Food prices may be skyrocketing, but is that any reason to leave your taste buds in the lurch? "$3 Meals" is a new kind of low-cost-cooking book, comprising more than 250 simple recipes--none requiring more than twenty minutes of "hands-on" time--that cost less than a gallon of milk--and yet look "and" taste darn good . . . and are good for you, too. Ellen Brown begins with the premise that planning each week's meals should start with a survey of foods on hand, factoring in sales and seasonality. The cost-busting cook wastes nothing. Carrot peels and parsley stems are used to make stocks, for example. The dishes--from American favorites to popular ethnic foods such as Tex-Mex, Asian, and Italian--include Cheddar Potato-Topped Shepherd's Pie, Southwest Spinach Loaf, Chicken and Dumplings, and Seafood Gumbo. Who will miss "luxury foods" when these are on the menu? And say goodbye to expensive convenience foods like salad dressings and barbecue sauces with more chemicals than foods on the labels when it is revealed how easy--and inexpensive--it is to make these at home.