I really really hate to chop onions, so I buy about 10 pounds chop them all at one time with my onion chop and goggles on ( swim goggle 😂). I freeze them in one meal size portions and I don’t have to chop onions for a very very long time. I’m really enjoying your videos. The food is so normal and doable!
I do the same- but in smaller quantities- 3lb bags at a time. Most of my kids "don't like onions " so i use a lot of onion powder instead of chopped onions in things. Roasting off garlic too- I will do several heads of garlic at once then freeze it in little 1 tbsp mounds. saves time, huge flavour boost to dishes. I love hacks like that.
That's so smart! I have one of those veggie choppers that makes diced size pieces, so I use that for onions and will now do this with the rest of my bag of onions so they don't go bad waiting for me to get to them.
They all looked really yummy! I love to take my potato peelings añd spread them on a baking sheet, then put my favorite seasonings on them. Drizzle a bit of oil or butter on top of them. Finally toss them in the oven, paying close attention to not burn them. Once they are crispy u can top with shredded cheese, green onions take them out and they taste great with sour cream or katchup or keep them plain and enjoy. They taste great plus no food waste and your getting an extra snack from them. I like them lots better than potato chips.
Oh my gosh!! That’s absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much! I’m definitely going to try that next time I peel potatoes! 🤩 I bet even my kids will LOVE those!
I absolutely adore these meal ideas. They appear incredibly nutritious, and I'm relieved it's not just another unhealthy budget-friendly meal plan. I'm thoroughly impressed!
My chef friend taught me to save (freeze) all my bones and when I have enough of one type to put them in a pan in the oven to roast. Remove the bones and put into a pot of water on the stove being sure to deglaze the baking pan and pour all that goodness into the pot with the bones. I save all my trimmed veggie bits, except for anything that might have dirt or grit and add that into the pot with the bones. This makes the most tasty stock, it's so good. You can make chicken stock, beef stick, pork stock, fish stock. Yum!
I make my broth in the crock pot over night, let it cool in the morning and drain it and freeze in small 2 cup containers. It really gets the nutrients from the bones out. Makes a much better tasting broth.
I love fresh Spinach so versatile and nutritious - Fresh use in a salad or a sandwich, Saute it as a side dish, Add to soup or a casserole, Steam it and freeze it for later on.
Don't buy bagged, shredded cheese. They're covered with potato starch and don't melt as well. Aldi sells the brick cheeses for $1.99 below the bagged cheese. You can grate them yourself and save money. Great recipe ideas! Thanks!
82 cents for garbanzos is a good price. I make my own hummus from canned garbanzos. It's excellent, but the jar of tahini is expensive, even though it makes several batches. If you want to make your own hummus, I have a tip from America's Test Kitchen show on PBS. Use plenty of liquid, but don't put the olive oil in until you are otherwise done mixing. If you beat olive oil too much, it gets bitter. Add homemade pitas, and you have restaurant -quality food on a budget.
@@LauraLegge it's really easy to make hummus if you have a good food processor. Most of the recipes online , that I've seen, are pretty similar. But you can add what you like. Some people say you can use peanut butter, instead of the more expensive tahini. I haven't tried that. I've had to make it without, because I didn't have any tahini in the fridge, and it's still good. If you want to make pitas, I recommend Chef John on TH-cam. He has a very useful video that allows even a first-timer to produce wonderful pitas. Bread is so expensive. (Pitas cost a dollar each!) I buy yeast by the pound, which saves a lot compared to the little envelopes. And yeast lasts years in the freezer, even after you've opened the package. If anybody has the time, Laura's no-knead bread saves money, tastes better, and has fewer chemicals compared to store bread.
@@OrlaQuirk thank you so much for the recommendations! I really appreciate that! I’ll definitely look into the hummus and the pitas 😋 You’re right - bread is expensive!! I love to make it anytime I can.
@@LauraLegge l do too! My family loves homemade bread, and I feel so happy knowing my family seems to taste the love in the food. And no weird chemicals!
not just soups, pour a bit of water in the pan with the drippings and pour rice or potatoes (quartered) starch soaks up the flavour of the broth you cook them in.
Great job, looks tasty, healthy & has eye appeal. I like it that you froze the scraps for soup later. I buy so much meat etc on sale that it is hard to have room for scraps. I subscribed.
Thank you so much!! I do the same with meats. I rarely buy things when they’re full price unless I have something special in mind for the week. I have a small chest freezer in my garage for the meats I buy in bulk and separate into smaller portions 😄 I’m always freezing everything for later haha
Christine -am 2 hrs west of Toronto - saw brown organic free range eggs for 9.00 a dozen a couple weeks ago 🤦♀️🤷♀️ that was at ridiculous end of things (metro) while FoodBasics has started selling flats of eggs - didn’t notice the price but if you were shopping for multiple households or a large family this would be a great way to save 🇨🇦🙏
Just for interest: I priced your grocery list exactly as written. My total, using sale items and cheapest versions: $52.55. I can't eat legumes (migraine trigger) and I loathe cucumber. I replaced the legumes with an extra pound of chicken (5lb bag instead of 4lb) and replaced the cucumber with an apple. Total: $49.74. This is still a frugal meal plan. San Francisco food prices are always higher than most places. I could lower my cost by buying a 5lb whole chicken for $9.95. That would bring my total to $46.99.
@@kellyharris4639 oh wow! That’s a big difference! Prices are so different in our surrounding cities too. I think we’re super lucky to have this Aldi here
That hummus was an unnecessary luxury to feed only a couple of low cal meals. So little food. Better use of $2.49 could be another pack of chicken, eggs, bigger potatoes, fruit to make a compote for chicken or in oatmeal or filling for homemade pancakes etc.
@@lstj2979 those are all great ideas! My goal with this particular meal plan was to only use what I purchased so I tried not to depend on much from my pantry. The hummus was mainly a way to add more flavor and variety for someone that may not have anything on hand to start 😄
I love every idea but I I do this meals for my husband he probably will find him self someone ales 😂 hard working men cant eat this little and light 🤷♀️ but I do love for perfectly balanced meals and my self🥰
This is the set I have! It’s Tramontina! I found them at Costco but they’re currently available on Amazon too! (If you click the link and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission): amzn.to/43XkltD
I can’t believe you pass those potatoes up for less than a dollar more you could’ve got twice as much potatoes 368 to 404 difference….. so if you bought Potatoes the next week are you paid over three dollars more than you had to Potatoes would last at least a month. Potatoes will last more than a month stored in a cool place😊
That’s so true! I normally buy the bigger bag but I don’t know that most people have that deal in their stores so I was trying to be consistent with what other people could find too 😊 I love that we can get 10 lbs for $4! Such a great deal!
I made this one! I published it on Amazon so anyone can purchase it too 😊 I try to always include it in my description and here’s the link too: a.co/d/cGu6U7R
Loved this video- such a change of recipes for the same price as many other videos. BUT you speak very fast!!!! (Or the editing made it seem that way). I’ve had to pause a million times and rewatch…
There is a playback option where you can adjust the speed of the video. It is under the round gear like icon in the upper right corner of the video. There are other options there also
I LOVE Dash seasoning! We use it a lot! We can do a little salt here but I try to reduce it as much as possible. There’s just so much salt in most things these days
I absolutely love that! I recently tried using chicken fat for the first time and it was delicious and super easy to use! I’m definitely saving it from now on! 😊
I had to do a double tke when I saw those eggs were only 99 cents for a dozen those poor checkens, is that all their life is worth! That really is the true definition of a battery hen.
Why spend so much on canned beans and hummus when eggs are 99 cents and chicken so cheap? Buy extra chicken and eggs and dried pintos and put the canned beans back. Buy the 10 pounds of potatoes and next week you won’t have to buy any. Put the quinoa back and get fruit.
Dried beans are an excellent idea! This store only had a large bag of beans for around $3 and I was trying to stay under a certain amount 😄 but I definitely recommend doing dried beans if you can!
I definitely looked to buy some dried pinto beans but they only had a large bag for around $2.68 and I didn’t want to spend quite that much this week. I will have a plan to implement dried beans in a different menu soon! What’s your favorite way to use the chicken fat? I’ll definitely take some tips for that!
I have all the servings listed in the recipes on my blog 😊 I just used the term “meals” because that’s what I was seeing here on TH-cam when I was researching what to title this video. I hope you enjoy the recipes and thank you so much for watching 😄
I really really hate to chop onions, so I buy about 10 pounds chop them all at one time with my onion chop and goggles on ( swim goggle 😂). I freeze them in one meal size portions and I don’t have to chop onions for a very very long time. I’m really enjoying your videos. The food is so normal and doable!
Haha I absolutely love that!! That’s such a good idea! I bet that saves so much time too. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the videos! 😊
i love my onion googles
I do the same- but in smaller quantities- 3lb bags at a time. Most of my kids "don't like onions " so i use a lot of onion powder instead of chopped onions in things.
Roasting off garlic too- I will do several heads of garlic at once then freeze it in little 1 tbsp mounds. saves time, huge flavour boost to dishes. I love hacks like that.
That's so smart! I have one of those veggie choppers that makes diced size pieces, so I use that for onions and will now do this with the rest of my bag of onions so they don't go bad waiting for me to get to them.
Casserole looks great would just add sausage
You got a lot of food for 30 bucks! Great job!
Thank you so much!! 😊
They all looked really yummy! I love to take my potato peelings añd spread them on a baking sheet, then put my favorite seasonings on them. Drizzle a bit of oil or butter on top of them. Finally toss them in the oven, paying close attention to not burn them. Once they are crispy u can top with shredded cheese, green onions take them out and they taste great with sour cream or katchup or keep them plain and enjoy. They taste great plus no food waste and your getting an extra snack from them. I like them lots better than potato chips.
Oh my gosh!! That’s absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much! I’m definitely going to try that next time I peel potatoes! 🤩 I bet even my kids will LOVE those!
Laura id like to see a budget meal plan that includes 3 meals a day plus a snack for 1 week or a whole month. 😊
Ok! I have a few on my channel like that and I’ll work on more! ☺️
I absolutely adore these meal ideas. They appear incredibly nutritious, and I'm relieved it's not just another unhealthy budget-friendly meal plan. I'm thoroughly impressed!
Thank you so much! 😊 I definitely tried to think outside the box with this one! I hope you love the recipes
I’m loving the nutritional content of these inexpensive meals! Great job!!
Thank you so much!! ☺️ I appreciate that!
I love how you move quickly along
Thank you! 😄
My chef friend taught me to save (freeze) all my bones and when I have enough of one type to put them in a pan in the oven to roast. Remove the bones and put into a pot of water on the stove being sure to deglaze the baking pan and pour all that goodness into the pot with the bones. I save all my trimmed veggie bits, except for anything that might have dirt or grit and add that into the pot with the bones. This makes the most tasty stock, it's so good. You can make chicken stock, beef stick, pork stock, fish stock. Yum!
Yes!! That’s an amazing tip! Thank you so much for sharing! I love doing that too! 😊
I make my broth in the crock pot over night, let it cool in the morning and drain it and freeze in small 2 cup containers. It really gets the nutrients from the bones out. Makes a much better tasting broth.
@@PennyMeeker-j8m I love that!!
Thank you for being honest . If u want more flavor, add more. Love the video..
Thank you so much! We tend to under salt here so I always recommend tasting and adjusting ☺️ I hope you enjoy the recipes!
Love your meal ideas and videos with a realistic budget (not just extreme budgets) 😂
Sending love from Ontario 🇨🇦
Thank you! 😊 I’ll have lots of different plans in the future with varying budgets!
Great job. These all look delicious. I enjoy watching to see what you come up with.
Thank you so much! This one was a tough one and I’m really happy with how it all turned out! 😊
@@LauraLegge yes I think it was great groceries these days are so pricey I like to see what I can save to buy other things we want
@@sheliapeters2082 same here! If I can save on groceries, we can use that money for something we’ve been wanting to do instead. 😊
@@LauraLegge us to have a great week
def one of the more wholesome and more delicious looking budget meal videos :) thanke for the inspo:)
Thank you and you’re welcome ☺️
I love that you include meatless meals! Often even the meat meals I can leave the meat out and it's healthy and filling
Thank you! ☺️ I’m so glad to hear that!
Impressive meals! These are more realistic and look like meals my family would actually eat. 💜
Thank you so much!! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I hope you love the recipes 😊
You do a nice job making the most of your budget and changing meals up. Thank you!
Thank you so much 😊
I love fresh Spinach so versatile and nutritious - Fresh use in a salad or a sandwich, Saute it as a side dish, Add to soup or a casserole, Steam it and freeze it for later on.
Yes! It’s amazing!
Another wonderful video. Your creativity blows me away. Thank you so much for doing these videos.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m so glad you enjoyed the video! I’m working on more budget meal plans so keep an eye out for more soon 😊
Thank you please do more meals.thx. Linda From iowa😊
Ok! I’m working on a few more meal plans like this one and I’ll be sharing some more budget meals this week 😊
New to your channel, we love ALDI’s, thank you for sharing your shopping trip with us. And your meals looked delicious. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much for watching! I hope you love the recipes too! 😊
Don't buy bagged, shredded cheese. They're covered with potato starch and don't melt as well. Aldi sells the brick cheeses for $1.99 below the bagged cheese. You can grate them yourself and save money. Great recipe ideas! Thanks!
That’s a great tip! Thank you! I’ll look and see if we have the small blocks at my store 😄
I would cook the leg quarters in a slow cooker--cooler in the summer--doesn't heat the kitchen as much...dts/usa
I love the idea! Thank you! I completely agree with you. I would do that instead next time 😊
Thanks you for your videos great new Meals to make
You’re welcome ☺️ I hope you love the recipes!
82 cents for garbanzos is a good price. I make my own hummus from canned garbanzos. It's excellent, but the jar of tahini is expensive, even though it makes several batches.
If you want to make your own hummus, I have a tip from America's Test Kitchen show on PBS. Use plenty of liquid, but don't put the olive oil in until you are otherwise done mixing. If you beat olive oil too much, it gets bitter.
Add homemade pitas, and you have restaurant -quality food on a budget.
Thank you so much for the tips! I’m excited to try making it myself! ☺️
@@LauraLegge it's really easy to make hummus if you have a good food processor. Most of the recipes online , that I've seen, are pretty similar. But you can add what you like. Some people say you can use peanut butter, instead of the more expensive tahini. I haven't tried that. I've had to make it without, because I didn't have any tahini in the fridge, and it's still good.
If you want to make pitas, I recommend Chef John on TH-cam. He has a very useful video that allows even a first-timer to produce wonderful pitas.
Bread is so expensive. (Pitas cost a dollar each!) I buy yeast by the pound, which saves a lot compared to the little envelopes. And yeast lasts years in the freezer, even after you've opened the package.
If anybody has the time, Laura's no-knead bread saves money, tastes better, and has fewer chemicals compared to store bread.
@@OrlaQuirk thank you so much for the recommendations! I really appreciate that! I’ll definitely look into the hummus and the pitas 😋 You’re right - bread is expensive!! I love to make it anytime I can.
@@LauraLegge l do too! My family loves homemade bread, and I feel so happy knowing my family seems to taste the love in the food. And no weird chemicals!
@@OrlaQuirk yes!! I completely agree 😄
I love your ideas. Everything looked delicious. Thank you
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the recipes 😄
Ty for the video I love these meals keep them coming!!!
You’re welcome! And thank you so much! I definitely will 😊
Okay- saving drippings for soups? Why have I never thought of that? That egg drop soup sounds SO good right now. LOL. Thank you, again!
You’re welcome! You can save the fat too, if you like! There’s quite a few uses for it but I haven’t tried many of them yet 😅
not just soups, pour a bit of water in the pan with the drippings and pour rice or potatoes (quartered) starch soaks up the flavour of the broth you cook them in.
You are my new hero! Bravo 👏👏
Oh my goodness, thank you for your kind words 😊 I hope you love the recipes!
Great job, looks tasty, healthy & has eye appeal. I like it that you froze the scraps for soup later. I buy so much meat etc on sale that it is hard to have room for scraps. I subscribed.
Thank you so much!! I do the same with meats. I rarely buy things when they’re full price unless I have something special in mind for the week. I have a small chest freezer in my garage for the meats I buy in bulk and separate into smaller portions 😄 I’m always freezing everything for later haha
I am always so shocked at how inexpensive grocery prices are in USA. In Canada in my grocery store a deal on eggs is 3.49-5.00 range for example.
Christine -am 2 hrs west of Toronto - saw brown organic free range eggs for 9.00 a dozen a couple weeks ago 🤦♀️🤷♀️ that was at ridiculous end of things (metro) while FoodBasics has started selling flats of eggs - didn’t notice the price but if you were shopping for multiple households or a large family this would be a great way to save 🇨🇦🙏
Got northern navy Beans 16 oz for 50 cents at aldi yesterday got 6 bags 3 dollars
Oh wow! Such a great deal!
Just for interest: I priced your grocery list exactly as written. My total, using sale items and cheapest versions: $52.55.
I can't eat legumes (migraine trigger) and I loathe cucumber. I replaced the legumes with an extra pound of chicken (5lb bag instead of 4lb) and replaced the cucumber with an apple. Total: $49.74.
This is still a frugal meal plan. San Francisco food prices are always higher than most places.
I could lower my cost by buying a 5lb whole chicken for $9.95. That would bring my total to $46.99.
Oh wow! Interesting! Yes, San Francisco is definitely much more expensive than here. That sounds like some great shopping though!
great ideas 😊
Thank you! 😊
Your at aldi yesterday found at aldi northern navy beans 16 oz 50 cents not on sale just great price got 4
Woohoo!! What a great deal! I love that!
Your first min of video shocked me! Up to the hummus 1:02 , it would’ve cost $35 minimum where I live.
My total would’ve been around $72 in NL 🇨🇦 and I’m in a bigger community with 3 supermarkets to shop around
@@kellyharris4639 oh wow! That’s a big difference! Prices are so different in our surrounding cities too. I think we’re super lucky to have this Aldi here
That hummus was an unnecessary luxury to feed only a couple of low cal meals. So little food. Better use of $2.49 could be another pack of chicken, eggs, bigger potatoes, fruit to make a compote for chicken or in oatmeal or filling for homemade pancakes etc.
@@lstj2979 those are all great ideas! My goal with this particular meal plan was to only use what I purchased so I tried not to depend on much from my pantry. The hummus was mainly a way to add more flavor and variety for someone that may not have anything on hand to start 😄
I love every idea but I I do this meals for my husband he probably will find him self someone ales 😂 hard working men cant eat this little and light 🤷♀️ but I do love for perfectly balanced meals and my self🥰
Nice menu options for $30. Impressive!
Thank you so much ☺️
Wow such great ideas. Going to add some of these to my meal ideas, especially since some can be made vegan with a swap.
Thank you! I hope you love the recipes and I would love to hear your substitutions if you try any of them 😊
Definitely try a baked potato with cottage cheese i couldn't believe how delicious it was
What?! I can’t believe I never thought of that! Thank you! I’ll try it soon!! ☺️
Love your meals
Thank you!! ☺️ I’m so glad to hear that!
I use my pressure cooker to make stock. 2 hours and it turns out great 😊
I love that idea!
Hi Laura... What is the name of the company who made the pot you cooked your quinoa in? I want to see if i can find one like it. Thank you.
This is the set I have! It’s Tramontina! I found them at Costco but they’re currently available on Amazon too! (If you click the link and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission): amzn.to/43XkltD
Air fry your garbanzo beans! Love crispy chickpeas!
Yum!! I’ve gotta try that! Thank you for the tip!
I can’t believe you pass those potatoes up for less than a dollar more you could’ve got twice as much potatoes 368 to 404 difference….. so if you bought Potatoes the next week are you paid over three dollars more than you had to Potatoes would last at least a month. Potatoes will last more than a month stored in a cool place😊
That’s so true! I normally buy the bigger bag but I don’t know that most people have that deal in their stores so I was trying to be consistent with what other people could find too 😊 I love that we can get 10 lbs for $4! Such a great deal!
Wow prices were so different just 10 months ago.
What menu planner do u use ?
I made this one! I published it on Amazon so anyone can purchase it too 😊 I try to always include it in my description and here’s the link too: a.co/d/cGu6U7R
2 weeks ago aldi had small carrots 30 cents got 10 pounds for 3.90 froze them
Wow!! What a great deal! That’s such a great idea to freeze them!
We dont use salt at all all family on diet
We’ve reduced our salt intake quite a bit but we can definitely reduce it even more. What’s your favorite seasoning to use?
Loved this video- such a change of recipes for the same price as many other videos. BUT you speak very fast!!!! (Or the editing made it seem that way). I’ve had to pause a million times and rewatch…
Thank you! I’ll work on slowing down when I talk 😅 Thank you so much for letting me know! I’ll have another budget meal plan in a couple weeks.
There is a playback option where you can adjust the speed of the video. It is under the round gear like icon in the upper right corner of the video. There are other options there also
@@lstj2979 thank you so much for mentioning that! 😊
Wait, does your Aldi have self checkout?
Yes! We have 6 of them I believe
We done use salt at all use dash
I LOVE Dash seasoning! We use it a lot! We can do a little salt here but I try to reduce it as much as possible. There’s just so much salt in most things these days
I can't have any salt health problem. The whole family gave up salt
What store these prices are super low.
This is at ALDI 😄
Always save the chicken fat to favor other stuff with it's great
I absolutely love that! I recently tried using chicken fat for the first time and it was delicious and super easy to use! I’m definitely saving it from now on! 😊
😮❤❤❤
It was nice not to see beans and rice in a budget menu. Thanks. I will subscribe.
Thank you so much! I love beans but I try to mix it up and not use them all the time 😄
WOW!!! $.99 for eggs!!!!!!!! Ours finally came down to $1.97.
I was shocked to see that price too!! After that they went up to $1.29 and now they’re $1.49, which is still incredible! 🤩
In germany we Pay for 18 eggs 3,29€!😢
Oh wow! 😅
I had to do a double tke when I saw those eggs were only 99 cents for a dozen those poor checkens, is that all their life is worth! That really is the true definition of a battery hen.
Why spend so much on canned beans and hummus when eggs are 99 cents and chicken so cheap? Buy extra chicken and eggs and dried pintos and put the canned beans back. Buy the 10 pounds of potatoes and next week you won’t have to buy any. Put the quinoa back and get fruit.
Dried beans are an excellent idea! This store only had a large bag of beans for around $3 and I was trying to stay under a certain amount 😄 but I definitely recommend doing dried beans if you can!
I love my meat masher....dollar twenty-five cent store.
Yes!! It’s the best!! I love getting things like this at the Dollar Tree or stores like that! Great suggestion!
Canned tomatoes 2 to 4 $
Wow, that’s quite a bit more 😥
@@LauraLegge bread is like 3 to $ 7 a loaf
Wow that cheese incanada would be $ 10 s
Oh wow! What a huge difference!
Why not buy dried pinto beans, then cook for one hour.. it saves money and add food to budget
Discard chicken fat😱😱😱😱
I definitely looked to buy some dried pinto beans but they only had a large bag for around $2.68 and I didn’t want to spend quite that much this week. I will have a plan to implement dried beans in a different menu soon!
What’s your favorite way to use the chicken fat? I’ll definitely take some tips for that!
I like how you get to it some talk to much
Thank you so much! ☺️
That would cost me like 75$ in canada. Your eggs are 99 cents mine are around 5$ wtf canada.
My mind is blown at how cheap food is in America
Oh wow! That’s so expensive 😰
My body will not let me eat beans still cook beans for family
I completely understand! I have some dietary restrictions too 😬 That’s wonderful that you cook them for your family still!
Albertson's Vons having 1.83 sale again
Yes!! I saw this morning 🤩 I didn’t see many great deals on meat but I like the milk and cheese for $1.83!
Hamburger 1.83
Can you believe those baby carrots are 5.99 here? Horrible.
Oh no! That’s crazy expensive!! 😢
You should wash your chicken with vinaigar and some salt before cooking it..chicken is dirty
Please stop saying so many meals, it is servings .... how many servings do each of these meals make?
I have all the servings listed in the recipes on my blog 😊 I just used the term “meals” because that’s what I was seeing here on TH-cam when I was researching what to title this video. I hope you enjoy the recipes and thank you so much for watching 😄
why didnt you just get a block of cheese? also, i cant believe how cheap your food is!!!
For which recipe? I love cream cheese 😄 Yes, I love our prices right now! I’m hoping they stay this low
Hope you put that hair up when you cook.
Always 😄