Can we take a minute and appreciate all the hard work Mindy puts into these videos every week?! I'm forever grateful for her and her budget meals. Thank you, everyone for your prayers and kind words on the last video.
My husband and I work 36 on 36 off and we are both EMTs. We run a farm and have 3 kids at home, 2 are toddlers so I'd say we qualify as busy 🤣 your meal ideas have helped so much, thank you!
We LOVE leftovers. We cook sometimes to ensure we have leftovers. We cook many different proteins and freeze in meal size packages. This can be cooked chicken, Chuck roast, shredded pork, Italian meatballs, stuffed peppers and more.
Zero sarcasm: nothing says I love you more than being allowed to have homemade Chex Mix for dinner! Seriously. My kind of meal!! 10 out of 10. Best wishes for a smooth rest of December.
Love love leftovers, I’m a widow now and your video brought back memories of our house where leftovers always got eaten up! I was so blessed he never turned down leftovers and they may have looked like you dinner and I miss that, not much into cooking so not many left overs😢 Loved the ideas
The same people who say "ew leftovers" have no problem meal prepping food in advance, fully cooking it, and storing it in the fridge for reheating later. Sounds about the same to me 😂
Love these videos! Thank you for doing them! Today, I threw chicken breasts in the crockpot, threw salsa on top, and called it done - LOL. I'll make some rice and a quick side tonight.
My favorite meals are usually the ones that clean out the fridge. We call it tapas and pretend we’re fancy. Our local Meijer had their 45 ounce jarred pasta sauce on clearance for $1.50 and it wasn’t short coded. I picked up two and immediately thought “tomato soup” and grilled cheese.
These type of videos are my favorite! We are a busy family as well (not as busy as you all tho) and this pregnancy is sapping out all my energy! These meals are very simple and doable in my book. Thank you so much!
We just got back from our adoption trip, and this couldn't have come at a better time. Our fridge was pretty cleaned out before we left, but I'm not motivated to go to the store for a big shop. This was great to motivate me to use things we have in our pantry and freezer. Thanks for all the practical ideas!
Made it tonight and it was delicious! Added a cup of v-8 that I had leftover and a tbs of butter since I was using a lactose free half n half. Everyone loved it! Will definitely make again.Thank you for sharing this with your subs! Have a great week!
Mindy, every time I'm overwhelmed with life and especially feeding my family, I always come to your channel and I always leave with inspiration. I really appreciate you and your realness.
Great idea on the Knorr taco rice! I have a packet in the pantry that I wasn't sure what to do with, and now I know! I love these super simple realistic meals! Please keep making these videos!!
I have not used it intentionally because I just didn't want to handle one more communication app, but with my husband traveling for work now, he finally got me to use it!
thank you Mindy for all the hard work you do for us. You gave me a couple short cuts I hadn't thought of. I want to say I like your hair. It's getting long. thank you again. It's nice to see what your feeding your family.
Mindy, I know you're only a year older than I am, so I have to ask if that "back to life, back to reality" was a purposeful or just accidental reference to that song by Soul II Soul? Because it awakened something in my memory, and I immediately started singing. 😀
Yes! You caught that? LOL. I'll be honest, that's the only lyric I remembered off the top of my head. But I always sing that in my head when I say those words. ha!
We love leftovers. My hubby and I grew up on leftovers, and our kids grew up on leftovers. When u live on a budget leftovers are ur friend. When our kids were young we definitely were on a budget.
Your meals look similar to mine (even though they are different). =) I hate food waste and there's days it is a fend for yourself and figure out what leftover you want to eat OR let me throw a bunch of stuff together and it's a decent meal, but uses up the extras. It's such a realistic, down to earth approach to feeding a household daily. I appreciate you!
I love leftovers😋. If you don't know how to revive and spruce up leftovers, then yea, it's probably not good. But I can make a leftover taste just as yummy, and for saucy things, even yummier.
My mind is blown. I’m not a huge tomato soup person because the flavor profile is always kind off to me but the idea of using pasta sauce and cream!!? 🤯 thanks Mindy!!!
Mindy you are amazing. And fyi i LOVE leftovers! It's just me and I was always a tomboy and not very domesticated. I loved my super cute house and loved decorating, updating and antiquing but I never really loved cooking. An hour to cook, 5 minutes to eat and 15 minutes to clean up. No way. I love baking sometimes and grilling but I don't even grill anymore. But I do love leftovers!
I love being in my kitchen, but I'm with you on the time, especially when things get consumed quickly. I try to make sure for big meals, like Thanksgiving, that we take our time and enjoy them.
Please do a video like: Extreme Grocery Budget Haul for people with IBS. I cannot eat beans or hot and spicy food because of this condition. I used to be homeless. I just got my own apartment. This is what I have: Refrigerator, Microwave, Hot Pot for tea, Portable stove top, one frying pan, one pot and some dishes and bowls. Some food storage containers. Forks and knives and spoons and a spatula.
Yes, that's what I'm hearing! I didn't realize they had a new one. I'll be honest, I haven't been to TB a lot in recent years. For fast food tacos, we mostly go to Bueno.
Just came to say, there is a light at the end of that tunnel. We lived that busy life for so many years, baseball, travel baseball, husband coached, sometimes our kids sometimes other peoples kids, I was ridiculously over involved in the PTA oh and choir. I'm still tired but catching up (youngest is 24), LOL.
@@SeeMindyMom I wish I would have understood more about meal prep and batch cooking and using a crockpot in those days. Sure would have helped. Keep sharing we love it.
I'm with you. I can't do the jar alfredo. I would have to add lots of stuff to it anyway, so I just make it, or a bechamel and add cheese to it. That's just me, though, I know people who love the jar alfredo. I will say, I have tried a few "fresh" alfredo sauces (like refrigerated, next to the refrigerated pastas) that I think are okay.
So I need to know if you don’t mind sharing do you have family thanksgivings to attend or do you not live close to them? I ask because we have at least 5 that we attend between both sides of the family and it just isn’t feasible anymore? Thoughts suggestions?
We have family nearby. We just decided to start doing some things at our own home while our kids are still with us. Sometimes we invite family to join us, sometimes we keep it just the 5 of us. We decided a while back we aren't doing multiple holiday celebrations (multiple thanksgivings, multiple Christmas celebrations, etc.). That's just us, and what my husband and I decided for our family. :)
@ we have 3 kids as well, some family is close his side is in southern Indiana, for this year we are doing all of them for one holiday and staying home for Christmas, I guess we’re still trying to figure it out
For those super busy weeks and everyone on a different schedule I like to cook up a big batch of Chili with ground turkey, pumpkin or butternut squash that I have canned, onions, carrots , garlic and lots of beans and home canned tomato sauce and chili sauce. It's easy to heat up on the stove and top with some shredded cheese, avocado and a scoop of Whole plain Greek yogurt. Corn bread for mopping up the chili. My second go to is homemade Bone broth with carrots, celery, onions, fresh garlic, lentils and lots of spices. I like to serve it with some almond flour crackers from Aldi's and top the crackers with roasted red pepper hummus. My third meal is a loaded crustless quiche, Eggs, half and half, spinach, broccoli, red peppers, shredded cheese, chopped kale, sausage or ham and bake.
I bet the kiddos LOVE having you lead their choir activities! How was the butter chicken sauce?? 🐔🐔 I am a tortilla hoarder, apparently, and need to use up like a year's supply,. so thanks for the crunch wrap/chimichanga inspo! ❤
I meant to add that the butter chicken worked out fantastic! I will definitely pick up a few more packets of that sauce to make that again. It was so easy!
Okay....question...for either just Mindy or everyone else. Do you find that cooking bacon in the oven is crispier using parchment or foil? I have never done it on foil before ... always parchment. But seeing her pull a pan of bacon out of the oven on foil has me wondering....thanks!
Listen, they eat plenty of crackers and ramen noodles and cereal, too. I'm sure you're doing just fine! Our kids tolerate some veggies, and we encourage them to eat the ones they tolerate!
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Can we take a minute and appreciate all the hard work Mindy puts into these videos every week?! I'm forever grateful for her and her budget meals. Thank you, everyone for your prayers and kind words on the last video.
I hope you're doing well! I've been thinking about and praying for you. Thank you for the kind words and encouragement.
@@SeeMindyMom thank you, I'm doing okay. We find out this Wednesday when my hubbys surgery is. You're welcome.
She is amazing and I feel like part of her family. Thanks Mindy
She’s the best! 😊
My husband and I work 36 on 36 off and we are both EMTs. We run a farm and have 3 kids at home, 2 are toddlers so I'd say we qualify as busy 🤣 your meal ideas have helped so much, thank you!
Oh my goodness, for sure! Your busy is way more than mine, you have your hands full! Thanks for your important work, you are appreciated! :)
We LOVE leftovers. We cook sometimes to ensure we have leftovers. We cook many different proteins and freeze in meal size packages. This can be cooked chicken, Chuck roast, shredded pork, Italian meatballs, stuffed peppers and more.
When you think about it 'leftovers' are the ultimate 'meal prep'.
I agree. I actually think some things are better re-heated (like soups).
Zero sarcasm: nothing says I love you more than being allowed to have homemade Chex Mix for dinner! Seriously. My kind of meal!! 10 out of 10. Best wishes for a smooth rest of December.
That was a good batch, too. I use extra butter and worcestershire!
Love love leftovers, I’m a widow now and your video brought back memories of our house where leftovers always got eaten up! I was so blessed he never turned down leftovers and they may have looked like you dinner and I miss that, not much into cooking so not many left overs😢 Loved the ideas
The same people who say "ew leftovers" have no problem meal prepping food in advance, fully cooking it, and storing it in the fridge for reheating later. Sounds about the same to me 😂
Love these videos! Thank you for doing them! Today, I threw chicken breasts in the crockpot, threw salsa on top, and called it done - LOL. I'll make some rice and a quick side tonight.
I love salsa chicken! So many things you can do with it: nachos, tacos, rice bowls, burritos, salads...it's a go-to!
My favorite meals are usually the ones that clean out the fridge. We call it tapas and pretend we’re fancy. Our local Meijer had their 45 ounce jarred pasta sauce on clearance for $1.50 and it wasn’t short coded. I picked up two and immediately thought “tomato soup” and grilled cheese.
Haha! I love that, i'll have to call it tapas from now on. or "heavy hors d'oeuvres" LOL!
Insert the song 🎵 Back to life, back to reality 😂
Yep! I was wondering if anybody would catch that. :)
These type of videos are my favorite! We are a busy family as well (not as busy as you all tho) and this pregnancy is sapping out all my energy! These meals are very simple and doable in my book. Thank you so much!
The quick tomato soup sounds fabulous. What a great idea! Thank you for the video!
That's one of our faves! I seriously can't make it "from scratch" better than that 2-ingredient version tastes. I've tried. LOL
I raised 4 children and I feel this!!!
We just got back from our adoption trip, and this couldn't have come at a better time. Our fridge was pretty cleaned out before we left, but I'm not motivated to go to the store for a big shop. This was great to motivate me to use things we have in our pantry and freezer. Thanks for all the practical ideas!
I am so delighted you are adopting. Thank you for the important commitment you and your family are making!
Woo hoo! Have an almost full jar of pasta sauce in my fridge I need to use AND I have half n half to use up……here comes tomato soup! Fabulous!
That's a good combo! It's one of my favorite soups.
Made it tonight and it was delicious! Added a cup of v-8 that I had leftover and a tbs of butter since I was using a lactose free half n half. Everyone loved it! Will definitely make again.Thank you for sharing this with your subs! Have a great week!
LOVE these realistic meal plans! ❤
I'm so glad you found them helpful!
Mindy, every time I'm overwhelmed with life and especially feeding my family, I always come to your channel and I always leave with inspiration. I really appreciate you and your realness.
Love it. This is real life and it is so healthy to see.
I"m glad. That's my goal. Try to show "real life".
Love your channel. Have a wonderful Christmas !
Thank you and likewise!
Yes thank you Mindy for all your hard work, I appreciate it.
You're welcome! I'm happy it's helpful!
Thank you for all hard work you do ❤❤
My pleasure!
Great idea on the Knorr taco rice! I have a packet in the pantry that I wasn't sure what to do with, and now I know! I love these super simple realistic meals! Please keep making these videos!!
Honestly, I think that ground beef and rice stands on it's own, too. You could make a meal just out of those 2 things!
I love marco polo
I have not used it intentionally because I just didn't want to handle one more communication app, but with my husband traveling for work now, he finally got me to use it!
thank you Mindy for all the hard work you do for us. You gave me a couple short cuts I hadn't thought of. I want to say I like your hair. It's getting long. thank you again. It's nice to see what your feeding your family.
Love that purple color on you! Your hair is so beautiful too! ❤
Thank you! I've been trying to grow it out. :)
We love your tomato soup recipe. We add a bit of pesto and it is amazing!
Oh, that's a great idea. I'll have to try that. My oldest daughter is a pesto fan. :)
Mindy, I know you're only a year older than I am, so I have to ask if that "back to life, back to reality" was a purposeful or just accidental reference to that song by Soul II Soul? Because it awakened something in my memory, and I immediately started singing. 😀
Same. Started bobbing my head while the song played out in my brain. 😊
Me too
Yes! You caught that? LOL. I'll be honest, that's the only lyric I remembered off the top of my head. But I always sing that in my head when I say those words. ha!
Love your content and look forward to your videos each week!
You are so kind! Thank you!
Lunch is fresh bread roll with leftover from tea last night and bit of salad
I love making leftovers work for a quick meal!
I wanted to let you know that I watch and enjoy all of your videos and I am not even a mom. Still great relatable content.
Oh, wow, thank you! I really appreciate that, and I'm glad it's helpful!
Using pasta sauce and heavy cream fr tomato soup is a good idea!
It's so good! I can't make tomato soup from scratch any better.
I’m excited to try that tomato soup recipe!!!😊
We love leftovers. My hubby and I grew up on leftovers, and our kids grew up on leftovers. When u live on a budget leftovers are ur friend. When our kids were young we definitely were on a budget.
I totally agree!
I have your Cajun chicken chowder going in the crockpot tonite for dinner. Thanks for all your ideas!
You are so welcome! Hope you enjoy it.
sounds yummy - what video does she share the recipe for Cajun chicken chowder in - thnx
@@ej3016 it’s in the video where she preps 2 of each meal in the crockpot a few weeks ago
Love your content Mindy. Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you too! Thank you!
Wow,thanks
My pleasure! Thanks for watching.
Mondays look good on you!
Your meals look similar to mine (even though they are different). =) I hate food waste and there's days it is a fend for yourself and figure out what leftover you want to eat OR let me throw a bunch of stuff together and it's a decent meal, but uses up the extras. It's such a realistic, down to earth approach to feeding a household daily. I appreciate you!
Awesome, thanks
You are so welcome! Glad you liked it!
I love leftovers😋. If you don't know how to revive and spruce up leftovers, then yea, it's probably not good. But I can make a leftover taste just as yummy, and for saucy things, even yummier.
I'm with you! Sometimes it's just about presenting it in a new way. :)
My mind is blown. I’m not a huge tomato soup person because the flavor profile is always kind off to me but the idea of using pasta sauce and cream!!? 🤯 thanks Mindy!!!
Mindy you are amazing. And fyi i LOVE leftovers! It's just me and I was always a tomboy and not very domesticated. I loved my super cute house and loved decorating, updating and antiquing but I never really loved cooking. An hour to cook, 5 minutes to eat and 15 minutes to clean up. No way. I love baking sometimes and grilling but I don't even grill anymore. But I do love leftovers!
I love being in my kitchen, but I'm with you on the time, especially when things get consumed quickly. I try to make sure for big meals, like Thanksgiving, that we take our time and enjoy them.
Please do a video like: Extreme Grocery Budget Haul for people with IBS. I cannot eat beans or hot and spicy food because of this condition. I used to be homeless. I just got my own apartment. This is what I have: Refrigerator, Microwave, Hot Pot for tea, Portable stove top, one frying pan, one pot and some dishes and bowls. Some food storage containers. Forks and knives and spoons and a spatula.
My husband and I love leftovers!
The burrito 🌯 is like the crunch burrito they have. Yum 😋
Yes, that's what I'm hearing! I didn't realize they had a new one. I'll be honest, I haven't been to TB a lot in recent years. For fast food tacos, we mostly go to Bueno.
I had no idea what a marimba was....my new word for the day. 😊 Honestly, I thought it was a South American/ Brazilian dance. 😂
Haha! It’s a percussion instrument. Our oldest plays.
I'm so going to try the tomato soup with my homemade spaghetti sauce. Thank you so much for the idea❤❤
Glad I could help!
I know your channel is about food, but I'd love to see an episode of your choir stuff too!!! Like a video of church music!!❤
Love these days, I go thru my fridge regularly and make leftover hotdish😂😂
Just came to say, there is a light at the end of that tunnel. We lived that busy life for so many years, baseball, travel baseball, husband coached, sometimes our kids sometimes other peoples kids, I was ridiculously over involved in the PTA oh and choir. I'm still tired but catching up (youngest is 24), LOL.
Oh, I know! I'm trying to soak it up. The days are long, but the years are short.
@@SeeMindyMom I wish I would have understood more about meal prep and batch cooking and using a crockpot in those days. Sure would have helped. Keep sharing we love it.
Love your reality, Mindy. I don't think I've tried a jar of alfredo sauce in well over 7 years. It just always tasted like chemicals vs Alfredo.
I'm with you. I can't do the jar alfredo. I would have to add lots of stuff to it anyway, so I just make it, or a bechamel and add cheese to it. That's just me, though, I know people who love the jar alfredo. I will say, I have tried a few "fresh" alfredo sauces (like refrigerated, next to the refrigerated pastas) that I think are okay.
So I need to know if you don’t mind sharing do you have family thanksgivings to attend or do you not live close to them? I ask because we have at least 5 that we attend between both sides of the family and it just isn’t feasible anymore? Thoughts suggestions?
We have family nearby. We just decided to start doing some things at our own home while our kids are still with us. Sometimes we invite family to join us, sometimes we keep it just the 5 of us. We decided a while back we aren't doing multiple holiday celebrations (multiple thanksgivings, multiple Christmas celebrations, etc.). That's just us, and what my husband and I decided for our family. :)
@ we have 3 kids as well, some family is close his side is in southern Indiana, for this year we are doing all of them for one holiday and staying home for Christmas, I guess we’re still trying to figure it out
cool
For those super busy weeks and everyone on a different schedule I like to cook up a big batch of Chili with ground turkey, pumpkin or butternut squash that I have canned, onions, carrots , garlic and lots of beans and home canned tomato sauce and chili sauce. It's easy to heat up on the stove and top with some shredded cheese, avocado and a scoop of Whole plain Greek yogurt. Corn bread for mopping up the chili. My second go to is homemade Bone broth with carrots, celery, onions, fresh garlic, lentils and lots of spices. I like to serve it with some almond flour crackers from Aldi's and top the crackers with roasted red pepper hummus. My third meal is a loaded crustless quiche, Eggs, half and half, spinach, broccoli, red peppers, shredded cheese, chopped kale, sausage or ham and bake.
Those are great ideas! I love a good pot of chili, it's so versatile!
I bet the kiddos LOVE having you lead their choir activities! How was the butter chicken sauce?? 🐔🐔 I am a tortilla hoarder, apparently, and need to use up like a year's supply,. so thanks for the crunch wrap/chimichanga inspo! ❤
I meant to add that the butter chicken worked out fantastic! I will definitely pick up a few more packets of that sauce to make that again. It was so easy!
I will cook rice bake fish and microwave greens i frize last night
Okay....question...for either just Mindy or everyone else. Do you find that cooking bacon in the oven is crispier using parchment or foil? I have never done it on foil before ... always parchment. But seeing her pull a pan of bacon out of the oven on foil has me wondering....thanks!
👍🏻👍🏻
❤
Did I spy a Jenks shirt?!
That’s a frito burrito. I think they sell them at Taco Bell too.
I call those Frito burritos🤣❤️😂
Yeah, normally I use tortilla chips or doritos, but I used the corn chips that night. :)
Our family lives in sayre, ok now for about 7- 8 yrs now. They closed our Macdonalds so we can't get a cheap burger which is such a bummer
I know Sayre! I went to SWOSU. :) My former HS choir teacher is now teaching choir in Sayre, too. She's the best!
I have wonderful recipe for sesame chicken if you would like it.. We have made it for the last few weeks and love it.. so good.
Oh how I wish my daughter ate as well as your kids Mindy.
I have to disguise all veg that isn't broccolli, green beans and Brussels 🤢
Girl I'm 55 and I need all that disguised too 😂 😂 😂
Listen, they eat plenty of crackers and ramen noodles and cereal, too. I'm sure you're doing just fine! Our kids tolerate some veggies, and we encourage them to eat the ones they tolerate!
Mom 🚐 is your mobile office😂
Oh yes!
I look like monday everyday 😂
Sometimes me, too! If I didn't have to be on camera occasionally, I might never wear makeup. LOL!