Eat Cheap but Eat Well: The Poor Chef Cookbook

by Charles Mattocks, Mary Hunt

Over 120 delicious ways to slash your weekly food bill If you're looking for easy ways to feed your family on a budget, then this cookbook is for you. Appearing on TV as "The Poor Chef," Charles Mattocks has spent years demonstrating that it's possible to serve up healthy, tasty meals for only $7.00?or less. Now, in this practical cookbook, Charles collects the all-time best penny-pinching recipes from his television appearances. Contributed by real cooks around the country and inspired by cuisines around the globe, the recipes you'll find inside have only two things in common?they're incredibly cheap and they're incredibly delicious. For just a few bucks, you and your family can feast on dishes like

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction

207 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2009

Reviews

[Dani · Rating 2 out of 5]

The recipes in this cookbook seem doable and anything but bland. However, I think the only way they would qualify as cheap is if you first get the hang of shopping seasonally. You have to buy produce when it is cheapest and then find a recipe to go with it. I am in the habit of picking a recipe and then buying the ingredients, which will make these recipes much more expensive to recreate.

If you get this book, be sure to read the notes with each recipe. The author gives suggestions for ingredient substitutions that can make a difference in how much it will cost you to make each dish. This is a helpful addition for the truly frugal cook. I also agree with his philosophy that we don't need to eat quite as much meat as we do in this country.

The only reason I gave the book two stars is that I don't think my kids would eat most of the dishes in this book. For every recipe that my kids would love, like French-toasted Chicken Sandwiches, there are plenty that my young ones wouldn't touch, like Avocado-Pear Quesadillas. If you don't have kids or your kids have been raised on more exotic food than mine have, then you might want to give this cookbook a try.

[Erika · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do people generally have leftover cooked lamb sitting around?

[DeAnne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Nothing new here. All the recipes are things you could find from amateur cooks at allrecipes.com. Every other page seems to be a picture of the author, with only a tiny selection of pictures of the food.

From a flavor profile standpoint; it is pretty pedestrian stuff.

I think the book might be useful to a new cook with no experience and who was afraid to be adventurous right out of the gate. But I think there's nothing here for experienced cooks or palates.

[Bridget Barlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book from the library and made a few recipes and it is wonderful. Instead of breaking recipes in to breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack that so many of the cookbooks i've been reading it breaks it down to types of meat, soup, etc. each recipe has an easy to understand graphic to tell you how much it is to make and all the recipes look delicious.

i plan to by it when I have the money and will probably get it back from the library and renew it till i have the money!

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 2 out of 5]

My review is mainly from the standpoint of looking at this as a vegetarian. There are few recipes that are suitable for vegetarians outside the rather short vegetarian chapter, and one of the "vegetarian" recipes calls for chicken broth.

[Kori · Rating 4 out of 5]

yum! Copied several recipes and just made one tonight that my kids scarfed up. However, too many pages were dedicated to fish. I guess the author must catch it himself because last time I checked, fish was far from cheap!

[Dorena · Rating 1 out of 5]

The picture on the cover caught my eye. I thought ooh, there is going to be a bunch of great recipes for cheap in here. Nope, guess again. I think I selected two recipes out of the whole book. Disappointing.

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

The lack of color photos coupled with the meals with special ingredients not usually found in my pantry. I thought since he was called the "poor chef" I was disappointed. His Los Angeles location may be the reason he called these cheap. However, the Oklahoma foodie disagrees.

[LibraryDanielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

while the recipes seem to be easy and doable, they're hardly cheap unless you live in an area where the produce is native. so southern ca or fl. even buying in season the more "exotic" ingredients aren't going to be cheap in the north. but they look tasty so I will probably make some.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have not read this book yet but i think its gonna be good, i have seen this guy and he has made a great name for himself, oprah needs to know about him

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a vegetarian cookbook per se, but there were a couple of good recipes for the coming veggie season, including Mediterranean Chickpea Pasta Salad and Cream of Zucchini Soup.

[Joy]

This guy is nuts! Who would eat this crap?!?!
Glad I did not spend my money on this, it was a library book.

[Nupur Vanderlick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some really good recipes in this book. Especially Chicken Korma. They are easy to make and indeed cheaper.

[Angie · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were no recipes in this book that sounded good to me.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found new ideas in this book, as a result I made Mango Kiwi Chicken which was a big hit with my kids (ages 11-14). This recipe is not in his book, but as I said his recipes were the inspiration.

[K. L. Petersen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The meals didn't seem appetizing enough to even try... And "cheap" probably isn't the right word to use for the title.