Green & Healthy Cookbooks on the Cheap
April 24, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Eco Simplicity, food
We all want to plan healthy meals, but some of us (ahem, me) aren’t born cooking geniuses. Some of us need some recipe help.
That said, healthy cookbooks can cost a bundle, both for our budgets and the planet. Very few cookbooks are made with recycled content, so each new cookbook you buy wastes money and trees. However, you can make a cookbook of your very own with very little cash, and save some trees in the process.
MAKE YOUR HOMEMADE COOKBOOK:
First grab a basic three ring binder – I actually have a few; basic meals, baking, and desserts, holidays, & treats. Fill it with page protectors (this is your big cost factor here), and slip recipes into said page protectors. You can go cheaper and use no page protectors, but page protectors allow you to have your cookbook folder in the kitchen and protects the pages from splatters (did I mention I’m not kitchen friendly). Note: plastic page protectors are not so green, but one better choice are UniKeep page protectors made with 100% recyclable polypropylene.
ADDING RECIPES TO YOUR HOMEMADE COOKBOOK:
- Browse blogs and websites for good recipes and print them out using both sides of the paper.
- Head to the thrift store or a garage sale and buy up all the old magazines they offer related to food. These cost anywhere from 10 cent to $1.oo which is a huge saving over typical cookbooks. Tear out your fave recipes and recycled the rest of the magazine. You can also score free magazines sometimes if you get them from a friend or if you visit a doctor’s office or hair salon (ask nicely for their discards).
- Check out good cookbooks from the library and jot down your favorite recipes.
- Share. Most folks I know have at least one or two real cookbooks. If you hold a cookbook swap, you can snag your fave recipes from all of them.
BENEFITS:
- Super cheap.
- No nonsense – you only get the recipes you like.
- Healthy – um, don’t look for unhealthy stuff (no brainer).
- Green – less paper used.
How do you score cheaper and healthier recipes?
[image via stock.xchng]
