I have a weakness for cookbooks written to help you save money. They sometimes have great ideas in them to help you make use of scarce resources (food, fuel, time) which helps you save money but can also help you cook and eat more sustainably. Here is my collection, I hope that you find at least some of them interesting.
The Thrifty Cookbook (476 ways to eat well with leftovers) – Kate Colquhoun – Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) 2009 ISBN 978 1 4088 0081 2 – Contains some good basic data about how not to waste food as well as simple stuff like stock, making your own bread and jams plus Pizza! A smattering of international recipes from the Middle East, India and South East Asia. Probably not much new if you are an accomplished cook but a great resource if you are new to the game.
The Credit Crunch Cookbook – Katy Denny (Exec. Editor) – Octopus Books (UK) 2009 ISBN 978 0 600 61977 2 – Covers waste not, want not, basic budget meals for light, main and sweet, gourmet touches on the cheap and low cost eat-in recipes for Italian, Mexican, Indian, Thai and Chinese. Some of the recipes in these cheapo books can be a bit rough (unless you like lots of offal) but they are really good in this one. Good tips on cost cutting too.
The $21 Challenge – Fiona Lippey & Jackie Gower – Simple Savings International P/L (AUS) 2009 ISBN 978 0 9806533 0 4 – They have developed a process whereby you use the stuff you have in your cupboards and can only spend $21 per week of new stuff, the idea being that it helps you focus on the important stuff while saving heaps of money. Lots of good cheap recipes as well as a section on using up excess/leftovers effectively. They have a website about the process - http://www.simplesavings.com.au/
Table Tucker – Penina Petersen – Hachette Australia (AUS) 2009 ISBN 978 0 7336 2444 5 – This is another “system” but is very environmentally friendly in its approach. The principles are cooking with seasonal ingredients, grow your own veggies, bulk buying, shift old habits and eat less meat, reduce waste, water and energy consumption and embrace earth happy ideas. LOTS of good info on menu planning and lots of good recipes. They also had a website but it no longer seems to be active.
Champagne Life on a Beer Budget – Maree Wrack – Champagne Life Beer Budget (AUS) 2011 ISBN 978 0 9807070 0 7 – Nary a recipe to be seen on this one. It is more about savvy shopping, ideas to help you save in your approach to food buying and cooking, decluttering and getting control of your outgo. The website referenced in the book no longer works.
The Pauper’s Cookbook – Jocasta Innes – Penguin Books (UK) 1971 ISBN 9780711235618 (was re-issued recently). The book has over 250 recipes covering the standard stuff, leftovers, quick dishes based on pantry stuff, money saving extras and living off the land, special occasion dishes and dieting on the cheap. There are also sections on menu planning and kitchen equipment. Recipes are a bit out of date (liver kebabs???????).
The New Pauper’s Cookbook – Jocasta Innes & Kate Harris – Random House (UK) 1992 ISBN 0 09 175434 8 – Similar to the above with additions of sections on Pasta Faster and Veggies for vegetarians. There is still plenty of offal but there are more international recipes and no sign of liver kebabs.
Good Food on a Budget – Georgina Horley – Penguin Books (UK) 1969 ISBN 978 0233961644 – This little paperback has over 500 pages of recipes and information. Lots of information about equipment and setting up a kitchen, basic operations about baking and other kitchen processes, buying vegetables and cutting up meat, all the basic stuff is there. The majority of the rest of the book is recipes set out by month, which would need to be turned around by 6 months for southern hemisphere to hit the season’s right. Some recipes are a bit out of date but at least there is nothing about liver kebabs.
Penny Pincher’s Cookbook – Sophie Leavitt – Lancer Books (US) 1973 ISBN 7254 0172 9 – There are a series of “hints” at the back and front of the book, the rest being divided up into recipes for cereal and bread, eggs, soups, meat, fish, vegetables, salads and desserts. There is also a small section on herbs and spices. There are no “international” recipes, just American home cooking with the odd weirdo thrown in like peanut soup…. It is a small parerback.
The Money Saver’s Cookbook – Geri Tully – Tower Publications (US) 1970 ISBN N/A – This is another small paperback, not much background just a series of recipes based around meat, poultry, fish, casseroles, leftovers, sausage canned meat and fish, vegetables, rice variations and desserts. There are a couple of pages at the back on suggested kitchen equipment.
The Complete Hassle Free, Money-Saving Kitchen Handbook – Diana Walton & Hilda Kassell – Signet (US) 1974 ISBN 978-0451058607 – This is also a book of techniques rather than recipes. There are sections on spending less at the supermarket, food preparation, using herbs and spices, getting over difficulties like running out of an ingredient and what to substitute, how to use the freezer and other stuff on food storage. There is also a section appliances, partying on the cheap, cleaning up and growing plants from pits and seeds. No a lot of info in each section but interesting nevertheless.
The Thrifty Gourmet – Ann Marshall – Angus & Robertson (AUS) 1974 ISBN 0 207 12453 1 – This is a small book (77 pages) and a little bit dated but it has some good ideas as well. It is divided into ideas on how to economise, then recipes and ideas for breakfast, soup, hogget and lamb, beef and veal, liver and kidneys (!!!!) working with a tough chook, fish, sausages and sundries. There is also a small section on entertaining on a budget and desserts.
Beating the Cost of Cooking – Mary Berry –Independent Television Books (UK) 1975 ISBN 0 900 72737 3 – From (a much younger looking) Mary Berry of “The Great British Bake-off” fame. She starts put talking about setting up your kitchen and what equipment is required, then talks about making the most of food covering how to shop then making meat, fish et. Go further. She then gets into the recipes around starters, meat and fish, pasta cheese and eggs, rice and vegetables. She also has sections on one-pot meat cooking, cooking with left overs, puddings, cakes and biscuits. Mostly good recipes with a few weirdo’s thrown in like cream of lettuce soup.
The Next-to-Nothing Cookbook – Helen Harrison – Bay Books (AUS) 1982 ISBN 0 85835 564 7 – This one is mostly recipes, lots of sections with a few recipes in each section. Sections include soup, meat, stews and casseroles, spicy dishes, fish, cheese and eggs, beans and cereals, vegetables and salads, dressings, sauces and herbs, sweets, cakes and biscuits. There is also a section on party treats and lollies and one on household management which talks about left-overs, being thrifty and rescuing cooking disasters.
Better Meals for Less – George Cornforth – Review and Herald Publishing Association (US) 1975 ISBN 978 0 3855 2909 9 – The book starts with a chapter on food and nutrition in general then goes on to provide recipes for meat “analogues”, bread, soup, legumes, nuts and eggs, vegetables, salads, fruit and simple desserts. It has some “interesting” recipes such as nut meat a la king but the recipes are healthy as well as vegetarian.
