Spend with Pennies Everyday Comfort: Family Dinner Recipes from Fresh to Cozy

by Holly Nilsson

Bring easy, home-cooked comfort to your table every night of the week with over 120 "recipes for real life" from the creator of the beloved food blog Spend with Pennies.

For over a decade, Holly Nilsson’s website Spend with Pennies has been a go-to source for tried-and-true family recipes. In her debut cookbook, Holly shares deliciously comforting dinner recipes from fresh to cozy—as well as a few favorite desserts to end the meal on a sweet note.

Whether you’re looking for a quick weeknight meal, trying to figure out how to use that pound of ground beef in the freezer, or seeking a dish worthy of a dinner party, Everyday Comfort is here for you. These are recipes made for real life, designed to meet you where you are in the kitchen. With chapters like Weeknight Quick Fixes, Slow Down Sunday Suppers, and When All You Have Is Chicken, you'll never be left wondering what's for dinner.

Spend with Pennies fans will find 25 favorite recipes from the blog, such as Baked Chicken Spaghetti and The Best Ever Meatloaf, presented alongside over 90 brand-new recipes to put into the weekly rotation. From new twists on classic dishes to skillet suppers, sheet pan dinners, and cozy casseroles, there’s something for everyone. Holly’s warm, encouraging tone makes cooking dinner feel not just achievable but enjoyable, and her clear, simple instructions and accessible ingredient lists make shopping and prep a breeze.

Not up for making that from-scratch sauce or spending hours in the kitchen? That’s okay. The recipes are adaptable and forgiving, with handy tips for substitutions, storage, and make-ahead options. Above all, these are recipes you can turn to when you're uninspired and getting dinner on the table feels like a chore. Reclaim dinnertime and celebrate the love and comfort of a family meal.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Reference

583 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2024

Reviews

[CarolG · Rating 5 out of 5]

I subscribe to Holly Nilsson's Spend With Pennies newsletter and have made many of her recipes so I was interested when she published a cookbook. I borrowed it from the library before I decided whether to buy a copy and I was very impressed. The pictures are gorgeous and I found quite a few recipes I want to try. The ingredients are either on hand or easy to find and she gives tips, substitutes and shortcuts which are handy. My only complaint would be that the hardcover copy is very heavy so I think I'll keep an eye out for a soft cover or spiral bound copy. Maybe it'll be out in time for Christmas!

[Miss✧Pickypants ᓚᘏᗢ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone searching for a recipe online has likely come across the author's helpful website Spend with Pennies. The helpfulness continues with this fantastic debut cookbook full of approachable, easy-to-follow recipes that are perfect for less experienced cooks and anyone seeking wholesome foods that can be made after a busy day.

All recipes are accompanied by gorgeous full-page photos and tips, each tip-type represented by its own little icon. My favourite was the Hey! It's Okay to... one that gives permission to use shortcuts, like swapping out the homemade for store-bought frozen, canned or pre-made items. While we all want to made the sauce, salsa or roast chicken from scratch, it was great seeing this note to know swap-outs were okay and would work in the dish.

While many recipes might seem familiar, there are clever little twists in many, like the Avocado Tuna Bowl with Sriracha Mayo. For this canned tuna dish You may be thinking that the tuna is mixed with the sriractcha mayo, but no! Instead a mixture of soy sauce, rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil is spooned over the tuna, which is a genius move that I never would have thought of. The mayo is used to drizzle over the composed bowl before serving. Yum!

[Debby · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my best newest cookbooks

I’ve been following Holly’s blog for years. I’ve made several of her recipes with great results. I anxiously awaited this debut cookbook and I’m really happy with it. I lost count of how many recipes I want to make. The photos are beautifully done for each recipe. Her recipes offer great “swap outs” giving substitution options. Her recipes are doable without difficult ingredients to find. I can’t wait to get started.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have tried quite a few of her recipes from the blog and this cookbook looks great! It passed my tests: beautiful photos, no weird ingredients you have to live near a major city to access, and at least 5 recipes I wanted to make immediately after reading.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holly Nilsson started her blog, Spend with Pennies, as a way to share her love of cooking with the world. Good, homemade food doesn't have to involve tons of ingredients or rare spices to be good. In this cookbook, Everyday Comfort she shares budget conscious meals that will satisfy your family. There were LOTS of recipes I'd like to try and this is one I might consider buying because there were just SO MANY recipes that looked simple, yet really good. The recipes are divided into several categories like weeknight meals, pasta, sheet pan dinners, etc. and I really liked that she had a separate chapter for recipes with ground beef, and one for chicken. Overall, I was really impressed with this cookbook. This is one I would definitely recommend.

[Penny Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a winner! I've made 3 recipes so far, and they've all been successful and tasty and the fam loved them. I've been following Spend with Pennies for years on FB, and this was an excellent purchase!

Secret Sauce Orange Ginger Beef satisfied my craving for takeout Chinese.

Kailey's Roasted Balsamic Cherry Tomato Pasta was a delicious way to use up our late season bounty, and was so easy and his that I made it twice!

Melty French Onion Meatballs were divine. I love that Nilsson gives shortcuts - I used frozen meatballs and didn't feel guilty.

This was a great way to break out of my usual cooking rut. I've got my eye on a few more to try, including pierogi, goulash, and ham & cheese bread pudding. Yum!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I would give this cookbook 10 stars if I could! I read a lot of cookbooks, and this one just blew me away. I ordered it off Amazon before I was even finished. 10/10. Love!

[Debra Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cookbook yet I have read every single page. Looked at every yummy looking picture. Cover to cover, twice. Who reads a cookbook??

I started marking pages with little sticky notes for the recipes I want to try. I had to stop when I realized I was marking every single page.

The recipes are easy with ingredients we all have on hand. No crazy ingredients. The author even put a few substitutions for ingredients we might not like or conversion of fresh herbs to dried.

Each recipe has a picture to give you an idea what the food should look like. Do not read this book on an empty stomach or it will talk to you.

I plan on making every recipe in this glorious book!!

[Linda Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's definitely a favorite!

Spend With Pennies is one of my very favorite newsletter/websites. I do need to make substitutions due to needing gluten and dairy free, but these recipes really give me great ideas to start with. I have been cooking and baking for most of my 84 years, and now I'm having to start all over because fast food and eating out or ordering in, ready made dinners are no longer an option.

[Bailey Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve made so many recipes from this book and they’re basically fail-proof!

It’s my go-to, I actually purchased a cookbook stand and keep it next to my air fryer haha!

I’m planning to start meal prepping and I’m going to use the cookbook for recipes to do it with.

Recommended!

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice cookbook with doable recipes for the home cook. Every recipe is pictured, which is a must for me in a cookbook. I flagged a little more than a dozen recipes to try. The cookbook is nice, but her website/blog is even better.

[Samantha Neumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cookbook has been the best purchase yet! We’ve been cooking from it every night and every. single. recipe. has been delicious!!

[Catie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am totally trying the chicken, mushroom and rice soup! Everything looks amazing, so I will be checking out the blog after I return this to the library.

[Gail Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! Delicious and easy to make dishes with simple everyday ingredients. Really appreciate the fact that these recipes allow for ingredients that most people will have on hand.

[Danielle Mccoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are lots of good recipes I'd like to try.

[Margaret Gerberding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy and delicious recipes for home cooks!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I would like it more but it was still a solid cookbook with great photos and handy recipes.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic (and I don't mean that as a negative) recipes that would be wonderful for new cooks. Clear instructions and photographs for each recipe also lend itself well to beginners.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

really loved the photos. A different kind of layout than I've seen before, and I appreciated the pictures so much! The recipes were to my liking. I am anxious to make some of the recipes and I like how approachable they are.