Any book with the word “frugal” in its title gets my attention, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to find The Frugal Foodie Cookbook by Alanna Kaufman and Alex Small. But I didn’t read the fine print–or the subtitle before grabbing it off of my library’s shelf–it’s a cookbook with gourmet recipes for any budget. Gourmet is the key word–with some main dish seafood recipes costing up to $6.75. (I know…fish is not the most frugal of foods– I was hoping to find a seafood recipe, fit for my kids other than fish sticks, that would cost total $6.75!)
I have two young kids who are not into gourmet foods–still lingering a bit in the chicken nugget and taco phase! So, unfortunately, this isn’t quite the book for me….or for anyone with young kids. The authors live in New York City, and that’s a whole different world of “frugality” from Fairfield, CT. Though I don’t think my kids would get a kick out of Apricot Brandy Baked French Toast, they do love French Toast–and I’d love to see a recipe for a few pennies a serving. However, there are definitely two recipes I’m aiming to try two family friendly recipes I found in the book: Spicy Sweet Potato Wedges ($1.50 a serving) and Banana-Chocolate Muffins ($.85 a serving). Sounds delicious! There is a recipe called Luckiest Muffins–but it’s made with Lucky Charms and I don’t think I’d feed that to my kids.
What I like about the book: each recipe has a price per serving–to be fair, the prices per serving average in the $2 to $3 range.
What I dislike about the book: not the most family friendly bunch of recipes with higher than hoped for cost-per-servings.
Good tip in book: there are “ten Frugal Foodie Tips” — one–freezing herbs in ice cubes instead of letting them go bad in the fridge! Great advice!
Two Frugal Fairfielders 