You can't afford to eat out every night or pick up takeout. That means cooking at home. With some good basic recipes, you'll not only save money, but will probably save calories and eat more nutritiously.

Beginners will find lots of help in "Betty Crocker Cooking Basics: Recipes and Tips to Cook With Confidence" (Wiley Publishing, $25.95).

Filled with more than 110 recipes and 525 color photos (many step-by-step and finished dishes), along with glossaries of cooking terms and ingredients, prep techniques, emergency substitutions and advice on food safety, selecting knives and equipment, the book is designed to be a teaching tool, fun and unintimidating.

More than half of the recipes are new, updated and more contemporary since the first edition was released eight years ago.

Several feature restaurant-style fare, such as Pad Thai, Salmon With Mango Salsa, Greek Salad, Fettuccine Alfredo, Asian Noodle Bowl, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Italian Chopped Salad and Baked Buffalo Wings. Also included is more basic fare, such as spaghetti, beef stew, pot roast and lasagna.

Ina Garten, Food Network show host and author, offers an edgier, more upscale take on basics in her "Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor From Simple Ingredients" (Clarkson Potter/Publishers, $35).

Basics for her are not plain roast chicken and mashed potatoes, though. She doesn't look for new ideas, just old ones, and finds the best ways to make delicious food with seasonal ingredients of the highest quality.

Most of Garten's 100 recipes, such as Bruschetta With Peppers & Gorgonzola, Warm Goat Cheese in Phyllo, Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies and Tri-Berry Oven Pancakes, are readily accessible and easy for novice or accomplished cooks to execute and use for everyday eating or to entertain friends and families.