Frugal Foodie Cookbooks:

Learn to cook from scratch. Feel the fear and cook it anyway!

Unless otherwise noted, these resources were discovered at my local library system, The Fairfield Main Library and the Fairfield Woods Branch Library. Support your local library!

Please be patient as I will add to this page when I can. I am busy cooking! ~Aimee, TFF

Moosewood Cookbook – revised edition by Molly Katzen – The earlier version was the first cookbook I owned after college. I lived near Ithaca and enjoyed going to Moosewood Restaurant when I could. The revised edition has healthier tweaks. My go-to recipes from this book: Pie crust, guacamole, pesto, basic cornbread, fudge brownies and apple crisp.

Moosewood Restaurant New Classics: 350 recipes for homestyle favorites and everyday feasts by Molly Katzen

How to Cook Everything – revised edition by Mark Bittman – This is a new cookbook for me. I use it mostly for ideas for cooking meat from our beef share. After investing in good quality beef from a local farm in Shelton, I don’t want anything to go to waste!

Feeding the Whole Family: Whole Foods Recipes for Babies, Young Children and Their Parents by Cynthia Lair – A primer on the benefits of eating whole grains and vegetables. I was inspired to switch from buying canned beans to bulk dried beans. This is a great resource for making your own delicious baby food easily, without everyone else going hungry! Conversely, your growing baby doesn’t have to eat from a jar as the rest of the family gets to eat delicious homemade food. As my children get older, I still use recipes from this book, especially for healthier lunchbox ideas.

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison – Everyone can stand to eat more veggies these days. This is a great handbook for not only cooking, but learning about vegetables, herbs and grains. Some of my favorite recipes are actually for using grains such as oatmeal, muffins, coffee cake and other sweet breads. There are great recipes for veggies that we already have on our regular list: carrots, broccoli, spinach, potatoes, kale and green beans. Vegetables that I hope to incorporate to my family’s regular list of meals are beets and chard.

Wildly Affordable Organic : Eat Fabulous Food, Get Healthy, and Save the Planet–All on $5 a Day or Less– by Linda Watson – As she says in her book, it’s easy to think that the words “organic” and “sustainable” are code words for “too expensive.” How much is your health worth? To help you budget, download the “Dirty Dozen and Clean 15” list. I love how she shares her journey into cooking. Check her website, Cook for Good – find out how cooking organic, in-season veggies in delicious ways is affordable for you and the planet.

Frugal Foodie Garden Wisdom

Another aspect of striving to be frugal and sustainable is learning how to grow your own food. This is a page of wisdom I collect from many sources. Any expert gardener will tell you that you learn as you go. This is just a place to keep all those gems I get from community and beyond. Keep checking back for updates.

Happy growing! ~Aimee, TFF

A Frugal Foodie Garden begins with Composting – from veggie scraps to compost to produce for your table and back to veggie scraps, a wonderful full circle.

Local Resources for good organic compost:

1. Sport Hill Farm

2. Snow’s Farm

3. Ganim’s Garden Center

Non-GMO Seed Resources

1. Fairfield Branch Library’s Seed to Seed Library – FREE Organic and Heirloom Seeds – See Marilyn’s post about it.

2. Comstock, Ferre & Co. in Old Wethersfield, CT – sells Baker Creek Heirloom and Organic Seeds – either take a trip to this beautiful New England American Revolutionary town or purchase from their online catalog.

3. Fedco Seeds Co. – Their plain and simple catalog format hasn’t changed in years, a good sign that they are putting their money into delivering high quality seeds.