I can’t remember how long I’ve been a fan of the Taste of Home magazines, cookbooks and newsletters. Many of the recipes in my ‘must try this one’ folder are from one of their publications. If you’re not familiar with the Taste of Home magazines or newsletters, I highly recommend you check them out. They’re one of the best resources for recipes that are very budget friendly and not to mention always have mouth watering photos! So here to tell us more about the magazines and to share her favorite money saving tips and hints is Editor in Chief, Catherine Cassidy.
Budget Smart Girl (BSG)-My mom first introduced me to the Taste of Home magazines over a decade ago and I have to say I’ve been hooked since then. But for readers who have never seen or heard about you, would you like to tell us about the Taste of Home family, how it got started and your role as editor?
Catherine Cassidy (CC)-So many of our readers learned about us, as you did, from a friend or loved one. Taste of Home magazine was actually born out of the food section of another magazine, Country Woman, back in 1993. The editors at the time realized that the recipe section was the absolute favorite among CW’s readers, so they created Taste of Home…and the rest is history. Today, with 3.2 million readers, Taste of Home is far and away the largest food magazine in the world. And here’s why: Virtually all of our recipes come from our readers-regular home cooks who use affordable, family-friendly ingredients. Then we test every one of those recipes to make sure at will work when you try it at home. And while we have changed our look over time and now even accept advertising, we are still true to that mission. I am the editor of the Taste of Home brand, which is so much more than the magazine, and we’ll talk about that. My staff includes the magazine editorial group, the book editorial division, the Taste of Home test kitchen, our on-site photo studio and our cooking schools. I also work closely with our general manager of www.tasteofhome.com, our web site.
BSG-You publish so many cooking and food magazines, can you tell us a little about each of them and their content?
CC-Well, Taste of Home, the “mother ship,” has evolved a lot, but it’s still all about great family-favorite recipes, tips and stories from home cooks of all ages and abilities. In addition, we publish what I like to call “the sisters”: Healthy Cooking and Simple & Delicious. Healthy Cooking is for those looking to live a healthier lifestyle, so it’s filled with recipes that are lower in fat and calories and rich in good nutrients. There’s also lots of nutrition and fitness tips plus advice for addressing health concerns like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Simple & Delicious was created for the busy mom (and dad, too!)–someone who wants to put good meals on the table but just doesn’t have a bunch of time to spend in the grocery store and kitchen. So there are a lot of quick & easy dishes. I find some of my favorite recipes in this magazine. (You can find a link to subscribe to all three on our home page.)
BSG-You also publish cookbooks. Any budget related ones you’d like to tell us about?
CC-Yes! Actually, most of our cookbooks are budget-friendly, but there are a few new ones you might be interested in: Dinner on a Dime; The Busy Family Cookbook; Freezer Pleasers, Casseroles, Slow Cooker & Soups; and Simple & Delicious Cookbook all contain easy recipes for very affordable meals. Our big new book for 2010 is Taste of Home’s Comfort Food Diet Cookbook. It’s a six-week plan along with 430 recipes, lots of color photos, great healthy living tips AND access to additional web-based recipes and a lively community where you can “hear” from others on the plan and talk up your own successes. You’ll find all these wherever books are sold (including Amazon.com).
BSG-As well as the magazines and cookbooks, you have a Web site and also send out newsletters. How many newsletters do you have and maybe we can put a link to each one just in case readers what to sign up?
CC-Yes, we have 12 great newsletters-”Recipe of the Week,”" Cupcake of the Week,” “Slow Cooker Recipes” and “Light Dessert of the Week” are a few of the more popular ones. Here is a link to the sign-up page for all of them: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Sign-Up-For-Free-Newsletters
BSG-You’ve always promoted budget-friendly dinners. Are you finding more people are, first of all, cooking more home-cooked meals, and two, looking for ways to stretch their budget?
CC-Absolutely. The recession has really driven people back into the kitchen, which is a good thing! People are using coupons more than ever. And I think the demise of Gourmet magazine is one consequence, perhaps, of people looking for practical and affordable meal solutions. At Taste of Home, even in these tough times, we’ve had steady, even growing, magazine and cookbook sales and traffic to our web site as a result. People just seem to recognize that that’s what we’ve always been about.
BSG-You also have a section on your Web site with a message board. Would you like to tell my readers what they’ll find there?
CC-TasteofHome.com has a very robust community of more than 715,000 registered users who interact with one another in a variety of ways. They swap recipes, chat about topics of mutual interest and serve as a kind of on-demand help desk for cooking questions–which is an incredibly valuable resource for us as editors. But our community members really go beyond the digital world to become important parts of each other’s lives, sharing life’s ups and downs together. They hold cookbook swaps where members receive a cookbook from another member; they’ve even organized in-person luncheons and events to help the needy in their areas. They’re a tight-knit group of online friends that are almost like family.
BSG-And you run lots of contests? Can you share news about current and upcoming ones?
CC-Yes, there’s a contest featured in every issue of Taste of Home, Simple & Delicious and Healthy Cooking magazines, and new one announced each issue, too. Contests are our lifeblood-our readers love them! And it stands to reason that some of the best recipes we publish are our contest winners. For a complete list of all our current contests, go to www.tasteofhome.com/Contests/Recipe-Contests
BSG-Do you have any tips for saving money on food?
CC-Slow-cookers are good investments. You can make inexpensive cuts of meat taste wonderful! For example, beef round steak is used in Slow-Cooked Pepper Steak. When combined with pantry staples like onion, garlic and green peppers, this inexpensive cut is tender and flavorful. Or large cuts of meat go a long way such as Brisket for a Bunch when served on standard hamburger buns will be very cost effective.
*Shop for sales on meat items as they generally are the most expensive part of the food dollar. Plan your menus around these sales. Produce is another seasonal item that you should build menus around. Be familiar with seasonal produce to lay down the foundation for your meal planning. Think apples and root vegetables in the fall, citrus in the winter months, etc…
*When recipes call for fresh spinach (2 -6 oz. bags) or fresh greens, buy the economy size bag of spinach or heads of lettuce. These are a better value. They may require more work to clean but are generally less expensive.
*Convenience items are costly. Rice that takes 90 seconds in a micro-wave is $.79 more per serving than rice you buy in a bag or box and fix yourself.(i.e. Uncle Ben’s 90 second rice in the microwave is $1.99/ 2 cups and Riceland Rice in the box is about 21cents per cup) However (I’ll try not to talk out of both sides of my mouth but) convenience items like canned soups can be a pretty good investment. Shop the sale, for example-10 cans of store brand tomato soup for 10.00 is a good deal. You can do a lot of things with tomato soup, from casseroles, to soup starters, slow-cookers, sauces, etc… Be aware though that you don’t need to buy 10 to still get the valuable price. Buy what you know you’ll use.
BSG-Any foods that you think are especially good buys?
CC-Inexpensive cuts of meat (cooked appropriately like with many of our recipes), any back-to-basics type item from canned tomatoes to dried beans, private label or store brand cereals, etc…in other words–you can eat like a king with just a little TLC or elbow grease in the kitchen. The more time you give to preparation from basic ingredients, it’s cheaper and probably “healthier”.
*Larger packages of meat (on sale) like ground beef or stew meat can be re-packaged for recipes. So a 3 lb. package of ground beef could be broken down into 3-1lb. packages. Buy on sale.
*Buy cheese in block form and grate your own instead of buying the pre-shredded packaged. Freshness will be better also. Store brand block of cheese are good buys or look for sales. Remember that you can freeze cheese!
Eggs are a good deal. There are so many wonderful recipes that use this “high quality” protein in meals. Recipes like: Cheese Sausage Strata.
Frozen vegetables are a great buy if you purchase plain and simple. Not sauced, in steam bags or other. Make your own sauce or put a good amount in a pot-pie with less chicken or beef. They are also harvested at their peak quality so they are good nutritionally.
A good recipe is: Chicken Potpie
Additional tips on food and money:
*Try not to shop with kids, they have strong and sometimes influencing opinions that will cost you more!
*If you shop with coupons, look for double coupon days and don’t fall victim to new product coupons. Manufacturers want you to try their new and improved product but it may cost more (even with a coupon) than the old stand buy product. Buyer beware!
*Beware of grocery store items on display. They may not be as good of a deal as you’re lead to believe. The store may have a huge quantity of that item. Make sure and check prices against similar brands.
*Check unit prices. Sometimes the larger packages are not the best buy.
*Try more meatless meals or vow to do one meatless meal a week.
*Make your own bread crumbs out of stale bread. If you can’t get to it, just throw all the ends in a bag in the freezer. I know you’re saying “bread crumbs are not that expensive” but making your own out of bread ends you would throw out is cost effective. And you don’t get all the added salt. So if you want lower sodium and better quality, make your own.
*Make your own stocks with beef, chicken or turkey bones. Again this is a huge cost savings and won’t need to add all the salt those canned varieties have. Freeze them in 1 and 2 cup portions for use in your favorite recipes.
