Customer Reviews

Dining on a Dime Cook Book: 1000 Money Saving Recipes and Tips

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm as eager as anyone to save money on the ONE area of our budget where we spend plenty - groceries, food, meals. But I don't always have the time to clip coupons, comparison shop or make everything from scratch. Happily, this book is still VERY, very useful to me and the author had made it accessable to all sorts of cooks.

Even better, the recipes are ones my family will eat. I'd had some "frugal" cookbooks where the recipes were indeed quite inexpensive...unfortunately, EVERY bit ended up feeding only our garbage disposal. No thanks. Cheap is only a part of the "frugal" equation. Taste is equally important, with recipes that are special, yummy, something a family can savor. If a meal isn't a pleasant occasion (or, at least, the food itself isn't tasty even on the most stressful days), then I say...what's the point?

Luckily, these recipes ARE tasty...and there are plenty of money-saving tips which don't focus only on WHAT you eat but remind readers that saving money includes minimizing trips to the grocery store (less gas money) and making the most of sales that might pop up unexpectedly (you know, like the time the meat department accidentally has an oversupply of some item and drastically cuts the price). Now you can take advantage of these times and know WHAT to do with the items you've bought.

Finally, there is plenty of humor in this volume and humor is always a plus! The author neither takes her subject too seriously (cooking can and should be fun) or lightly. I learned plenty and had fun along the way.

This book is so worth the money! It has lots of tips and fun ideas in the beginning, and then lots of great recipies for the bulk of the book. For each section of recipies, she adds more detailed and informative tips for cooking and money saving. I am so thrilled with this book.
I think that is works beautifully with another book, Miserly Moms, which has less recipes and is mostly how-to-save-money in chapter form. Read the Miserly Moms for the info, read Dining for tips and recipies.
I'm so grateful that I provide warm, homecooked meals from scratch and healthy, fresh snacks and lunches for my family on such a tight budget!
Anyway, 5 stars and here's hoping other people get inspired to save their money as I have.

Dining On a Dime is absolutely one of the best thrifty cookbooks available. I love to cook, collect cookbooks, but I was tired of finding recipes that required processed foods, expensive ingredients, etc. Dining On a Dime uses few processed foods to prepare recipes, as most everything is prepared from scratch. This morning I prepared a Slow Cooked Pot Roast (I cook my version on the stove top) and the only ingredients needed were a beef roast, can of cream of mushroom soup and a sliced onion. I also fixed Mom's Beef Stew which used round steak, various spices, Worcestershire sauce, potatoes and carrots. I also prepared dumplings using the baking mix recipe included in the cookbook. The dumplings were mighty tasty when cooked in the beef stew. Very simple and very tasty. Overall, this cook book is a good, basic cookbook which allows the cook to use every day ingredients to prepare tasty meals.

I have had this book for over a year now, and I am still trying to decide if I like it. It is very typical of a frugal diet that is high in sugar, oil, and white flour. If you see no issue with putting one cup of oil and one cup of sugar in a simple loaf and think you are being frugal, then this is probably the book for you. I do like the flavors of the recipes, but I am not sure that I want to continue adjusting every recipe that I try to make it healthier. For my money, I will stick to Whole Foods for the Whole Family (La Leche League) and the More With Less Cookbook (Doris Longacre). Those books focus more on healthy food for less money.

I was somewhat disappointed with this book. The recipes, for the most part, really aren't all that cheap because many of them rely heavily on meat and canned/packaged foods. More-with-less (Herald Press) gives much more economical recipes built around truly inexpensive ingredients such as rice and dried lentils.

This book does have a few redeeming qualities, though. The recipes are probably quicker than those in More-with-less, and I suspect they would be more kid-friendly (I can't say for sure because I don't have kids.) Also, I use the recipes for homemade cleaning products.

As a family of six, our groceries comsume a large portion of our budget. This book has greatly reduced the amount we spend on groceries every month and the recipies are easy and delicious. My kids enjoy the foods and even my husband has commented on how wonderful everything smells. I have been amazed at how much it has saved us! A BIG Thanks to the authors for sharing the advice!

I highly recommend this cookbook. I have prepared many of the family-friendly recipes from it. It teaches you how to plan meals on a budget, and prepare meals your family will love. It includes many recipes for using up leftovers. I had a bunch of apples to use up this weekend and prepared Tawra's Apple Crumb Pie. It turned out great. I also used her pie crust recipe that makes several pie crusts at once. I used one and froze one for later. The cookbook also includes mixes, gift basket ideas, and ideas for gifts in a jar, perfect for Christmas. A great Christmas present idea! Make sure to try the homemade hot fudge sauce. It's great!

We've worked with cookbook authors for 25 years and this is one of the best all around books we've ever seen. There is something here for everyone - the most amazing item is the author's list of tips for saving over $10,000 in one year - without clipping coupons or depriving your family of nutritious food. She's an savvy shopper, a practiced cook, a clever house keeper and a creative mother who knows how to entertain her kids while teaching them excellent life skills. The price of this book will be recovered with one trip to the supermarket. Using just a few of her ideas will make a huge impact on anyone's shrinking budget and put time back into busy days. There is an index of recipes, another index of tips, and a third index for using leftovers. Creative, entertaining, well researched and practical - this is a book you will use every day.

This book was a surprise wedding gift a friend of my husband gave us. I didn't discover it until a few months after we were married because of all the chaos, but it certainly stood out from the pack of unrealistic novelty cookbooks we received. At that point, we were doing everything we could do to get out of debt, so I was so grateful for this hidden gem. It contains loads of money-saving tips and ideas I'd never before considered (halving the meat in recipes; making inexpensive but thoughtful gifts in a jar; how to REALLY cook from scratch; and how to cook using the tools and food that's already in your house!). It also contains countless non-food household tips for anyone looking to stretch their dollars. If you're serious about saving your family's money, get it!

I love this cookbook!I have never been a very good cook,but with this cookbook I'm getting pretty good I think.I have bought many books on this subject and this is hands down the very best if you are lacking funds and want to feed your family healthy nutitious meals.I have been using it for about a month and have already started saving money(and time).I own the first edition of this book "Not Just Beans"and i'm thinking about getting this one as well because there is new information in it.When I have some exta cash I probably will.Tawra makes the whole process more fun and it
becomes a game to see how far you can stretch your dollars.So often with these kind of books it feels like drudgery,not so with this book!"Miserly Moms"is good also, but if you can only buy one,this is better.Thanks Tawra,for helping so many of us with your great advice.Look at Tawras web site "Living on a Dime" and it will give you some idea of whats in her book.She is someone who wrote a book based on personal experience,and these methods really work.