140 Recipes & Tips to Elevate Simple - Fresh Meals Any Night of the Week

Really great cookbook. I have tried several recipes & my family have loved every one of them. Directions are easy to follow and there are lots of very helpful tips. Yummy food without breaking the bank!

I really enjoy getting my weekly recipes from this book. It has great meals and great ideas to help me stay within my budget.

I recommend it to all moms trying to serve good food and stay on budget!!

I have tried several of the recipes. They are fast, inexpensie and delicious. I also love her TV show. The book also provides charming pictures of Melissa and her family enjoying food created from her recipes.

Slowly working my way through the cookbook. Got it for my birthday in November- loved it so much, I gave it to my sister in law for Christmas. Giving lots of new ideas to that frustrating question "Mom what's for dinner?".

I just received tis book yesterday and have sat down and read through it. Great tips on saving money at the grocery store, while still making amazing food. I have made quite a few of her recipes and have always been pleased with the results. I was especially excited to see her recipe for Salmon Cakes! I had made those quite a while ago and forgotten about them. They were really great and I will be making them again soon! BUY THE BOOK - you won't be disappointed. The tips alone will pay for the cost of the book!

I have watched Melissa on TV and was really excited to get this book, but it had allot of ingredients for being under $10. It seemed like if you had to buy all of those ingredients it would cost more than $10. I think they were thinking you had some of the items already in your pantry. I was a bit disappointed and had returned the book. I was looking for something more on a budget.

Love this book!!! Wonderful Recipes, Great tips!!! This is a no-nonsense book which is packed with wonderful, elegant recipes that are simple to make. The expression "Good Taste doesn't cost anymore" certainly applies to Melissa's approach to cooking. A must have for the beginner, intermediate and gourmet cooks everywhere!!! Wonderful photography as well. What a bargain!!!

I absolutely love Ten Dollar Dinners and Melissa. She has taught me soo much. I love her concept, outstanding food recipes and menus at an inexpensive cost. (I dont like to use the word "cheap" only when referring to shoddy quality.) She came from humble backgrounds, like mine, and yet she has done all the homework for us of researching just how to feed a family of four, realistically with real size portions, make it with great flavor, nurishing, cost effective, and easy to do. its all here!

One thing I was hoping for was a little more help than she offers from the show in the book. For instance, she always tells of the bargain of buying dry beans, then cooking and freezing them when needed. I was hoping for instructions of how to do just that. Or how she frequently says on her show how you can use the tops of green onions by growing them again (somehow), I was hoping for that in the book as well.

I was glad to see more versatility with recipes than on the show here in this book. For example, the Shortbread recipe on the show is with rosemary and chocolate chips (it's lovely, BTW) and in the book she explains how to make it what you want by adding what you have and makes suggestions. There are many more recipes like that, how to make it with how you like it and what you have. (green smoothie and more)

with that said, do try some of our faves from her show in the book:

Cafe Salad withg Dijon Vinaigrette (this dressing makes it)
Thyme and Lemon Fish en Papillote (super easy, great for company, super healthy too)
Four Step Chicken Piccata (I learned how to make a simple sauce to tie it all together with that one)
Mustard Chicken (a must try for everyone, tarragon makes it -dont skip it, it really does)
Quick Sour Cream Biscuits (They puff when you cook 'em, easy and great!)
Buttery Shortbread (lovely and not a huge batch, just right)
and many others. (I wasnt kidding I'm a fan)

There are recipes I'm dying to try:
Crispy Chicken a l'Orange
Easy Coq au Vin
Herb-Roasted Chicken with Potatoes (this is the one she mentioned it took a while to get it just right)
Provencal Tomatoes
Roasted Radishes and Carrots
Classic Apple Tart (on the show, she said it only takes like 20 mins to do, and thats with homemade crust!)
Much, much more

Beautiful pictures and feel to the pages make this book a super good value. I will be buying another for an upcoming bridal shower.

Keep them coming Melissa. You really have made a difference in my home cooking.

I absolutely love Ten Dollar Dinners and Melissa. She has taught me soo much. I love her concept, outstanding food recipes and menus at an inexpensive cost. (I dont like to use the word "cheap" only when referring to shoddy quality.) She came from humble backgrounds, like mine, and yet she has done all the homework for us of researching just how to feed a family of four, realistically with real size portions, make it with great flavor, nurishing, cost effective, and easy to do. its all here!

One thing I was hoping for was a little more help than she offers from the show in the book. For instance, she always tells of the bargain of buying dry beans, then cooking and freezing them when needed. I was hoping for instructions of how to do just that. Or how she frequently says on her show how you can use the tops of green onions by growing them again (somehow), I was hoping for that in the book as well.

I was glad to see more versatility with recipes than on the show here in this book. For example, the Shortbread recipe on the show is with rosemary and chocolate chips (it's lovely, BTW) and in the book she explains how to make it what you want by adding what you have and makes suggestions. There are many more recipes like that, how to make it with how you like it and what you have. (green smoothie and more)

with that said, do try some of our faves from her show in the book:

Cafe Salad withg Dijon Vinaigrette (this dressing makes it)
Thyme and Lemon Fish en Papillote (super easy, great for company, super healthy too)
Four Step Chicken Piccata (I learned how to make a simple sauce to tie it all together with that one)
Mustard Chicken (a must try for everyone, tarragon makes it -dont skip it, it really does)
Quick Sour Cream Biscuits (They puff when you cook 'em, easy and great!)
Buttery Shortbread (lovely and not a huge batch, just right)
and many others. (I wasnt kidding I'm a fan)

There are recipes I'm dying to try:
Crispy Chicken a l'Orange
Easy Coq au Vin
Herb-Roasted Chicken with Potatoes (this is the one she mentioned it took a while to get it just right)
Provencal Tomatoes
Roasted Radishes and Carrots
Classic Apple Tart (on the show, she said it only takes like 20 mins to do, and thats with homemade crust!)
Much, much more

Beautiful pictures and feel to the pages make this book a super good value. I will be buying another for an upcoming bridal shower.

Keep them coming Melissa. You really have made a difference in my home cooking.

I love this book. Easy things that you already have on hand. I had the softcover but bought it in the kindle edition because I read cookbooks like some people read trashy romance novels so I like having it on kindle. I love when they give the story behind the recipe too

I was disappointed that there were no nutritional facts on any of the recipes, with all of the health awareness these days I would have thought that they would have been included. As for myself I must have this information. Also there are no recipes for turkey in the book either. For those of you that these issues are not a problem ... then I would give it 5 stars.

There are several good basic recipes in here, but nothing that isn't already published for free in about a million other places online. The majority of the recipes are for spicy or non-US style recipes, and if you have a picky eater in the house, you're wasting your money.