Book Giveaway: Dollars to Donuts by Dawn Welch

Check out the excerpt this week from Dollars to Donuts by Dawn Welch with Rachel Pelzel. Great recipes and great advice in this book!

Here’s another excerpt and tease from the book:

Strategize, Economize, Organize

I’m not a professionally trained chef—far from it! I learned on the job, and had fun doing it, and my attitude is that there’s absolutely no reason why cooking at home can’t be as much fun (or more) as eating out. It just takes a little bit of planning and forethought. The guidelines in Dollars to Donuts are rules I live by. I always use what I have, buy what’s on sale, cook and shop in bulk, and have go-to standbys in the freezer. I love experimenting with new flavors and ideas.

Over the years I’ve challenged myself to come up with a system for cooking and grocery shopping that feels more like a game than a chore. Use one or all of the strategies in Dollars to Donuts, and you’ll always be two steps ahead, whether you’re cooking for yourself, your family, or an army.

SHOP.

Start by shaking up your shopping routine, hitting different types of stores for different needs. Sometimes I’ll hit the warehouse store to stock up on roasts and big cuts of meat, or a giganto bag of rice. Other times I’m at my local momand- pop taking advantage of weekly specials or snapping up cheap, seasonal produce at the local farmstand. It’s a lot less boring than pushing my cart down the same old aisles week after week, and it guarantees that what ends up on my table is a lot more varied, too.

COOK.

Step 2 is to reevaluate your approach to cooking. When you open yourself up to new flavors, ingredients, techniques, and preparations, you’ll save money on grocery bills while still eating everything you want. I give in to my cravings, from a meaty slab of barbecued ribs to Pad Thai. I just do it with my menu plan in mind (see page 264 for a sample 2-week menu maker). So instead of denying myself a nice, thick strip steak, I’ll plan for it by cushioning the price of a steak dinner with other, less-expensive meals during the week.

ORGANIZE.

Step 3 is getting organized and staying organized. I have some simple solutions for that—they’re so easy that you’ll wonder why you never thought of them yourself. By putting your kitchen and supermarket to work for you, you can downsize your weekly food expenses without changing what you eat.

Here’s how to enter Buttoned Up’s Dollars to Donuts signed book giveaway:

This contest is open to US residents of at least 18 years. A valid email address is required to win and contest is void where prohibited.

• Leave a comment on this blog (be sure to include your email when you submit the comment, so we know how to reach you).
• Extra Entry – mention this giveaway in a post or tweet with a link back and leave a comment letting us know you’ve done so.
• Extra Entry – sign up for Buttoned Up’s e-newsletter.
• Please post a separate comment for each extra entry.
• Entry period closes at midnight PST, Sunday, January 10, 2010 and the 2 winners will be announced Monday, January 11, 2010.
**Note winners will be picked at random and announced in the newsletter on Monday January 11, 2010.