For those who are not familiar with e-books, you purchase the item and then download it onto your computer. You can view it on your computer or print it out. This e-book by Molly Green contains many different types of recipes by moms all over the United States. There are recipes for soup, casseroles, meats, and meatless meals. There is a bread section and a very large dessert section. One of my favorite parts was the menu section. Sometimes I can come up with the main part of the meal but forget about the side dishes. At the end of each recipe, there is a breakdown of the cost of the items. The dinners are near or below $5, and the desserts are at or below $3. Of course, food prices vary from state to state. The recipes have the author's name and state written on them.

I liked the fact that the recipes were from contributors all of the United States. Sometimes I wonder if families in the southern states have the same thing for dinner as those of us on the west coast. I had never made pudding from scratch, so it was fun to read the recipe for Vanilla Pudding and give it a whirl. The Basic Brownie Mix is yummy and very economical. Kris Price's Homemade Chicken Nuggets, Vegetables and Hash Browns was my favorite menu piece. It was under $5, and all of the ingredients and instructions fit on one page. The Handy Substitutes list was a nice addition. It had some substitutions that my 1950s basic cookbook didn't have, such as the substitute for cake flour.

I loved that the meals were reasonably priced. I can give my older daughter the e-book, and she can look for dinner recipes. The only thing I would add would be pictures. My younger daughter can read the e-book, but she is much more attracted to real pictures.

All in all, Molly Makes $5 Dinners and $3 Desserts Cheap & Delicious is an e-book that fits mom's budget, dad's taste buds, and the younger children's desire to cook just like mom in the kitchen.

Product review by Maggi Beardsley, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, October 2010