All About Good and Cheap
Good and Cheap is a cookbook for people with very tight budgets, particularly those on SNAP/Food Stamps benefits. The PDF is free (ahora en Español!) when you sign up for my newsletter and has been downloaded more than 15,000,000 times. It is also available in print, and for every copy sold we donate one to someone who can’t afford it.
Good and Cheap had an unusual journey into publishing. It started out as the thesis for my Masters degree in Food Studies at NYU. I made a digital version of the book, but didn’t have any kind of distribution or marketing plan. After some fruitless attempts at working with non-profits, I decided to simply offer it as free download on a simple website in early 2014.
A few weeks later someone posted it on Reddit and I was astonished by the interest! The book was downloaded so many times that first day that it broke my website. Suddenly my inbox was full of kind advice, stories, gratitude, and encouragement from strangers who wanted to get the book out there as much as I did!
With that encouragement and proof that there was an interested audience, I started a Kickstarter project to fund a print run to get Good and Cheap into the hands of those who couldn’t get it online. For the summer of 2014, I worked night and day, along with my now-husband Dan and many generous friends, to make the project a reality. The experience changed my life. We were trying to raise $10,000 but ended up with a whopping $144,681. This allowed us to print 40,000 copies of the book, giving away one for every copy sold to someone who couldn’t otherwise afford it. We made 25,000 available for just $4/copy to organizations who work with target populations. It was amazing! Also completely wild and exhausting and unsustainable. But luckily we got help.
Next I found a wonderful publishing home in Workman Publishing. I never thought the book could be a commercial success; that was why I did it as a master’s thesis. I was so happy to be wrong. Workman was supportive of the buy-one-give-one model from the beginning and have been even more insatiable than I was about getting it into the hands of non-profits at deep deep discounts. In 2015, I got to go on a massive book tour, meeting so many incredible people, sharing stories and generally basking in the glow of all the incredible work people are doing. In addition, Good and Cheap won the 2015 IACP Judge’s Choice Award, I made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Food and Drink, and Food & Wine and Fortune named me one of the Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink. Good grief!
Check Out Some of the Recipes!
Good and Cheap lessons at Rising Stars Academy
Today’s post comes from Julie Fromm, RD who taught a class using Good and Cheap at Rising Stars Academy. Rising Stars is a post-secondary school for young adults with special needs. In addition to math, reading and college and career readiness classes they focus on food. They grow food in their greenhouse and garden, and prepare it in their commercial kitchen. I taught a series of 4 lessons based on the USDA MyPlate and Good and Cheap. Here’s the basic lesson plan if anyone wants to try to replicate it! We started out discussing the MyPlate food groups and the...
Finally, Spanish! Bueno y Barato is here!
At long, last it’s happening: the Spanish version of Good and Cheap is out today — and as always, the PDF is free. Welcome to the world, Bueno y Barato! We’ve been waiting for you so long. [...]
Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
It's my youngest sister's (Hannah's) birthday today. Hannah has many wonderful qualities, but one of my favorites is that she is really fun to cook for. She basically likes everything, and is always extremely enthusiastic and goes back for seconds. She's the kind of person you want to make cookies for. So Hannah, these are for you! If you're not a big coconut fan you can definitely skip it and just leave these plain chocolate chip, they are fabulously chewy and nutty. (from Good and Cheap page 155)
Bueno y Barato is here!
Guess what?? We did it!! The long awaited Spanish edition of Good and Cheap, Bueno y Barato, is finally here and will be available in stores and online starting later this summer, officially August [...]
Broccoli and Cheddar Empanadas
Lightly cooked broccoli and gooey cheddar baked into crunchy, cornmeal pockets.
Kickstarter for Good and Cheap
Today I am launching a Kickstarter to fund a print run of Good and Cheap, my free PDF cookbook for people on Food Stamps. Please take a few moments to check it out and share it with your friends. Just over a month ago, April 29th, a lovely person posted a link to Good and Cheap on Reddit. Soon it was on Tumblr, Hacker News and many other places besides. It was downloaded so many times that it temporarily broke the site twice. I was so encouraged and touched by the supportive comments from strangers. It was tremendously heartening to...
Savory Summer Cobbler
Savory summer cobbler is a play on ratatouille with a big tray of roasted vegetables and savory southern style biscuit topping to soak up all the flavorful juices.
Filipino Chicken Adobo
Chicken Adobo is a classic Filipino dish of chicken and vegetables cooked in vinegar and soy sauce. Tangy, salty and rich, and it keeps for days in the fridge.
Cornmeal Crusted Vegetables
I've been making these a lot lately at different events around the city. They're a great party food so they're perfect when there's a crowd. They also surprise people. They're like vegetable chicken fingers! I suggest in Good and Cheap that you serve them with peanut sauce, but people have enjoyed them with sour cream and scallions, spiced yogurt and even salsa. And now that it's solidly asparagus season well, it's time to try crusting them! (from Good and Cheap p.62) Pictured are bell peppers and green beans.
A Good and Cheap Story from Carlos Olaechea
Today’s post comes from Carlos Olaechea, he’s working towards a Master’s degree in Boston University’s Gastronomy program. I was personally really touched by his story, and I think it points to a lot of issues with cooking and eating for little, that we don’t talk about enough. I hope you’ll read it, think about it, and consider sharing. If anyone has a story, personal or otherwise that you would like to share, please write to me at Leanne@leannebrown.com. I've never been on food stamps, but there were times when I was living on a very modest budget from my unemployment...
Fresh Pasta
This is my favorite fresh pasta recipe that uses whole eggs. Multiply this recipe by the number of people you are serving, maybe a bit less. The stated quantities are a useful ratio, but produce big portions.
Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Moist chocolate zucchini muffins with oats and yogurt, perfect for breakfast or dessert!
