A book review for you on this gorgeous Friday morn. One of the best things for you (in my humble opinion) is to read. You can't wait for the time, you have to make the time.

Even if it's 15 minutes before you go to bed. You're exercising your mind, which helps your soul. And we all can use a little help in that department.

You never know what you will learn or where you can travel. So head down to your library and grab whatever catches your fancy. Just remember to return it on time, so you don't get any late fees!

Cheapskate in the Kitchen: Mary Hunt

Good for someone who is new to cooking, but also has some good frugal recipes, ideas, and in season fruit/veggie chart that could be useful for those with some experience. I found the season chart very helpful since we’ve been eating and cooking with more fruits and veggies, and its helpful to know what are good bargains and when.

Starts off with kitchen equipment and pantry items that you will need to cook from scratch. Its good how she breaks down the kitchen equipment. Like her, I believe everything in the first list is a must have, but there are many items in the following lists that I don’t think are needed.

Hunt then goes on to tell the different meanings behind the various cooking terms. Useful, but any good cookbook, such as: Complete Betty Crocker or Joy of Cooking would be able to tell you this.

For herbs the best place that Hunt says to buy is from a Health Food Store, then Grocery Store, then Schilling or McCormick. But if you can grow herbs yourself, all the better.

Here's a great recipe from the book. We've been trying to eat less meat and more beans, so I'm always on the lookout for a good, easy recipe.

Simply Elegant Black Bean Soup
Nancy Guth
8 Servings

2 16 oz cans of black beans
1 16 oz can Mexican style stewed tomatoes
1 12 oz can shoepeg corn

Open cans, don’t drain. Put everything into large pot and heat thoroughly. Serve with dollop of sour cream and cilantro. Make Mexican Cornbread for a side dish. Jiffy has a cheap and good cornbread mix.

The last part of the book has ideas on entertaining with some recipes, etiquette, etc... thrown in.

Defiantly worth checking out from the library if you are new to frugal living or cooking from scratch. There may be some recipes you want to copy down. And you will probably find some of the tips very helpful.

One tip that I found was to put oil into a spray bottle instead of using the aerosol cans. Better for the environment and works just as well.

Also go to your library and browse through their cookbook section. This is a great way to get recipes. (Or if you know exactly what you"re looking for, go on the internet.) I recommend getting either The Joy of Cooking or a Complete Betty Crocker Cookbook. And my favorite cookbook is More With Less by Doris Longacre.