I live in Alabama but if I lived in Tennessee I'd be begging to come to yals house for supper Every night!! You make cooking look so easy!!! Thank You for Not putting on airs, but just being yourself and including your family makes your show a special delight to watch! You are a good teacher, explaining it all as you cook! I watch carefully and record to go back to make a certain dish! Thank YOU!! May GOD continue blessing you and your family, and your important show! Merry Christmas and Peace to each of you Again, Thank YOU for making such an enjoyable cooking show!! You really do make a difference!! Thank YOU!!
I wanted to throw in a “cooking hack” that’s probably really basic but I like it 😅 I keep a case of small V8 cans on hand. They’re great to add into a broth, or even to reheat something like a lasagna that may have gotten a little dry but you don’t want to open a whole can of tomato sauce or water down the flavours. They are just super handy for all sorts of uses!
I grew up in Japan & lots of people also struggle with making meals go further. Cheap Japanese fried rice: use left over rice or fresh, add left over pork or chicken diced. Slightly stir fry to reheat. Move all to the side & cook fresh eggs. Once the eggs are done add some soy sauce or teri & mix. ! Now you have fried rice for a lot of people. You can add frozen peas or any other veggies 😋 Done ✔
I totally wish you would make a cookbook with not just your good recipes but the inexpensive recipes that your subscribers sent in to you. We are all about to be trying to survive on cheap meals and having these ideas of what to fix would help me to feed my family. Tonight we had the simple buttered spaghetti and green bean dish. Cheap meal and filled us up. Thx
If you have leftover ham or find a ham steak on sale. Brown your ham on saute in the electric pressure cooker. Add some diced onion, then cubed or quartered potatoes . Cover with chicken broth or chicken bouillon with water. Put 2 cans of drained green beans on top. Pressure cook for 10 min. Do a natural release. Add salt, pepper, any other seasonings you like and a couple pats of butter. It should be thick like a stew.
I really enjoy watching you. You are real. So many are fake and fancy. I love it that you bring your family in this too.I have made a few of your meals that are for the crockpot . I live alone and do not like to cook for one so the one pot meals are great . Keep it real and I will keep watching. Thanks
4 of us are in the middle of a $40 grocery budget for family of 4 for 5 days. Mine came to $39.04. We will see if it's possible in North Mississippi. You inspired us to try it. 🙂
You can do it! Not too many years ago I shopped for 4 on a $30 budget. Lots of minimum budget recipes under my belt, thanks to my grandmothers. You may be able to get some inspiration from Depression Era recipes and Appalachian recipes.
Have you tried Prison Pad Thai? Lazy meal but so delicious. Cook a package of ramen according to directions. Add seasoning while cooking. Drain water Add 1/4 cup peanut butter 2 tbsp hot sauce Few drops of soy sauce Can be dressed up however you want. I put dehydrated vegetables in while boiling and throw peanuts on top.
I make breaded tomatoes. Take one can of tomatoes, heat. Toast and butter one or two pieces of bread. Cube the toast and add to tomatoes. Add a pinch of baking soda to counter act the acidity of the tomatoes. If you add too much soda, the tomatoes will taste like baking soda. Add some cream and bring up to a simmer. You can you use cream, whole milk or evaporated milk. I like my breaded tomatoes to be sweet so I add a bit of sugar.
We make homemade CORN BEEF HASH. Cheap and feeds the fam a hot meal. Fry onions and potatoes in a large skillet enough for your size family, then add ONE can of Cornbeef "not hash" but just a plain can of Cornbeef. Oil salt and pepper to taste. We use 2 cans of beef because we love this stuff. My guys love to eat with ketchup on the side. It's so good the next morning with scrambled eggs.
If your family likes the canned corned beef, saute up a pan full of cabbage and onions until tender, scoop a hole in the middle put the corned beef in and warm it up ... spread it around, Stir It Up, and they'll eat it up like crazy. It is soooo good with some buttered bread on the side. My mom used to do this when I was a little girl, (we had very little $$) and I still love it from time to time myself. Now if only cabbage didn't cost almost as much now as the can of corned beef, we could all do it all the time. Haha
Cheese and sour cream are SO good together. I use to pound steak super thin. Then slice up bell peppers and onions and roll a handful of the veggies up in the steak. I seared the outside then baked it until it was done like I wanted. Then mixed shredded cheese with sour cream to top it. SO good.
started watching your vids recently and even if your voice and accent didnt give away a southern woman ...your "measuring" method does ...love it ...keep up the awesome work.
The mac n cheese one is a staple in our house. We call it Taco Skillet and top it with crushed tortilla chips, shredded lettuce, sour cream, cheese, tomato, etc. The pizza pasta looked delicious 😋
56 years ago we use to make butter pasta of your choice add a little olive oil and also add Parma cheese the kind in the shaker carton. Yummy if course you can add meat or sea food but being poor we ate with no meat.
While in college my husband existed on butter noodles with the green top Parmesan cheese. I would cook lentils potato and onion together with what ever spices I had on hand. I’d add a bit of cream cheese or sour cream to the bowl to make it creamy. Now I’d use coconut milk. I also made shell pasta with white beans onion, tomatoes (chopped from a can) garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Top with parm cheese.
Believe me, I know that this video is months old at this point, but a huge go to budget friendly meal that I make for my kids and myself is leg quarters marinated in Italian dressing, usually the zesty one is the best, and then I bake it 350° for at least 45 minutes (make sure all that Italian dressing goodness goes in the pan when cooking it as well, it’s tasty to dip the chicken after it’s cooked), until the chicken is done, and then I make a side of broccoli and Knorr noodles/rice of some sort
My favorite meal is 2 ingredients ....I notice your husband is a hunter ...we would get cubed deer steak and cook on the stove .... then pour Campbell's Beefy Mushroom over the the deer, let it simmer.... serve over rice or mashed potatoes. ...it is YUMMY !!!!!!
When I was growing up my dad would cook hamburger meat, white rice and French style green beans. All he used was salt pepper butter and Worsterchire. It was one of my fave things growing up. Never knew it was a struggle meal until I grew up. Still love it! Love these videos, they are so helpful ❤️
I'm 63 I remember telling my best friend to feed her kids buttered noodles. Better that then empty tummies. Food pantries were a joke in my day. Wahlburgers kids talking about commodity cheese now that was the bomb! My kids will a test to that to this day! No selling to China USA!
I will have to try these. My go-to budget meal was a package of store-brand mac and cheese, made with half the butter and a little extra milk, and a can of store brand tuna. If I had them, I'd add a handful of peas and carrots to the pasta while cooking. This meal got us through struggle times quite often. (TH-cam/internet wasn't around then. Wish it had been😔)
The spaghetti and green beans I made with frozen peas and carrots and a little parmesan cheese. And I have to try the last one the pizza pasta that sounds awesome.
Our favorite budget friendly dessert is Brownie pie. Box of Brownies Box of chocolate pudding 8oz cool whip Bake Brownies by directions on box in a pie dish (I adjust baking time since it's thicker). Let cool. Make pudding, once pudding is set Mix 1/2 of the cool whip with it. Hollow out the center of bownies making a Brownie pie crust. Crumble the Brownie pieces and add about 3/4 to the pudding mix (sometimes I add 1/2 and let the kids snack on the extra Brownie pieces). Fill the pie dish with pudding/Brownie mix (I always have extra and just put it in the fridge for a snack all on its own). Top with spoonfuls of the other 1/2 of coolwhip and swirl in with a knife and sprinkle extra Brownie pieces on top. I've also also doubled and made in a casserole dish for pot lucks. 😋
I'm the kind of person that loves to see people enjoying the food I cook, your reactions are priceless. Thanks for sharing some more great and frugal meals! -Lisa
I have a tried and true recipe I have o using for 21 years.. Simple..1pounf of hamburger meat, elbow noodles and 1can of cream of mushroom soup.. Brown hamburger meat,boil noodles and mix both with soup and a can of milk.. Yumm
A struggle meal I made that became a favorite: Box of pasta (macaroni, shells, any pasta other than noodles) cooked and cooled to room temp, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables cooked (I cook them in with the pasta; you can also use left over or canned vegetables), add mayo to taste, a splash or two of Italian dressing (or a couple splashes of lemon juice), a can of tuna or canned chicken (two if you have them) or just left over shredded chicken, mix together, salt and pepper to taste. So cheap, had plenty, and now it's a staple.
I have 6 kids and when my husband was in nursing school we were SO broke! Our favorite meals that were cheap and kept us full were: Tomato soup (feeds 8) 1 can Hunts spaghetti sauce ($1) 1 can evaporated milk ($.80) 1 bag Mexican pasta from ethnic isle($.47) Add 3 cans water and noodles directly to sauce and cook for 5 min. Chili Mac 3 box Mac n cheese 1 can chili no beans 1 can diced tomatoes if you have it These also are great for camping or bug out bags as they need no electricity!!! ENJOY!!!!!! 😊
I make a super easy chicken tortilla soup. A can of black beans (I drain and rinse mine but I don’t think you have to) a can of corn, a can of diced tomatoes not drained, 1 lb chicken, 2-4 cups of chicken broth depending how soupy you like it. I season it with, salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, chili powder, cumin, paprika and a little cayenne powder. We like to top it with cheese and sour cream if we have it and eat it with tortilla chips or scoops if it’s in the budget to buy or make.
That recipe sounds good. If you have an Aldis near you, try their version of Scoops, called Big Dipper's. They are actually as good if not better than the expensive ones. Under $2 a bag. Have just the right amount of salt. Yum!
I have added to my mac & cheese hotdogs cut up spam cut up broccoli chicken mushrooms you can pretty much add a lot of different things to mac & cheese to dress it up I’ve even put on pulled pork in it
this recipe is a hit every time i make it and uses a left over, pasta, some grated cheese and a can of heavy cream. When you make ragu sauce just with hamburger and sauce/spices make a little bit extra (about 1 cup for 4-5 people). all it takes is to add a 8 oz can tomato sauce to the pot when making it. I store it in a jar in the fridge i vacuum seal. Lasts a week plus. Just cook your pasta, drain it, put it back in the pot, dump the ragu, the heavy cream and grated cheese at taste. Mix it up until the cheese melts and done. It is to die for. it is called "pasta pasticciata". An Italian recipe to save left overs!
The first recipe sort of reminded me of a recipe my mom and dad loved. We were lower middle class and when things got really tight Mom would make noodles and put a can of crushed tomatoes in it with butter and garlic sauce.. I did not like it but they both loved it
This sounds similar to a "no cook" sauce recipe I had years ago (and have since lost, but it was just a simple recipe) of tomatoes, garlic, melted butter quickly chopped into a blender or food processor. It always tasted so refreshing with the aroma of the garlic and the freshness of produce tomatoes.
My parents did something like that with crackers instead of noodles... just crushed crackers a can of diced tomatoes salt and pepper and mix. I loved it so much I used to eat it as a snack😂
My cheap meal is smothered potatoes and onions. I put a little ketchup on the side. My husband’s cheap meals he still eats is canned pinto beans and rice, and ramen noodles with left over meat. When I decided to stay home with my daughter, we down to one income. He ate for lunch two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for TWO years. We actually saved money because he didn’t eat lunch out.
They are all great recipes. The rice a roni I am going to add some frozen corn,frozen peas and shredded carrots. I am going to write these down in my recipe cookbook. It’s great to have options. Happy cooking everyone.
I've added 1 LB breakfast sausage in it while browning the rice mix and then finish it off with box directions and adding the veg.. I really like it that way.
I bet this would be even more incredible with some colored bell peppers and onion. That looked fantastic. Maybe not a struggle meal since it had plenty of meat, but definitely budget friendly.
I used to take a half pound of ground beef or turkey, with some onion. Then I made up a box of au gratin potatoes. Before putting in oven . I added the drained ground meat, a 1/4 cup of frozen peas and half a can of drained mushroom pieces. Bake as directed until top is golden brown. Fed 4 of us plus leftovers for lunch the next day. I also doubled the recipe for church potlucks. Nothing to bring back home.
I used to make garlic buttered egg noodles with broccoli for my kids when they were young and went through their not liking meat phase. It's good and cheap too lol I still make mac and cheese with hamburger but instead of salsa I just add a caramelized onion and serve it with a salad for dinner. Cheep,easy and yummy! I used to make.that pizza pasta too but it gave everyone heart burn for some reason. We did love the taste tho
You are awesome. I take a package of ramen noodles and add a bag of broccoli Soy sauce and it already has seasoning in it. If you want to add some canned chicken or leftovers
Next time sausage goes on sale, I'm excited to try your cousin's pizza pasta...sounds yummy! Bonus....I have pepperoni in the pantry! All these recipes, and the ones from your last video like this are wonderful ideas! One of my favorite struggle meals is a box of Mac and cheese, make as directed, then mix in 1/3 cup sour cream, shake in some onion powder and a little garlic powder. I might serve it with Spacon...rhymes with bacon...slice Spam as thin as possible and cook until crispy like bacon...yum! Anyway...excellent videos! So much fun and inspiring ways to stretch the tight budget ! 🙂💜
Buck and a quarter store near us has gnocchi for 1.25 / pound package. I stir fry it with a bit of butter or what have you, until browned. Serve it with green beans ( frozen from our garden) Very good….probably costs about $2.25 for 4-5 servings.
So, I love my electric pressure cooker/airfryer. Several months ago, I put a trivet in the bottom with a cup of water. I well seasoned 10lbs of chicken leg quarters, with a combination of a chicken & a poultry seasonings. I pressure cooked it for the allotted time and when it was done, the broth/juices left in the pot, after removing the chicken was amazing. I had a lot of elbow macaroni on hand, so I put enough pasta in the pot until it was just under the surface of the broth/juices. (There was alot of broth/juices and it made way more pasta than we could eat in time, so after that 1st time I started freezing 1/2 to use at a later date.) My 3yr old great-granddaughter loves mac & cheese which she calls ronicheese, so we call this Chicken Roni. Often times I'll measure the broth/juices to make rice after, which is part of why I am commenting on ty his video. I airfryed a beef roast, on a trivet, that was well seasoned and thought to maybe make the pastaw/green beans dish for a side. We really like cut green beans and we usually us a 28oz can or 2 15oz cans, but I've had a single can of French cut green beans. I thought would be the best way to stretch it the green beans was to use it with the noodles. As the beef roast was air frying I wonder if I could deglaze the drippings in the bottom. I add 1 1/4cup water, 1 cup rice, some beef bouillon a granulated garlic and switched to the pressure cooker lid and made the rice. (Just in case the rice didn't turn out well, I boiled some spaghetti noodles that I could use tomorrow for a Lo Mein. 🤗) When the flavor on the rice turned out ok, I added the drained French Cut Green Beans and put the lid back on just long enough to heat the beans in the rice. It was a hit with my hubby and picky 15yr old grandson. Keep up the good work on sharing and I totally get word vomit (I think it was in a separate video about why you don't have sponers.), look at the length of my comment 🤣😂🤣 If they watch your videos they get you and maybe one of them will contact you though email. I believe in you ♡♡♡
Brooke, I know you're a canner so probably can pinto's. I season my beans with chili powder, onion, garlic powder, cumin before canning dry beans. They are wonderful for many dishes but a very simple, cheap, meal is beans, meat, and cheese. Fry 1/2-1 lb. of hamburger season as desired, add a quart or 2 of pinto's and cook until thickened. Sprinkle cheese over the top and allow to melt. Enjoy. It's plain but rib sticking meal. Added cornbread makes it even better. Really enjoy these videos. I would love to see more. It's like a huge recipe book from all over. I've been doing your $5 challenge for a couple months now. It's amazing what I've accumulated! Thanks!
Here's a easy one pot meal. Cut potatoes for your family and a1 onion. Put in the bottom of the Dutch oven salt pepper and sprinkle a good amount of oregano on top. Cover the potatoes with water. Place raw Italian sausage on top of potatoes. Cover and cook on stove top for 45 min or put in slow cooker on low for 2 hours. Enjoy. A simple salad on the side dinner done.
I make Raman noodles gravy over instant mashed taters. Make a slurry of milk and flour or water and flour like you would for gravy. Bring water to boil. Add noodles and boil for 1 1/2 minutes then slowly stir in slurry and boil for another 1 1/2 minutes. It will thicken like noodles and gravy. Throw in a handful of peas stir in season packet that comes with the Ramen noodles. Serve over instant mashed taters
I do a budget crockpot meal everyone loves. A thing of smoked sausage sliced up, a couple of potatoes cut up, a couple of carrots cut up, a bell pepper and an onion sliced up, add some worstershire sauce, Tony's seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic and a can of beef broth. Cook it on low for 6 to 8 hours. It's tasty and pairs well with cornbread.
I'm an east Tennessee gal too and I'm soooo happy to find your channel and see new recipes my family will actually eat. Can't forget some sweet tea with it though ☺️
I used to make Mac & cheese with about a cup of frozen green peas and two hot dogs sliced in coins. I’d add a slice or two of Kraft deluxe cheese or a couple tablespoons of ranch dressing. It was always a hit. Using store brand items one batch can cost $1.55 before tax.
These recipes looked so good ❤👍 (the Mexican Mac and cheese was my fav) Thank you for sharing them with us! (My favorite budget meal is spaghetti sandwiches. Take hoagie rolls & turn them into garlic bread. Then sandwich your spaghetti & meatballs inside. Don’t forget to melt lots of yummy mozzarella cheese on top of your meatballs & sprinkle Parmesan cheese & fresh basil on top of your spaghetti! It sounds weird but it’s 💣😂)
Not weird you could have just came up with a new sub sandwich. Watch and see if anyone starts selling it. I love eating day old spaghetti on plain butter bread. I was making double decker tacos before Taco Bell did. The kids wanted Mexican we had mama bell lol
We likes the Brown rice with the packet cooked as box says. Add Ground beef and a can of drained green beans. Quick and easy. I usually make 2 boxes. 1 lb of hamb. & 1 can of green beans. Or what ever veg
Have you tried this approach to cooking noodles? Bring water to full rolling boil. Add salt and noodles and stir well. Turn off heat, cover tightly and leave alone for 10-12 minutes. It works well with egg noodles and the thinner pasta. Might have to adjust approach for thicker noodles.
Comfort food from my mom's side. Macaroni Milk soup. All you do is cook the noodles, drain most of the water leave some, then add Can Milk, (Must be can milk) add butter season with salt and black pepper. If leftover I make Macaroni and cheese with it. Thank you all them looked good.
I’ll preface this by saying that the fact that eggs are so expensive now (here in Iowa, they’ve tripled in price this year) it won’t be as cheap…. but, my whole family loves hashbrowns and scrambled eggs cooked together. We call it “shipwreck”. It’s so good! …. and warm, and comforting. 😊
I used to just do an over easy egg over two frozen hash brown patties that Walmart sold, but my Walmart doesn't sell them anymore. Not quite as quick of a meal, but I love O'Brien potatoes and eggs, yum!
One of our favorites is red beans and rice 1/2 lb of dried red beans soaked overnight, one pack of smoked sausage, a can of rotel undrained, a tablespoon of minced garlic, a diced onion, Cajun seasoning to your preference and a few dashes of hot sauce cooked on low in your slow cooker all day covered with 2-2 1/2 cups of chicken broth (I use chicken bullion and water), then when done serve over rice. I like to make a quick cornbread to serve with it. All in this feeds 6 easily and generously for around $6-7 depending on prices in your area.
I canned some hamburger meat and canned some chicken breast also. It’s easy and if you are having a bad day. You can use a can of one of the meats and add something and you have a quick supper 😊. Love your videos ❤
All of those look so good and now I want pizza pasta for breakfast. Some great ideas on your FB page and you've built such a helpful community. Thank you, Brooke and your tasting squad! xoxo
One of my favorite budget meals is tuna alfredo cook any pasta of your choice two cans of tuna drain a choice of your favorite alfredo sauce season with garlic powder onion powder salt and pepper to your taste
I think with the chicken rice-a-roni recipe with the scrambled eggs was supposed to be like an easy-peesy chicken fried rice, next time top with a couple of dashes of soy sauce and you’ll get a better result, heck just adding in a quarter cup of diced onion and/or peas while cooking the rice starting when you sauté the rice and continue cooking would amp it up I’m thinking, I can’t wait to try that. Also the green bean and noodles I’ve done with fresh and sautéed asparagus spears (on sale) but when I tossed in the butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper I added Parmesan cheese (not fresh just the shaker kind you find on the shelf) but you can use any veggie like halved cherry tomatoes or just omit the veggie all together and it’s tasty! I’m stoked to try the Mexican Mac and cheese one!! So happy I found your channel I’ve been binge watching the last two days while traveling, you’re awesome!
You could take the mac and cheese with salsa up a notch and add some taco sesoning. We make pizza bake all the time. We use regular hamburger and sometimes when we re really on a budget we only use pepperoni. We mix ours lall together, though, instead of layering it.
When I was young and single my best friend and I lived together and we didn’t have a lot of money. We made egg noodles with butter Parmesan cheese, garlic and a can of corn mixed together. Kinda like the pasta green pasta!
Growing up we had the buttered spaghetti just like that and also with added corn! I raised 4 boys on cheap meals, but one of their favorite sides was a rub I'd mix up for ears of corn. One packet of dry cheese from Mac n cheese with one stick of softened butter... Slather that on individual ears of corn then wrap each one in foil. Place ears in oven or crock pot (with the foil) and bake in oven at 375 for about an hour or crock pot on high for about 2-3 hours. Great budget ideas💡
I use ground turkey instead of beef because it's cheaper, but I love having the cooked meat at the ready all the time. I also like having it shelf stable in case of power outages and to buy it now to save against inflation! These are fun, keep them coming!
My hubby is Italian and eats this all the time but he adds Italian seasoning and shaker Parmesan and regiano cheese that's in the shaker bottle any brand.. I buy the cheapest one at the $ store. Just toss it all together. I use it as a side.. But my hubby eats it as a main.. 😂
I often do buttered noodles, garlic and shaker parm when eating alone. If I'm feeling really fancy, sometimes I'll add some lemon rind and juice for a lemon pasta.
For the butter noodles if you had a little bit of ham or chicken you could dice up in it that would be good. The rice a roni was like fried rice so add some mixed veggies to help it be more filling and stretch farther. I think my kids would love the pizza pasta, I will have to give that one a try soon. In 1994 my husband and I were in a head on collision with a semi on the interstate (he crossed the median and came into my lane). We were off work for two years and in 95 we had an income of only $754/mo with a mortgage and utilities to pay along with an 9 year old son, so we applied for food stamps and we were awarded(their word not mine) a whopping $85/mo in benefits!! We were able to get government commodities at the time which included 4lbs of butter, jar of peanut butter, pound of rice and pinto beans each, pound of elbow noodles and potato flakes and a variety of canned goods(12 cans total) of veggies, fruits and beans and every other month 5lbs of American cheese. While getting those commodities we were okay but they were stopped after 6 months sadly and we had to try and figure out how to add a lot of that into our already stretched benefits. On the rare occasion I received a child support check we would buy extra groceries(mainly shelf stable as we only had the refrigerator freezer). We ate a lot of ramen(but we always had fresh fruit with it too). I would save in my freezer in a container every bit of leftover meat and in a second container veggies. Even if all we had was one teaspoon left it went into the freezer. I would make one package of ramen very soupy and add the leftover veggies and some meat and that was supper with crackers and usually we shared a sliced up apple. If we were hungry after a while we made a batch of popcorn and had a snack that way(we bought a big bag of popcorn every month and we went through it all pretty easily each month). Sometimes we didn’t have any leftover meat so I would dice up a hotdog and add it to the “soup”. My son to this day thinks of that soup as his comfort food. On that budget there were many days we barely had enough to feed them a decent meal and I barely ate and drank a lot of water. We ate a lot of oatmeal during that time too. In January of 95 a local store that catered to Hispanics(sadly they went out of business) had 20lb bags of potatoes on sale for $0.99 and they had a limit of two bags per customer, so I bought two, my husband bought two and my son bought two! We took our groceries out to the car(we bought more than potatoes) and while I put the stuff in the trunk they went back in and each bought two more bags of potatoes and a couple other things they had a small limit on. We had 200lbs of potatoes after that, we had a lot of potato soup over the next few months with grilled cheese sandwiches. We do what we have to do to make sure our family is fed that’s for sure. At the time we had one food bank and since we received benefits we weren’t allowed to utilize it except once while we were waiting on our food stamps to arrive in the mail. Ever since we were released to start working again I started working on building my pantry and we bought a freezer and I would now to be able to feed my family for a long time on what we have built up along with my garden and chickens. Plus I do a lot of canning, freezing and dehydrating, especially if the produce I get from the produce distribution I volunteer at once a month.
Hey Desert Fam HS, I just read your story. That was a God-sent blessing the way that store had a 20lb bag of potatoes for $0.99! Really?! Wow! Praise God! I'm learning to start a "pantry" as well, so we can quit suffering every time things get low (income is scarce and no stamps, benefits, or aide of any kind). 😊
@@cristinas4398 yes it was a God-sent blessing, he looked out for us during the accident and after that’s for sure. We also had a neighbor lady that every month when we were down to the last of our food and still had a few days before the food stamps would arrive that would call me and say “I have a craving for ____ and I am fixing the whole meal for my supper and I will take out my portion and bring the rest to you guys”. It was always more than enough for 1 meal for us and really helped us get through that time better. I took the opportunity to tell her one day after Church and she cried with me and said “oh my I never knew” but I didn’t tell anyone until that day. One day after I had my second surgery I was in the kitchen looking at my meager supply of food and trying to figure out what to fix for supper and my son yelled out “Eleanor is here!” So I put it back in the cupboard and hobbled to the door on my crutches just as my son opened the door and she was holding a couple of grocery bags and she said “I was doing my shopping and a little voice told me to get this for you and they were on sale”, the bag contained 6 cans each of Campbell’s chicken and noodle and tomato soup. She handed my son another bag said “I don’t know about you but I like grilled cheese with my soup”, the bag had a loaf of bread and a fairly large package of sliced cheese and then she went back to her car and brought in a 5lb bag of apples, a gallon of milk and a large package of cookies(for dessert of course). When she came to me one day at Church and asked me if I would be willing to speak at her funeral I was honored and said that I would and when I went home that day I started working on it and it survived two moves. When she passed and the Pastor called me up I told that story as a part of my speech about her and I ended it by saying “I truly believe that God has angels on earth to do his work and Eleanor was definitely one of them” there wasn’t a dry eye in the Church and her children came up to me and asked for a hug and thanked me for epitomizing her so well. She was a remarkable woman in so many ways and I know our lives are better for having had her in our lives. I am so glad that you are starting your pantry because it is never to late to get started. I started mine as a precaution to ending up in the same boat we were in after the accident. My pantry has helped us get through some pretty tight times too. I hope and pray that you can find a way to get some assistance and make it through your tough time.
Lol… I was inspired watching you the other night and the Mac n coz with beef is exactly what I made!! I like to also add beans… black or pinto beans work great…. Funny coz I used salsa but usually use Rotel tomatoes but when using canned tomatoes I like to low cook them with the meat for several hours… gets rid of the tinny taste and just taste better! Love you and yours!!!♥️
Peanut butter krispies 1 cup Karo syrup, 1 cup sugar, 1 or 2 cup peanut butter. Heat Karo and sugar, till sugar is completely melted and clear, remove from heat add peanut butter mix well pour in Rice Krispies put in baking dish cut squares
My husband showed me the best budget meal he had growing up. Prepare mac and cheese as directed, it works with all kinds, and brown and break up some breakfast or italian sausage and add it to the mac and cheese. I thought he was crazy when he made it for me once but I'm addicted now. It's so cheap, easy and filling.
I make a silly meatloaf. I use one lb of turkey, a box of stove top stuffing, and one egg. I serve it with rice on the side. It used to be a four dollar meal. Ground turkey at the meat department is like 5 dollars a pound now. But if you buy the frozen tubes they are 2 dollars. Also, stove top has gone up. So, what I do now, is buy the frozen turkey, take regular bread ends and add spices and the egg. It is still under 5.00
Hey Brooke! Is your oldest son aware he is a doppelganger for Harry Styles?! Your boy is absolutely gorgeous! He's gonna have the ladies chasing him home, lol. Good luck with that! haha! 😀
I'm definitely going to try all of these! I usually put canned or fresh tomatoes in my noodles which is delicious! I never thought of putting green beans. Definitely going to! For the pizza noodles I will be putting what we usually like on pizza and I'm sure it will be delicious! I already do put salsa in my Mac and cheese with some garlic. FYI my Aldi's has a wide grated medium cheddar cheese in a bag and it's da bomb!
Have made the green bean noodles often ...but being Italian we always had Parmesan cheese sprinkled thru out... The whole idea behind budget cooking is using what you have on hand ... YOU do a great job of that ! Is there a web site or FB page where these recipes are written out ... they flash to fast in the video format.
I live in Alabama but if I lived in Tennessee I'd be begging to come to yals house for supper Every night!! You make cooking look so easy!!! Thank You for Not putting on airs, but just being yourself and including your family makes your show a special delight to watch! You are a good teacher, explaining it all as you cook! I watch carefully and record to go back to make a certain dish! Thank YOU!! May GOD continue blessing you and your family, and your important show! Merry Christmas and Peace to each of you Again, Thank YOU for making such an enjoyable cooking show!! You really do make a difference!! Thank YOU!!
I wanted to throw in a “cooking hack” that’s probably really basic but I like it 😅 I keep a case of small V8 cans on hand. They’re great to add into a broth, or even to reheat something like a lasagna that may have gotten a little dry but you don’t want to open a whole can of tomato sauce or water down the flavours. They are just super handy for all sorts of uses!
Great idea!!!!
I do this. Easy and flavorful
Nice
My sister uses this hack. I'd never heard of it before.....
Great tip thanks
I grew up in Japan & lots of people also struggle with making meals go further. Cheap Japanese fried rice: use left over rice or fresh, add left over pork or chicken diced. Slightly stir fry to reheat. Move all to the side & cook fresh eggs. Once the eggs are done add some soy sauce or teri & mix. ! Now you have fried rice for a lot of people. You can add frozen peas or any other veggies 😋 Done ✔
I totally wish you would make a cookbook with not just your good recipes but the inexpensive recipes that your subscribers sent in to you. We are all about to be trying to survive on cheap meals and having these ideas of what to fix would help me to feed my family. Tonight we had the simple buttered spaghetti and green bean dish. Cheap meal and filled us up. Thx
Wonder how it would be with a can of tuna. 🤔
Fried bologna sandwiches mustard lettuce pickle onion
Omg start this video and see my “recipe” being made. ❤️❤️. Glad you liked it
Breydon ate every drop and left none for the rest of us 😂
If you have leftover ham or find a ham steak on sale. Brown your ham on saute in the electric pressure cooker. Add some diced onion, then cubed or quartered potatoes . Cover with chicken broth or chicken bouillon with water. Put 2 cans of drained green beans on top. Pressure cook for 10 min. Do a natural release. Add salt, pepper, any other seasonings you like and a couple pats of butter. It should be thick like a stew.
I really enjoy watching you. You are real. So many are fake and fancy. I love it that you bring your family in this too.I have made a few of your meals that are for the crockpot . I live alone and do not like to cook for one so the one pot meals are great . Keep it real and I will keep watching. Thanks
I am so honored and I feel special that you used my budget meal. Thank you thank you. I am so glad you guess really like.
Ryder ate almost all that himself lol
4 of us are in the middle of a $40 grocery budget for family of 4 for 5 days. Mine came to $39.04. We will see if it's possible in North Mississippi. You inspired us to try it. 🙂
Wooo!! You go girl!!
You can do it! Not too many years ago I shopped for 4 on a $30 budget. Lots of minimum budget recipes under my belt, thanks to my grandmothers. You may be able to get some inspiration from Depression Era recipes and Appalachian recipes.
Love the "Trying out your recipe" videos! Do more please.
YES!!!
Have you tried Prison Pad Thai? Lazy meal but so delicious.
Cook a package of ramen according to directions. Add seasoning while cooking.
Drain water
Add 1/4 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp hot sauce
Few drops of soy sauce
Can be dressed up however you want. I put dehydrated vegetables in while boiling and throw peanuts on top.
I make this for my kids all the time!
This sounds really good. I love Thai chicken in peanut sauce. I need to try this. I could get a week of lunches for me.
Sounds yummy. Thank you!
you just cracked me up! you are a breath of fresh air. keep doing what you are doing.
I make breaded tomatoes. Take one can of tomatoes, heat. Toast and butter one or two pieces of bread. Cube the toast and add to tomatoes. Add a pinch of baking soda to counter act the acidity of the tomatoes. If you add too much soda, the tomatoes will taste like baking soda.
Add some cream and bring up to a simmer. You can you use cream, whole milk or evaporated milk.
I like my breaded tomatoes to be sweet so I add a bit of sugar.
We make homemade CORN BEEF HASH. Cheap and feeds the fam a hot meal. Fry onions and potatoes in a large skillet enough for your size family, then add ONE can of Cornbeef "not hash" but just a plain can of Cornbeef. Oil salt and pepper to taste. We use 2 cans of beef because we love this stuff. My guys love to eat with ketchup on the side. It's so good the next morning with scrambled eggs.
If your family likes the canned corned beef, saute up a pan full of cabbage and onions until tender, scoop a hole in the middle put the corned beef in and warm it up ... spread it around, Stir It Up, and they'll eat it up like crazy. It is soooo good with some buttered bread on the side. My mom used to do this when I was a little girl, (we had very little $$) and I still love it from time to time myself. Now if only cabbage didn't cost almost as much now as the can of corned beef, we could all do it all the time. Haha
Cheese and sour cream are SO good together. I use to pound steak super thin. Then slice up bell peppers and onions and roll a handful of the veggies up in the steak. I seared the outside then baked it until it was done like I wanted. Then mixed shredded cheese with sour cream to top it. SO good.
started watching your vids recently and even if your voice and accent didnt give away a southern woman ...your "measuring" method does ...love it ...keep up the awesome work.
The mac n cheese one is a staple in our house. We call it Taco Skillet and top it with crushed tortilla chips, shredded lettuce, sour cream, cheese, tomato, etc. The pizza pasta looked delicious 😋
56 years ago we use to make butter pasta of your choice add a little olive oil and also add Parma cheese the kind in the shaker carton. Yummy if course you can add meat or sea food but being poor we ate with no meat.
I make frequently when I'm on my own and add some lemon juice and/or rind if I have it.
While in college my husband existed on butter noodles with the green top Parmesan cheese. I would cook lentils potato and onion together with what ever spices I had on hand. I’d add a bit of cream cheese or sour cream to the bowl to make it creamy. Now I’d use coconut milk. I also made shell pasta with white beans onion, tomatoes (chopped from a can) garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Top with parm cheese.
Believe me, I know that this video is months old at this point, but a huge go to budget friendly meal that I make for my kids and myself is leg quarters marinated in Italian dressing, usually the zesty one is the best, and then I bake it 350° for at least 45 minutes (make sure all that Italian dressing goodness goes in the pan when cooking it as well, it’s tasty to dip the chicken after it’s cooked), until the chicken is done, and then I make a side of broccoli and Knorr noodles/rice of some sort
We also love macaroni and tomatoes!
Macaroni, a can of diced tomatoes with herbs and spices, butter, salt and pepper, and a tiny bit of white sugar.
My grandfather used to make me this 🥰
My favorite meal is 2 ingredients ....I notice your husband is a hunter ...we would get cubed deer steak and cook on the stove .... then pour Campbell's Beefy Mushroom over the the deer, let it simmer.... serve over rice or mashed potatoes. ...it is YUMMY !!!!!!
Watching your videos makes me happy 😊
When I was growing up my dad would cook hamburger meat, white rice and French style green beans. All he used was salt pepper butter and Worsterchire. It was one of my fave things growing up. Never knew it was a struggle meal until I grew up. Still love it! Love these videos, they are so helpful ❤️
I'm 63 I remember telling my best friend to feed her kids buttered noodles. Better that then empty tummies. Food pantries were a joke in my day. Wahlburgers kids talking about commodity cheese now that was the bomb! My kids will a test to that to this day! No selling to China USA!
We had a brick of government cheese that lasted for a year. It made a great grilled cheese!
I will have to try these. My go-to budget meal was a package of store-brand mac and cheese, made with half the butter and a little extra milk, and a can of store brand tuna. If I had them, I'd add a handful of peas and carrots to the pasta while cooking. This meal got us through struggle times quite often. (TH-cam/internet wasn't around then. Wish it had been😔)
I used to make this too and added frozen peas.
I grew up on Mac n cheese with butter and milk and tuna. I never had any idea other people ate that too.
Oh yeah if we didn’t want ground beef we’d have tuna in ours with cream of mushroom.
Added 2 top of cheap vinegar mayo
The spaghetti and green beans I made with frozen peas and carrots and a little parmesan cheese. And I have to try the last one the pizza pasta that sounds awesome.
My favorite budget meal is rice, wolf brand chili and cheese all mixed together.
Our favorite budget friendly dessert is Brownie pie.
Box of Brownies
Box of chocolate pudding
8oz cool whip
Bake Brownies by directions on box in a pie dish (I adjust baking time since it's thicker). Let cool.
Make pudding, once pudding is set
Mix 1/2 of the cool whip with it.
Hollow out the center of bownies making a Brownie pie crust.
Crumble the Brownie pieces and add about 3/4 to the pudding mix (sometimes I add 1/2 and let the kids snack on the extra Brownie pieces).
Fill the pie dish with pudding/Brownie mix (I always have extra and just put it in the fridge for a snack all on its own). Top with spoonfuls of the other 1/2 of coolwhip and swirl in with a knife and sprinkle extra Brownie pieces on top.
I've also also doubled and made in a casserole dish for pot lucks. 😋
I'm the kind of person that loves to see people enjoying the food I cook, your reactions are priceless. Thanks for sharing some more great and frugal meals! -Lisa
I have a tried and true recipe I have o using for 21 years..
Simple..1pounf of hamburger meat, elbow noodles and 1can of cream of mushroom soup..
Brown hamburger meat,boil noodles and mix both with soup and a can of milk..
Yumm
I also do this with sliced potatoes
A struggle meal I made that became a favorite: Box of pasta (macaroni, shells, any pasta other than noodles) cooked and cooled to room temp, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables cooked (I cook them in with the pasta; you can also use left over or canned vegetables), add mayo to taste, a splash or two of Italian dressing (or a couple splashes of lemon juice), a can of tuna or canned chicken (two if you have them) or just left over shredded chicken, mix together, salt and pepper to taste. So cheap, had plenty, and now it's a staple.
Even if we normally think of it as just a side, a cold pasta salad can definitely be a complete meal,
I love your facial expressions 🤣🤣🤣❤
I have 6 kids and when my husband was in nursing school we were SO broke! Our favorite meals that were cheap and kept us full were:
Tomato soup (feeds 8)
1 can Hunts spaghetti sauce ($1)
1 can evaporated milk ($.80)
1 bag Mexican pasta from ethnic isle($.47)
Add 3 cans water and noodles directly to sauce and cook for 5 min.
Chili Mac
3 box Mac n cheese
1 can chili no beans
1 can diced tomatoes if you have it
These also are great for camping or bug out bags as they need no electricity!!!
ENJOY!!!!!! 😊
Great meals !
Ty for your simple chili Mac recipe! I'm gonna try it out!
I make a super easy chicken tortilla soup. A can of black beans (I drain and rinse mine but I don’t think you have to) a can of corn, a can of diced tomatoes not drained, 1 lb chicken, 2-4 cups of chicken broth depending how soupy you like it. I season it with, salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, chili powder, cumin, paprika and a little cayenne powder. We like to top it with cheese and sour cream if we have it and eat it with tortilla chips or scoops if it’s in the budget to buy or make.
That recipe sounds good. If you have an Aldis near you, try their version of Scoops, called Big Dipper's. They are actually as good if not better than the expensive ones. Under $2 a bag. Have just the right amount of salt. Yum!
I have added to my mac & cheese hotdogs cut up spam cut up broccoli chicken mushrooms you can pretty much add a lot of different things to mac & cheese to dress it up I’ve even put on pulled pork in it
You are a breath of fresh air! I love your ideas wish you much success!
this recipe is a hit every time i make it and uses a left over, pasta, some grated cheese and a can of heavy cream. When you make ragu sauce just with hamburger and sauce/spices make a little bit extra (about 1 cup for 4-5 people). all it takes is to add a 8 oz can tomato sauce to the pot when making it. I store it in a jar in the fridge i vacuum seal. Lasts a week plus. Just cook your pasta, drain it, put it back in the pot, dump the ragu, the heavy cream and grated cheese at taste. Mix it up until the cheese melts and done. It is to die for. it is called "pasta pasticciata". An Italian recipe to save left overs!
The first recipe sort of reminded me of a recipe my mom and dad loved. We were lower middle class and when things got really tight Mom would make noodles and put a can of crushed tomatoes in it with butter and garlic sauce.. I did not like it but they both loved it
This sounds similar to a "no cook" sauce recipe I had years ago (and have since lost, but it was just a simple recipe) of tomatoes, garlic, melted butter quickly chopped into a blender or food processor. It always tasted so refreshing with the aroma of the garlic and the freshness of produce tomatoes.
My parents did something like that with crackers instead of noodles... just crushed crackers a can of diced tomatoes salt and pepper and mix. I loved it so much I used to eat it as a snack😂
I love your expressions when your not sure if you like it or not, you make me laugh when I am down
For the first meal that is on here I also put tuna fish in it so good.
My cheap meal is smothered potatoes and onions. I put a little ketchup on the side.
My husband’s cheap meals he still eats is canned pinto beans and rice, and ramen noodles with left over meat. When I decided to stay home with my daughter, we down to one income. He ate for lunch two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for TWO years. We actually saved money because he didn’t eat lunch out.
They are all great recipes. The rice a roni I am going to add some frozen corn,frozen peas and shredded carrots.
I am going to write these down in my recipe cookbook. It’s great to have options.
Happy cooking everyone.
I've added 1 LB breakfast sausage in it while browning the rice mix and then finish it off with box directions and adding the veg.. I really like it that way.
Sausage and pepperoni dish was my favorite
I bet this would be even more incredible with some colored bell peppers and onion. That looked fantastic. Maybe not a struggle meal since it had plenty of meat, but definitely budget friendly.
I used to take a half pound of ground beef or turkey, with some onion. Then I made up a box of au gratin potatoes. Before putting in oven . I added the drained ground meat, a 1/4 cup of frozen peas and half a can of drained mushroom pieces. Bake as directed until top is golden brown. Fed 4 of us plus leftovers for lunch the next day. I also doubled the recipe for church potlucks. Nothing to bring back home.
We make the green bean/spaghetti meal but we also add a few sliced cooked baby potatoes and a dollop of pesto
I used to make garlic buttered egg noodles with broccoli for my kids when they were young and went through their not liking meat phase. It's good and cheap too lol
I still make mac and cheese with hamburger but instead of salsa I just add a caramelized onion and serve it with a salad for dinner. Cheep,easy and yummy!
I used to make.that pizza pasta too but it gave everyone heart burn for some reason. We did love the taste tho
Try adding a little sugar to your tomato’s it will cut the acidity and might help you with the heartburn.
Thanks I will try it 😀
@@angiegryszan2005 you are very welcome. I hope it works for you guys.
You are awesome. I take a package of ramen noodles and add a bag of broccoli Soy sauce and it already has seasoning in it. If you want to add some canned chicken or leftovers
Next time sausage goes on sale, I'm excited to try your cousin's pizza pasta...sounds yummy! Bonus....I have pepperoni in the pantry! All these recipes, and the ones from your last video like this are wonderful ideas! One of my favorite struggle meals is a box of Mac and cheese, make as directed, then mix in 1/3 cup sour cream, shake in some onion powder and a little garlic powder. I might serve it with Spacon...rhymes with bacon...slice Spam as thin as possible and cook until crispy like bacon...yum! Anyway...excellent videos! So much fun and inspiring ways to stretch the tight budget ! 🙂💜
Buck and a quarter store near us has gnocchi for 1.25 / pound package. I stir fry it with a bit of butter or what have you, until browned. Serve it with green beans ( frozen from our garden) Very good….probably costs about $2.25 for 4-5 servings.
So, I love my electric pressure cooker/airfryer. Several months ago, I put a trivet in the bottom with a cup of water. I well seasoned 10lbs of chicken leg quarters, with a combination of a chicken & a poultry seasonings. I pressure cooked it for the allotted time and when it was done, the broth/juices left in the pot, after removing the chicken was amazing. I had a lot of elbow macaroni on hand, so I put enough pasta in the pot until it was just under the surface of the broth/juices. (There was alot of broth/juices and it made way more pasta than we could eat in time, so after that 1st time I started freezing 1/2 to use at a later date.) My 3yr old great-granddaughter loves mac & cheese which she calls ronicheese, so we call this Chicken Roni.
Often times I'll measure the broth/juices to make rice after, which is part of why I am commenting on ty his video. I airfryed a beef roast, on a trivet, that was well seasoned and thought to maybe make the pastaw/green beans dish for a side. We really like cut green beans and we usually us a 28oz can or 2 15oz cans, but I've had a single can of French cut green beans. I thought would be the best way to stretch it the green beans was to use it with the noodles. As the beef roast was air frying I wonder if I could deglaze the drippings in the bottom. I add 1 1/4cup water, 1 cup rice, some beef bouillon a granulated garlic and switched to the pressure cooker lid and made the rice. (Just in case the rice didn't turn out well, I boiled some spaghetti noodles that I could use tomorrow for a Lo Mein. 🤗) When the flavor on the rice turned out ok, I added the drained French Cut Green Beans and put the lid back on just long enough to heat the beans in the rice. It was a hit with my hubby and picky 15yr old grandson. Keep up the good work on sharing and I totally get word vomit (I think it was in a separate video about why you don't have sponers.), look at the length of my comment 🤣😂🤣 If they watch your videos they get you and maybe one of them will contact you though email. I believe in you ♡♡♡
Love these types of videos. Would love to see more of these!
Brooke, I know you're a canner so probably can pinto's. I season my beans with chili powder, onion, garlic powder, cumin before canning dry beans. They are wonderful for many dishes but a very simple, cheap, meal is beans, meat, and cheese. Fry 1/2-1 lb. of hamburger season as desired, add a quart or 2 of pinto's and cook until thickened. Sprinkle cheese over the top and allow to melt. Enjoy. It's plain but rib sticking meal. Added cornbread makes it even better. Really enjoy these videos. I would love to see more. It's like a huge recipe book from all over. I've been doing your $5 challenge for a couple months now. It's amazing what I've accumulated! Thanks!
Here's a easy one pot meal. Cut potatoes for your family and a1 onion. Put in the bottom of the Dutch oven salt pepper and sprinkle a good amount of oregano on top. Cover the potatoes with water. Place raw Italian sausage on top of potatoes. Cover and cook on stove top for 45 min or put in slow cooker on low for 2 hours. Enjoy. A simple salad on the side dinner done.
I make Raman noodles gravy over instant mashed taters.
Make a slurry of milk and flour or water and flour like you would for gravy. Bring water to boil. Add noodles and boil for 1 1/2 minutes then slowly stir in slurry and boil for another 1 1/2 minutes. It will thicken like noodles and gravy. Throw in a handful of peas stir in season packet that comes with the Ramen noodles. Serve over instant mashed taters
Wow that pizza pasta looks so good! We eat the butter noodles with green beans sometimes.
I do a budget crockpot meal everyone loves. A thing of smoked sausage sliced up, a couple of potatoes cut up, a couple of carrots cut up, a bell pepper and an onion sliced up, add some worstershire sauce, Tony's seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic and a can of beef broth. Cook it on low for 6 to 8 hours. It's tasty and pairs well with cornbread.
That sounds good, do you add any broth or liquid of any kind?
@@roniB262 a can of beef broth.
@@marybrown7626, I'm sorry, I see that now...thank you.
Add cut up cabbage. So good!
I'm an east Tennessee gal too and I'm soooo happy to find your channel and see new recipes my family will actually eat. Can't forget some sweet tea with it though ☺️
Best channel on TH-cam. This girl ROCKS. LOVE FROM DEBBIE AND DEXTER-DOG.🐥🙏🐾👍💞🇺🇸✝️
I used to make Mac & cheese with about a cup of frozen green peas and two hot dogs sliced in coins. I’d add a slice or two of Kraft deluxe cheese or a couple tablespoons of ranch dressing. It was always a hit. Using store brand items one batch can cost $1.55 before tax.
1 of our more recent budget/cheap meals include knorrs cheddar and broccoli and bacon bits(real) as a main dish, and some cornbread 😋
I had some boiled chicken, chunked it up, added to the knorrs cheddar broccoli, served it with cornbread and coleslaw...was delicious
These recipes looked so good ❤👍 (the Mexican Mac and cheese was my fav) Thank you for sharing them with us! (My favorite budget meal is spaghetti sandwiches. Take hoagie rolls & turn them into garlic bread. Then sandwich your spaghetti & meatballs inside. Don’t forget to melt lots of yummy mozzarella cheese on top of your meatballs & sprinkle Parmesan cheese & fresh basil on top of your spaghetti! It sounds weird but it’s 💣😂)
Not weird you could have just came up with a new sub sandwich. Watch and see if anyone starts selling it. I love eating day old spaghetti on plain butter bread. I was making double decker tacos before Taco Bell did. The kids wanted Mexican we had mama bell lol
That Rice A Roni brought back a memory. I topped mine with fresh tomato and a pinch of Parmesan cheese.
We likes the Brown rice with the packet cooked as box says. Add Ground beef and a can of drained green beans. Quick and easy.
I usually make 2 boxes. 1 lb of hamb. & 1 can of green beans. Or what ever veg
Have you tried this approach to cooking noodles? Bring water to full rolling boil. Add salt and noodles and stir well. Turn off heat, cover tightly and leave alone for 10-12 minutes. It works well with egg noodles and the thinner pasta. Might have to adjust approach for thicker noodles.
Comfort food from my mom's side. Macaroni Milk soup. All you do is cook the noodles, drain most of the water leave some, then add Can Milk, (Must be can milk) add butter season with salt and black pepper. If leftover I make Macaroni and cheese with it. Thank you all them looked good.
I’ll preface this by saying that the fact that eggs are so expensive now (here in Iowa, they’ve tripled in price this year) it won’t be as cheap…. but, my whole family loves hashbrowns and scrambled eggs cooked together. We call it “shipwreck”. It’s so good! …. and warm, and comforting. 😊
Try and find someone with backyard chickens. Around here people are still selling them $3-4 a dozen
I used to just do an over easy egg over two frozen hash brown patties that Walmart sold, but my Walmart doesn't sell them anymore. Not quite as quick of a meal, but I love O'Brien potatoes and eggs, yum!
@@yvonnepalmquist8676 I love this too!
the hash brown patties at Walmart are back.
cheesy noodles with eggs & frozen peas is good too.
One of our favorites is red beans and rice 1/2 lb of dried red beans soaked overnight, one pack of smoked sausage, a can of rotel undrained, a tablespoon of minced garlic, a diced onion, Cajun seasoning to your preference and a few dashes of hot sauce cooked on low in your slow cooker all day covered with 2-2 1/2 cups of chicken broth (I use chicken bullion and water), then when done serve over rice. I like to make a quick cornbread to serve with it. All in this feeds 6 easily and generously for around $6-7 depending on prices in your area.
I canned some hamburger meat and canned some chicken breast also. It’s easy and if you are having a bad day. You can use a can of one of the meats and add something and you have a quick supper 😊. Love your videos ❤
It’s amazing how tender the canned ground beef is. It is excellent to use in tacos and chilli.
Canned meats are staples in our home too.
Sooo enjoyable, beautiful Family. Your on-line family is incredible too! Thank you for the creative, tasty recipes. ❤🙏🏼🧑🏻🍳
All of those look so good and now I want pizza pasta for breakfast. Some great ideas on your FB page and you've built such a helpful community. Thank you, Brooke and your tasting squad! xoxo
One of my favorite budget meals is tuna alfredo cook any pasta of your choice two cans of tuna drain a choice of your favorite alfredo sauce season with garlic powder onion powder salt and pepper to your taste
I think with the chicken rice-a-roni recipe with the scrambled eggs was supposed to be like an easy-peesy chicken fried rice, next time top with a couple of dashes of soy sauce and you’ll get a better result, heck just adding in a quarter cup of diced onion and/or peas while cooking the rice starting when you sauté the rice and continue cooking would amp it up I’m thinking, I can’t wait to try that. Also the green bean and noodles I’ve done with fresh and sautéed asparagus spears (on sale) but when I tossed in the butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper I added Parmesan cheese (not fresh just the shaker kind you find on the shelf) but you can use any veggie like halved cherry tomatoes or just omit the veggie all together and it’s tasty! I’m stoked to try the Mexican Mac and cheese one!! So happy I found your channel I’ve been binge watching the last two days while traveling, you’re awesome!
My husband survived off dorritoes and Maynoise sandwiches for a year. Chip sandwiches.
You could take the mac and cheese with salsa up a notch and add some taco sesoning.
We make pizza bake all the time. We use regular hamburger and sometimes when we re really on a budget we only use pepperoni. We mix ours lall together, though, instead of layering it.
When I was young and single my best friend and I lived together and we didn’t have a lot of money. We made egg noodles with butter Parmesan cheese, garlic and a can of corn mixed together. Kinda like the pasta green pasta!
Growing up we had the buttered spaghetti just like that and also with added corn!
I raised 4 boys on cheap meals, but one of their favorite sides was a rub I'd mix up for ears of corn. One packet of dry cheese from Mac n cheese with one stick of softened butter... Slather that on individual ears of corn then wrap each one in foil. Place ears in oven or crock pot (with the foil) and bake in oven at 375 for about an hour or crock pot on high for about 2-3 hours.
Great budget ideas💡
Great video as always! It's so cute when your son "faints" when he really likes the food!
I use ground turkey instead of beef because it's cheaper, but I love having the cooked meat at the ready all the time. I also like having it shelf stable in case of power outages and to buy it now to save against inflation! These are fun, keep them coming!
Butter and garlic noodles are a staple in this house!! I love these videos interesting to see.
My hubby is Italian and eats this all the time but he adds Italian seasoning and shaker Parmesan and regiano cheese that's in the shaker bottle any brand.. I buy the cheapest one at the $ store. Just toss it all together. I use it as a side.. But my hubby eats it as a main.. 😂
I often do buttered noodles, garlic and shaker parm when eating alone. If I'm feeling really fancy, sometimes I'll add some lemon rind and juice for a lemon pasta.
Great job ❤thanks for sharing with us ❤
Loved them all, fabulous budget meal Ideas. Thanks Brooke! 💕
A little Parmesan on the noodles and beans would be good.
For the butter noodles if you had a little bit of ham or chicken you could dice up in it that would be good.
The rice a roni was like fried rice so add some mixed veggies to help it be more filling and stretch farther.
I think my kids would love the pizza pasta, I will have to give that one a try soon.
In 1994 my husband and I were in a head on collision with a semi on the interstate (he crossed the median and came into my lane). We were off work for two years and in 95 we had an income of only $754/mo with a mortgage and utilities to pay along with an 9 year old son, so we applied for food stamps and we were awarded(their word not mine) a whopping $85/mo in benefits!! We were able to get government commodities at the time which included 4lbs of butter, jar of peanut butter, pound of rice and pinto beans each, pound of elbow noodles and potato flakes and a variety of canned goods(12 cans total) of veggies, fruits and beans and every other month 5lbs of American cheese. While getting those commodities we were okay but they were stopped after 6 months sadly and we had to try and figure out how to add a lot of that into our already stretched benefits. On the rare occasion I received a child support check we would buy extra groceries(mainly shelf stable as we only had the refrigerator freezer). We ate a lot of ramen(but we always had fresh fruit with it too). I would save in my freezer in a container every bit of leftover meat and in a second container veggies. Even if all we had was one teaspoon left it went into the freezer. I would make one package of ramen very soupy and add the leftover veggies and some meat and that was supper with crackers and usually we shared a sliced up apple. If we were hungry after a while we made a batch of popcorn and had a snack that way(we bought a big bag of popcorn every month and we went through it all pretty easily each month). Sometimes we didn’t have any leftover meat so I would dice up a hotdog and add it to the “soup”. My son to this day thinks of that soup as his comfort food. On that budget there were many days we barely had enough to feed them a decent meal and I barely ate and drank a lot of water. We ate a lot of oatmeal during that time too. In January of 95 a local store that catered to Hispanics(sadly they went out of business) had 20lb bags of potatoes on sale for $0.99 and they had a limit of two bags per customer, so I bought two, my husband bought two and my son bought two! We took our groceries out to the car(we bought more than potatoes) and while I put the stuff in the trunk they went back in and each bought two more bags of potatoes and a couple other things they had a small limit on. We had 200lbs of potatoes after that, we had a lot of potato soup over the next few months with grilled cheese sandwiches. We do what we have to do to make sure our family is fed that’s for sure. At the time we had one food bank and since we received benefits we weren’t allowed to utilize it except once while we were waiting on our food stamps to arrive in the mail.
Ever since we were released to start working again I started working on building my pantry and we bought a freezer and I would now to be able to feed my family for a long time on what we have built up along with my garden and chickens. Plus I do a lot of canning, freezing and dehydrating, especially if the produce I get from the produce distribution I volunteer at once a month.
Hey Desert Fam HS, I just read your story. That was a God-sent blessing the way that store had a 20lb bag of potatoes for $0.99! Really?! Wow! Praise God! I'm learning to start a "pantry" as well, so we can quit suffering every time things get low (income is scarce and no stamps, benefits, or aide of any kind). 😊
@@cristinas4398 yes it was a God-sent blessing, he looked out for us during the accident and after that’s for sure. We also had a neighbor lady that every month when we were down to the last of our food and still had a few days before the food stamps would arrive that would call me and say “I have a craving for ____ and I am fixing the whole meal for my supper and I will take out my portion and bring the rest to you guys”. It was always more than enough for 1 meal for us and really helped us get through that time better. I took the opportunity to tell her one day after Church and she cried with me and said “oh my I never knew” but I didn’t tell anyone until that day. One day after I had my second surgery I was in the kitchen looking at my meager supply of food and trying to figure out what to fix for supper and my son yelled out “Eleanor is here!” So I put it back in the cupboard and hobbled to the door on my crutches just as my son opened the door and she was holding a couple of grocery bags and she said “I was doing my shopping and a little voice told me to get this for you and they were on sale”, the bag contained 6 cans each of Campbell’s chicken and noodle and tomato soup. She handed my son another bag said “I don’t know about you but I like grilled cheese with my soup”, the bag had a loaf of bread and a fairly large package of sliced cheese and then she went back to her car and brought in a 5lb bag of apples, a gallon of milk and a large package of cookies(for dessert of course). When she came to me one day at Church and asked me if I would be willing to speak at her funeral I was honored and said that I would and when I went home that day I started working on it and it survived two moves. When she passed and the Pastor called me up I told that story as a part of my speech about her and I ended it by saying “I truly believe that God has angels on earth to do his work and Eleanor was definitely one of them” there wasn’t a dry eye in the Church and her children came up to me and asked for a hug and thanked me for epitomizing her so well. She was a remarkable woman in so many ways and I know our lives are better for having had her in our lives.
I am so glad that you are starting your pantry because it is never to late to get started. I started mine as a precaution to ending up in the same boat we were in after the accident. My pantry has helped us get through some pretty tight times too. I hope and pray that you can find a way to get some assistance and make it through your tough time.
Another great one. Thank you. God bless you all.
Lol… I was inspired watching you the other night and the Mac n coz with beef is exactly what I made!! I like to also add beans… black or pinto beans work great…. Funny coz I used salsa but usually use Rotel tomatoes but when using canned tomatoes I like to low cook them with the meat for several hours… gets rid of the tinny taste and just taste better! Love you and yours!!!♥️
I would put some bacon bits of the butter noodles and green beans. Sounds good.
Peanut butter krispies 1 cup Karo syrup, 1 cup sugar, 1 or 2 cup peanut butter. Heat Karo and sugar, till sugar is completely melted and clear, remove from heat add peanut butter mix well pour in Rice Krispies put in baking dish cut squares
My favorite meal that you made is the butter noddles with green beans.. thanks for sharing all the recipes..
Blessing
I love watching you. I have a lot of family in Tennessee.
Thanks for sharing these Inexpensive meal ideas.....That All look Absolutely DELICIOUS!😋😋
I love fried cabbage in bacon grease added to buttered noodles plus spices easy cheap filling
My husband showed me the best budget meal he had growing up. Prepare mac and cheese as directed, it works with all kinds, and brown and break up some breakfast or italian sausage and add it to the mac and cheese. I thought he was crazy when he made it for me once but I'm addicted now. It's so cheap, easy and filling.
I make a silly meatloaf. I use one lb of turkey, a box of stove top stuffing, and one egg. I serve it with rice on the side. It used to be a four dollar meal. Ground turkey at the meat department is like 5 dollars a pound now. But if you buy the frozen tubes they are 2 dollars. Also, stove top has gone up. So, what I do now, is buy the frozen turkey, take regular bread ends and add spices and the egg. It is still under 5.00
Hey Brooke! Is your oldest son aware he is a doppelganger for Harry Styles?! Your boy is absolutely gorgeous! He's gonna have the ladies chasing him home, lol. Good luck with that! haha! 😀
He’s been told a lot 😂 He denies it though. His Aunt’s say a young Leo DiCaprio too.
Love you girl. thank you so very much for all you do for us. big Texas hugs
I'm definitely going to try all of these! I usually put canned or fresh tomatoes in my noodles which is delicious! I never thought of putting green beans. Definitely going to! For the pizza noodles I will be putting what we usually like on pizza and I'm sure it will be delicious! I already do put salsa in my Mac and cheese with some garlic. FYI my Aldi's has a wide grated medium cheddar cheese in a bag and it's da bomb!
Have made the green bean noodles often ...but being Italian we always had Parmesan cheese sprinkled thru out... The whole idea behind budget cooking is using what you have on hand ... YOU do a great job of that ! Is there a web site or FB page where these recipes are written out ... they flash to fast in the video format.