Customer Reviews

Miserly Meals: Healthy, Tasty Recipes Under 75¢ per Serving

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am a fan of Jonni McCoy's other two books - "Frugal Families" and "Miserly Moms", so I purchased her book "Miserly Meals". I have to say that we have tried a week's worth of meals (including lunches) and we are sorely disappointed. These may be inexpensive and healthy, but they are not all that tasty. Some don't even work right. Last night, I made Mock Pizza in the slow cooker and it called for uncooked egg noodles. There apparently wasn't enough liquid in the recipe because the bottom noodles were cooked, but the top ones were still crunchy. I kept adding liquid, but then it was plain old mush. Yuck. Several other recipes are bland and boring.

I did like the meatball recipe, however, and even tripled it for my freezer. Some of the other basic recipes were also good, such as the taco sauce and spaghetti sauce. But we were very disappointed in many of the meals.

One other concern I had was that the yield of the recipes were not consistent. Some served four, some six, some eight. I would have appreciated a little more consistency there. We have a family of six, though, and even recipes that said they served six weren't enough for us.

I did like the kitchen tips and the nutritional breakdown of each meal. I wish the index was a little more comprehensive so that I could find a recipe when I wanted to use tomatoes, for example.

Overall, we were simply disappointed.

I think the author's list of "pantry basics" for the "miserly kitchen" is great. I can match 80-90% of what I have on the shelves with the foods she lists. But I'm doubtful that I would come up with the same results from the same ingredients.

For instance, why do so many recipes in this book call for Tobasco sauce? And sorry but I can't foresee my family would ever accept ground turkey, or anything containing tofu or lentils. And we LIKE butter!

And what's this innovative stuff called "broth powder"? What happened to the good old fashioned (and cheap) method of simply saving the water you cooked the meat in?

The book opens with a chapter of beverages, but I can't help but wonder how they can be called "miserly"? Wouldn't drinking plain water be a whole lot cheaper than some concoction from the blender?

Good points about this book: The desserts look delicious. And each recipe in the book is followed by a helpful "kitchen tip." The tips themselves make pretty good reading.

However, instead of this book, I would recommend an older (and harder to find) book, called _ Good Recipes for Hard Times_ by Louise Newton.

I was not satisfied with this book. I agree with the other reviewers who pointed out that it is very basic - I think it might be helpful to someone who doesn't have much cooking experience, but if you do it won't help you much. I doubt I will make anything from this book, and I have to say nothing really sounded that great. One of my main problems with this book it that every chicken recipe called for boneless, skinless breasts - how un-frugal can you get?? That is absolutly the most expensive way to buy chicken, and don't tell me it is the only healthy option - it won't kill your family to eat chicken legs once it a while. Give me a break! If you are new to both cooking and frugality, you might get something out of it, but otherwise, take my word for it - you already know everything the author has to say.

I have owned this book for a couple of years and tried many of the recipies in it. It is the cookbook that is the most "used" looking on my shelf right now. Some of my favorites are the taco seasoning mix, ranch dressing mix, dough enhancer, broth powder, (No MSG like nearly every store bought ones), and Caesar salad dressing ...these are things I make over and over and end up saving $$ in my food budget.

It makes me sad to read other reviewers who probably didn't give this book a chance. It truly has a frugality to it that is hard to find in other cookbooks. I checked mine out from the library and decided it was one I wanted to own. I have never been disappointed!

While the "Kitchen Helps" section is good, and I loved all the mixes and substitution info she gives, "Miserly Meals" was a bust as far as the recipes go. I too have tried several and they either didn't taste good, or didn't turn out right.
Mrs. McCoy's Bisquik substitute has become a staple in our house and IS saving a ton of money, but on the whole, I was disappointed.
I do reccomend her "Miserly Moms", however!

Food tasty overall - being from TX did have to add some spice but didn't blow our budget. Introduced us to TVP - we mix it 1/2 and 1/2 with meat - love it! Really helped us think about food and money in a different way. Have given copies to friends for birthdays - reviews back are positive.

I found very little original recipes in this book, if any. Recipes could be found online for free from most any recipe site. the recipe for SUN TEA is actually included! Most chicken recipes include boneless skinless chicken breasts. 12 days of turkey page is no help at all...mostly substitutions for the mayo on a sandwich.

This book could have been much better. A frugal person would never spend money on this book because most of the info could be found elsewhere, or a frugal person would know how to make sun tea without the book.

chicken nugget recipe can be found in The Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 Day Gourmet : A Month of Meals Made Easy

Not enough new info in book to make it worth buying. If you can make tea, you already know one recipe in this book! Recipes not really very frugal.

I've re-frugaled my life after 10 years of being a spendthrift.

I have to say the recipes offered in the book are basic- yes, but sometimes newbie frugal parents need that in order to understand the concept of cooking and baking from scratch or using the lowest priced items.

One also needs to understand that you can interchange 'boneless chicken breasts' with the 'thighs' or just debone a chicken yourself. Which is the cheapest way. Or use tofu. It really doesn't matter.

But she offers a nice array of meals from soup to nuts to offer your family. Nobody will like ALL the recipes- and that is true of EVERY cookbook- even Fanny Farmer or Betty Crocker.

Take what you want... and leave the rest.

This had some good recipes in it that I will probably use, and a few good tips, but most of the recipes were not for things that my family would eat--or that I would cook. Might be better to invest your money in a more all purpose type cookbook--UNLESS you have no concept of how to determine which recipes are frugal and which are not. Generally, think less meat, and more beans/grains/veggies. Still, it does contain some good information, and creative ideas, so if you don't have something like this already in your frugal arsenal, you might want to give it a try.