be easy on the pocketbook. Learn how to forgo expensive processed foods and enjoy flavorful meals based on delicious, high quality basic ingredients. Author Ellen Jaffe Jones has scoured the shelves of popular supermarkets and big-box stores and calculated exactly how much it costs to eat healthfully and deliciously.

One week's worth of menus shows how these recipes

can be combined to get a per-serving cost of $4 a day, less than

an average meal at a fast food outlet. Readers find out how to

adapt their favorite recipes, cook with beans and grains, and use bulk buying to get big savings.