Corn is on sale at Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods this week. It's not local but it does put you in the mood for summer. (And if you go to Lowes to buy the corn, pick up a dozen Eggland's Best Eggs for $1.79, use the 35 cent coupon and get a dozen eggs for $1.10, which is a very good price.)

I used to spurn corn custard until I ate it at a food writing conference at the Greenbrier many years ago. That corn custard was a revelation. When I'm in search of a vegetable recipe, I often pull down my copy of "Vegetable Love," by Barbara Kafka with Christopher Styler. This is a recipe that could make a nice entrée with a fresh green salad or a lovely side dish for pork tenderloin or steaks.  And it only costs 95 cents per person if you are serving four people an entree. Enjoy!

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I've been intrigued by this cooking technique since I heard about it on one of the radio cooking shows, likely The Splendid Table, but I'm not sure. You roast your meat on a rack above a baking dish. The juices drip down on the vegetables below, seasoning them for you. It sounds delicious and easy. This recipe for Easy Roasted Chicken Breasts with Root Vegetables calls for split chicken breasts, which are often on sale and this week cost 97 cents a pound at the Harris Teeter. This dish costs $2.37 per serving.

This recipe comes from the editors of Cook's Illustrated: "The Best One-Dish Suppers." I'm also giving away a copy of this cookbook. You know the drill, leave a comment below this post before noon Friday, May 13th. I'll chose a winner at random. Make sure the email associated with your N&O userid is valid or you could lose out.

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I've been craving this dish: Spicy Shrimp Kebabs. These shrimp with sugar snap peas or snow peas on a kebab stick are the perfect picnic food. Or you can serve it on a bed of mesclun greens for an easy warm weather dinner. I don't remember which Silver Palate cookbook this recipe came from since I got it from a friend after just such a picnic at the N.C. Museum of Art.

But Harris Teeter, which is doing Super Double coupons this week, has bags of frozen shrimp buy one, get one free. So that should make this a frugal feast! Enjoy.

Don't forget that there's a cookbook giveaway on the blog, go HERE for details and to enter.

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Three copies of "Weber's Time to Grill" came across my desk this week. Given that it's Easter on Sunday and ham is on sale at every store for about $1.50 a pound, it made sense to find a ham recipe inside the Weber cookbook. This recipe is for a Grilled Whole Ham with Pear Chutney. Now I have had folks rave to me about grilling ham, so I might have to give this a try on Sunday. It only costs 96 cents a serving. Enjoy!

Of course, I am offering blog readers a chance to win one of three copies of the cookbook. You know the drill, leave a comment at the bottom of this post before noon, Friday, April 29th. I'll choose winners at random. Good luck!

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Lowes Foods has fresh pork spareribs for a $1.99 a pound. I just got a copy of the "Better Homes & Gardens' Grill It: Secrets to delicious flame-kissed food." I don't know about you but this warm weather definitely has me thinking about grilling. This recipe for Memphis Dry Ribs offers instructions on how to cook them in the oven and then finish these on either a gas or charcoal grill. They only cost $1.77 per serving. Hopefully, you will be able to spend less because you have many of these spices, yellow mustard and vinegar already in your pantry.

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I made a Pot Roast last night so I thought I'd share the recipe today once I saw that Lowes Foods has all the ingredients on sale: Bottom Round Roast for $2.49 a pound, and then potatoes, onions and carrots on sale buy one get one free. (You do not have to buy both to get the sale price.) At those prices, it only costs $1.18 per serving.

For basic recipes, my go-to bible is the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook with the red-and-white quilt pattern on the cover. They came out with the 15th edition last year. I think it's an excellent gift for beginner cooks. I often turn to it for those recipes that I have never mastered but still need instruction. The 15th edition has a great feature with their Pot Roast Recipe: a make-it-mine grid, which allows you to choose the liquid, seasoning, herbs, potatoes and vegetables that you use. I'll try to reflect that in the recipe below. It's a great way to use what you have instead of investing in new ingredients. One note of caution on this recipe: the total cooking time called for is only 2 hours. I have never been able to cook a falling apart tender roast in less than four hours. So I just remove the vegetables when they are done and continue to cook the roast.

I've also decided to do a cookbook giveaway blowout. You have three cookbooks you could win:

• "Country Living The Little Book of Pies & Tarts."
• "Good Housekeeping's The Great Potluck Cookbook."
• "Eating Well on a Budget" by Jessie Price and the Eating Well Test Kitchen.
   
• You know the drill. Leave a comment below this post before noon Friday April 8. Good luck!

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Today's Frugal Feasts recipe is Chicken Salad for Company from a new book that came across my desk: "Beat This Cookbook: Absolutely Unbeatable Knock-'em-Dead Recipes for the Very Best Recipes," by Ann Hodgman.

I would use bone-in chicken breasts instead of boneless chicken breasts because they are often on sale and they taste better in chicken salad. They are on sale at Food Lion for $1.79 a pound. This recipe should cost about $1.80 per servings. This seems like a good recipe for a potluck or a summer picnic.

If you want to enter to win a copy of this cookbook, you must leave a comment at the bottom of this post before noon, Friday March 18th. Good luck!

Click READ MORE to see the recipe and cost breakdown.

I know some folks may scoff at this recipe with its box of instant butterscotch pudding. But Quick & Easy Monkey Bread is a recipe my husband grew up with so it is one of our occasional indulgences on a weekend morning.

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This book caught my attention; first, because I feel like I'm not using my slow cooker to its fullest advantage and second, because I inherently trust the folks at America's Test Kitchen who publish Cook's Country and Cooks Illustrated.

This recipe for homemade ramen intrigues me because I love ramen but am suspect of those flavor packets. That is saying something for someone like me who loves salt.

This recipe will cost more than usual because you are stocking your cupboards for cooking Asian cuisine. But if you are like me, you may only have to buy the ginger, ramen noodles and the napa cabbage. I would probably use the fresh chicken thigh quarters that are sale this week at Food Lion and Lowes Foods for 59 cents and 49 cents a pound at respectively. I'd remove the skin from the thighs. The broth may not be as clear but will probably taste better. It costs $1.50 per serving.

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