Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I own many cookbooks from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone to Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition - 2006. While these are still my favorite cookbooks, most nights you just don't have unlimited money and several hours to make dinner. I bought Dinner on a Dime for quick, cheap, but still homemade meals for those rush nights as a better alternative to fast food.
Look & Feel:
This book has a glossy cover and pages with at least one picture on each page. It is 255 pages long. Probably the thing I dislike about it most is the binding; it is difficult to get this book to sit open. But, for the price of the book the bright pictures and nice pages makes you feel that you have gotten your money's worth.
Index:
This book has two indexes. The first is an Alphabetical Index, the one you expect in a cookbook. The second, which is an interesting concept, is a General Index which "lists every recipe by food category, major ingredient and/or cooking method" (251).
Introduction:
This book has several "introduction pages" starting with Dinner on a Dime.
Dinner on a Dime: This two page layout gives you "thrifty grocery shopping tips" (4). Some are obvious such as "buy generic" (5) and "use coupons" (5), but others are very thoughtful including "when a sale is not a sale" (4). These two pages include a total of 21 tips to saving money while grocery shopping.
The next intro page is Grocery Shopping Guidelines--Aisle by Aisle. It splits the store up into 6 categories, produce, meats & seafood, canned goods, frozen foods, breads cereals & pasta, and dairy, with tips on how to save money in each section. Most of these tips will be familiar to those who try to shop on a budget regularly such as "buy generic brands and stock up when on sale" (6).
The third intro page is Cost Effective Pantry. This is actually a very useful 8-step guide to cleaning out, organizing, and understanding what is already stocked in your pantry. They make the point that if you don't already know what is in your pantry you may buy duplicates or allow things to go bad.
The last introduction page (and the most useful, in my opinion) is the Stocking Up and Storage Guidelines. On these three pages they give general information about pantry, refrigerator, and frozen foods storage. Along with this they also include a 2 1/2 page chart with regularly-used food items and how long they will last in the pantry, in the fridge, and in the freezer.
Organization:
I really like the organization of this book. It is not filed into your typical organization ... The categories are: Breakfast & Brunch, Beef, Pork, Poultry, Fish & Meatless, Planned Overs, Freezer Pleasers, Side Dishes, Soups & Salads, Breads, Desserts.
Breakfast & Brunch: This section was surprising in a "Dinner Cookbook" but then again Breakfast for Dinner can be fun. It includes 20 recipes such as Vegetable Ham Quiche, Sausage Pancakes, French Toast Fingers, and Old-Fashioned Doughnuts.
Beef: This section includes 45 recipes such as Roast Beef & Gravy, Country-Fried Steak, Slow Cooker Beef Au Jus, Chili Spaghetti, Vegetable Beef Stew, Swiss Pot Roast, Traditional Meat Loaf, and Cajun Style Pot Roast.
Pork: This section includes 28 recipes such as Pork Potpie, Oktoberfest Roast Pork, Pork Chop Potato Dinner, Sausage Macaroni Bake, Pizza from Scratch, Barbecued Ham 'n' Peaches, Spaghetti Squash Supper, Mexican Pork Roast, and Sausage Scalloped Potatoes.
Poultry: This section includes 29 recipes such as Country Roasted Chicken, Oregano-Lemon Chicken, Breaded Chicken with Orange Sauce, Chicken Veggie Casserole, Creamed Chicken Over Beans, Tex-Mex Turkey Casserole, Oven Fried Chicken, Cranberry Turkey Loaf, Ranch Turkey Pasta Dinner, and Honey Barbecued Chicken.
Fish & Meatless: This section (which leans heavily towards fish rather than meatless, vegetarians should look elsewhere) has 19 recipes such as Lentil Tacos, Cajun-Style Catfish, Easy Fish Fillets, Garlic Salmon Linguine, Soft Fish Tacos, Tuna Mushroom Casserole, Crispy Catfish, and Linguine in Clam Sauce.
Planned Overs: This is a particularly interesting section that includes various recipes that all use similar ingredients so you can make one meal Monday night and another (entirely different tasting meal, but with very similar ingredients) Tuesday or Wednesday night. This section includes 63 recipes (of which 3 are gingerbread dessert recipes) such as Fried Fish Nuggets, Meatball Lasagna, Quick Calzones, Corn Bread Chicken Bake, Taco Pizza Squares, Pork Chop Potato Casserole, Meat Loaf Shepherd's Pie, Parmesan Chicken, Gingerbread Cake, and Spicy Pork Sandwiches.
Freezer Pleasers: This section is another useful and rare section (compared with other cookbooks) with recipes for dishes you can make ahead and freeze so when you want dinner you just pull it out of the freezer and heat it up. This sections has 32 recipes such as Spaghetti Casserole, Sweet Barbecued Pork Chops, Three Cheese Kielbasa Bake, Pizza Meat Loaf Cups, Meat Sauce for Pasta, Cheddar Turkey Casserole, Taco-Filled Pasta Shells, Make-Ahead Sloppy Joes, and Pizza Pasta Casserole.
Side Dishes: This section has 65 recipes such as Curried Butternut Squash Kabobs, Stewed Tomatoes with Dumplings, Roasted Parmesan Potato Wedges, Whipped Carrots with Cranberries, Crispy Potato Cubes, Bacon Bean Stalks, Home-Style Scalloped Potatoes, Bacon Cheese Fries, Baked Onion Rings, and Apricot Rice Stuffing.
Soups & Salads: This section has 39 recipes such as Chicken Noodle Soup, Classic Macaroni Salad, Creamy Tomato Soup, Five-Can Chili, Supreme Spaghetti Salad, Chunky Potato Soup, Corny Coleslaw, and Italian Vegetable Soup.
Breads: This section includes everything from muffins to dinner rolls, includes 13 recipes such as Simple White Bread, Whole Wheat Rolls, Jumbo Banana-Carrot Muffins, Buttermilk Rolls, Soft Onion Breadsticks, and Honey Glazed Drop Biscuits.
Desserts: This section includes 50 recipes such as Boston Cream Angel Cake, Chocolate Mint Parfaits, Sweet Potato Custard Pie, Cran-Apple Cobbler, Butterscotch Fudge Bars, Delicate Chocolate Cake, Hoosier Cream Pie, Spiced Cocoa Cupcakes, Chewy Peanut Butter Bars, Chocolate Cream Dessert, Stovetop Rice Pudding, Creamy Strawberry Pie, Frosty Peach Pie Supreme, Pear Gingerbread Cake, Honey Lemon Cookies, Peanut Butter Brownie Cups, Banana Custard Pudding, and Strawberry Graham Dessert.
I have only tried a few recipes so far, but they have all been good and up to taste of home's quality. One personal touch I liked about the book was before each recipe was a little 1-2 sentence blip from the recipe's maker about why this recipe is special or enjoyable for them. Such as: "Since my husband likes spicy foods, I frequently sprinkle chopped Jalapeno peppers over half of this casserole just for him" (192) and "After trying this soup in a restaurant, I went home and made it myself. Now I can have it whenever I want" (199).
Pros:
*Tasty Recipes
*Most meals can be made for $8-$12 for 4-6 servings
*Beautiful, glossy pages with many pictures
*Simple Ingredients
*Clear Instructions
*Foods kids and adults will both actually eat
*Does a good job of including familiar favorites with some new dishes; well balanced
Cons:
*This book talks about healthy eating a lot in the introduction, but just a glance over the food list and you will easily see that there are scarcely any "healthy" recipes (I believe in portion size and moderation, but for some people this may be a concern)
*The books binding makes it difficult to sit open
*There is no estimated cooking/preparation time in the recipes
Overall I strongly recommend this book. I feel that the "Pros" strongly overcome the minor "Cons" and will continue to pull this book regularly from its shelf.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Taste of Home: Dinner on a Dime: 403 Budget-Friendly Family Recipes
Wondering how to put satisfying meals on the table while staying on a sensible budget? Now it's easier than ever to serve mouthwatering meals without breaking the bank. The ultimate source for comfort foods, Dinner on a Dime is the secret behind every thrifty cook's success. Featuring 403 delicious, easy-to-assemble dishes that turn economical ingredients into mouth-watering sensations that are sure to please everyone. From hearty entrees: Sausage Macaroni Bake, Slow-Cooked Ribs, or Country Roasted Chicken to savory side dishes: Broccoli Au Gratin, Noodles Florentine, or Home-Styled Scalloped Potatoes, and from tempting desserts: Rich Cheesecake Bars, Creamy Strawberry Pie, or Chocolate Chip Cake to breads, soups, salads, snacks, and more. Filled with ideas for turning leftovers into sensational second-day dishes plus freezer pleasers that will have delicious, home- cooked meals waiting for you to heat and eat. This book also offers money-saving advice that makes the most of your grocery budget, dozens of useful cooking tips, and the guarantee that every recipe was tested in the kitchens of Taste of Home, the world's #1 cooking magazine-this is the ideal cookbook for everyone from starving students to large families. Cutting the grocery bill has never been easier...or tastier!
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