Review by Jamila Lopez
Eating for only four dollars a day, but how? “Good and Cheap,” a New York Times bestselling cookbook claims to be created for people who have a small budget.
During the first week of October on the Peninsula College campus, I noticed this book in several classrooms and labs, surprisingly, free for students to take home.
I loved the fact that this book was free to grab for those interested, considering we now have a food pantry on campus.
During a time of trying to overcome significant barriers myself; eating for only four dollars a day caught my attention.
I was curious to see what it had to say and if the recipes were any good. Like many others, I try my best to be cautious of the things I feed myself and my family. If you are anything like me, only clean, fresh and healthy ingredients make their way in my shopping cart.
However, as we all know, buying organic or top-quality produce weekly or even bi-weekly can cost as much as your phone bill. Trust me, I know how tempting it is to grab the enormously large red bell pepper for 99 cents vs the small organic bell pepper for $1.89.
Growing up, my household didn’t consist of a family gathering for evening supper. In fact, as a child I remember having to cook for myself, making Kraft’s boxed mac and cheese, corn dogs, ramen noodles, sandwiches and bowls of cereal.
I even remember almost burning the whole kitchen down in flames attempting to make tortilla chips out of corn tortillas, which I may say are pretty good when not burnt to a crisp. It wasn’t until my pre-teenage years I started spending every weekend at my grandmother’s house.
Here I was guaranteed delicious home-cooked Southern meals to enjoy with my immediate family members. For breakfast, my favorite was fried pork chop with grits, eggs and a biscuit on the side. My all-time favorite for dinner was turkey wings and oxtails smothered in grandma’s homemade gravy, with fried green tomatoes, cream of corn or cornbread.
During these times spent at my grandmother’s she made it a goal of hers to teach me everything she could when it came to grocery shopping on a budget. Preparing meals, what frozen veggies and meats to buy to make poor man’s stew that would last a week or two when you may be short on money. I was raised to be a penny-pincher with just about everything except when shopping for food.
“Shop for high-quality produce and meats while still getting your money’s worth” was always the motto. This is when I developed true appreciation for food, which brings me back to “Good and Cheap.”
As a college student and a working single parent, I lost my motivation and patience to cook, spending most nights eating pre-prepped frozen pastas and ordering out for Mexican and pizza.
Looking through this cookbook, seeing all the colorful meals prepared with fresh ingredients and supposedly costing around four dollars per day had me intrigued, excited and motivated to try a few of the recipes myself.
