I recently supported a cool Kickstarter that I want to tell you about. Leanne Brown is a chef and “food scholar.” She believes that, “everyone should eat great food every day. Eating well means learning to cook. It means banishing the mindset that preparing daily meals is a huge chore or takes tremendous skill. Cooking is easy — you just have to practice.” Her Kickstarter with an initial target of $10,000 has raised almost $140,000! The goal is to print Good and Cheap Cookbooks with recipes that cost only $4 a day for people without access to the internet. Today, July 13th, is the last day, so you still have the opportunity to support this great initiative – $5 buys a cookbook for someone in need and you can download the online version free.
Watch this video to see Leanne explain her project:
“Good and Cheap” is an awesome cookbook for people on tight budgets. It’s free online. Over 100,000 people downloaded the draft version from the website in just a few weeks! The more the Kickstarter raises, the more cookbooks Leanne can donate (or sell at a huge discount) to organizations that support low-income families on SNAP (the updated name for Food Stamps).
In the book, Leanne offers these great “Tips for Eating and Shopping Well” that we can all use:
“1. Buy foods that can be used in multiple meals
Versatile ingredients save meals. If you buy cornmeal, you can make polenta (p. 82), corn bread, and polenta fries (p. 46). If you buy yogurt (or make your own), you can have it with fruit (p. 22), make raita (p. 121) and tzatziki (p. 122), or use it in a drink (p. 110).2. Think weekly
Each week, mix things up by buying different varieties of staple foods like grains and beans. This week, you might have oatmeal every morning (p. 12) with black bean chili or black bean tacos later in the day, but next week you’ll have yogurt for breakfast and chana masala (p. 72) or hummus for lunch and dinner. If you have time to shop frequently, pick up smaller amounts of produce every couple of days to ensure everything is fresh. It’s a lot more inspiring to pull crisp, vibrant greens out of the fridge than to unstick a wilted mess from the bottom of the veggie drawer.3. Start building a pantry
If possible—and admittedly this can be difficult for people living on their own—reserve part of your budget
to buy one or two semi-expensive pantry items each week. Things like olive oil, soy sauce, and spices
(p. 126) are pricey at first, but if you use just a little with each recipe, they go a long way. With turmeric, coriander, cumin, and fresh ginger, you’ll suddenly you’ll have a world of flavor on your shelf. Check out the next section for specific items to build your pantry4. More vegetables means more flavors
Nothing livens up a bowl of rice like summer squash and corn! Vegetables make the best sauces: they’re
earthy, bright, tart, sweet, bitter, savory, rich. Give them a treasured spot at the top of your grocery list and you’ll never be bored.5. Always buy eggs
With these babies in your fridge, you’re only ever minutes away from a satisfying meal. Scramble an egg
with some leftovers or drop an egg on top of a salad, a bowl of grains, or a plate of stir-fried vegetables, and deliciousness is guaranteed.6. Don’t buy drinks
All the body needs drink-wise is water. Except for milk, most packaged drinks are overpriced and deliver a lot of sugar without filling you up the way a piece of fruit or a bowl of yogurt does. If you want a special drink, make an agua fresca (p. 109), smoothie (p. 110), or tea.7. Buy a pepper grinder
Seriously, banish pre-ground pepper from your life; it loses all flavor when it sits around. Pepper is not just some dusty, crunchy black stuff that people seem to think is important; it’s essential to bringing out the best in everything. Fresh pepper creates pops of intense flavor on the tongue and lights up bland dishes. One of the most popular dishes in Rome is just pasta with butter and pepper: give it a try!”
The book also has pantry tips, a great introduction and a ton of appealing, affordable recipes. I highly recommend downloading Good and Cheap and supporting the Kickstarter. Your $5 could make a huge difference to a family in need. You can also keep up with Leanne Brown on her blog, Twitter or Instagram.
I can’t wait to try some of these recipes – especially the Cauliflower Tacos- which is really saying something for me!
PS. Don’t forget to enter my Fitness Favorites Bloghop Giveaway and Perfect Bar Giveaway!