Fair warning, frozen produce (and some of the other things on that list) will often have a very different texture when thawed than fresh produce had. Maybe do a small test batch first to make sure you still like it before freezing it in bulk, especially if you have food related texture issues.
Good tip! I think I've always been afraid to freeze things because I'm afraid what happens to the food during the thawing process. Seems like some foods have some certain guidelines to follow for a better thaw, but I gotta at least try SOME of these! There's so many!! 🌻 Hannah
My tip: Invest in an InstantPot. I did and it saved on the energy bill a lot and cooking meals became fun and almost automatic. Put it all in. Set the instant pot on and voila - few minutes later: dinner is ready. My by far most favourite book about cooking with the instant pot is "Vegan Richa's Instant Pot Cookbook: 150 Plant-based Recipes from Indian Cuisine and Beyond“ - as all cook books from Richa Hingle are amazing. We use the Instant Pot and the recipes every day literally.
I love a theme night. Meatless Monday, TexMex Tuesday, We Love It Wednesday (crowd pleaser), Leftovers Thursday, Takeout Friday, Soup and Salad Saturday, Sunday roast (big fancy dinner). Do leftovers night the meal before trash pickup so you can clean out the fridge.
We Love It Wednesday 😂😂 Love the idea of leftover night being before trash pick-up-gives us an excuse to actually question what's STILL residing in our fridge. 🌻 Hannah
We're big fans of this in our two-person household! It's made a lot easier by the fact that most recipes are make to serve 4 or 6 or 8 to begin with 😂 It's like a built in meal plan for the week. 🌻 Hannah
A well-stocked pantry and freezer are the ultimate life hack. I literally don't have to go shopping for weeks if I am super busy and can just live off my reserves. It is great for a leaner month or if life is just crazy. I also don't think it is necessary to cook every day. I normally spend a couple of hours on the weekend preparing things for the week, prepping things like breakfasts, desserts, snacks and a couple of dump-and-go meals or things like soups and stews that get even better when reheated. When I cook I double or triple many recipes and make extras to freeze or eat as leftovers. Nothing is better than just pulling a homemade lasagne out of the freezer and adding a side. I can buy in bulk and it is barely more work to than just making a single recepy.
Yes! I agree! I will pop into Aldi once a week still to get some fresh fruit and veggies, but I've also been amazed at how there's always WAY more food in the freezer or pantry than I ever think. Just when I'm saying "dang, we don't have anything," I realize we have everything we need for spaghetti and meatballs. Truly bottomless. I'm inspired by your one-and-done meal prep! I want to get better at prepping frozen meals!! 🌻 Hannah
I just renewed my Costco membership after not having it for four years. Shopping at the local grocery stores was just getting too expensive. The freezer and the cupboards are fully stocked, and I still have cash left for groceries in the April budget.
Great video. Two tips that make a difference. If you have an Alexa type product. When you pull that last can of tomato soup off the shelf tell her (Alexa) to add 3 cans of tomato soup. If you have the Alexa app on your phone you now have a running grocery list. Second tip is that I am a big fan of using a YNAB budget for my freezer. There is a lot of discussion on how to set it up. When I pull something out of the freezer I simply tell Alexa to add “stew meat freezer” and can add it to YNAB at my convenience.
Me and my roommate take turns to cook meals everyday. Whoever wakes up early prepares breakfast because it’s easy. Most of the time it’s eggs, sausage and maybe mushrooms and coffee or tea. For the lunch and dinner we buy a lot of meat that is enough for a month. For the veggies it’s just bell peppers, carrots, potatoes and onions. We buy tomato sauces instead of tomatoes because it’s cheaper. We also buy pasta, rice and spaghetti. We just mix and match these ingredients so we don’t eat same thing everyday. For us it comes out to around 150$ each every month. $300 for two people 3 meals per day. Total also includes other needs like shampoo, paper towels and such
HOLY COW! That's a well oiled system right there!! I love the idea of buying only complimentary ingredients so you could mix and match literally any of it. Very smart, and WAY less decision fatigue! I get that a lot when it comes to deciding what to make for dinner :/ 🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial yea people don’t know how easy it is to prepare a meal that way and you can make a very fancy meal following recipes once in a while. Btw, I just want to tell you that I really enjoy your content and YNAB literally saved me thousands plus debt free
Some tips not mentioned: Buy the manager special meat in bulk and freeze. Usually this is heavily discounted 50% off because it is about to expire in a day or 2 but you don't care because you are going to freeze it anyway. When making a recipe find a substitute for an ingredient. If you want to make a recipe but don't have 1 specific ingredient, don't go to the store just to buy just that ingredient. Look up a suitable alternative that can get the job done. For example, let's say your making a vinaigrette but dont have a lemon, white vinegar is a perfectly acceptable substitute because they are both acids. Adapt your recipes to what you have in the kitchen and get creative!
I'm a big fan of alternative ingredients too! The internet can tell you literally any swap you could ever possibly need to make 😂 And the managers special is a new one for me! I gotta try that!! Is that usually in the deli or the meat aisle? 🌻 Hannah
I buy veggies pre-frozen. The food manufacturers are better at preserving the quality than I am at home. Plus, whenever I get fresh corn, it's usually already gone to starch. The stuff in the freezer section of the store was frozen quickly after they picked it, so it's sweeter and less starchy. My meal planning has gotten progressively more complicated, but this was how I started. Go through your fridge, freezer, and pantry, and write down everything that's in them. Make a list of the things you can eat using the ingredients on hand. If you have any lonely ingredients that need buddies in order to get eaten, add what's missing to your grocery list. Now, make and eat your meals from the list you made, and keep rotating through it until you use up your food. If your family will tolerate it, go ahead and eat unusual combinations of dishes, too. It keeps things interesting. If you run out of an ingredient for a recipe, check to see if you can make something else with the other ingredients before you buy more food. For example, if I run out of cheese for my quesadillas, I can use a bit of cinnamon, sugar, and butter to turn the tortillas into a dessert. Now that I'm used to meal planning this way, I regularly buy random ingredients and try to figure out what to do with them afterwards. It makes for a fun challenge, and keeps cooking interesting.
Okay, first of all I love the phrase "lonely ingredients that need buddies". Amazing. But, these are such great tips! My meal planning game has PLUMMETED with welcoming a baby to the family, but he's about to start eating solids (eek!) so it's time to start figuring out our own meals ago since we can have FAMILY DINNERS now. Love the challenge of buying random ingredients to figure out how to incorporate them! Gotta keep that innovative chef-brain SHARP. 🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial Oh, yeah. You just had a baby, so give yourself a break. Rope your partner into doing the meal planning and cooking. Babies are enough work all by themselves. My sister made a spreadsheet where she lists the food sold at fast food restaurants and divides the calories by the price, so she can find the cheapest food on the menu by calories per dollar. This is how she saves money and feeds her very hungry teenage boy when she doesn't have time to cook.
WOW!! Now that's some nerdy work right there-absolutely love that. We're still in the "please, someone, anyone, get me any form of calories RIGHT NOW" phase. Hope to get back to the "multiple fruits and vegetables in a day" approach soon 😅🙃 🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial Oh, no kidding! A fast food milkshake is not a great source of nutrition, but it can be a solution when you need calories quickly. Just sayin'. I thought the folks around here might appreciate a good spreadsheet. Most people think she's nuts.
HA, I literally told myself that yesterday! And ended up with an oreo peanut butter shake from sonic while the baby was FINALLY napping in the car. I was NOT about to wake him any earlier than he needed to be 😅 🌻 Hannah
For people who want something like YNAB but for cooking, I really enjoy using Plan to Eat. Paprika is also great. I love cooking, but I'm also extremely lazy so it's great having emergency fried chicken in the freezer.
I would never have pegged you as an Enneagram 1! 🤯 You've definitely got the healthy path to 7 vibe going on. 👏👏👏 My tip is freezing soups, chili & broth I make in silicone muffin pans. Then I pop them out and put them in a gallon freezer bag. I always have 1/2 cup portions available.
I get that a lot 😂 I think it'd make more sense to people if they got to see how my brain worked on the inside 🙃 But maybe it's time to revisit the enneagram and make sure I'm not using the wrong lens! Little broth cubes is an amazing idea!! Everyone needs more broth in their life. 🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial That's the interesting thing about the enneagram...it's based on our internal workings, not what we show to the world. And levels of health & self-awareness make such a difference in how we come across to others. I'm endlessly fascinated by the enneagram. It has completely changed my life, marriage, and understanding of my family. I'm always exited to hear the types of people I "know" on TH-cam. 🙂
Yes! I think that's why I get that "You?! A one?!" reaction a lot. My husband is a 9 and never did it become so clear I was truly a 1 as when we started dating 😂 Though I truly think I'm a 1w9, so I can understand him and even deal with things similarly at times. I think a lot of the stereotypes given with 1s are actually more of 3 stereotypes at times? But if anyone watched me grow up and get a peek inside my brain, I don't think they'd doubt as much 😂 🌻 Hannah
I have a type 1 family member who is not in a healthy headspace so we all see the critical type 1 stereotype in full force. I think you're just well adjusted & enjoying your fun path to 7. 🙂 I'm a 9 like your hubby so I get a little of 1, though I'm probably more dominant in my 8 wing which can be super complicated inside my head. 🤣
I grew up the fourth out of five siblings, of which we have two 4s, a 5, and a 3. I was always the quiet observant one who took all the notes on how to NOT get in trouble (like mainly my "4" siblings did who actually spoke their minds 😂), and always thought everyone would thrive if they were all just a little more black and white and followed the dang rules. Growing up a biiiit more, I realize that's DEFINITELY not the case and not how life works, so I think I've grown in a ton of huge ways regarding gray area and just flowing with the roller coaster of life! I can actually be quite quiet in a lot of scenarios and am severely cautious when it comes to most everything in life 😂 But TH-cam and YNAB are both such fun, safe places where I can thrive and let out my fun side a little more! Funny how complex we all are when we really start to dig down deep! 🌻 Hannah
i love my slow cooker. throw everything in before i go to work or while i do chores then add instant potatoes or noodles at the end. and the disposable liners make cleanup a breeze
We do NOT take advantage of our slowcooker as much as I want, but my husband keeps nudging that that would be an easy way to have our dinner all ready for us when we get home. Gotta google some tasty recipes! 🌻 Hannah
I like to brown and crumble hamburger with a small can of tomato sauce and fridge/freeze it. It usually goes to tacos or pasta but it works out great for at least 3-4 meals. Similarly, I will par-boil and shred chicken breasts, again freeze or fridge and take out as needed for a meal - also tacos, pasta, or with rice.
If you use a digital assistant like Google assistant. You can say "Hey Google, add ketchup to the shopping list", that way do don't have to stop what you are doing to fine a pen and paper. When you get to the store just ask Google on your phone to "show me my shopping list" and you have your list ready to shop.
Okay, I must find out the iOS equivalent of this. My trouble is I tend to start four different shopping lists before my next shopping trip and end up inevitably missing something. *starts talking to phone...* 🌻 Hannah
I decided to take the More Money Challenge one step further and spend nothing for the entire month of April (excluding bills and saving of course 😂). It's going well so far. Food wise I am diving into the back of the pantry and the bottom of the freezer and getting REEEEEAL creative with the ingredients I already have piled up. Thanks for the great cooking tips, Hannah!
Wowowowowow!! Even food?! You go, dude!! Pantry's can be positively endless. I'm always shocked at the meal I can pull together when I swore we had nothing. Keep it up! Already halfway through!! 🌻 Hannah
Interested to see how that evens out I the first few shops of May. I find when I do this big eat mostly from pantry, I deplete the pantry then end up stocking it back up again. Which costs. So these days I focus on cheap healthy meals overall, not an especially low/absent grocery bill that week.
Yep, the oils in nuts go rancid (just like cooking oils!) Also, veggies that have a high water content don't freeze well. Especially lettuce and delicate greens. Limp, soggy, and totally unpalatable. But root veg like carrots work well (not potatoes, they go black and soupy without preservatives), herbs in oil cubes, and so on do very well. Never did like frozen and thawed milk. It's recommended for mixing only rather than drinking straight, because of the ice crystals breaking down the homogenization somewhat. Avocado is a use immediately situation because it will oxidize faster after a freeze, and certain cheeses don't freeze well supposedly. I don't remember if it was soft vs. hard, or shreds vs. block as far as which ones though. Bread is fine after a short toast or nuke (
We have been using resealable ziplock bags for 15 years (thicker; traveller kit type) - zip them up w/ a pump to suck out the air. I’ve only bought one set of additional bags in that time. Bags (in multi-sizes) washed out just - like Tupperware - and hand dried. Hold almost anything you need to freeze (bar liquid) whether cooked or raw. Couldn’t live without them.
That's a switch I definitely gotta make. We can cruuuuuise through ziplocs taking lunch to work every day, and I know it's just wasted money. You just use Ziplocs and rewash?! 🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial yes indeed, they are special ziploc vacuum bags (like those blanket bag you can suck out with a vacuum cleaner only ‘smaller’). They have a built in valve in addition to the ziplock. The caravan type (grey Nomads) travellers know of them. Usually sold at camping stores or caravan expo events. In the same cooking genre as the insta-pot.
For me, having the right spices make a big difference as well. At places like Walmart and Target, they are often way overpriced. BUT! Trader Joes has an amazing selection of wonderful spices and most of them are $1.99. They will not only make the food you eat taste better, but it is a great way to change the way the foods you already eat have a whole different flavor! Variety! woo!
I usually buy my spices at Aldi (love that place), but they didn't have tarragon or sage, which I needed for a couple recipes. Went to Target to find it and I was like... 😳 The price markups at different grocery stores can be WILD. Good tip! I always assumed Trader Joes was pricier, so glad to know it can save a few bucks!! 🌻 Hannah
I've been cooking for more than 40 years and I NEVER trust the pre & cooking times. It always takes me longer. Even baking times are frequently off depending on the endless variables of ovens. Also my son introduced me to Plan to Eat app - very handy.
😂😂 Those cooking videos or shows where everything just happens to be timed so perfectly and they're somehow running three pots of boiling water while broiling on the top rack AND chopping up four different veggies into specific cuts and sizes. I'm like "how many brains do you have?!?!" Amazing 😂 🌻 Hannah
I didn't know people didn't freeze bread, cheese, and deli meat until my husband's brother saw me do it and looked at me like I was crazy. (my husband was chill, haha, with it, idk why his brother was flabbergasted). My sister's husband also called her a crazy person when she first did it Infront of him. Always freeze so you don't run out of emergency sandwich supplies. I also have energy to cook twice a week. So we make a plan of 12 meals throughout the month. 2 a week to bring to work until the next meal, and as a "whenever we have energy" night.
That's so smart! Gauging your energy levels and what you have to give to cooking can absolutely be what makes it or breaks it, and it sounds like you've learned what you're capable of and are totally crushing the game! Keep it up! 🌻 Hannah
I say look I freezer in grocery store and those foods you can freeze especially look at the premade freezer meals. For mu surgery someone gave me the idea of freezing meals in muffin pans. It eas great because I made soups, meatloaf, etc. If you google muffin sized meals or something there are tons you can make. Plus you can pop out and put in freezer bags then take out what you want to eat.
I have meal planned for literally YEARS - shop every two weeks - and yes FREEZE a lot (your momma is right I have always frozen bread ) it so saves money and everyone knows what's for dinner and what is coming up and keep out of it :) momma of 4 wrestlers - who ate us out of house and home - glenda
I recently discover my preferred frozen pizza ( we’re also partial to thin crust) in a 3 pack at the grocery store. They weren’t next to all the other pizzas, so I never saw them before. They’re abt $1 cheaper per pizza, and now I can just pick up one of those. Our quick meal is a frozen pizza and a salad.
Don't forget a) a crockpot and b) ham hocks. There are certain dishes that really need long slow cooking (like a ham hock) but the result is a) excellent and b) not something you will find in a can. (P.S. yes you can freeze ham hocks. And bacon. And Canadian bacon. Lay bacon strips or Canadian bacon rounds down on plastic wrap, then roll up and stick in the freezer. You can easily peel off what you need)
I feel you. It's hard to start a new habit or dive into a new world. But start slow!! Those 5-ingredient recipes are a real gamechanger for people who aren't the biggest fans of cooking! Simplifies the whole process so much. 🌻 Hannah
A mother in daycare told me she keeps a speadsheet listing foods they buy and the prices. Then they know how much groceries cost when they head to the store. Another friend writes the price of the item on her grocery list. If her grocery limit for the week is $100 she is able to make choices to stay below her limit.
I want to do the same!! I just throw stuff in the cart blindly and it's always like $50 more than I ever could've imagined, despite having the best of intentions 😂 🌻 Hannah
Great video and tips. I always struggle to do meal prepping or cooking with all the ingredients that I don’t have on hand. A glass of wine certainly makes cooking more enjoyable though. 😅 I will have to check out mash up mom as I always shop at Aldis
A glass of wine can make you slightly more creative too 😂 Sometimes, when I feel like we have NO food left, I just tell my husband "I'm sorry if this doesn't turn out well, but I'm just going to try and find something to make with what we have." Never have I ever to this day failed to make up a real and substantial meal out of the "nothing" we had in our fridge and pantry. There's always more than meets the eye! Especially when pasta's involved 😂 🌻 Hannah
Meal planning doesnt have to be for the whole month or even a week - try meal planning just for the next 2 or 3 days. Also cut down on meat try pasta with just vegie sauce or vegie curŕy a couple of meals a week.
All great tips for saving tons of money, and I enthusiastically agree about the meal planning and canned legumes and tuna/salmon, but in all candor, the cheaper and easier the meal, (most of the time) the less healthy it is, even two pasta-based meals a week and I've completely blown my macros, AND many things other than proteins are less than appetizing after freezing, particularly veggies, which is why I completely stopped buying frozen veggies unless they're leafy greens that usually end up in a soup, stew, or pureed in some way. And those sandwiches made for the month??? AWFUL. First of all, cold cuts are SUPER expensive, and I would never feed my children cold cut and cheese with mayo sandwiches for lunch. And one thing I avoid like the plague? Spending ANY amount of time peeling, chopping, slicing, dicing to prep vegetables for freezing!! I would rather spend the time making a delicious double batch soup or chili that actually does freeze well that will give me quick meals throughout the week or month. I also really grew to like simply prepared veggies, like steaming and roasting (an air fryer is a HUGE help and a great investment AND the roasted veggies heat up in it like they're FRESH), and I just throw in a few extra chicken breasts that I can either freeze or turn into chicken salad for lunch the next few days. There are also some excellent frozen entrees that can be used for lunches that are very reasonably priced and at the same time aren't loaded with sodium and miles-long ingredients lists (Amy's, Healthy Choice, Bombay Kitchen, etc., etc.)
My husband and I joked recently that in almost 10 years of marriage, I have gone from needing 3x the time indicated in the recipe to about 2.5. So a "30 minute" recipe only takes me an hour and fifteen minutes now 😅
A bad knife is just so much more of a day dampener than you'd think. I've absolutely annihilated too many tomatoes in my life. We got new knives and a sharpener for our wedding and they're GLORIOUS! A weird oxytocin boost for me 😂🍅 🌻 Hannah
Hannah, in the thumbnail are you holding a metal spatula and a coated non-stick pan? My recommendation for the class: Get yourself a plastic spatula! You'll save on ruined pans!
Cutting up ingredients, then putting the pieces in a mason jar and storing in refrigerator will save you time. If you later want to microwave the items, you uncap and zap.
I precut my veggies all the time for easy snacking later, but I recently learned that some will stay fresher longer if you store them in water, like carrots and celery! 🌻 Hannah
And you can go crazy with different toppings! You can have a variety of toppings prepared so each person can choose their individual toppings! Make extra & a day or two later the same toppings can be toppers for tacos! A big salad with toppings in separate bowls so each person makes their personalized salad. The leftover toppings can go into tomorrow's omelets!
I actually have to confess that my pizza limit was pushed this week. It would maybe be one thing if it was fun, higher quality pizza, but I had frozen pizza for like 5 meals in a row just by chance. I'll give myself a good quick break from it and be back to my normal pizza-guzzling self before I know it! 🌻 Hannah
Michelin stars are an annotation a restaurant gets when their food is top quality. Michelin is a tire company that started giving out these yearly restaurant overviews of restaurants that were allways about 100 kilometers from the place the overview was sold, so the readers would wear out their tires faster…
WAIT... Michelin stars and Michelin tires are actually RELATED?! I always thought, "What an unfortunate coincidence that I a tire company used the same name as a superior restaurant rating system." Oh my gosh, I had no idea. that's kind of hilarious 😂 🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial You got a good chunk of it! We also freeze homemade soups, crockpot sauerkraut, unbaked cookie dough, homemade cinnamon rolls, homemade baked brownies, homemade fudge, butter, smoked meats, half cooked homemade french fries (we double fry), compost food materials (we vermicompost and need to keep a supply on hand), tortillas, and pesto.
Oh yeah, we freeze the unbaked cookie dough 😎 I like to preportion them and flatten them into little cookie rounds so we can just take one out and pop it in the toaster/air fryer for a quick bake 🤤 Also curious about these french fries 🤔🍟 🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial We love that too!! It's so nice to have a fresh baked cookie whenever you want. My husband calls it par boiling and we just added the step of freezing them between turns in the fryer!
Time for a YNAB cookbook
Perfect merch shop addition!
I would love this!
Fair warning, frozen produce (and some of the other things on that list) will often have a very different texture when thawed than fresh produce had. Maybe do a small test batch first to make sure you still like it before freezing it in bulk, especially if you have food related texture issues.
Good tip! I think I've always been afraid to freeze things because I'm afraid what happens to the food during the thawing process. Seems like some foods have some certain guidelines to follow for a better thaw, but I gotta at least try SOME of these! There's so many!!
🌻 Hannah
yeah once my friend froze carrots on accident and when they were thawed they were not good...
I froze pasta last week and it was fine so.... You can freeze almost anything.
My tip: Invest in an InstantPot. I did and it saved on the energy bill a lot and cooking meals became fun and almost automatic. Put it all in. Set the instant pot on and voila - few minutes later: dinner is ready. My by far most favourite book about cooking with the instant pot is "Vegan Richa's Instant Pot Cookbook: 150 Plant-based Recipes from Indian Cuisine and Beyond“ - as all cook books from Richa Hingle are amazing. We use the Instant Pot and the recipes every day literally.
Ooooh!! I do want to invest in an InstantPot-specific cookbook because we have one and we NEVER use it! I'm still slightly scared of it 😂
🌻 Hannah
I love a theme night. Meatless Monday, TexMex Tuesday, We Love It Wednesday (crowd pleaser), Leftovers Thursday, Takeout Friday, Soup and Salad Saturday, Sunday roast (big fancy dinner). Do leftovers night the meal before trash pickup so you can clean out the fridge.
We Love It Wednesday 😂😂 Love the idea of leftover night being before trash pick-up-gives us an excuse to actually question what's STILL residing in our fridge.
🌻 Hannah
ALDI, if you're watching, please come to Northern California or at least the Bay Area. If you build it, they will come!
Literally no bad things to say about Aldi. It's the angel of groceries stores. Best of luck to the northern region of California!! 😇
🌻 Hannah
Also, plan to make more than you need for a dinner and either have it frozen/refrigerated for the next day, or take it for lunch in a day or two.
We're big fans of this in our two-person household! It's made a lot easier by the fact that most recipes are make to serve 4 or 6 or 8 to begin with 😂 It's like a built in meal plan for the week.
🌻 Hannah
A well-stocked pantry and freezer are the ultimate life hack. I literally don't have to go shopping for weeks if I am super busy and can just live off my reserves. It is great for a leaner month or if life is just crazy.
I also don't think it is necessary to cook every day. I normally spend a couple of hours on the weekend preparing things for the week, prepping things like breakfasts, desserts, snacks and a couple of dump-and-go meals or things like soups and stews that get even better when reheated. When I cook I double or triple many recipes and make extras to freeze or eat as leftovers. Nothing is better than just pulling a homemade lasagne out of the freezer and adding a side. I can buy in bulk and it is barely more work to than just making a single recepy.
Yes! I agree! I will pop into Aldi once a week still to get some fresh fruit and veggies, but I've also been amazed at how there's always WAY more food in the freezer or pantry than I ever think. Just when I'm saying "dang, we don't have anything," I realize we have everything we need for spaghetti and meatballs. Truly bottomless.
I'm inspired by your one-and-done meal prep! I want to get better at prepping frozen meals!!
🌻 Hannah
I am 100% with you on the thin vs. thick crust pizza! Thick gets to be too much
If I wanted bread for dinner I would have bread for dinner. GIVE ME THE TOPPINGS.
🌻 Hannah
I just renewed my Costco membership after not having it for four years. Shopping at the local grocery stores was just getting too expensive. The freezer and the cupboards are fully stocked, and I still have cash left for groceries in the April budget.
Great video. Two tips that make a difference. If you have an Alexa type product. When you pull that last can of tomato soup off the shelf tell her (Alexa) to add 3 cans of tomato soup. If you have the Alexa app on your phone you now have a running grocery list.
Second tip is that I am a big fan of using a YNAB budget for my freezer. There is a lot of discussion on how to set it up. When I pull something out of the freezer I simply tell Alexa to add “stew meat freezer” and can add it to YNAB at my convenience.
These tips are killer! I just spend way too much at the grocery store yesterday and I needed this!
YAY! So glad they seem promising. You and me both, man!! Grocery shopping is the most deceptive activity... 💰💰
🌻 Hannah
Me and my roommate take turns to cook meals everyday. Whoever wakes up early prepares breakfast because it’s easy. Most of the time it’s eggs, sausage and maybe mushrooms and coffee or tea. For the lunch and dinner we buy a lot of meat that is enough for a month. For the veggies it’s just bell peppers, carrots, potatoes and onions. We buy tomato sauces instead of tomatoes because it’s cheaper. We also buy pasta, rice and spaghetti. We just mix and match these ingredients so we don’t eat same thing everyday. For us it comes out to around 150$ each every month. $300 for two people 3 meals per day. Total also includes other needs like shampoo, paper towels and such
Plus my roommate cooks bread so that also saves money
HOLY COW! That's a well oiled system right there!! I love the idea of buying only complimentary ingredients so you could mix and match literally any of it. Very smart, and WAY less decision fatigue! I get that a lot when it comes to deciding what to make for dinner :/
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial yea people don’t know how easy it is to prepare a meal that way and you can make a very fancy meal following recipes once in a while.
Btw, I just want to tell you that I really enjoy your content and YNAB literally saved me thousands plus debt free
Oh, thank you so much!! We really enjoy you being here! Way to CRUSH the game!!
🌻 Hannah
Some tips not mentioned:
Buy the manager special meat in bulk and freeze. Usually this is heavily discounted 50% off because it is about to expire in a day or 2 but you don't care because you are going to freeze it anyway.
When making a recipe find a substitute for an ingredient. If you want to make a recipe but don't have 1 specific ingredient, don't go to the store just to buy just that ingredient. Look up a suitable alternative that can get the job done. For example, let's say your making a vinaigrette but dont have a lemon, white vinegar is a perfectly acceptable substitute because they are both acids. Adapt your recipes to what you have in the kitchen and get creative!
I'm a big fan of alternative ingredients too! The internet can tell you literally any swap you could ever possibly need to make 😂 And the managers special is a new one for me! I gotta try that!! Is that usually in the deli or the meat aisle?
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial meat usually but it is kinda dependent on what store you go to(for me it's Vons). Look for a manager special sticker/discount sticker
👀🥩💰
🌻 Hannah
Both times I've bought the discounted meat at my local store it was already spoiled. Very disappointing.
I buy veggies pre-frozen. The food manufacturers are better at preserving the quality than I am at home. Plus, whenever I get fresh corn, it's usually already gone to starch. The stuff in the freezer section of the store was frozen quickly after they picked it, so it's sweeter and less starchy.
My meal planning has gotten progressively more complicated, but this was how I started. Go through your fridge, freezer, and pantry, and write down everything that's in them. Make a list of the things you can eat using the ingredients on hand. If you have any lonely ingredients that need buddies in order to get eaten, add what's missing to your grocery list. Now, make and eat your meals from the list you made, and keep rotating through it until you use up your food. If your family will tolerate it, go ahead and eat unusual combinations of dishes, too. It keeps things interesting. If you run out of an ingredient for a recipe, check to see if you can make something else with the other ingredients before you buy more food. For example, if I run out of cheese for my quesadillas, I can use a bit of cinnamon, sugar, and butter to turn the tortillas into a dessert.
Now that I'm used to meal planning this way, I regularly buy random ingredients and try to figure out what to do with them afterwards. It makes for a fun challenge, and keeps cooking interesting.
Okay, first of all I love the phrase "lonely ingredients that need buddies". Amazing.
But, these are such great tips! My meal planning game has PLUMMETED with welcoming a baby to the family, but he's about to start eating solids (eek!) so it's time to start figuring out our own meals ago since we can have FAMILY DINNERS now.
Love the challenge of buying random ingredients to figure out how to incorporate them! Gotta keep that innovative chef-brain SHARP.
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial Oh, yeah. You just had a baby, so give yourself a break. Rope your partner into doing the meal planning and cooking. Babies are enough work all by themselves.
My sister made a spreadsheet where she lists the food sold at fast food restaurants and divides the calories by the price, so she can find the cheapest food on the menu by calories per dollar. This is how she saves money and feeds her very hungry teenage boy when she doesn't have time to cook.
WOW!! Now that's some nerdy work right there-absolutely love that. We're still in the "please, someone, anyone, get me any form of calories RIGHT NOW" phase. Hope to get back to the "multiple fruits and vegetables in a day" approach soon 😅🙃
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial Oh, no kidding! A fast food milkshake is not a great source of nutrition, but it can be a solution when you need calories quickly. Just sayin'.
I thought the folks around here might appreciate a good spreadsheet. Most people think she's nuts.
HA, I literally told myself that yesterday! And ended up with an oreo peanut butter shake from sonic while the baby was FINALLY napping in the car. I was NOT about to wake him any earlier than he needed to be 😅
🌻 Hannah
For people who want something like YNAB but for cooking, I really enjoy using Plan to Eat. Paprika is also great. I love cooking, but I'm also extremely lazy so it's great having emergency fried chicken in the freezer.
Love PTE!
I'll have to check these out!
Yes!! Many of us here at YNAB are big fans of Plan to Eat!! It's like budgeting but for your food. A great pair!!
🌻 Hannah
I would never have pegged you as an Enneagram 1! 🤯 You've definitely got the healthy path to 7 vibe going on. 👏👏👏
My tip is freezing soups, chili & broth I make in silicone muffin pans. Then I pop them out and put them in a gallon freezer bag. I always have 1/2 cup portions available.
I get that a lot 😂 I think it'd make more sense to people if they got to see how my brain worked on the inside 🙃 But maybe it's time to revisit the enneagram and make sure I'm not using the wrong lens!
Little broth cubes is an amazing idea!! Everyone needs more broth in their life.
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial That's the interesting thing about the enneagram...it's based on our internal workings, not what we show to the world. And levels of health & self-awareness make such a difference in how we come across to others. I'm endlessly fascinated by the enneagram. It has completely changed my life, marriage, and understanding of my family. I'm always exited to hear the types of people I "know" on TH-cam. 🙂
Yes! I think that's why I get that "You?! A one?!" reaction a lot. My husband is a 9 and never did it become so clear I was truly a 1 as when we started dating 😂 Though I truly think I'm a 1w9, so I can understand him and even deal with things similarly at times. I think a lot of the stereotypes given with 1s are actually more of 3 stereotypes at times? But if anyone watched me grow up and get a peek inside my brain, I don't think they'd doubt as much 😂
🌻 Hannah
I have a type 1 family member who is not in a healthy headspace so we all see the critical type 1 stereotype in full force. I think you're just well adjusted & enjoying your fun path to 7. 🙂 I'm a 9 like your hubby so I get a little of 1, though I'm probably more dominant in my 8 wing which can be super complicated inside my head. 🤣
I grew up the fourth out of five siblings, of which we have two 4s, a 5, and a 3. I was always the quiet observant one who took all the notes on how to NOT get in trouble (like mainly my "4" siblings did who actually spoke their minds 😂), and always thought everyone would thrive if they were all just a little more black and white and followed the dang rules. Growing up a biiiit more, I realize that's DEFINITELY not the case and not how life works, so I think I've grown in a ton of huge ways regarding gray area and just flowing with the roller coaster of life! I can actually be quite quiet in a lot of scenarios and am severely cautious when it comes to most everything in life 😂 But TH-cam and YNAB are both such fun, safe places where I can thrive and let out my fun side a little more! Funny how complex we all are when we really start to dig down deep!
🌻 Hannah
i love my slow cooker. throw everything in before i go to work or while i do chores then add instant potatoes or noodles at the end. and the disposable liners make cleanup a breeze
We do NOT take advantage of our slowcooker as much as I want, but my husband keeps nudging that that would be an easy way to have our dinner all ready for us when we get home. Gotta google some tasty recipes!
🌻 Hannah
I like to brown and crumble hamburger with a small can of tomato sauce and fridge/freeze it. It usually goes to tacos or pasta but it works out great for at least 3-4 meals. Similarly, I will par-boil and shred chicken breasts, again freeze or fridge and take out as needed for a meal - also tacos, pasta, or with rice.
We're so bad at eating enough meat in our house. This is encouraging!
🌻 Hannah
Thank you for all the tips, so helpful! I prefer a thin crust because it's crispier.
If you use a digital assistant like Google assistant. You can say "Hey Google, add ketchup to the shopping list", that way do don't have to stop what you are doing to fine a pen and paper. When you get to the store just ask Google on your phone to "show me my shopping list" and you have your list ready to shop.
Okay, I must find out the iOS equivalent of this. My trouble is I tend to start four different shopping lists before my next shopping trip and end up inevitably missing something. *starts talking to phone...*
🌻 Hannah
Oooh, reading 👀
🌻 Hannah
I decided to take the More Money Challenge one step further and spend nothing for the entire month of April (excluding bills and saving of course 😂).
It's going well so far. Food wise I am diving into the back of the pantry and the bottom of the freezer and getting REEEEEAL creative with the ingredients I already have piled up.
Thanks for the great cooking tips, Hannah!
Wowowowowow!! Even food?! You go, dude!! Pantry's can be positively endless. I'm always shocked at the meal I can pull together when I swore we had nothing. Keep it up! Already halfway through!!
🌻 Hannah
Interested to see how that evens out I the first few shops of May. I find when I do this big eat mostly from pantry, I deplete the pantry then end up stocking it back up again. Which costs.
So these days I focus on cheap healthy meals overall, not an especially low/absent grocery bill that week.
“Moisturizer” on the sandwich! Hilarious ! 😂
🥴🙃
🌻 Hannah
Yep, the oils in nuts go rancid (just like cooking oils!) Also, veggies that have a high water content don't freeze well. Especially lettuce and delicate greens. Limp, soggy, and totally unpalatable. But root veg like carrots work well (not potatoes, they go black and soupy without preservatives), herbs in oil cubes, and so on do very well.
Never did like frozen and thawed milk. It's recommended for mixing only rather than drinking straight, because of the ice crystals breaking down the homogenization somewhat.
Avocado is a use immediately situation because it will oxidize faster after a freeze, and certain cheeses don't freeze well supposedly. I don't remember if it was soft vs. hard, or shreds vs. block as far as which ones though.
Bread is fine after a short toast or nuke (
Oh, and Michelin stars are gourmet rankings. The kind of place that doesn't put prices on the menu and you have to wear fancy dress.
My freezer is my BIGGEST money saver. I always have something in there. I buy sales and freeze almost everything.
Sounds like if anything you need a bigger freezer, then! 😂
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial I have 2 stand up freezers
WOW! Amazing. Dinner for dayyys.
🌻 Hannah
We have been using resealable ziplock bags for 15 years (thicker; traveller kit type) - zip them up w/ a pump to suck out the air.
I’ve only bought one set of additional bags in that time.
Bags (in multi-sizes) washed out just - like Tupperware - and hand dried.
Hold almost anything you need to freeze (bar liquid) whether cooked or raw.
Couldn’t live without them.
That's a switch I definitely gotta make. We can cruuuuuise through ziplocs taking lunch to work every day, and I know it's just wasted money. You just use Ziplocs and rewash?!
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial yes indeed, they are special ziploc vacuum bags (like those blanket bag you can suck out with a vacuum cleaner only ‘smaller’). They have a built in valve in addition to the ziplock.
The caravan type (grey Nomads) travellers know of them. Usually sold at camping stores or caravan expo events. In the same cooking genre as the insta-pot.
Very cool!! Didn't realize they made those on such a small scale! Very smart investment.
🌻 Hannah
For me, having the right spices make a big difference as well. At places like Walmart and Target, they are often way overpriced. BUT! Trader Joes has an amazing selection of wonderful spices and most of them are $1.99. They will not only make the food you eat taste better, but it is a great way to change the way the foods you already eat have a whole different flavor! Variety! woo!
I usually buy my spices at Aldi (love that place), but they didn't have tarragon or sage, which I needed for a couple recipes. Went to Target to find it and I was like... 😳 The price markups at different grocery stores can be WILD. Good tip! I always assumed Trader Joes was pricier, so glad to know it can save a few bucks!!
🌻 Hannah
I've been cooking for more than 40 years and I NEVER trust the pre & cooking times. It always takes me longer. Even baking times are frequently off depending on the endless variables of ovens. Also my son introduced me to Plan to Eat app - very handy.
😂😂 Those cooking videos or shows where everything just happens to be timed so perfectly and they're somehow running three pots of boiling water while broiling on the top rack AND chopping up four different veggies into specific cuts and sizes. I'm like "how many brains do you have?!?!" Amazing 😂
🌻 Hannah
I didn't know people didn't freeze bread, cheese, and deli meat until my husband's brother saw me do it and looked at me like I was crazy. (my husband was chill, haha, with it, idk why his brother was flabbergasted). My sister's husband also called her a crazy person when she first did it Infront of him.
Always freeze so you don't run out of emergency sandwich supplies.
I also have energy to cook twice a week. So we make a plan of 12 meals throughout the month. 2 a week to bring to work until the next meal, and as a "whenever we have energy" night.
That's so smart! Gauging your energy levels and what you have to give to cooking can absolutely be what makes it or breaks it, and it sounds like you've learned what you're capable of and are totally crushing the game! Keep it up!
🌻 Hannah
I say look I freezer in grocery store and those foods you can freeze especially look at the premade freezer meals. For mu surgery someone gave me the idea of freezing meals in muffin pans. It eas great because I made soups, meatloaf, etc. If you google muffin sized meals or something there are tons you can make. Plus you can pop out and put in freezer bags then take out what you want to eat.
Muffin sized meals?!?! This is a whole new world to me!! Google, here I come!!
🌻 Hannah
I have meal planned for literally YEARS - shop every two weeks - and yes FREEZE a lot (your momma is right I have always frozen bread ) it so saves money and everyone knows what's for dinner and what is coming up and keep out of it :) momma of 4 wrestlers - who ate us out of house and home - glenda
Oh my gosh, I can't IMAGINE feeding four teenage boys!! Sounds like a game plan was NEEDED and so glad y'all found your groove!!
🌻 Hannah
I recently discover my preferred frozen pizza ( we’re also partial to thin crust) in a 3 pack at the grocery store. They weren’t next to all the other pizzas, so I never saw them before. They’re abt $1 cheaper per pizza, and now I can just pick up one of those. Our quick meal is a frozen pizza and a salad.
I've never heard of a 3pk for pizzas?! What's the brand??
🌻 Hannah
This is great and I love watching this lady :) she is so quirky
Don't forget a) a crockpot and b) ham hocks. There are certain dishes that really need long slow cooking (like a ham hock) but the result is a) excellent and b) not something you will find in a can. (P.S. yes you can freeze ham hocks. And bacon. And Canadian bacon. Lay bacon strips or Canadian bacon rounds down on plastic wrap, then roll up and stick in the freezer. You can easily peel off what you need)
Googling "ham hocks"...
🌻 Hannah
GREAT video!!
Man I really need to do this. I hate cooking but I eat the same things nearly every day.
I feel you. It's hard to start a new habit or dive into a new world. But start slow!! Those 5-ingredient recipes are a real gamechanger for people who aren't the biggest fans of cooking! Simplifies the whole process so much.
🌻 Hannah
A mother in daycare told me she keeps a speadsheet listing foods they buy and the prices. Then they know how much groceries cost when they head to the store. Another friend writes the price of the item on her grocery list. If her grocery limit for the week is $100 she is able to make choices to stay below her limit.
I want to do the same!! I just throw stuff in the cart blindly and it's always like $50 more than I ever could've imagined, despite having the best of intentions 😂
🌻 Hannah
Great video and tips. I always struggle to do meal prepping or cooking with all the ingredients that I don’t have on hand. A glass of wine certainly makes cooking more enjoyable though. 😅 I will have to check out mash up mom as I always shop at Aldis
A glass of wine can make you slightly more creative too 😂 Sometimes, when I feel like we have NO food left, I just tell my husband "I'm sorry if this doesn't turn out well, but I'm just going to try and find something to make with what we have." Never have I ever to this day failed to make up a real and substantial meal out of the "nothing" we had in our fridge and pantry. There's always more than meets the eye! Especially when pasta's involved 😂
🌻 Hannah
Meal planning doesnt have to be for the whole month or even a week - try meal planning just for the next 2 or 3 days. Also cut down on meat try pasta with just vegie sauce or vegie curŕy a couple of meals a week.
All great tips for saving tons of money, and I enthusiastically agree about the meal planning and canned legumes and tuna/salmon, but in all candor, the cheaper and easier the meal, (most of the time) the less healthy it is, even two pasta-based meals a week and I've completely blown my macros, AND many things other than proteins are less than appetizing after freezing, particularly veggies, which is why I completely stopped buying frozen veggies unless they're leafy greens that usually end up in a soup, stew, or pureed in some way. And those sandwiches made for the month??? AWFUL. First of all, cold cuts are SUPER expensive, and I would never feed my children cold cut and cheese with mayo sandwiches for lunch. And one thing I avoid like the plague? Spending ANY amount of time peeling, chopping, slicing, dicing to prep vegetables for freezing!! I would rather spend the time making a delicious double batch soup or chili that actually does freeze well that will give me quick meals throughout the week or month. I also really grew to like simply prepared veggies, like steaming and roasting (an air fryer is a HUGE help and a great investment AND the roasted veggies heat up in it like they're FRESH), and I just throw in a few extra chicken breasts that I can either freeze or turn into chicken salad for lunch the next few days. There are also some excellent frozen entrees that can be used for lunches that are very reasonably priced and at the same time aren't loaded with sodium and miles-long ingredients lists (Amy's, Healthy Choice, Bombay Kitchen, etc., etc.)
My husband and I joked recently that in almost 10 years of marriage, I have gone from needing 3x the time indicated in the recipe to about 2.5. So a "30 minute" recipe only takes me an hour and fifteen minutes now 😅
It's baby steps, Katie! Baby steps!! 😂
🌻 Hannah
Tip for the home kitchen: Buy a good knife and means to keep it sharp! 😄
A bad knife is just so much more of a day dampener than you'd think. I've absolutely annihilated too many tomatoes in my life. We got new knives and a sharpener for our wedding and they're GLORIOUS! A weird oxytocin boost for me 😂🍅
🌻 Hannah
Hannah, in the thumbnail are you holding a metal spatula and a coated non-stick pan? My recommendation for the class: Get yourself a plastic spatula! You'll save on ruined pans!
😂 It was all I had at the time! We use all plastic at home, never fear!!
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial Oh thank goodness you replied! I've been worried about you guys for weeks 😜
I am now adding “moistener” to my vocabulary
🥴😂🙃
🌻 Hannah
Cutting up ingredients, then putting the pieces in a mason jar and storing in refrigerator will save you time. If you later want to microwave the items, you uncap and zap.
I precut my veggies all the time for easy snacking later, but I recently learned that some will stay fresher longer if you store them in water, like carrots and celery!
🌻 Hannah
These videos should be called Wise Words With Hannah. Great advice, thank you! 👩🍳🧑🍳
🥰🥰 Thank you! This is a collection of tips from MANY of us here at YNAB, I just get the joy of presenting them to y'all!!
🌻 Hannah
Baked potatoes are my favorite quick meal. Pop it in the oven and BAM!
How have I never even thought of that. Dang.
🌻 Hannah
And you can go crazy with different toppings! You can have a variety of toppings prepared so each person can choose their individual toppings! Make extra & a day or two later the same toppings can be toppers for tacos! A big salad with toppings in separate bowls so each person makes their personalized salad. The leftover toppings can go into tomorrow's omelets!
@@sherrydiddle dang, that's amazing versatility! Thanks for sharing!
Yeah wow, what just happened here, my mind is blown. So efficient!!
🌻 Hannah
Great tips, Hannah! P.S. You can also freeze butter (say wha?)
...
🤯🤯🤯
🌻 Hannah
"Whoa, we get tired of pizza really easily" - said no one ever!
I actually have to confess that my pizza limit was pushed this week. It would maybe be one thing if it was fun, higher quality pizza, but I had frozen pizza for like 5 meals in a row just by chance. I'll give myself a good quick break from it and be back to my normal pizza-guzzling self before I know it!
🌻 Hannah
“ a moistener “ hahahaha
You can also save BIG money at Menards.
My husbands favorite song. 🎶
🌻 Hannah
My GF hates bread and eggs, which makes it harder for me hahaha
Rice. Cooker. 🙌
There is a 100% chance that we eat cereal for dinner sometimes. Not even sorry. It’s my favorite food.
Same. Lately it's been Honey Nut Cheerios for me. 🤤
🌻 Hannah
Michelin stars are an annotation a restaurant gets when their food is top quality. Michelin is a tire company that started giving out these yearly restaurant overviews of restaurants that were allways about 100 kilometers from the place the overview was sold, so the readers would wear out their tires faster…
WAIT... Michelin stars and Michelin tires are actually RELATED?! I always thought, "What an unfortunate coincidence that I a tire company used the same name as a superior restaurant rating system." Oh my gosh, I had no idea. that's kind of hilarious 😂
🌻 Hannah
❤❤
👋👋👋👋👋👋
Blud she can't cook for a dog, and she's making millions while real chefs can't afford rent with a roommate
Omg Hannah. We have been down that rabbit hole of things you can freeze since getting a Costco membership 1.5 years ago 🤣🫠
You gotta fill me in!! What other goods did I miss?!
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial You got a good chunk of it! We also freeze homemade soups, crockpot sauerkraut, unbaked cookie dough, homemade cinnamon rolls, homemade baked brownies, homemade fudge, butter, smoked meats, half cooked homemade french fries (we double fry), compost food materials (we vermicompost and need to keep a supply on hand), tortillas, and pesto.
Oh yeah, we freeze the unbaked cookie dough 😎 I like to preportion them and flatten them into little cookie rounds so we can just take one out and pop it in the toaster/air fryer for a quick bake 🤤
Also curious about these french fries 🤔🍟
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial We love that too!! It's so nice to have a fresh baked cookie whenever you want.
My husband calls it par boiling and we just added the step of freezing them between turns in the fryer!