The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook: 200 Recipes for Quick, Delicious, and Nourishing Meals That Are Easy on the Budget and a Snap to Prepare [Paperback]

Erin Chase (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 22, 2009

Do you wish you were a savvy supermarket shopper who knows how to cut your weekly food budget, banish fast food from the dinner table and serve your family meals that are delicious and good for them?  Well, Erin Chase, "The $5 Dinner Mom", is here to help.

Erin is the founder of www.5dollardinners.com the skyrocketing internet website that's now the go-to source for families who want to eat well and stay within a budget. Erin became a supermarket savvy mom, challenged herself to create dinners for her family of four that cost no more than $5 and is here to share her fool-proof method with you in her first cookbook that contains over 200 recipes that cost $5 or less to make.  First, Erin will show you how to size up the best supermarket deals, clip coupons that will really save you money and create a weekly dinner menu plan. Then, in each recipe she shows you just how much she paid for each item and challenges you to do the same. 

Here are a few of her favorites:
- North Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwiches - $4.90
- Curried Pumpkin Soup - $4.41
- Apple Dijon Pork Roast - $4.30
- Orange Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry - $4.94
- Creamy Lemon Dill Catfish - $4.95
- Bacon-Wrapped Apple Chicken - $4.96
- Country Ribs with Oven Fries - $4.77

Join the army of devoted followers who have already let Erin Chase show them how to be savvy supermarket shoppers who cook tasty, economical meals.  You'll never spend more than $5 on dinner again. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Erin's $5 Dollar Dinner approach is ideal for my family--her recipes are simple, healthy, delicious and always affordable.  She proves that budget cooking does not have to be boring!"--Stephanie Nelson, author of The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half

About the Author

Erin Chase is the creator of  www.5dollardinners.com. She has previously shared her savvy tips for saving on “The Rachael Ray Show” and “The Jean Chatzky Show” on Oprah Sirius Radio. She grew up in San Antonio, TX, went to Texas Christian University, and served as a missionary in the Dominican Republic where she met her husband. They live in Dayton, Ohio with their three children.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (December 22, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312607334
• ISBN-13: 978-0312607333
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Erin Chase is the creator of www.5dollardinners.com. She has previously shared her savvy tips for saving on 'The Rachael Ray Show' and 'The Jean Chatzky Show' on Oprah Sirius Radio. She grew up in San Antonio, TX, went to Texas Christian University, and served as a missionary in the Dominican Republic where she met her husband. They live in Dayton, Ohio with their three children.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

142 of 154 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Mary Ostyn's book is a better investment January 16, 2010

By Deadredhead

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

When I became interested in saving money on my grocery bill, I purchased both this book and Mary Ostyn's book, and have read them both thoroughly. Honestly, you will be better off just getting Mary's instead.

Before I get to the negatives, I'd like to state the few positives. I give props to Erin first for recognizing that Americans eat too much, and second for working vegetables into every meal. The reviewer who said that this book is overall unhealthy is exaggerating a little. Yes, she uses regular ground beef, but processed foods are in only a few recipes and frozen vegetables are still vegetables (and she does encourage growing your own). Both Erin and Mary emphasize eating less meat and offer vegetarian meal options. Erin does mention the use of a price book, but Mary does to a MUCH more thorough extent.

Now the other stuff...

The tips in this book are all commons sense-stock up when it's on sale, match coupons to sales. You don't need a book to tell you that. Every positive aspect of this book can be found in Mary Ostyn's book Family Feasts for $75 a Week, and you'll find lots of other information as well. Erin gives an ingredient by ingredient price breakdown in every recipe, which is a good concept, but the problem is that price can vary largely depending on where you are. There are some items that she's apparently been able to find at prices that I've never, ever seen anywhere I've been, and I'm a very price-conscious shopper. So, a lot of her "$5 meals" I would not be able to make for $5. Also, she groups the side dishes right in with the main course, including the price tag, so if you want to change up some of the main course-side dish combos, you're going to alter the price (and if you're not eyeballing the price, there's no reason to buy this book at all). Speaking of side dishes, this book has a lot of "bare" vegetables, so if you have taste buds and like to put a little salt or butter on your veggies, that's going to affect the price.

Some people have expressed concern over the portion sizes in this book for a family of four. Erin has two children, and they are both very, very young, and thus probably consume much less than a teenager or adult. If your two kids are teenagers, most of these recipes will have to be adjusted quite a bit, and thus make the final price much higher than $5 dollars. For that reason, I don't like the concept of putting a dollar value on the meal as a whole, but rather a dollar value on a "per plate" basis. Mary states that she rarely spends more than $1 "per plate."

Mary and Erin differ greatly on their view of coupons. Erin swears by them, and devotes most of the non-recipe section of the book to them. Mary, however, outright says that she rarely uses them. Her reasons are that most food coupons are for highly processed brand name foods that are either unhealthy or have much cheaper generic counterparts. Honestly, most generic foods taste the same. Instead of focusing on coupons, Mary utilizes foods that are inherently a better value to begin with.

Erin does offer some homemade items, such as basic sauces and salad dressings, but you'll find a much larger section on such items in Mary's book. One other thing you will not find in Erin's book is desserts. I believe desserts have their place at the dinner table on occasion, especially if you have children.

As for the recipes themselves, I tried a few of Erin's, and they were just ok. Most of these recipes you could probably come up with yourself or find online, really. There were some I didn't even have to try because I knew how'd they turn out (I cook a lot), and I have a hard time believing kids will eat a few of these. Ziti pasta with plain white sauce and no spices? No thanks. I've tried several of Mary's recipes, and all but one have been really good.

Long story short...everything in this book that's worthwhile can be found in Mary's.

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Overall, it's a good resource for planning low-cost meals... January 3, 2010

By Brooke R. Emanuele

Format:Paperback

The first section of the cookbook has some good ideas to help with shopping, coupon use, organization, and meal-planning. The suggested prices for a lot of the food items seem to be much lower than what I can find in my region, which makes it hard to buy all of the ingredients for under $5. Also, to make the recipes low-cost, some unhealthy choices are made (such as using 73/27 ground beef, white pasta, white rice, fattier cuts of meat). The portions are small, but the author does suggest doubling the recipes if you have larger families or appetites.

For the most part, the recipes are easy, creative, and family-friendly. I look forward to trying a lot of the recipes. However I plan to substitute leaner meat and whole grains, so the meals will not all be under $5. I like that most of the recipes use common or easy-to-find ingredients, and don't require hours of preparation.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars It has been a good purchase for me but not great August 9, 2010

By A. Bowman

Format:Paperback

I cook a lot. Before my kids were born, I would have called myself somewhat of a gourmet cook. However, once my first kid was born, I had to adjust my recipes and my food budget. Kids (especially little ones) don't appreciate a lot of "adult" food and feeding them a lot of it would break the bank. I have struggled to find cookbooks that fit what I want, tasty, healthy food that can be had at a budget but that kids will eat. I picked up this book at the grocery store after thumbing through it.

First the positives:

Most of the recipes are quite healthy and if they aren't the way she has written them, you can easily substitute more healthy ingredients.

The recipes don't require any exotic ingredients that young kids might reject. The way the recipes are presented, you can add your own spices if the food isn't spicy enough for your family's taste.

The directions are clear and easy to follow.

It's all here for you in one place, you don't have to spend hours surfing the internet. I'm glad that so many reviewers have so much time to surf the internet for recipes. I don't. My time has value, too.

I like that she has recipes for basic sauces and soups to use in her recipes. I have sauces that I often substitute but I have also used hers and they serve their purpose.

The recipes are good and very appropriate for families with young children. This is NOT gourmet food. But, it is good food that is tasty for kids and relatively inexpensive to make.

She has some slow cooker recipes and some recipes that are appropriate for making ahead of time which is great for those of us who typically have the "dinner time rush" and are crushed for time to get a meal out before the kids need to be in bed.

The negatives:

The cost of food in Ohio is a lot different than the cost of food where I live. I don't think there is one recipe I can actually make for less than $5.

Many of the portions are very small for my family so I have to double the recipes which means they are most definitely not less than $5. The $5 per meal price was what attracted me to the book so it was a let down that the pricing is so off.

She relies very heavily on coupons. That's great if you do coupons but many of us choose to be frugal by buying generic brands instead. I'm glad she's proud of her coupon prowess but it's annoying for her to constantly refer to it.

Much of her advice is very, very basic. If you already know how to stock up during sales and plan meals, you will skip almost her entire introduction.

All in all, it's been a good purchase. I use some of the recipes but I don't consider it one of my favorites or a "must have". I wouldn't recommend it to a friend and I wouldn't give it at as a gift. But, I didn't return it either.