A delicious meal can be a true delight. It can be expensive too. One way to save on meals is to cook your own. Budget Bytes: 100 Easy, Delicious Recipes to Slash Your Grocery Bill in Half by Beth Moncel is a cookbook that serves up delicious recipes that are budget friendly.

We all love to eat. There are lots of wonderful cookbooks on the market. What attracted me to Budget Bytes was its emphasis on cutting your grocery bill without cutting out the taste. Each recipe comes with a dollar sign denoting how it falls on the cost scale. The recipes range from less than one dollar a meal to costlier ones reserved for splurges.

I really liked the section on freezing food. The author gives good advice on what foods freeze well. Freezing extra food saves a lot of money. It provides convenient and healthy meals as well.

The book is laid out very nicely with clearly defined sections for breakfast, meats, pasta, vegetables, desserts, and more. I liked that each section offered a range of meals from inexpensive to splurges. The author provides meal plans at the back of the book for those needing a little help with meal planning.

Some of the recipes in the book include Zucchini-Pasta Bake, Hearty Vegetable and Barley Soup, and Ginger Beef 'n' Broccoli. There is Monkey Bread and Peach Bubble Cake recipes in the dessert section. The recipes are varied enough to appeal to a variety of palates.

One thing the book promised were substitutions for those with various dietary needs. There are substitutions listed for vegetarian cooking. But I was disappointed to find no recipes for gluten-free substitutions. In fact, I did not see many substitutions for other dietary needs. The book would be improved by listing cost effective solutions for those on special diets. Gluten-free cooking, for example, can be very costly. Budget conscious suggestions for this style of cooking is greatly needed.

The author did include tips on saving money with each recipe. These tips are a great addition to the book, whether they were cheaper substitutions or ways to keep extra ingredients longer. The book has a lot of versatility for cooking on any budget.

Overall, though, I found Budget Bytes to be a good read. It is informative, has delicious recipes, and teaches cost-effective ways to eat well. The dollar signs by each recipe clearly indicate which recipes are low-cost and which require more expensive ingredients.

I would recommend this book to all cooks. Beginners will benefit from the advice on planning budget-friendly meals. Experienced cooks may find a new recipe to try while keeping costs reasonable. This book will help you enjoy delicious home cooked meals on a budget.

I borrowed this book from my local library.

Interested in this cookbook? It is available for purchase from Amazon.com:
Budget Bytes: Over 100 Easy, Delicious Recipes to Slash Your Grocery Bill in Half

Kindle Edition:
Budget Bytes: Over 100 Easy, Delicious Recipes to Slash Your Grocery Billin Half