickelodeons to explore the culture of these young women between 1880 and 1920 as expressed in leisure activities.By examining the rituals and styles they adopted and placing that culture in the larger context of urban working-class life, she offers us a complex picture of the dynamics shaping a working woman's experience and consciousness at the turn-of-the-century. Not only does her analysis lead us to new insights into working-class culture, changing social relations between single men and women, and urban courtship, but it also gives us a fuller understanding of the cultural transformations that gave rise to the commercialization of leisure.The early twentieth century witnessed the emergence of "heterosocial companionship" as a dominant ideology of gender, affirming mixed-sex patterns of social interaction, in contrast to the nineteenth century's segregated spheres. "Cheap Amusements" argues that a crucial part of the "reorientation of American culture" originated from below, specifically in the subculture of working women to be found in urban dance halls and amusement resorts.

Customer reviews

Cheap Amusement - Hardly by .. Matthew Consterdine (Baton Rouge, LA)
I have given this book 1 out of 5 only because Amazon wouldn't let me give it 0 out of 5.
To save everyone out there money and time, here is a summary of the book.
Women in New York in the 1920's went to Dance Halls/Amusement Places and for walks and talked with other girls in the street depending on how much money they had.
There you go. I saved you $10 and a few hours.

How the other half played by .. Rocco Dormarunno (Brooklyn, NY)
In her book, GILDED CITY, M.H. Dunlop chronicled the execesses and outrages of upper class New Yorkers (especially the women of the uppermost uppers) at the turn of the 20th century. While hiding behind the facade that the lavish parties and balls they threw and the exorbitant clothes they had tailored for themselves were giving jobs to the lower classes, their effect was to shamelessly display their wealth and, ultimately, enrage a lower class that was finding the economy and job market less and less bearable. Peiss' style is scholarly yet without the distancing effect that that form of writing usually exhibits in less skilled hands. Her knowledge and passion for the subject are easily identifiable in this wonderful book.

Kathy Peiss' CHEAP AMUSEMENTS, for me, is the flipside of the situation. The working women of New York, especially immigrant women, needed some way to spend what little leisure time they had with the little discretionary spending they had. Rather than simply identifying the spots like some old guidebook, Peiss explores each type of simple pleasure ground available to the girls, and how and why they became so popular. On a second level, the book examines the social and sometimes political consequences of this class of working women--bachelorettes--and their spending habits.

Women's Appropriation of Leisure by .. Tanja Laden (Los Angeles, CA USA)
Peiss begins her argument by explaining the relationship of industrial capitalism to wage labor in creating class-conscious leisure arenas, literally recalling Roy Rosenzweig's study. Peiss's distinction lies in "this conception of leisure did not develop historically in the same way for both sexes." (Peiss, 4). Sexual division ultimately shaped and confined women's leisure to their homes. Thus, the typical wage-earning females in pursuit of leisure were young and single. Their youth and marriage status turned their attentions from the leisurely pursuits of Rosenzweig's working men but to dance halls, amusement parks, and movie theatres.
The emerging youth-oriented forms of recreation could not be ignored by the commercial industry, which viewed female participation as lucrative. In addition, these commercialized forms of amusement fostered a heterosocial culture that eventually brought new meanings and restriction to same-sex gender friendships. Rather than stand by and chronicle these changes in leisure for working-class women, Peiss makes the bold argument that these women were actual agents in shaping the nature of their leisure, and Peiss proves again and again to be correct. Even more impressive is her claim that the majority of these women were immigrants or second-generation immigrants (Peiss, 56-88). In examining the actual amusements of working-class women--dance halls, excursions, amusement parks, and the movies, Peiss illustrates vividly how women had a place in the architecture of their own leisure.
It is Peiss's conclusion that women's suffrage and the growth of women in the public sphere "infectiously appealed to other middle-class women who were less politicized. Dancing sensual dances, attending cabarets and nightclubs, living as "bachelor girls" in apartment houses, these women expressed a new-found sense of freedom and possibility." (Peiss, 185). Interestingly, the phenomena of entertainment for working-class women eventually made its way to the middle-class, though the "cheap" amusements deliberately shed their vulgarity for the more formal tastes of the middle-class. Although the adventures of the single working-class woman often ceased with marriage, their new leisure pursuits would only grow with consumerism.

The Inner Worlds of the Immigrants You wanted to know. by .. ()
Cathy Peiss typed written work is a master piece. The inner worlds of the women immigrants are discussed in detail. The book focuses alot on the Jewish, Italian, Irish and Germanic Cycles of people who lived in New York. It explains how immigrant families spent their money on entertainment. You will see real live pictures of the past of commoner citizens. I recommend this book to all [Men AND WOMEN] who wants to know more about the commoner who lived in New York during that time.

An eye opener. by .. N. S. Burk (NH, USA)
Peiss's work reveals in detail the social implications of young, middle class women's free time in turn-of-the century New York. Based on diaries and reports from the time, Peiss delivers with impact a convincing and highly interesting discussion on how just a few extra hours, a few days out of the week eroded American Victorianism. She writes with authority while keeping her writing very readable.

Related Search : century new , working women , leisure turn

Cheap Ways to Tie the Knot: How to Plan a Church Wedding for Less Than $5,000

Author : Cara Davis Number of Pages : 185 Publisher : Relevant Books List Price : $11.99 Amazon Price : $5.00 Used Price : $4.00

Product Description

Saving money as you plan the most important day of your life isn’t about cutting corners; it’s about avoiding being taken advantage of. While the nationwide average for planning a wedding takes 11 months and nearly $30,000, Cheap Ways to Tie the Knot shows how you can plan a beautiful church wedding in less than six months for no more than $5,000.

This ultimate guide for the engaged busts myths, shares negotiating tactics and points out easy, no-effort ways to save on invitations, flowers, pictures and entertainment without sacrificing quality. Most importantly, it deals with the underlying issue of good stewardship that young couples can develop at the outset and continue throughout their marriage.

Each area of wedding planning (dress, invitations, decoration, ceremony, reception and photography) is broken into three different scenarios (bargain=$, budget=$$, bling=$$$). Depending on their budget, the reader can follow one track, or mix and match to splurge in areas they feel more strongly about (like pictures vs. food).

Customer reviews

Practical advice for life -- and your wedding by .. K. Gandenberger ()
This book is a wonderful, much-needed reminder that yes, you can have a beautiful wedding without spending exorbitant amounts of money while also offering practical advice for managing your finances before and after the big day. Highly recommended for every bride.

Meaningful Weddings by .. Lori Ann (China)
This has been a great tool throughout my engagement for planning my wedding! I plan to pass it along to another engaged friend.
For girls (and guys!) looking to plan a wedding that is more meaningful than elaborate, this is your book. I'm a fan of anything that helps me organize, and this book's checklists and budget sheets were extremely useful. The other books (and magazines) I'd considered were more about including every possible tradition and fad into my wedding, whereas this one helped me take a look at what would mean something to my now-spouse and myself.

Good ideas -- for a church wedding by .. A. Paige ()
I'm really glad this book exists -- it does have some smart suggestions for how to avoid the vortex of spending encountered any time one comes remotely near the wedding industry. Davis does a good job cutting through some of the haze that bridal magazines create around what you "have to do" to have a happy wedding day. That said, pay attention to the subtitle: a church wedding. The author's game plan is all centered around having your wedding at a church, using the church's fellowship hall for your reception, and enlisting the assistance of fellow parishoners to pull the event off. If you're a less traditional couple, trying to plan a wedding outside a church, and don't belong to some kind of club with comparable facilities, there are no other suggestions for alternative venues. If you're looking for some planning tools, there is stuff included here, but most it is pretty common sense.

good advice by .. fezabel (Chicago, IL)
This book has some great ideas and tips for having a budget-conscious wedding. I like that the author gives the 'bargain', 'budget', and 'bling' ideas for each category depending on how much you want to spend. It has good advice about talking to vendors and even alternatives to the traditional things. Using the suggestions in this book, you can have a fabulous wedding with exactly what you want for $5000 instead of $30,000. Excellent!

Good common-sense advice by .. H. Barker ()
My husband and I got married last year and our wedding cost under $4000. I thought we were an oddity until I read this book. I believe the most important idea in this book is that big, expensive weddings are a fairly modern invention and are not necessary to have a meaningful wedding. Cara Davis presents three different "levels" of wedding planning, in both cost and logistics: bargain, budget, and bling. She encourages brides-to-be to choose carefully the wedding elements most important to them and their grooms and offers suggestions and tips for how to plan for each element according to their level of importance.

I believe this book will be most useful to brides who are feeling the pressure from mainstream wedding periodicals full of advertisements for the biggest and most expensive everything. "Cheap Ways to Tie the Knot" offers refreshing alternatives, and even peace, for wedding planning.

Related Search : plan church , tie knot , than 5

Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros?

Edition : Rev Exp Number of Pages : 64 Publisher : Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing List Price : $17.95 Amazon Price : $7.18 Used Price : $6.89

Product Description

Shel Silverstein

Who wants a cheap

Rhinoceros?

Looking for a new pet? Bored with cats, dogs, goldfish, gerbils, and hamsters? How about a cheap rhinoceros?

Shel Silverstein's loving look at the joys of rhino ownership may convince you to be the one lucky kid to take home this very, very unusual pet.

Customer reviews

Great Children's Book by .. Denise O (San Diego Ca)
As a former elementary school library tech I give this book a BIG 4 stars. Children (and adults) will delight in the humor of the illustrations!

don't appreciate page with mother hitting child by .. Molecular Mom Michelle (SF Bay area)
usually love Silverstein books, and most of this page is very inventive and cute, but the page that says "and he is great for not letting your mother hit you when you haven't really done anything bad" insinuates that it is actually acceptable for a parent to hit a child - which I totally disagree with and will return this book for that reason.

Great for classrooms. by .. R. Jones (Oklahoma City)
I've used this book with students from kindergarten to fifth grade. I made a flash video using the images from the book and added my own audio and sound effects. It's really an awesome book to do a "Create Your Own" with. Students can get really creative with the idea of having a wild animal in their own home that can do lots of random things for them. I recommend everyone buy this book now. It's worth it.

As for the comment on the mother hitting the kid in the book...Silverstein is obviously writing from a child's point of view. Children always think parents do things for no reason. "I didn't do anything except pee on all the toilet paper...She got mad for no reason!" Think about it.

Who does? You do! by .. myboysrbusy (Fort Wayne, IN)
My 5-year-old son absolutely loves this book! I loved Shel Silverstein as a child and I am excited that my son has discovered him already. I read this book aloud to my son's preschool class, and they laughed out loud! What better review is there than from a class full of 5-year-olds? The only reason I have given it 4 stars versus 5 is that it discusses the rhinoceros opening your uncle's beer can, and your mother hitting you. Luckily my son does not read yet, so in our version of the story the rhinoceros opens a CAN, and he keeps your mother from GETTING you. The rhinoceros appears peering out of a toilet, which anyone who knows a 5-year-old is aware, is pretty darn funny.

Just plain fun. by .. wiredweird (Earth, or somewhere nearby)
Yes it's plain - loose line drawings, and a sentence or half on each page. But it's fun. There's imagination, play, friendship, and everything else you want a "read to me" kid to hear and see.

No big lessons, just a bit of happy goofiness. I want more.

//wiredweird

Related Search : wants cheap , rhinoceros