Rattle and Hummus

Last week’s falafel sauce recipe, though delicious, featured an ingredient that’s a bit more expensive than the average bear: tahini paste. And if you’re just becoming acquainted with this high-fat, peanut butter-esque sesame concoction (as am I), you’re probably wondering what the hell else to do with the leftovers (as am I).

Fortunately, hummus, one of the world’s great dips/fillings/playthings uses tahini paste as a main component. It lends a nutty flavor and creamy consistency that gives depth to the humble chickpea. On the flip side, lots of hummus recipes overload on tahini, which means scrumptious sesame flavor, but middlin'-to-serious fat content.

So, to find a delectable, healthier hummus, I started with the bible: Cook’s Illustrated. Captious Vegetarian has their recipe, but suggests halving both the water and salt while leaving out the olive oil. Captious’ mom comments that she substitutes reserved bean juice for water, and slugs in more garlic, as well. Finally, Southern Living proposes adding cumin (yay!) but leaving out the tahini (boo). I would have strongly considered this last version if it wasn’t for that fateful lack of sesame. Seed-omitting miscreants.

The final product of these compromises was a light, lemon-y hummus with more than enough taste to compensate for the reduced tahini. Eat it, love it, live it:

Lemony Light Hummus
6 servings – ¼ cup each

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 Tbs. bean juice reserved from can
3 Tbs. juice from 1 large lemon
2 Tbs. tahini
½ - ¾ tsp. salt
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press
dash cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1) Stick everything in a food processor. Process for one minute, until desired smoothness is met. Add more bean juice if you’d like a creamier consistency.

2) Eat immediately, or refrigerate to let the flavors come together.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
96 calories, 4 g fat, $0.28

Calculations
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas: 350 calories, 7 g fat, $0.79
3 Tbs. bean juice reserved from can: negligible calories and fat, $0.00
3 Tbs. lemon juice: 30 calories, 0 g fat, $0.50
2 Tbs. tahini: 190 calories, 18 g fat, $0.25
½ - ¾ tsp. salt: negligible calories and fat, $0.01
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press: 5 calories, 0 g fat, $0.05
dash cayenne pepper: negligible calories and fat, $0.01
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin: negligible calories and fat, $0.05
TOTAL: 575 calories, 25 g fat, $1.66
PER SERVING (TOTAL/6): 96 calories, 4 g fat, $0.28

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Falafel Me, Falafel You: A Recipe

I dig falafel. The boyfriend digs it even more. If falafel was single and a good kisser, I’d end up dumped and homeless on the street. Heartbroken and forlorn, I’d wander about blindly, cursing the day chickpeas sauntered into my life.

But, thank Jeebus, falafel is just a food – a tempting, fatty food that’s normally deep-fried to get its flavor and texture. The challenge then, dear friends, was cutting the ginormous amounts of oil without losing a whit of the taste.

After browsing a few falafel recipes (Sara Moulton, AllRecipes, etc.), I finally bogarted a good-looking one from Epicurious, which garnered it from a cookbook called Foods of Israel Today. Since I was using canned chickpeas instead of dried, I then made a few preparation changes based on the advice of an Epicurious reviewer only known as dickrebel. It turned out to be indispensable, so big round of applause for dickrebel, ladies and gentlemen.

When it came time to cook, once again, it was Weight Watchers to the rescue. They suggested frying the falafel in 2 teaspoons of oil, and then sticking it in a hot oven to finish. Since 2 teaspoons of oil sounded a bit meager, I jacked it up to 2 tablespoons, which was just right. It gave each piece a nice brown color and satisfying crunch without affecting the fat content too terribly. The oven warmed the falafel through, and the addition of garnishes and a lower-fat tahini-yogurt sauce from EatingWell.com finished the whole dish quite nicely. The boyfriend loved it, and ate it so fast that I didn’t worry about them running away together.

Falafel
5 servings – 4 pieces per serving
Adapted from Epicurious.

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 large onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
4 cloves of garlic
1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and dried thoroughly
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp vegetable oil for frying

1 tomato, chopped for garnish
¼ large onion, diced for garnish
½ green bell pepper, diced for garnish
Eating Well’s Tahini sauce (listed below)
2 ½ Whole Wheat Pitas

1) Combine onion, garlic and pepper flakes in food processor. Pulse until they’re about 1/8-in. big.

2) Add chickpeas, parsley, and cilantro and chop until “pieces are about the size of a large pinhead.” You don’t want a puree here, because mushiness will make the falafel fall apart. (Thanks, dickrebel.)

3) Dump the items from the food processor into a bowl. Stir in salt, cumin, baking powder and flour until well-mixed., but not really a dough.

4) Stick it in the fridge, covered, for anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours. The longer the better. (I did it for an hour, and turned out nicely.)

5) With your hands, make small falafel hockey pucks about 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter and ¾ of an inch high. (The flat surface will help with the frying.)

6) Turn oven to 400ºF.

7) Heat 2 Tbsp vegetable oil in a huge ovenproof skillet on medium-high. Make sure the pan is good and hot before you put the falafel down. (Think of it like making pancakes.) Fry the pucks for about 3 minutes on the first side, and 2 minutes on the second, until they’re golden brown.

8) When finished, stick skillet in oven (or transfer pucks to a Pam-ed aluminum foil lined cookie sheet) and bake for 10-12 minutes.

9) Stick four balls in half a pita with tomatoes, green pepper, and onions. Drizzle with tahini sauce (recipe below).

Eating Well Tahini sauce
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
2 Tbsp tahini (see Ingredient note)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 tsp salt

1) Mix all ingredients thoroughly in bowl. That’s it.


Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
296 calories, 11.7 g fat, $1.11

Calculations
1 can chickpeas, drained: 350 calories, 7 g fat, $0.79
3/4 onion (main recipe plus garnish): 100 calories, 0 g fat, $0.24
8 Tbsp fresh parsley (main recipe plus sauce): negligible calories and fat, $0.99
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro: negligible calories and fat, $0.33
1 ¼ tsp salt (main recipe plus sauce): negligible calories and fat, $0.01
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes: negligible calories and fat, $0.15
4 cloves garlic: 20 calories, 0 g fat, $0.20
1 tsp cumin: negligible calories and fat, $0.05
1 tsp baking powder: negligible calories and fat, $0.02
4 Tbsp flour: 100 calories, 0 g fat, $0.03
2 Tbsp vegetable oil for frying: 240 calories, 28 g fat, $0.08
1 tomato, chopped for garnish: 30 calories, 0 g fat, $0.56
½ green bell pepper, diced for garnish: 20 calories, 0 g fat, $0.24
2 ½ Whole Wheat Pitas: 350 calories, 4.25 g fat, $0.47
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt: 80 calories, 1.25 g fat, $0.95
2 Tbsp tahini: 190 calories, 18 g fat, $0.25
1 Tbsp lemon juice: negligible calories and fat, $0.17
TOTAL: 1480 calories, 58.5 g fat, $5.53
PER SERVING (TOTAL/5): 296 calories, 11.7 g fat, $1.11

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Links of the Post-Independent

MSN Health: 10 Things Your Grocery Store Doesn't Want You to Know
Solid article on the saucy games supermarkets play. Tips 4 through 8 are particularly relevant to CheapHealthyGood.

The Festival of Frugality
Each week, a different financial blogger compiles his favorite frugality-themed posts from other bloggers around the web. Recent highlights have been The Bulk Buying Debate from The Simple Dollar blog and How NOT to Go to a Bar or Club by The LocoMono Website. SO worth a gander.

CNN: Tainted Chinese seasoning used on recalled snack foods
In case you haven’t heard, Veggie Booty got the recall! Turns out, the extra added flavor was salmonella. Mmm … poison.
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Of Eggplants and Angels: Angel Hair Pasta with Eggplant-Tomato Sauce

According to legend, Weight Watchers recipes used to be mostly celery and horseradish, pounded into submission and forced screaming into a sternly unyielding jello mold. Lately, though (the last two years?), the folks at WW seem to have retooled their entire approach. Now there are wondrous additions, like spices and vinegar, that make quite a few of their recipes more than edible.

This dish was posted recently on the WW site, though I altered it pretty significantly to fit my tastes and budget. For a slightly higher price, you could substitute fresh basil for better flavor or whole wheat pasta for more of a nutritional punch. Either way, it’s good stuff, fancy enough for company, and tastes great cold the next day.

Angel Hair Pasta with Eggplant-Tomato Sauce
6 servings 1 ½ cups per serving
Adapted from Weight Watchers.


8 oz. uncooked angel hair pasta (half the box), cooked and drained
1 medium raw eggplant, sliced into 1-inch cubes
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch chunks
4 t Olive oil (preferably in a spray bottle)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp dried basil (or 2 T fresh, minced)
1/2 cup fat-free chicken broth (or low-fat regular)
3-4 oz reduced-fat feta cheese, crumbled

1) Preheat oven to 425ºF.

2) Chop the eggplant (skin on) and red pepper, and put ‘em in a large bowl. If you have an olive oil spray bottle, coat the top of the vegetables and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Stir well (but gently). Do this three times, being careful not to oversalt. (If you don’t have a spray bottle, slowly drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil on top of the veggies. Then, follow the aforementioned directions.)

3) Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. (If you like, coat it with cooking spray. This isn’t necessary, but will make vegetable removal a little easier.) Place eggplant and pepper on sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes, or until they start to brown. Remove from oven and set aside.

4) Grab a big saucepan. Coat with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and heat on medium-low.

5) Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes, until heated through. Add roasted veggies, red pepper flakes, basil, broth, and salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat up to medium-high.

6) Cook a few minutes until broth is reduced, and the mixture becomes a little saucy. Turn off the burner. Add the pasta and stir lots.

7) Add the feta and mix thoroughly, until the pasta is coated with it. If this is done while the pasta is still warm, you’ll get a lot of feta in each bite. Serve NOW.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
243.7 calories, 6.2 g fat, $1.14

Calculations
8 oz. angel hair pasta: 840 calories, 4 g fat, $0.25
1 medium eggplant: 132 calories, 1 g fat, $1.38
1 medium red bell pepper: 40 calories, 0 g fat, $0.88
4 t olive oil: 160 calories, 18.2 g fat, $0.10
Salt and pepper: 0 calories, 0 g fat, $0.02
1 garlic clove: negligible calories and fat, $0.05
1 can diced tomatoes: 75 calories, 0 g fat, $1.19
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes: negligible calories and fat, $0.05
1 T dried basil: negligible calories and fat, $0.25
½ c chicken broth: 5 calories, .5 g fat, $0.40
3-4 oz reduced-fat feta cheese, crumbled: 210 calories, 13.5 g fat, $2.25
TOTAL: 1462 calories, 37.2 g fat, $6.82
PER SERVING (TOTAL/6): 243.7 calories, 6.2 g fat, $1.14

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A Plan! A Wonderful Plan!

To accomplish what CheapHealthyGood is setting out to do, odds are I’ll need to post something. Links, suggestions, and muted whining are to be expected. I’d also like to scrawl some how-to entries, strategy guides, and generally informative doodles, but let’s see how it goes.

The most important part of the site, hopefully though, will be the actual food. My goal here is to try a recipe, make sure it hits every criteria (cheap, healthy, and um, good), calculate its stats, and post the results. Included in each of these entries will be:

• Pictures

• The recipe itself

• The approximate price per serving

• The approximate fat and calories per serving

I’ll need some guidelines, here. So let’s say:

• All nutritional facts are gleaned from manufacturers’ websites, supermarket listings, and various calorie-and-fat counters from around the web.

• All prices are what I actually paid for each item, divided according to the amount used from a package. In other words, if I bought a pound of angel hair pasta for $0.70, but only used 8 ounces, I list the price as $0.35.

• All the calculations are my own, and are approximate. Cut me some slack, man.

• If a recipe is gleaned from a cookbook, website, or chef (and most of them are), I cite the source ALWAYS, and change the wording as much as possible. Plagiarism is bad.

• The difficulty level of each recipe will assume the cook’s been in a kitchen before, but hasn’t studied under Daniel Boulud for any length of time.

Comments, suggestions, and readers are welcomed with open arms and a strawberry Freezy Pop. For now, here’s hoping.

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Mission Statement ... OF DELIGHT

Back in the olden days of yore (2005), I was pretty convinced that moderately-priced healthy food didn’t exist and couldn’t be made, at least by me. My weight had yo-yoed a few times at that point, and it always seemed like Skinny Kris coincided very strongly with Broke Kris.

See, Skinny Kris liked sushi and roasted eggplant spread. She preferred full-price pork tenderloin over on-sale pork chops, and a nice slab of jamillion-dollar fresh tuna over both. Skinny Kris thought nothing of blowing $5.09 on a 16-oz light smoothie from Jamba Juice when there was a perfectly good $0.35 cent banana over at the fruit cart. Financially, Skinny Kris sucked it.

When Skinny Kris started running out of money, she became Heavier Kris, who hoovered up bargain fries and plowed through cheapo lo mein like the world would run out tomorrow. To her ass’ great detriment, Heavier Kris’ most nefarious weakness was $0.69 Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, a craving that could not be sated until the whole box was gone. Heavier Kris was saving precious dough, but at the expense of her cholesterol levels and now-gigantic bosom.

Being broke and skinny was not fun. Being large and in economic charge wasn’t either. So, in the beginning of last year, I made two resolutions: A) I had to stop referring to myself in third person, and B) these dueling sides needed to reach détente.

A few cooking lessons and serious amounts of foodie blog research (some would call it “lazy perusing”) helped. Reading Suze Orman’s “Young, Fabulous and Broke” and “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey helped. Understanding that half-price Cheetos and bulk-packaged candy were The Man’s Tools of Oppression™ helped, too. But what helped most of all was being honest-to-god ready for change.

As it turns out, peaches go on sale at the supermarket for $0.69. Rice is insanely inexpensive, even moreso at the local ethnic grocers. And that roasted eggplant spread? I can make it myself for two bucks, rather than buy it at the deli for six. Realizing and taking advantage of all this was a huge step, but there are tons more to go.

In the end, that’s what this blog is about: change. Yes, it focuses largely on making delicious eats at a reasonable cost, but mostly it’s a journey - to break old habits, discover new ones, and *barf* be a better person.
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ARTICLE INDEX

RECIPE COMPILATIONS
1 Chicken, 17 Healthy Meals, $26 Bucks, No Mayo

20 Cheap, Healthy Dishes Made From 10 Pantry Staples

38 Cheap, Healthy Recipes for Thanksgiving Leftovers

60 Cheap, Healthy Marinades

65 Cheap, Healthy, One-Dish Meals with Good Leftover Potential

68 Cheap, Healthy, No-Cook Recipes

156 Cheap, Healthy Recipes for Ten Common Leftover Herbs

A Beginner’s Guide to Beans, Plus 42 Bean Recipes

Cheap, Healthy Asparagus: 81 Recipes for the Springiest of Spring Vegetables

Cheap, Healthy Leafy Greens: 246 Recipes for Cabbage, Kale, Spinach, Swiss Chard, and Beyond

Cheap Healthy Beef Part I: Recipes and Methodology

Cheap Healthy Party Food

Cheap Healthy Pork: Recipes, Methodology, and Tips

Cheap, Healthy Salad Dressings: 102 Light Recipes

Cheap, Healthy Zucchini and Eggplant: 134 Recipes

In Defense of Potatoes (Plus, 12 Potato Recipes)

Dozens of Cheap, Healthy, Environmentally Friendly Seafood Recipes

Save Money on Seasonings: MYOM (Make Your Own Mix)

Seriously, Eating: 40 Recipes From the Other Website I Write For

Seriously Eating II: 94 Recipes from Serious Eats' Healthy and Delicious Column

Super Bowl Recipes: 77 Cheap and Healthy Foods for the Big Game

Super Bowl Recipes XLV: 77 Cheap and Healthy Foods for the Big Game

The Only Thanksgiving Post You’ll Ever Need: 100+ Links for Turkey Day

Winter Squash 101 (Plus 18 Recipes!)


COLLEGE, CURRICULUM, & LIFE LESSONS
Cheap, Healthy College Food: Tips for Frugal, Nutritious Dining in the Dorm and Beyond

Cheap Healthy Good and the Triangle of Compromise

Finance, Food, and the Role of Personal Responsibility: A Question for Readers

Food, Finance, and Judging Others

“Healthy” Defined! (As Best We Can)

If I Had Known Then: Food and Financial Advice for the College-Bound (Also, a Story)

Life Skills 101: A Curriculum for Food, Finance, and Other Real World Basics

Life Skills 102: Advanced Adulthood (Write This Down)

Musings of a Healthy Cooking Teacher

Navigating the Reboot: Getting Back on Track After Falling Off of It. (The Track, I Mean.)

Observations From a Novice Cook

On Progress

Prepping for Unemployment: Food, Money, Mind

Reader Request: Defining "Healthy"

Roommate Living: Your Food, Kitchen, and Sanity

When Food Frugality Pays Off: See Ya, Sallie Mae

When NOT to Eat Cheap, Healthy, and Good (Er, Well)


COOKING
10 Cheap Shortcuts to Making Cooking Oh-So-Much Easier

10 Signs You’re Becoming a Better Cook

10 Ways to Eat Less Meat

13 Ways to Cook Without an Oven

15 Time-Saving Food Prep Tips

18 No-Cook Meal Ideas

Baking and Cooking for the Sensitive and Cleansing

The Brown Bag Brigade: Your One-Stop Shop for Work Lunch Ideas

Call the Waaaaahmbulance (on Greenmarkets)

Cheap, Healthy Carnivore

Cheap, Healthy Master Recipes: Eight Versatile Dishes Entirely Adaptable to Your Tastes

Cheap, Healthy, Sick: 10 Easy, Nutritious Foods for When You’ve Contracted the Plague

The CHG Hall of Shame

CHG's Top Ten Recipes: Year One

CHG Turns 2: The Year's Top Ten Recipes

Chop ‘Til You Drop: The Ultimate Guide to Slicing, Carving, and Cutting Your Food into Tiny, Affordable Pieces

Converting Those Pesky Weights and Measures

Cooking Day: 39 Yellow Tomatoes, 11 Hours, No Mercy

Cooking For Small Children: 15 Hows, Whys, and … Honey, Please Put That Cleaver Down

Cooking for Survival Eaters

Creating a Global Pantry

Don’t Fear the Bean Curd

Easy Veganization

The Eat Your Veggies Experiment Part 1: Meet the Eaters

The Eat Your Veggies Experiment Part 2: Results

Eww…That’s Not Vegetarian 101

Fear Itself

Five Delicious Ways to Eat Broccoli Stalks

Free Cooking Lessons. No, Seriously.

Frugal Food Hacks: 10 Tricks to Simplifying Online Recipe Searches

HOW Old is that Oatmeal? When to Clean Out the Pantry

How to Tell is a Recipe is Cheap and Healthy Just by Looking at it

Last-Minute Little Dinners for One: Tips, Ideas, and 25 Recipes

Learning to Love Foods You Hate: A How-to Guide for Frugal Eaters

Lighten Any Meal: 10 Easy, Inexpensive Steps to Healthier Recipes

Little Meals for One

Navigating the Reboot: Getting Back on Track After Falling Off of It. (The Track, I Mean.)

Overcoming Your Cooking Obstacles

Overcoming Your Cooking Obstacles, Part II: So, Your Family Doesn’t Cook

Pantry of the Gods

Reaching into the Mailbag—Mom Seeks Help with Teen Veg

Rest in Peas: A Working Mothers Guide to Not Making Baby Food

The Three Rules of Leftovers

Vegetarian Meal Planning for Meat Eaters


DIETING and EATING RIGHT
15 Reasons I Gain(ed) Weight (And Two Reasons I Didn’t)

The Booze of Summer: A Quick and Dirty Guide to Lighter, Cheaper Drinks

How to Lose Weight and Keep it Off: 10 Rules to Live By

The Incredible Shrinking Dad: How One Guy Lost 108 Pounds (and Kept it Off)

The Problem With Diet Foods

Serving Sizes and Portion Control: A Primer

Touchy Subjects: Confronting Loved Ones about Weight and Money Problems

Trading Butter for All the Broccoli in China: Getting Healthy Takes Practice

Why Weight Maintenance is Harder Than Weight Loss, and How to Help it Along


DINING OUT
Cheap Healthy Vacation Food Part Deux: 10 More Tips for Travel Eats on a Budget

Cheap Healthy Vacation Food: 61 Tips for Travel Eats on a Budget

Feeding a Group on Vacation

Healthy Takeout on a Budget

On Splurging

There is No Free Breakfast

Traveling While Vegetarian


DO-GOODING
Feed the World: Holiday Volunteering and Food Donations

So This is Christmas: 37 Food Philanthropies


EXPLORING THE ISSUES
5 Ways to Eat Healthier, Cheaper, Tastier, and Better for the Planet in 2011

The $25 Food Project: One Man, Seven Days, 21 Meals

The $25 Food Project Finale: Recipes, Conclusions, and an Exit Interview

As for Me and My House, We'll Serve the Veggies

Companies vs. Consumers: A Manifesto

Eating on $25 Dollars a Week: The Experiment

Eat Cheap and Healthy – How to Help Others?

Food Money Matters: Why Healthy Eating Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive

The Junk Food Tax: Reader Ideas, Opinions, and Solutions

The Junk Food Tax: Reasonable Public Health Measure or Evidence of a Nanny State?

The Presidential Plate: Obama and McCain on Food

Newsflash! Scientists Getting Closer to Lab-grown Meat

The Ultimate Guide to Understanding the Food Crisis: How it Started, Who it Hurts Most, and How to Solve the Problem

Understanding the Childhood Obesity Epidemic Part I: Causes and Effects

Understanding the Childhood Obesity Epidemic Part II: Wide-Scale Solutions

Understanding the Childhood Obesity Epidemic Part III: Small-Scale Solutions

I Want to Be a Tofu Butcher

What the Great Depression Can Teach Us About Food and Frugality


GROCERY SHOPPING
The #1 Rule of Personal Finance

4 Key Ingredients to Eat Well and Frugally at Home

10 Cheap Ways to Simplify Food Shopping

The 10 Cheapest, Healthiest Foods Money Can Buy

10 Foods You Should Always Splurge On

26 Common Food Labels, Explained

Angus Anguish: Is Angus Beef Worth the Money?

C. Everett Co-op

The Cheap Healthy Good Guide to CSAs

COOL (Country of Origin Labeling) for You and Me

Couponing for People Who Hate Couponing: A Zero-Stress Guide to Clipping Big Bargains

Dr. Veg-love, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Seasonal Produce

Eating Healthy While Clipping Coupons

Food Labels That Ate My Sanity

Food, Frugality, and Fighting Brand Loyalty

Frugal Grocery Shopping for City Folk

Grocery Shopping: What Works for Me

How to Buy the USDA Recommended 4.5 Cups of Fruits and Vegetables for $2.50 Per Day

How to Eat Green Without a Greenmarket

Local Going Into Winter

Meal Planning – An Experiment and Conversion

Nutritionism, Your Health, and Your Money

Olive Oil - Buying, Storing, and Using it, Demystified

Need a Weekly Meal Planner, a Grocery List, or Price Books? We Have 36 of ‘em.

Recession-Proofing Your Diet: Food Strategies for a New Economy

Relax, Frugal Eater: A Measured Approach to Lifestyle Changes

Save 95% on Groceries, a.k.a. Why You Should Shop at Ethnic Markets

Save Money on Food: Buy it Whole Rather Than Pre-cut, Pre-cleaned, or Pre-whatever

Spend Less, Eat Healthier: The Five Most Important Things You Can Do

The Sweet Stuff, Part I: A New Color in the Packet Rainbow

The Sweet Stuff, Part II: White, Brown, and Sparkly Crystals

The Sweet Stuff, Part III: Nectar of the Gods

The Argument for Spending More on Food

The Case for Frozen Food

The Circular Game: Decoding Your Supermarket Weekly

The Hour: How 60 Minutes a Week Can Save Hundreds of Dollars on Food

Touch of Class: 10 Thrifty, Healthy Ingredients to Improve the Quality of Your Meals

Treating Food-Borne Affluenza: 15 Tips to Curb Your Foodie Leanings

Weekly Menu Planning for Singles, Couples, and Working People

When to Splurge on Organic

Why Eat Local?


KITCHEN EQUIPMENT
10 Essential Kitchen Items for the Healthy Cook

The Best Everyday Cookbooks

Cheap Healthy Good’s Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Equipment

Dessert Island Kitchen Gadgets

The Dos and Don’ts of Buying a Cookbook

Finding Quality Kitchen Equipment on the Cheap

Frugal Storage Solutions for the Small Kitchen

How to Care for Cast Iron Cookware

Kitchn Cure Week 1 - Pantry and Fridge


MISCELLANEOUS
A Confession and a Prayer to Remain Tailless

A Plan! A Wonderful Plan!

An Engagement, a Veg-friendly Wedding, and an Anniversary

Apple Hacks, or 43 Incredible, Mostly Inedible Uses for Extra Apples

CHG: New and Improved!

CHG Year 2: A Feedback Request

Embracing the Asthma-lete Within

If You Like CHG, You’ll Love These: 18 Stellar Food Blogs

Information Central: 32 Free Food Charts, Checklists, and Wallet-Sized Guides

Last-Minute Lunch

Lunch Buddies: Share Costs and Get Healthy Together

Mission Statement ... OF DELIGHT

My Wet Hot New Yorkian Summer (Staying Cool for Cheap During a City Summer)

Should You Read Cheap Healthy Good? Take This Quiz and Find Out.

What I Learned About Food in Italy


PARTIES, GET-TOGETHERS, & GIFT-GIVING
10 Steps to a Saner, Thriftier, Somewhat Healthier Thanksgiving

Cheap, Healthy, Good Entertaining - Hosting While Preserving Your Finances, Sanity, and Well-Being

Classy Parties on the Cheap: Baby Showers, Barbecues, and Beyond

DIY Holidays Part I: Food

DIY Holidays Part II: Crafts

Five Ways to Save on Wedding Food: A Guest’s View

Of Risk and Celebration

Picky, Picky: Frugal, Healthy Menu Ideas for a Fussy Crowd

Potluck Tips to Save You Time and Moolah,

Recession Chic, Party Planning, and Me

The Practical Guide to Christmas Gifts for Foodies


POP CULTURE
10 Modern Food Myths, Busted

11 Things Dwight K. Schrute Has Taught Me About Food and Frugality

19-Hour Food Network Running Diary: The Whole Thing and Various Conclusions

2008’s Food Quotes of the Year: Zing!

40 Greatest Songs About Food: Part I

40 Greatest Songs About Food: Part II

The Biggest Loser Season 8 Finale: Livebloggin’

Cutting Calories and Saving D'oh: 25 Lessons "The Simpsons" Taught Me About Cheap, Healthy Eating

Defending the Doyenne: The Semi-Cheap, Kind-of-Healthy Goodness of Rachael Ray

Film Fest ’09: Three Essential Documentaries About Food

Food, Money, Culture: Why Biggest Loser Might Be the Most Important Show on TV

Food Network, the Decline of Stand and Stir Programming, and Where to Go From Here

Foodie Mags: What to Buy and Where to Get ‘em

Free Cooking Lessons Part II: A Beginner’s Guide to TV Chefs

I Have Seen the Enemy, and She is FABULOUS: How to Read Women’s Magazines Without Feeling Awful About Yourself

This Movie Changed My Life (No, it’s Not Showgirls)

Vintage Cookbook Hoedown: The Quick Cook Book (1961) by Lois S. Kellogg

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