Extreme Frugality - Low Cost Batch Cooking -
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ก.พ. 2022
- I show you how to stretch the frugal meat budget with a lasagne and a cottage pie
Frugal Queen in France
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We are a British couple living in Brittany on a budget.
Frugal recipes, days out, home renovations and day to day making do in France.
We’ll give you hints, tips, advice and an insight into our life in France.
Website www.frugalqueeninfrance.com/
FaceBook / frugalqueeni. .
Instagram / frugalqueen. .
Twitter / batt_jane
Equipment used
Camera : iPhone
Editing : iMovie on a Mac mini
Music:
Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Artist: audionautix.com/
Some Sound from Zapsplat.com
TH-cam Audio Library
Apple iMovie*
Hi everyone- I wash and reuse the foil dishes, sometimes they get used as roasting tins or to keep food in the fridge. Also they get washed and recycled.
I was wondering about the"thrifty" aspect of foil tins!
@@gwenroireau6203 it’s a balance, the thriftiness is that each meal I cooked was under 1€ a person including veggies. The other thriftiness is that I have a tiny freezer that doesn’t use much electricity and Pyrex dishes or roasting dishes wouldn’t fit in there.
@@FrugalQueeninFrance where do you get the lids? They’re cardboard, correct? In the US, Frozen meals in grocery stores come in the aluminum ( foil) pans with the cardboard top. Then they are additionally packaged in another light cardboard box with all the pics, etc of the item. Btw- i very much enjoy the music you choose! It’s happy and light, and we can all use that these days, right? I do love your videos!! Sending my best!!❤️💯
@@barbnauman705 the foil dishes come in multi packs with twice thé a ou of lids to dishes.
I love to batch cook extra meals but don’t want to be in the kitchen for hours. As I am only cooking for one My batch cooking is making a meal for four. One for tonight, one for tomorrow and two for the freezer. I do this 2 or 3 times a week which means I end up with a variety of meals in the freezer which I take out and use at the later date. This week has been busy worked 3 days so home later 2 early evening meetings, out with a friend all day on Saturday so this week I have had a freezer meal every night. Sunday I will cook again and start refilling the freezer. This is my way of giving my self a night (or week) when I don’t need to cook.
Not only a great way to stretch the meat budget but a good way to get your daily veg in too. I’m by myself so when I make a regular recipe for 6 to 8 servings I sort of automatically batch cook, if that makes any sense. I just freeze half of everything I make for later. Although I’m going to start batch cooking several recipes at once to cut down on use of the oven and stove. I just received notice from our utility company of a 9% rate hike effective March.
Jane, I made some oat bars and cut them before they completely cooled. 🤪 I asked myself what would Jane do- I took the crumbly part popped it back into the oven and made granola for my breakfast . Nothing went to waste.
Thanks for all your tips and encouragement for frugal living and for living a life with being wasteful.
Wasting nothing there
I usually add oats which are very cheap as a bulking agent to minced beef dishes. They thicken the dish and take on the appearance and flavour of the gravy.. A tip from a wartime cookbook.
Since the start of the epidemic I started to visit the supermarket only once every 4 weeks and make good use of my freezer. I live alone now so easier for me but simply by not going to shop it has cut my bills by about 60%.and I only need to top up fresh milk.
yes- i use oats often- in anything with ground beef or ground turkey. i sometimes add flax seed or farro or quinoa if i have them as well to extend a dish.-- i just wish i could do it all while living in France-- lol
Hello 👋
With all your Friday Frugal Food videos, that I’ve watched & now batch cooking 🧑🍳 I’ve halved my February food budget from January’s.
So looking forward to more saving in March.
So satisfying, thank you 😊
Thanks so much for your feedback
It's so nice to take a home made dinner out of the freezer Love your cheerful sunny apron, that looks like vintage fabric.
Hi Jane! Your easy and frugal recipes have become real family favourites here in wintery Canada! Homemade, hearty, one dish meals are so welcome and enjoyed and for our Friday family dinners. I can feed the whole 3 generation tribe (7 adults, 4 preschoolers) and even pack lunch for those who work or are elderly. I’m a big fan! Thank you for all the inspiration and even the reality checks 👍😂
Thanks very much for sharing
By adding a teaspoon of Enlish mustard (yellow) to the cheese sauce you can get away with using less cheese.
Looks so yummy .I keep my onion peels and other cut offs from veggies to make my own veggie soup base with .So good better then from the store
I enjoy your videos tremendously and thank you for your hard work. The lasagna meal with Bach’s cello music is the best match in elegance.
Hello Jane, I commented the other day that in Australia we are not feeling the price rises as much as other countries. Well, I've just bought a few groceries and put petrol in the car. Loose leaf tea is up 8.5%, soy milk up 12% and petrol up a staggering 34.5% since we last filled the car up. We feel grateful we can afford to eat as well as we do, and that we have a veggie garden. But the belt will be tightening for sure.
It will for many
Hi Madeleine just wait till winter when we have to heat our homes again. We have 2 fire places and so far were lucky to get free firewood.
Melbourne had this massive storms last year.
@@2ndchancecatrescue398 You are lucky to get free wood. I'm in a really cold area and we heat exclusively with wood which has been rising in price year on year. I imagine with rising cost of petrol the price of wood will also rise steeply. It costs us about AUD $1000 per annum to stay warm
@@madeleine7729 We do a lot of picking up of wood from the side of the road and keep an eye out on Facebook if there is wood available for free. Helps too if you live close to bushland, But then we have had a few snake visitors too. Cheers Daniela
Some fencing companies give away all their scrap old fencing as well. 😉
Best music ever.. Just love it. Hello from BC Canada
Looks delicious. Thanks for the tips on using beans, I am not used to beans, but have been stocking up my pantry with it! 😅 Cottagepie is my favourite winter time dinner. 😅Lovely kitchen, messy or not. Good job, got me inspired!
Thanks for watching
I never pay full price for meat either. I adore your dogs.
Thanks Dawn
Your kitchen is nice and big! Your meals look delicious 😋 !
Thank you so much 🤗
Hi Jane! You have been busy! My Mum always told me to use a large pinch of English mustard powder in a cheese sauce to boost the cheese flavour! You have made me feel hungry now!!
Same here! I also use nutmeg. It does the same trick!
It is so sweet of you to translate into "American" 🙂. I enjoy learning what different items are called both in France and the UK. It also saves me from buying the wrong item 😬
Thanks for watching
Thanks Jayne for keeping it real and showing the mess left after a cooking marathon! I cook meat sauces in my crock pot to save money ( electric stove gobbles up the kw) and add a handful of red lentils to stretch minced beef - whether its for spag bol or chilli or shepheards pie ( well cottage pie these days as I can't afford lamb now). Thanks for the inspiration.
I’ve not seen minced lamb in years
Batch cooking can be very tiring but sooooooo convenient
Love all your batch cooking ideas! Very inspiring! Thank you!❤
Thanks very much
Yum!
Such a great idea using the loaf pans for the lasagna! Thank you! Hugs and love from Texas!
Thanks Linda
I really like your frugal meal planning, shopping, cooking and storing. I don't cook very much any more. I live alone...and it's hard for me to stand up for very long. I'd have to sit to chop. Without a dishwasher, it's hard to stand up long enough to wash the dishes, too. I try to use very few dishes. Your video today, however makes me want to cook more. So, thank you.
Being a vegetarian (half the year) and vegan (the other half the year), I don't spend anything at all on meat. I do eat fish about half the year. This has somewhat to do with my choices of over 50 years ago, and somewhat to do with my religion. Because I'm diabetic, I also have to keep carbs down and I don't eat sweets, unless it's a less sweet piece if fruit. So I've lost the motivation, creativity and imagination for cooking. I used to cook all the time. With so many restrictions, it's so much easier now to stick to soups and sandwiches, with occasional salads. The simpler, the better. But now, as I watched you make so many meals out if those few frugal ingredients, I'm inspired again!
A friend of mine told me about a food bank that's still open. She stopped by there and picked up a box of food for me. I'm under quarantine for exposure to covid, so she could only drop the food off on my porch. It was such a delight to open my front door and find a box of free food! It was wonderful! What a treat! I'm so happy! 😊
looks wonderful!
Those meals looked so yummy. I love your stock pot and tea tin. I look forward to Friday vids and what's cooking. Mike's photos were lovely. Blessings to all ❤
Thanks Pamela
Looks so yummy!
Another beautiful informative video !
I never thought to use carrot in the sauce for lasagna. Great tip
I learned from Italian cooks whose flavour base is the soffritto of onion, celery and carrots
As well as saving money, it will spare you from cooking on days when you may have other jobs to prioitise. And, for me, they are the sorts of dishes which are enhanced by some time in the fridge! Thank you!
Got to try this
We take the potatoes spouts (we call them eyes) and plant them in either in ground or in containers. Once the vine dies back you can then dig them up and eat them!
Great tip
This video was amazing!! Wow!
You are amazing. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SHARING YOUR TALENTS.
Lovely recipes .
I love your batch cooking! ❤
Everything looks delicious! Always a good feeling that there's a good homemade dinner in the freezer for planned meals and unexpected guests!
Thanks for watching and commenting
Thanks for watching and commenting
Love your cooking videos Better than a cookbook. Thanks
Long life milk here in Canada for one litre is 3.99 ouch!!!
Where possible in cooking I use powdered milk, which is the cheapest where I am. Also use it to make yoghurt and in addition to my smoothies...
75c à litre here
Great share, Jane. And I loved that you showed behind the scenes. 👍
Everything looks delicious. I could almost smell it in Sydney! 😋
Lovely meals Jane. I have also learned a few things too. Behind the camera Ahhh : )) Thx
another inspiring foodie Friday, thank you guys x
Thanks Margaret
love your frugal food video's 💙
Thanks for watching
Love your videos. Hello from the U.S. 😁
Thank you
Yum. I keep saying it because all your food looks delicious:)
Thank you, Jane! So many yummy, frugal dinners in your freezer!! 💜
Thank you
Great video,plenty of wonderful ideas here !!!
New to your channel and loving it. ❤️
Welcome!!
Your meals are inspiring!
Thanks for watching
i watched your video yesterday and was inspired , i made 3 lasagna, 3 cottage pies for our freezer. i love your cooking recipes!
I enjoy your channel. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching
Everything looks delicious!!
Thank you 😋
Loved the video this week. I bulk out my mince everytime carrots and in the summer homegrown courgettes I've even chopped the stem of a brocoli stalk up small and added that.
Once I have space in my freezer I am definitely batch cooking some lasagne as a firm fave in our house
Thanks Cheryl
The meals look delicious!
Thanks for watching
I’m very interested in the A-B-C-D-E rating on your bullion cubes. Is this rating on many foods in France? We call your minced meat ‘ground beef’ in Canada. (also hamburger)However, I am originally from the east coast of Canada , the island of Newfoundland. We did not join Canada until 1949 and have very strong British roots. Many people there use the term ‘minced meat’.
The ratings on our food in the EU shows nutritional values or warnings. So if it’s Ed, then it’s high salt sugar or fat for example
Really love you two and love your recipes too! Anything to help with the living costs has got to be good! I was given a great tip by a chef years ago for rich cheese sauce and that’s to stir in a teaspoon of mustard ( he used Dijon) It really enhances the cheese flavor and you might want to give it a try! Thank you!
Love watching your videos. I am in the US. I purchased a very small freezer this year. It has really helped in stocking up on sale. First on next month we are getting a quarter of a cow! We use to get half when the kids were home, but it has been years. Meat is getting so expensive though and I know a farmer. So excited to get that stored away!
Thank you,for the video, of delicious, batch meals! 🇨🇦
Thanks for watching
Another good video. I love your batch cooking vids
Thanks very much
Looks very delicious 😋 I think we will be having lasagna on Sunday
Thanks for sharing
Looks great. Home cooking is so much healthier and tastier too. If you keep cooking like this, you will live till you are one hundred!!
Thanks Alex
Thanks for sharing Jane, it was really inspiring as to how to cook more cheaply and they both looked so delicious my tummy was rumbling 😋
Thanks Bex
Thanks for another fun video - always inspiring - love that yellow apron! In my area of the US [NYC suburbs] it's always labeled ground beef rather than hamburger, but whatever you call it I know it when I see it :). All your little packages of lardons [which don't exist in my markets] inspired me to freeze some sale bacon all chopped up - so convenient!
Same here in Colorado, ground beef. Thank you for sharing this....very informative ⛄
Everything looks delicious! 😋
When I make spaghetti or lasagna I add in all kinds of vegetables to my sauce. I typically use tomatoes, onions, garlic, bell peppers, carrots, zucchini and eggplant.
When I have excess produce from my garden I will slice or chop it and dehydrate the vegetables to use in soups, stews and sauces.
I also use a mixture or ground beef and ground pork sausage seasoned with Italian herbs and spices. The combination of the meats gives the sauce more flavor as well as a different texture.
I’m going to have to try your cream cheese sauce next time I make lasagna. I typically use shredded mozzarella or and Italian cheese blend along with shredded Parmesan cheese.
Occasionally I make the lasagna with ricotta and spinach for a different change of pace.
I make a large 9”x13” baking dish of lasagna and bake it. Once it’s cooled down I cut it into serving size pieces and wrap each piece in n plastic wrap. Then put them into a freezer bag and store them until I want a piece. They are easy to remove from the freezer and can thaw on a plate in the refrigerator overnight.
Thanks for sharing
💖
Real life. Happy you didn't make us watch peeling and chopping but got down to the nittie gritty of cooking. Love 💕 your channel.
Great video, I batch cooked vegetable soup for my lunches next week plus vegan lasagna and cottage pie making enough for 8 meals. A few hours in the kitchen now will save me so much time after a busy work day.
Very timely video, Jane and Michael. We are ALL looking for ways to stretch our dollars in these uncertain times! Thanks for all you do to help.
Thanks for watching
Hello great batch cooking loved it and will follow the recipes 😋 😀 thanks Jane and Micheal Anna.
Thanks for watching
Fab bit of batch cooking! All looked delicious. It saves so much time as well as money
Thanks very much
Mixed herbs are nice in a cottage pie
I live in the Us and we are headed for tuff times, the food pantry lines are growing as inflation keeps happening. Frugal meals are very much needed, thanks for sharing🙏😊🌸🐦🐞🌷🌈🦋
i have tried to convince several friends that batch cooking and freezing really saves money. especially when you are tired or busy you can pull something that you know is GOOD out of the freezer instead of running to get fast food. we actually start craving our freezer foods and I am so happy i dont have to mess up the kitchen every day just for a good meal. i determine my cooks based on coupons and sales. that way nothing really goes to waste. surprised you dont chop up the celery leaves. they are like gold to me in the winter when i dont have fresh parsley growing outside. i use them minced up in all my soups and stews and even meatloaf since they have more flavor than dried parsley. thanks again. thanks for showing the mess. i know its messy- but you got 18 meals out of it and you only had one wash up instead of 18 wash-ups-- thats how i think of it. it saves both water and energy-- electric and human energy. always ready for a good cup of tea though once its all labeled and ready for the freezer.
Thank you I will try and batch cook some more.... I mostly cook for two nights in one go. Have a great weekend!
And you, thanks for watching
How brilliant to start with the same base and then vary it from there. This was yet another great video. I have picked up terrific tips by watching your cooking videos. . It also has me wondering about the potential benefits of a food processor.Thank you for your wonderful channel and blog! I look forward to your new releases each time.
Thanks Wendy
Nice cameo of Mike lol
Always try the generic brand at least once before going for the name brand. Many times it is just as good. Sometimes even better.
I’ve not yet succumbed to brands yet
You are an amazing cook! Knowing there are ready meals in the freezer is very comforting. I have two lasagnes in but need to wait for more freezer space.
As you saw, ours is small too.
Whenever I buy hamburger I make a meatloaf mixture with it then separate it into small flat packs for the freezer. I add oatmeal, egg, onion, it stretches the hamburger and I use it in everything I cook. When there is a sale on ground turkey or ground pork I save it in the freezer to add to the hamburger mixture I make. With shepards pie, I add either leftover veggies or a can of veg all, the more veggies you add the less hamburger you need. Our lasagna noodles are more expensive than other types of noodles just use macaroni noodles in the layer's instead. Don't buy the already boxed macaroni and cheese, not if you can still get the noodles cheap where you live. Dollar store has the velveeta in small packs that are just like the ones in the box for 1.00. Then buy the regular noodles we used to be able to get them at one of our stores for a bag for .50. It makes more when you do it this way instead of buying the box already prepackaged. Our electricity is more expensive where I live than my gas for my stove, I limit the use of my crockpot to 2 times per month. I use the oven more in the winter to help heat that end of the house. So, when I know it's going to be really cold is when I do my bulk cooking. I can then lower the heat in the rest of the house. I save all of my dishwashing bottles, I buy one dawn and two of the cheap brands, mix them in the bottles I save to 1/3 dawn 1/3 cheap 1/3 water, it stretches it. Husband only likes a certain kind of coffee, when "his" favorite coffee is half empty I put in two cups of the cheap brand and mix it up to stretch it (he doesn't know). Eventually I'll have him weaned off of the big money coffee. When you do see a real sale on something buy one or two extra for the pantry, I have done this for years. If you use things like rice a roni in a box add one cup of plain rice when first cooking no one will notice. There are rather large bags of white gravy mix in Walmart they are kept in the oversized department all you have to do to make white gravy is add water. Whenever I'm making any kind of sauce that you need to make a rue with I use it instead. I haven't had to buy milk in 2 years now. You don't really need to add washing powders to every load of clothes there is so much residue on them from the last wash. I skip adding it to every other wash, unless hubby has gotten into something bad.
You’re doing great there Cathy
What a great wise share, so helpful THK U!
Hi Jane and Mike, your Maggi seasoning sauce is so good splashed onto a whole chicken before roasting, and also a bit into a homemade fried rice is very good. I'm a fairly new subscriber from Australia and I'm working my way through all your videos. Absolutely loving them. I do many of your tips already, but lovely to know I'm not the only one! There's also always room to improve and learn something new. P.s. love the reality shot! To think you'd have just as much mess making one of each meal. Now you get to enjoy all the rest mess free! Sooo worth it. Thanks again😊
Thanks Lisa, that arôme is so useful
Another fabulous video from you guys. Your filming and presentation are improving every video too. It looks as though you're really enjoying the whole process which is very engaging ☺
Thanks very much
👍👍👍
If your family are not lovers of beans, or not used to taste or texture. I started by using tin lentils , which are not as obvious. Now I’m asked why I haven’t put lentils or beans in pasta sauce or Shepard’s pie.
I had the same problem with a husband who didn't like any pulses at all... As vegetarian I had little choice and for years I mashed them into the sauces and patties. He never knew! Always loved my food!
Great vlog Jane and Michael
I always freeze leftover vegetables
Love to batch cook especially for busy busy times
And healthier and cheaper then a takeaway x
Thanks Brenda
I love your videos! My family calls it hamburger or ground beef.
I make stew every week and portion into lunch size containers. 9-10 portions for one batch.
I’m also eating mostly plant based. Chicken or fish once a week. Enjoying my food and I’ve lowered the cost.
I can't believe you can get Grana Padano for one euro. Wow! Here it would be probably $3-$6 for the same size. I always appreciate your videos, the way you cook and shop is how I cook and shop. It just makes sense. :)
Thanks Lisa
I love your apron! Yellow's my favorite color and I have an apron with sunflowers on it. In the US we also call mince meat "ground". So ground beef, ground pork, etc. Great tips on stretching meat. I also will stretch meat in stir frys, chilli, and Mexican dishes. Beans and veggies can really make it go a long way and you're right, you'd never notice there was less meat. Thanks for showing how a meal plan CAN be flexible and might change throughout the week. I don't blame you for wanting some lasagna ASAP. That looked incredible!
Thanks, it’s mainly veggies to stretch our meals
Looks delicious as all your recipes do! Great job at stretching the beef and food budget - as usual! :). FYI, some areas of the U.S. call minced beef, ground beef. Thanks!
Thanks Candace
Your video are excellent it show what can be done to stretch your ingredients thanks
Thanks Susan…..plenty of veggies
I am sorry I won't see the start of this video as it is set for 2 am here. I will watch at a later time😴. I will have a notebook ready to take down your recipes they are always a hit here.
I noticed the UHT milk has gone up 16% so it looks like powered milk maybe in the trolley. Petrol prices are definitely heading above a 30% rise here. I am lucky to only use fans in summer and winter is mild in Brisbane so I only need an extra layer. Cheers
Those dinner's look delicious! It may be a bit of work to do the batch cooking but the next time you don't feel like making dinner it will be lovely to just pull one out of the freezer and be ready to have a lovely dinner without much work. Simple side salad or maybe a vegetable or some bread along with either of those meals will be wonderful.
Indeed Rosemary
Great video. I make a irish shepherd with ground beef (2lbs) peas, carrots topped with mashed roasted yams. We have meals for a few days
Thanks for sharing
Lovely meals that look really tasty. Instead of using foil trays I have accumulated many Pyrex storage dishes with plastic lids. I use these to freeze meals and then defrost/reheat when needed. Obviously they can be used endlessly if you’re careful so after some initial expense they have now paid for themselves.
I also like to take the tops of my celery and other vegetable scraps (carrots would be good) and freeze them. When I cook something with bones in it I save the bones and ass it to the vegetables to make a bone broth which I freeze to add to my dishes or soups instead of the chicken and vegetables store bought seasonings. Hugs and love from Texas.
Thanks for sharing Linda
Hi Jane and Mike 🙏 great cooking love it can you tell me how long they allowed to freeze love the way you put the dates on think everyone is going to start your batch cooking from now on thanks for taken time out to show us xx
We will eat them within three weeks. In a chest freezer, they’ll be fine up to two months,
I keep cartons of shelf stable milk on hand. I get it at one of our dollar stores. Your price for cheese is very good. I like everything you got and made. Well done ! tfs 🥰💐🌷🌞🌛🏜💗✝
Thanks very much
Thank you for the food stretching video. Much needed at the moment. While our children are grown, we have two of our grandchildren overnight for about a third of the month.
Thanks for sharing
When my grandchildren stay over they never stop eating, children these days are “grazers” when mine were little in the 70’s they had 3 meals a day, no snacks,unless it was a piece of fruit or a leftover slice of cake and maybe a cup of milk, times have changed!
@@kidzngrandkidz840
It is so very true. We don't keep mu h in the way od snacks around, except for leftovers and fruit either.y husband and I typically only eat two meals a day ourselves.....so it can be challenging. I am also trying to teach them scratch cooking. My husband is the griller in the house, so he is teaching them both how to cook different items on the grill:)
Wow,you did very Well👍.
It Looks delicieuse. And it saves a Lot of Money.I can See,what I' m doing wrong,I think.
Thanks Marianne