Cookmiser 700: Made-To-Be Frugal Recipes

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Lavigne’s theory is that substantial savings come only from never
buying prepared or ready-made foods, from buying in bulk, and from
drawing in the best bargains of many cultures. This book presents 700
recipes (many are incomplete) and the claim that the cost of eating can
be cut by up to 90 percent.

The savings come from an emphasis on low-cost ingredients (beans,
pasta, rice, potatoes) and from taking the school of do-it-yourself to
new extremes. Not only will you need to bring back your yogurt maker and
start growing sprouts again, but you’ll be expected to make your own
chocolate bars, sausages, cheese, tofu, and soft drinks (a strategy that
calls into question the book’s claim to save time in the kitchen).
Quality is not especially important in this super-cheap plan. There are
directions for adding fillers to the jam, stretching the pie filling,
and a recipe for a meat-stretcher mix. Meat makes only the occasional
appearance and then in its least expensive forms, such as hamburger or
pork liver. Eggs, beans, pasta, and rice dishes are big, as are
casseroles, bread, cakes, pizza, burgers (often meatless), soups, and
homemade salad dressings.

Many of the “recipes” are simply lists of ingredients, enriched by
numerous exclamation marks but devoid of method or instructions. As the
author suggests, it’s “a book of ideas ... it doesn’t matter that
they’re not necessarily all winners.” Top marks for honesty.