The Frugal Foodie Cookbook Book: Waste-Not Recipes for the Wise Cook

by: Lara Starr with Lynette Shirk

Published by: Viva Editions

Reviewed by Jan Warren

The Frugal Foodie Cookbook is a small, all-text type of cookbook, with no glossy pictures of finished recipes.
Although, it does have fun quotes from famous people sprinkled throughout, with enough humor to keep the reader entertained without drifting into the ridiculous.
However, a cookbook is only as good as its recipes. After forty-plus years of preparing meals for my family and friends, I still love exploring new dishes. Out of the dozens of recipes included in this book, the three I picked fell short of my expectations.

My always-hungry teenage grandsons liked the “Hands-free Hash Browns.” The flavor of onion and garlic sautéed in olive oil enhanced the potatoes, but the addition of a stick of butter made the dish too greasy. And I never figured out why the recipe was named “hands-free” with all the prep work required.

Next I tried the “No Knead Dough.” I bake bread often, and this recipe called for a scant half-teaspoon of sugar, which intrigued me. It took eight hours from start to finish (approximately twice the time that most bread recipes take), yet produced only one small crusty loaf of sourdough-tasting bread. The flavor was fine, but compared to the one-meal skimpy yield, it did not justify the hours invested.

Finally, I tried the “Dirt-cheap Self-filling Chocolate Cupcakes.” This was easy to prepare using common ingredients, however the recipe said it yielded a dozen cupcakes. I had enough batter for over two-dozen, leaving me to wonder why the discrepancy. There was no frosting recommended, which in my opinion, would have helped the bland cake flavor. However, I thought the cream cheese filling was very good.

Overall, I felt the recipe instructions were often too vague for a novice baker.

Even though The Frugal Foodie Cookbook includes some good advice on shopping and making inexpensive cleaning products, I’m not convinced it justifies the investment if you are actually looking for a good “cookbook.”

Armchair Interviews says: No photos and recipes that are just okay…hmmmm–what’s this cookbook world coming to?

Author’s Web site: http://www.Cakestar.blogspot.com