Customer Reviews

Eat Healthy For 50 Dollars A Week

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I personally would've been more impressed with this book if I was younger and just starting out in the savings scene. Rhonda has some good ideas, but they are SO basic that much of this is what grandma probably could taught me if I'd paid more attention. I liked her cheerful writing style. Unlike some other frugality experts, she doesn't take potshots at other authors. After reading this book however, I'm still unsure as to how she actually feeds her family. Her grocery lists don't match up well with the meals she actually prepared. In fact, some of her grocery lists are full of "fluff" foods, boxed cold cereal, crackers, pretzels, candy, popcorn etc. My own family would require far more protein, than what she bought. Rhonda reports making wonderfuls meals, including ham, chicken, enchiladas etc., but we are left to wonder how she does this. I speculate she practices the "pantry principle" (outlined in her book), but she instead leaves us to wonder. I have enjoyed some of the recipes here, particularly the low fat Ranch Dressing recipe, Momwiches, and her chicken recipes. A few of her food ideas are odd, my husband would balk if I served Cheesy Tuna Sauce over whole wheat toast for dinner. And he is a NOT a picky eater.

So this book could be helpful if you are new to cooking/saving. Rhonda offers some great resources, she is not hesitant to give credit to others. I respect her for that.

I use many of the recipes in this book each week. It has saved me money and time over and over again. My son loves the mom-whiches and the sweet and sour meatballs. My entire family loves the cinnamon raisin bread. I have used that recipe weekly for over a year and my family never gets tired of it. For the first time I actually made bagels and my kids enjoyed them. I do shop carefully, buy meat on sale and keep a stocked pantry. This book can keep your grocery budget down. Other great recipes include the french bread, popovers, potato chowder, and the simple pudding. I think your family will enjoy this book if you actually try the recipes. To save money shop the sales in your area instead of just shopping with a weekly list and keep your pantry stocked.

This book was not worth [what] I paid for it. The ideas are old ones -- nothing new here. Also, she gives sample shopping lists and the meals she feeds her family from them. It's not hard to feed a family on $50 a week with no meat -- but strangely, although no meat appears on her grocery list (total $48.32) that next week she manages to prepare a roast beef dinner and a baked chicken. I found the grocery lists unrealistic for the meals she apparently provided from them -- some ingredients simply weren't there.

I can appreciate the fact that she is honestly trying to show people how to manage on a fixed income. I think it's commendable that she has managed to do so for her own four children -- but the book lacked a lot. She also seems to buy a lot of pre-made stuff -- ie., Miracle Whip, bottled salad dressing, whipped topping, muffin mix -- not to mention the 60 penny candies and pound of M&Ms. If you're going to write a book on [inexpensive], HEALTHY eating, I'm not sure I would include these things.

I found this book to be wonderful. I received many ideas that have helped me a lot. The 90 minute bread recipe is wonderful! I found her ideas easy to incorporate in my lifestyle. I loved the recipes for the homemade mixes. I thought it was an awesome book, I am here to buy it after reading it from the library. I cant say enough good things about this book, I thought it was great, its well worth the money!! Thanks Rhonda!

This was sad. It was impossible not to like the author of this book, or believe that she sincerely wanted to make shopping easier for busy people. Therefore I feel guilty in reporting that I found this book very thin and unhelpful, with few recipes and advice that I can't believe I paid for, like "subscribe to the Sunday paper for coupons". If you need to buy this book to know you should use coupons to save money at the grocery store you are in more trouble than this woman can get you out of! I commend her on supporting 4 kids when her husband's an artist and she's a musician and now homemaker, but I hope she plans on sending me some supplimentary recipes, because I feel cheated out of 9 bucks after buying her book! (just think of all the food I could've bought with that!)

Barfield shares her personal system for providing nutritious, tasty meals for her family of six, complete with sample menus, shopping lists, and recipes. This book is chock full of painless, practical tactics to slash your grocery bill -- even if you have a sweet tooth, a pile of kids, and not a lot of time.

While Rhonda's book is much healthier than her book that is similar than this one (Eat Well instead of Eat Healthy) I found some of her recipes leaned toward the sweet end of tastes. I had never heard of using ketchup in a pizza sauce before and really felt that there could have been a better recipe that did not use the ketchup, or the additional added sugar that is stated in the recipe. In addition, I am not a Miracle Whip fan. I prefer real mayonnaise, I guess that is my own personal taste. I also felt that she could have been a little more creative in some of her ideas instead of quoting dozens of other resources. I bought her book thinking it was her ideas, not other books or newsletters. Oh well, I guess I'll have to buy some of those others since they seem to be mentioned frequently.

I loved Barfield's book "Eat Well for $50 a Week" but this book is even better with it's emphasis on eating healthy. This is a great resource that will really teach you how to cut corners off your food budget! Thanks, Rhonda!