This video and the $21 A Week Grocery Challenge | 5000 Subscriber CAKE BAKE th-cam.com/video/x3zNmctflJY/w-d-xo.html is everything that I cooked this week! It was a busy week so I was happy to have some SIMPLE BUDGET MEALS to whip up! I enjoyed taking advantage of many items that I already had in my pantry! The POLL numbers are in and it looks like almost everyone (94%👍) is okay with using FREE CONDIMENTS in my challenge! That will add a few more options in the weeks to come! I am going to DONATE SPICES at the end of the month to my local FOOD BANK with any MEMBERSHIP, SUPERCHAT, SUPERS STICKER or THANKS DONATIONS I get this month! JOIN the SPICE DRIVE! 🧡
Please, Jessica, don't concern yourself with whether any of us "are OK with" anything you decide to do, the rules you set for your challenges or if, when and how you chose to alter them. Perhaps I'm alone in thinking that it's incredibly refreshing to watch someone do these challenges realistically, but I'm throughly enjoying it.
@dazy wings same here! I wish I was brave and creative enough to just toss ingredients together and create a tasty meal the way she does. Usually, I end up with an over-seasoned pan of slop when I try that. I never know when to stop adding more flavor.
A bag of potatoes would stretch a small budget and would last if stored well, great pantry builder. And tons of uses for them too. Potato pancakes, mashed, boiled, cubed, camp, hash, etc. And could make baking powder biscuits are easy
Since this is a budget challenge and most everyone has condiments in a drawer or fridge, I don't see that it's a problem. A British budget channel,atomic shrimp, sometimes limits his access to 1 or 2 t. of seasoning /packets.
Thanks for your feedback! Ohh I do love Atomic Shrimp, his budget challenges are the reason I am here! I gave him a load of credit in my 1000 subscriber video
Girl! Part of cooking on a budget is using what you HAVE! Don't you fret for a second about using ranch you have stored from takeout. I would do it in a heartbeat!
Yes to the free condiments! I'm a soup girl, and I would turn a serving of the tuna rice casserole into a soup by just adding water and heating it up. It just makes it seem like a new dish that way. Yummy! Love your videos, I am planning to make the rice casserole this next week! 😀
When pancakes are flat sometimes the heat is too low sometimes too much moisture in the batter. When I get flat pancakes i just call them crepes and i put cream cheese and jelly in them and roll them.
I don’t have an issue with the free condiments as long as they come with something you bought. I don’t see any difference in using dressing or ketchup that come with a food order than using your free points earned by buying groceries. In both cases you paid for them when you paid for your food. Just going into a fast food place and taking ketchup or sugar packets seems different, but it is your challenge, so if you are comfortable with it, go for it.
Great to hear your feedback Jean! I would never suggest just "taking" packets, for sure! I have always asked at the counter and been given them :) I have more than enough to use in my condiment drawer that it's not something I need to do at the moment!
I seem to be in the minority, but I'm not so keen on using the condiment packets. What I really enjoy about your 21 dollar challenges is watching you slowly build up some spices/condiments over time and seeing how you make your choices on a very limited budget and get very creative with it. Also, those condiment packets come mainly from resturant takeout meals, so I don't think someone really trying to live on 21 dollars a week for food would have much access to little condiment packs unless they can get them for free somehow.
I totally understand you’re point. There are some creative ways to come by free condiments, even asking friends. I’ve even just gone to fast food counters and asked and they hand them out usually. This far into the challenge I feel okay about it. I wouldn’t suggest anyone try to eat on $21 a week for very long, hopefully it’s just an emergency situation. There are many resources I am not taking advantage of that people on a limited budget might use, such as food banks or other charity organizations. 🤷♀️
Use your packets! Is fine! I may be the only person who doesn’t have a packet drawer. 🤷♀️ I pack foods when I’m not home/on the road. Atomic shrimp 🦐 I’m also a fan
Thanks for your thoughts on the packets! Isn't Atomic Shrimp great :D I love everything he does! Just watched his latest foraging video this morning! :)
Mince cooked with onions on rice with soy sauce was my favorite thing growing up. Usually with canned green beans. I was super picky. My family makes that tuna pasta salad but adds boiled egg. It's always better the second day. We have it at almost every bbq. I feel that you certainly should be able to use your condiment drawer. I watch a couple of Content creaters who do very often. I love that you did cake for breakfast and brunchy lunches. It's fun and different. These ideas would be great for people who only eat once or twice a day, especially. I do a batch of blueberry muffins that lasts my DH for most breakfasts and I will have them as a treat. I use the Kibg Arthur recipe and it's quite easy and delicious. I also enjoyed how u shopped your pantry. I have been doing this strategy often. I have a desire to learn to better use what I have to avoid waste. A sushi or budha bowl would be good with the tuna n rice maybe. If you are to get a produce box it would make your meals shine, but you are doing a great job!! Can't wait to see the rest of the challenge. I think your garden stuff should be free, too. Just a thought.
Hey Tina Blair! Great to see you and I love the ideas! I’m hoping to grab a produce box for this challenge, it would be a game changer for sure! Maybe I can afford some seeds and plant some things for the challenge but starting a garden isn’t without its expenses!
Thanks for the thoughts...there was yogurt I added instead of sour cream, so that was covered...hmm and I haven't been having any other problems with the baking powder. Good to know to look for those reason for flat pancakes though!
Next week buy some cheese! Also buy some beef boil lion for french onion soup - yum. Also you need some bread - tuna sandwich, egg salad sandwich. Do you have peanut butter - id want some peanut butter on toast for breakfast. Also some minestrone soup would be good. Need more frozen mixed veggies. Also more baking powder, flour, yeast? I can sure spend your grocery $ huh? You’re doing very well!
It's so great to have you thinking of a plan! French onion soup would be fabulous! Great idea :D Peanut butter would be great...I keep checking for a good sale on it! I love the great suggestions and ideas!
Great meals again. You're doing so well with this series. About the condiments, anyone with truly only $21 for meals would be scouring their pantry and fridge for every possible condiment to use. I feel the number of extras is the balance, a few isn't cheating. Also if you tasted something, decided it really needed salt/ketchup/herbs etc and sprinkled any on top (especially for Mr Wanders) I think that would be ok. The pantry shopping was perfect
I love love love your channel Jessica ! I stumbled upon it a couple of days ago and have been hooked. I’m learning to cook. And learning to cook with what I have and you make it so comforting and make me want to try! Thank you!! ❤️❤️❤️
I'm glad you mention the thumbs up. For some reason I always forget to do that. I must be coming across as obsessed or something. I promise I'm not a crazy person. It's just that I know there are a whole lot of people who would absolutely love your videos and I want them all to be able to find them. Also... I'm off work on disability and getting a little bit bored.
Thumbs up and comments all help the TH-cam machine decide to give me more exposure so any help is appreciated! I love all the ideas and comments too 👍🏼🧡
If you literally had only $21 to buy food for a week..You'd use whatever was at hand to make the best meals possible. Rather it be 1oz of frozen peas or a ranch packet lol.. i say packets are very realistic to this challenge.
I have sooooo many packets. I collect them too and hubby brings some home from work lunches the guys are given. Totally fair. I really don’t think spices should be included in your cost because most people buy spices once or twice a year. Stuffed tortillas would be cheap and could be used for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Rice pudding for breakfast would be cheap too. Love to see what you come up with. Very nice little leftover pantry! ❤
Thanks for your feedback about the condiments! :) I seem to never use them up unless I'm forced to, although they are handy to have in the camper as they don't take up as much room as big bottles! I think I leave out spices because they can be pricey to buy on a limited budget and they make such a huge difference that's it's important to choose wisely! ;) Thanks for sharing your stuffed tortilla idea! Sounds great :D
When you do a what we eat in a week video, you can use what have. Dont listen to the haters . We are here to develop our creativity in making new recipes
Google yogurt cheese recipe and make that sour yogurt into some creamy soft cheese. You can add some herbs to it and make it even better. I think that using your condiment packs is a great idea! Don't listen to the haters they have nothing better to do with there life than be mean. You are doing a awesome job helping other people who are looking for ways to still afford food and be creative with the food that they can get. Keep it up lady! Have a great day! 🥞🎂👍
I haven't made cheese out of yogurt before! I don't think I had quite enough to work with but I'd love to give it a try some time! I don't mind people's opinions (since I asked for them in the beginning, of course!) It does seem that the majority of people are okay with using the condiments though so I'm excited to use a few here and there. I'm so glad you are enjoying the videos Jo and it great to have all the feedback! :D
100% good with the free condiments. We did a family challenge with each of us trying to eat for $21 in the week and I actually reached out on our local Pay It Forward page for more free condiments - those condiments drawers seem to be in everyones fridge - truly helped to get us through the week!
Using your condiment stash is fine with me. I think your pancakes were flat, because the batter was thin, but I'm sure they tasted just fine. If you had mayonnaise, or made it yourself, I think it would help with the flavour and moisture of the macaroni salads? I also like hard boiled eggs sliced up in them. You are brave not having any bread...I love my toast and jam. Great video, as always
Hi kathryn :) After looking at the recipe pictures, I think they were meant to be a thinner pancake and they did taste amazing :) I know, the decision to not have bread this week...I had to tell myself I was eating more than enough pasta to make up for it lol I'm so glad you enjoyed the video!
Awesome series! Because you enjoyed the ranch dressing, I wonder if you don't normally like pasta salad using mayonnaise? anyway, thanks so much for the inspiration :)
Hi! I'm so glad you are enjoying the series! It could be that's what the problem is with pasta salad! I'll have to remember to compare ingredients the next time I make it. Thanks for your thoughts :D
Hello Jessica Just viewed episode 6 of the challenge, you are doing well. The budget pasta with beef sauce is getting popular in Oz due to meat and fuel prices. Just needed some cheese and chopped fresh herbs for me.
If you can afford it sometime, work some celery seed into your budget. Then you can blend it in a spice blender or crush it in a mortar with some salt and make some celery salt. You get the celery flavor for less :)
Love these videos, keept them up. Cheese makes everything better. We add chili powder and a pinch of cocoa powder, sugar to our spaghetti sauce. Really brings out the flavor
Yay! I'm so glad you're enjoying the videos AJ! Yes...need cheese again, if I go too long I go into withdrawal lol I'm going to have to try out the chili powder! I often do add sugar but cocoa powder, that is a new one :) Thanks for sharing!
Hi Melisa :) Yes...soup! It has started raining like crazy and I'm feeling like some comfy soup! I am almost out of flour and boy yeast is so expensive! Those little 3-packs of yeast are the cheapest at Walmart for $1.97...eventually I'll grab some lol
You should expand on the sauce packet… if you can get it from the restaurant for free, you should include it. Red pepper flakes from pizza place, mayonnaise packs and such from burger places. Our Chick Fil A has lemon juice, honey, condiments, jelly packs available all the time on a side bar. The dipping packs come with your order. So what you can reasonably get at your local restaurants can be included
Oh, also, you can make baconaise in a food processor with the bacon fat to use as a spread on sandwiches or as a dip on raw veggies ... 2 egg yolks, 1 teaspoon of mustard, 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar OR lemon juice, 1 cup of bacon grease (cooled but not solid) and pinch of salt. Process the yolks and vinegar (or lemon juice) then while its running, SLOWLY add your bacon grease.. I mean slowly! Almost a drip at a time. If added too fast, the emulsion may break. Then add your mustard and pinch of salt. You can split the recipe to just try it. Also, you can add flavorings like hot sauce, chives, minced onion at the end.
Maybe your baking powder is out of date since it was the last of it. You can make your own baking powder if you have baking soda. It's on the internet for directions. This is an amazing challenge AND great fun to watch.
I'll have to see if it happens again! I believe I used some from a larger jar in the pantry. I sure hope it's not all too old! :( Thanks for the tips :)
I think using the “leftover” condiment packages is being a good steward of what you have. Most of the grocery challenges I’ve watched one of the first things they say is make it your own so if you have those things in your home I would say anyone else’s opinion doesn’t matter. Be blessed.
I’ve always found that adding a splash of cold water to my scrambled eggs rather than milk makes them nice and fluffy. My Dad taught me that in the 90s and everyone loves my eggs 😊 Loved the 5K cake 😍 looked absolutely delicious!
That's so funny! My father taught me the exact same thing! I find them fluffier that way as well. Sometimes I like to add milk just to add some extra calories ;) I'm so glad you enjoyed the cake! It turned out much better than I had hoped!
Chicken bullion plus rice and a little franks and ketchup and a little chilli powder if you have any and a little roasted chicken and youd have a really good Arroz com poyo ( chicken and rice casserole)..the franks would make up for the Mexican spice and your ketchup make up for the tomato sauce...oh and yes bbq sauce in rice is a thing if you take your bbq sauce mix it with some ketchup and hot sauce and some gravy like think brown gravy or a Roux set it off to the side then made yourself some pinto or whatever beans you have to the side and cooked some rice and that hamburger you have left and that sauce youd have a very good poor man's beans and dirty rice..its called dirty cause of the sauce its supposed to look like mud or swamp water it's supposed have sausage but hamburger or chicken will work and its served over rice..thats a Louisiana and texas dish but there's so many variations of beans and dirty rice but when you said bbq sauce in rice im like cool dirty rice and beans??..haha not sure if you have that or Arroz comp poyo but those are two things i thought of when you were doing your ingredients run down lol not being a busy butt and this is your deal I just like getting ideas and seeing what you make but just being um nice or something but yeah those were two dishes I noticed from your run down if you needed ideas you have two haha and so far so good😊
@@JessicaWanders no problem and alot of us do half butt cooking like you do it's very common especially in my neck of the woods..and that chicken bullion you buy it's popular here and it's got real chicken in it they just don't tell you the chicken flavor is ground up chicken carcass and bones cause oversensitive types might b about it but it's still chicken and still food and your cake looked good there are breakfast cakes not just coffee cake so it's not weird you had your cake for breakfast..haha sometimes we have left over dinner for breakfast depending on what it was..but yeah just look up dirty rice and you'd be surprised that bbq sauce is in alot of those recipes haha and if you run out of cheese you can either make farmers ( kinda like mozzarella)or swipe your noodles from a Kraft Mac and cheese dinner for one dish but save the cheese packs as a emergency cheese reserve for another recipe if you want haha and we don't call it KD but when I saw the box I got a pretty good idea what it was haha same junk different cardboard..and no problem..if you look at ingredients on your bbq sauce and different spice packets 90% of the time they have ingredients you need for one dish or the other so me personally if I go to make say tamales and I need five spices I'm not going to pay 20$ if one pack of taco seasoning has four of the spices for .88¢ and a can of enchilada sauce has the rest of the spices and more for 1.40$ that's stupid you can still half butt it and make it taste good on the cheap..haha I like your deal so far cause you do that and I've gotten a few recipes I can sneak on dad so thanks lol
No chili powder in an Italian sauce/gravy Spices traditionally are basil oregano thyme garlic onion salt pepper. You can also sweeten the sauce with carrots or a little sugar.
Love your videos! The information has been very helpful for cooking for one. Your pancakes may have been flat because I were over mixed. Pancake batter should be slightly lumpy.
Yay! I'm so glad you're enjoying the videos! Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I ended up mixing it more than I usually would for sure. Great thoughts ! :D
If you have food banks just Google food banks in your area you can get can fruits and vegetables beans and meats Southern California has great food banks great way to stock up. Have a great week end week end
here WalMart has Great Value Celery Salt, 5.25 oz $2.28 so I would check my Dollar Tree or 99 cent store to see they have a jar for cheaper. the other thing to do is when you get your head of celery ; first cut the bottom and put in a saucer of water to get the roots growing and move to better container as it grows. the other thing to do is cut the ends off and the leaves and dry in the oven at 2oo degrees or lower if you can then grind to make celery seasoning and you can add salt if you want
Great ideas Lorita :) We have a bulk barn that sells spices by weight so I can get an amount that fits into my budget. I've tried regrowing things without too much luck in water without having to transfer them into dirt. And...to boot, my darn oven does go that low but I do have a handy Excalibur dehydrator that I could use ;) Because it's the winter...kind of still...celery isn't cheap yet. Still $2.97 for a head at Walmart :(
@@JessicaWanders Storing Celery in Aluminum Foil Wrap the celery tightly in aluminum foil. Celery often goes bad fast because it releases ethylene, a ripening hormone. When wrapped in foil, foil allow the ethylene to escape. If celery is stored in a loose plastic bag, ethylene is trapped, which will cause the celery to get limp. Aluminum foil prevents celery from becoming overripe and losing crispness.[1] Ethylene is a hormone plants give off naturally. It's an aging and ripening hormone, which causes plants to ripen and then decompose. While ethylene is necessary to get plants ripe, it can cause decay and overripe plants after a certain point. Storing celery in a plastic bag traps ethylene, causing celery to go bad quicker. Re-wrap your celery after each use. After using celery for a meal, be sure to re-wrap it in aluminum foil. Remember to wrap the celery tightly, as this will allow the ethylene to escape.[2] If your aluminum foil is getting dirty, replace the wrapping with a new piece.Using Paper Towels Wet a paper towel. Remove a large enough strip of paper towel to wrap around your celery stalks. Run the paper towel under the faucet. Get the towel damp, but not soaking wet.[4] You can also use filtered water to wet the paper towel, if you prefer. Wrap the paper towel around the bottom of the stalk. Fold the paper towel in half. Then, wrap the towel tightly and make sure to cover the full stalk. When the towel is fully wrapped, take a rubber band. Use this to secure the paper towel to the celery stalk. Wrap the celery in a plastic bag. You can now place the celery back in the plastic bag it came in. However, you do not want ethylene to get trapped in the bag. Ethylene is a ripening hormone that can cause celery to go bad faster. Wrap the bag around the celery tightly, as this will allow the ethylene to be released. Then, use rubber bands to secure the bag in place. Storing Celery in Water Storing Celery in Water Prepare the celery for storage. You will have to chop up the celery in order to store it in water To start, cut the stalks off the base of the celery.[8]You should also remove any leaves. If you want to use the celery leaves for cooking, store them elsewhere.Once the leaves and stalks are removed, cut each piece of celery in half. Place the celery in a container. Choose a container that can comfortably fit all the pieces of celery. It should also have enough room that you can have about an inch of headspace on top. A Tupperware container or a larger bowl would work well.[9]A container you can easily seal works best. The less exposure celery gets to air, the better. Fill the bowl with water. Use filtered water, as tap water can expose your celery to chemicals. Pour enough water to cover the celery. Seal the container tightly and then place it in the fridge. If your container does not have a lid, seal it with plastic wrap. Change the water daily. It's important to remember to change the water. This method will not work as well if celery sits in the same water each day. Throw away celery that's gone bad. Eventually, celery will go bad even with proper storage. It usually goes bad after three to four weeks. Bad celery will have a whitish color. It will also hollow out in the middleHow to Preserve Celery Leaves Want to make the anise-y flavor of celery leaves last? Here are a few ways to preserve celery leaves: DRY THEM Dry your leaves in a low oven or dehydrator. Pulverize and blend with salt for a handy seasoning. Or grind the dried, crumbled leaves and use like a spice to add an aromatic boost to recipes. PICKLE THEM Pickled celery leaves add a bright, acidic companion on a cheese or charcuterie plate. MAKE SODA Celery soda is a New York classic. A syrup made from both the stalks and the leaves is an intriguing base to make at home, mixed with soda water to use for cocktails. Here’s how to regrow celery: Save about 2-3 inches of the root end of a bunch of celery (that’s the bottom part where the plant was originally cut). If you’re planning to use the full bunch within a short time, you can even cut the bottom off right away and store the cut stalks. Properly stored celery should keep for several weeks. Push 3 or 4 toothpicks around the celery bottom. You’ll be placing the celery bottom in water in a glass or jar You don’t want the celery to touch the bottom of the glass as that can cause it to rot, so the toothpicks should allow it to hover on the edges of the glass, with the root end in water and the top kept dry. Place the toothpicked celery bottom in your glass or jar, root end down and fill with enough water so that just the root end is submerged. Put the celery in a window where it will get several hours of bright sunlight each day. Regularly check the water level and top it up as needed so that the root end is continuously submerged, but be sure to keep the top dry. A few new leaves should start to pop up from the middle after a few days. After a week or so, it will likely be ready to be planted in soil. If you leave it in water too long, the old cut stalks will start to rot, which isn’t good. It’s normal for them to look a bit soggy and brownish, but you don’t want it to go further than that. Once you’ve got a few leaves with small stalks that will stay above the soil, you’re ready to plant. Plant your new celery plant in rich gardening soil outdoors, or in potting soil in an indoor or outdoor pot or planter. When planted, the new growth should be above the soil, with the old cut parts beneath the soil. Watch it grow! A full celery plant needs some sun, but ideally should get shade during the hottest part of a summer’s day, so keep that in mind if you’re planting it outdoors. Also note that critters like squirrels and groundhogs love celery. If you’re keeping yours indoors, that won’t be a problem, but if you’re planting it outdoors, you may need to protect it in some way.
@@JessicaWanders when celery does come down in price I would put that Excalibur to work for sure - if you do get a head of celery this next week I would cut of the tips and the leaves and put in your dehydrator for sure
Hi Lisa! I sure would enjoy the chance to use them up! I never reach for them and I'm pained to throw them away lol I'll be including some in the future weeks :)
Hey breakfast for lunch works and banana cinnamon pancakes are a thing if you have a muffin pan and cooked bacon you can crumble the bacon into the muffin pan and pour your pancake mix over it and bake them at 350 like for the usual time it takes to cook a muffin and you'd have breakfast poppers..( pancake muffins) haha your creps looked just fine
@@JessicaWanders no problem and they're really good and easy to make you can put your grape syrup in them or maple syrup if you have any.. pancake mix works too ..if you have bits of link sausage it works too and pancake mix works too lol but any pancake batter works
Did you know that you can make biscuits out of sour cream or yogurt instead of buttermilk… the recipe I have for them does not call for any shortening either. So when you are out of everything you could make these and some sausage gravy. The name of the biscuits are called Sopping biscuits. If you had had blended your carrots & onionwith little bit of water then added it to your spaghetti sauce , would have stretched your sauce to have used it for stuffed bell peppers with your rice. Also, if you had used the bananas to make banana muffins… would have stretched breakfast items too. Plus, you could have taken the ground beef mixed ( most of it ) with bread crumbs, onion, garlic, bell pepper, Worcestershire sauce, S&P) made it into a meatloaf or Salisbury steaks. The steaks after frying them in a skillet, taken out, add a little flour, S&P with water… season with some type of herb. Served it with rice, some of your peas and reserved carrots. If you had made your spaghetti meat sauce using your leftover sausage, would have given more flavor and not used up your ground beef. Also, if you want to spend less and have a very tasty sauce, use a little bacon drippings to sauté your onions in with a clove of garlic and your meat. Then add in a can of GV tomato soup. Do not need carrots then, because soup already has a sweetness to it. Then I add either fresh tomatoes or canned…whichever is on sale. Then I add my Italian seasoning, little red dry wine if I have it, a piece of parmigiana rind( I save in the freezer) or a packet of Parmesan and red pepper flakes from the pizza place( I always ask for plenty of them) or all three. I add tiny diced green bell pepper and mushrooms if I have it, along with more S&P to adjust at the end of simmering it for about 20-30 minutes. When on such a tight budget, you have to use less meat to stretch that kind of protein! My mother use to make her meatloaf with garlic, bell pepper, onion( all finely diced), bread soaked in a small amount of milk( I just use bread crumbs finely ground then add a little milk along with the vegetables), add a little Worcestershire sauce and add a packet of onion soup mix instead of diced onion if I have it… then place in a baking dish( not loaf pan. Form it into a loaf, and brown it in oven at 350 degrees. Now add a can of stewed tomatoes over it, and cook little bit more. Serve with cooked rice or creamed potatoes ( you have a tomato gravy to serve over the starch and meat). Add a vegetable. Then any meat and gravy you have left can be used to make a vegetable soup or to make stuffed bell peppers along with adding in additional items to make next dish. Never forget that a small can of tomato paste can enhance and thicken tomato dishes! Also, a banana bread pudding would have stretched a loaf of bread that could go with your meals( use pudding for breakfast and some of bread to serve with meals. Since bananas are naturally sweet it does not take as much sugar to sweeten your custard to pour over it. Add in some nuts if you have any to boost up protein. I made a banana bread pudding other day my spice was pumpkin spice added to custard along with vanilla. My son said it was the best bread pudding he had ever eaten! 😂
If you have nutritional yeast, that can be sprinkled on the eggs (and other dishes) as a cheese substitute. Also, when you order pizza, ask them for extra grated cheese packets . I think it would be ok to use those, just as you’re using the ranch dressing cups.
I'll have to check out that nutritional yeast! My condiment drawer is pretty limited but I'll have to remember to ask for more variety in the future! Mmm free cheese...
for your next challenge I challenge you to buy a container of cottage cheese and see how many ways you can use it. If you blend or use the food processor you can make it like sour cream, you can also use it instead of Ricotta cheese in pasta recipes; but my favorite way is cottage cheese filling in crepes.Basic Crepes From the Kitchen of: Lorita Sutton Ingredients: 3 Tbsp. butter 3 eggs, slightly beaten 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup water 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/8 tsp. salt Butter Cottage Cheese Filling Strawberry sauce Recipe instructions: Melt butter in 8 inch crepe or skillet. Pour butter into mixing bowl, set pan aside. To mixing bowl add eggs, milk and water; beat with rotary beater. Blend in flour and salt till smooth. Refrigerate batter for 2 hours or overnight. Note: Allow 2 to 3 crepes per serving. To Freeze: Leave crepes between sheets of waxed paper. Wrap in foil. To reheat in oven: Remove wax paper, wrap in foil and heat in preheated 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Recipe instructions: Place buttered crepe pan over medium-high heat until hot enough to sizzle a drop of water. For each crepe pour 3 Tbsp. or a scant 1/4 cup batter into pan/skillet, rotating pan as batter is poured. Crepes should be thin lacy pancake almost immediately. If too much batteris poured into pan, pour off excess immediately. If there are holes, add a drop or two of batter for a patch. Cook until lightly browned on bottom; turn and brown other side. It may be necessary to add more butter to grease pan before pouring in batter each crepe. Stack crepes between sheets of paper towels or waxed paper until ready to use. Spread 3 Tbsp. Cottage Cheese Filling down the center of each crepe; fold the two sides over the center. Serve with Strawberry sauce Recipe for: Cottage Cheese Filling & Strawberry sauce Cottage Cheese Filling Ingredients: 3 cups small curd cottage cheese, 3 Tbsp. sugar 1 tsp. grated lemon peel 1/2 tsp. vanilla Recipe instructions: Blend together cottage cheese, sugar, lemon peel and vanilla. Use to fill crepes makes 3 cups. Strawberry Sauce Ingredients: 1/2 cup sugar 3 cups fresh strawberries 1/4 cup water, dash salt 1 Tbsp. corn starch, 1 tsp. butter Recipe instructions: Wash & hull strawberries; crush 1 cup. Slice remainder and set aside. Combine crushed berries, sugar, water, salt, corn starch. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens & boils. Boil & stir 1 minute. Add butter, fold in sliced berries. My Notes: I try to remember to make the crepe batter the night before unless eating a late breakfast or brunch. I usually use frozen berries and thaw them unless there is a good sale on berries
Instead of eating two tuna pasta dishes in one week I would have taken one or both of those chicken legs, boiled or baked them, cut them into bit sized pieces and made chicken pasta bake with the same ingredients as the tuna one. Or add some chicken broth made with the bullion cube to make it more saucy. Plus make chicken broth with the skin and bones for the freezer. Of course I’m not a fan of tuna and pasta anything, hot or cold. So thats just me. Thanks for another video. You are doing great.
I am trying to keep things for longer than one week so that some week…Ughh eventually…one week…I might be able to buy a bulk pack of something for a little more money 😂 I know that sometimes it’s a bit repetitive and lack lustre but I have hopes it will get better 🤞🏼
@@janetgarner6770 yes. That’s what I meant. Instead of eating tuna twice in a week eat chicken once and save the tuna for another week. I’d think one leg with some thigh as pictured would produce nearly as much meat as a can of tuna. That way you still have two sources of protein in your stash. Just more variety.
Even if you didnt have the condiment packets, someone could get a condiment each challenge for $1.25 at dollar tree or even less if watching for good sales and build a collection of smaller condiment bottles.
As a Canadian born in the 70s I went through school while Canada was switching from Imperial to Metric so I use different systems for different things. I am confused too hahaha :P
I dont care about using what ever you have in the house but I do want to remark.....I have not nor have I ever had, nor have I ever known anyone with a condimentdrawer😅 I only learned of their exhistance since I followed Americans (and aparently Canadians) here on YT. I live in the EU and I think its not really a thing over here, probably some people have that much condiments but the majority dont.
That's so funny...I never thought about it...most people know what I mean LOL I FEEL like (but have no actual knowledge of...lol) maybe Europeans eat out in restaurants more frequently? Although with covid I'm not sure how that went. When you get take out or food delivery don't you get the huge overabundance of free condiment packages that come with it like we do? :P I can't ever bring myself to throw them away and so they accumulate in what is clearly meant to be my meat and cheese drawer haha
I’m also Canadian and I don’t have a condiment drawer or even a condiment basket. I very rarely eat out and order food in even less. My idea of “fast food at home” is a sandwich or some scrambled eggs. Lol
Canadian here! I have an old pickle jar with a few soy sauce and sweet and sour sauce packets from Chinese food. It’s not a drawer, but same type of idea. I think the idea of the drawer came from a few people online and the term just stuck. The only person I have ever heard of who had an entire drawer was the guy on Struggle Meals here on TH-cam.
Thanks for your feedback! I do judge the meals based on whether they fill me up until the next meal. If you are a more active person than me you may need bigger portions.
@@JessicaWanders I appreciate all the videos you do, it's very realistic for a lot of people but I do eat more, that's all, so I struggle seeing the portions
Personally, I would love to see total calories per day & grams of protein per day as part of the challenge, because I enjoy statistics like that…but I realize that is asking you to do MORE MATH 😱and devote even more time to each video. So I certainly understand if you can’t or just don’t want to!
Haha you make banana bread right and put cinnamon and nutmeg in that right ??..so just think banana bread in crepe or pancake form haha..and if your running low on protein for a dish its not weird to add cooked navy beans smushed or any kind of beans even your yougurt adds a little extra protein if you have boxed bullion a few tbsp of that works i stock up on canned pinto beans to stretch meat dishes haha dad can't tell the difference and evaporated milk done the way you did thats an original way to use it thats how my grandpa survived ww2 if they had to kill old bessy to eat for a month evaporated milk in a pitcher and less milking for gramps lol haha you can always learn how to make your own farmers cheese from a book or YT video haha....if you run out of butter there's still butter churns for sale and books on how to do it 😅lol
All great additions! I wasn't worried about my proteins this week at all but there are loads of things you can add, for sure! :D I find the evaporated milk is just fine mixed up with water and it's a great inexpensive option!
@@JessicaWanders I figured you weren't worried about the protein thing I just saw someone had mentioned it I'm like whatever and I only mentioned what I knew to be sweet.and yeah evaporated milk the very first shelf milk lol except now we can have better shelf milk in a box lol...beats powdered haha and I only do the bean thing not as a health nut thing I'm a cheap butt and I'll get like six pound pot roast cook it and try to get four meals out of it and I'll put beans in them to stretch it that and bullion haha my dad can't tell the difference..
Dollar tree sells quarts of shelf stable milk. You can get the traditional low fat but they also offer 2% and whole. Long shelf life and perfect in a pinch. My grandkids eat cereal with it nice and cold and they don't even notice.
I really appreciate the effort you put into these and have been inspired by your creativity but, sorry, this was my least favourite. Hypothetical shopping makes the challenge less realistic - some of your best work comes from inventiveness with substitutes. Also so much repetition (7 portions of pasta) fulfills the 21 meals brief but doesn’t seem as relatable as when you make smaller quantities of a more varied diet. I think I am missing some of your researched, experimental efforts. I guess the truth is that sticking to a super tight budget week in, week out grinds the truly poor down and would drive anyone to a week of cake for breakfast followed by pasta and more pasta. Hope you get back to being inspirational next week!
I mean I had tuna and rice and tuna and pasta...but I get your point. Not everyone video is going to appeal to everyone and I was admittedly distracted with the 5000 subscriber cake baking this week lol I hope you continue to enjoy the challenge in the following weeks :)
This video and the $21 A Week Grocery Challenge | 5000 Subscriber CAKE BAKE th-cam.com/video/x3zNmctflJY/w-d-xo.html is everything that I cooked this week! It was a busy week so I was happy to have some SIMPLE BUDGET MEALS to whip up! I enjoyed taking advantage of many items that I already had in my pantry! The POLL numbers are in and it looks like almost everyone (94%👍) is okay with using FREE CONDIMENTS in my challenge! That will add a few more options in the weeks to come!
I am going to DONATE SPICES at the end of the month to my local FOOD BANK with any MEMBERSHIP, SUPERCHAT, SUPERS STICKER or THANKS DONATIONS I get this month! JOIN the SPICE DRIVE! 🧡
❤❤❤
Please, Jessica, don't concern yourself with whether any of us "are OK with" anything you decide to do, the rules you set for your challenges or if, when and how you chose to alter them. Perhaps I'm alone in thinking that it's incredibly refreshing to watch someone do these challenges realistically, but I'm throughly enjoying it.
I'm so glad you're enjoying the videos
I agree! Just keep doing what you are doing! Being smart, using what you've got, so inspirational!
@dazy wings same here! I wish I was brave and creative enough to just toss ingredients together and create a tasty meal the way she does. Usually, I end up with an over-seasoned pan of slop when I try that. I never know when to stop adding more flavor.
A bag of potatoes would stretch a small budget and would last if stored well, great pantry builder. And tons of uses for them too. Potato pancakes, mashed, boiled, cubed, camp, hash, etc. And could make baking powder biscuits are easy
Potatoes are great for that! I love all your suggestions :)
It's actually pretty smart to use the condiments in the condiments drawer. Perfectly fine to use that
Thanks for the feedback! I don't have a ton of variety in there but some fun replacements to help with future meals I think :)
Since this is a budget challenge and most everyone has condiments in a drawer or fridge, I don't see that it's a problem. A British budget channel,atomic shrimp, sometimes limits his access to 1 or 2 t. of seasoning /packets.
Thanks for your feedback! Ohh I do love Atomic Shrimp, his budget challenges are the reason I am here! I gave him a load of credit in my 1000 subscriber video
The Atomic Shrimp is quite a legend in the UK.
Girl! Part of cooking on a budget is using what you HAVE! Don't you fret for a second about using ranch you have stored from takeout. I would do it in a heartbeat!
Great to hear your thoughts! :D
Yes to the free condiments! I'm a soup girl, and I would turn a serving of the tuna rice casserole into a soup by just adding water and heating it up. It just makes it seem like a new dish that way. Yummy! Love your videos, I am planning to make the rice casserole this next week! 😀
Ohh that would have been great to turn it into a soup! Great idea :D That would totally perk up the dry rice and relieve my boredom with the meal!
When pancakes are flat sometimes the heat is too low sometimes too much moisture in the batter. When I get flat pancakes i just call them crepes and i put cream cheese and jelly in them and roll them.
Ohhh I'll have to use that work around next time when I get flat pancakes!!
Generally, thinner your pancake batter the thinner the pancakes. thicker batter rises and holds it shape better.
Thank you for the info! They tasted just perfect...just a thinner batter turned into a thinner pancake, just like you have mentioned! :D
I don’t have an issue with the free condiments as long as they come with something you bought. I don’t see any difference in using dressing or ketchup that come with a food order than using your free points earned by buying groceries. In both cases you paid for them when you paid for your food. Just going into a fast food place and taking ketchup or sugar packets seems different, but it is your challenge, so if you are comfortable with it, go for it.
Great to hear your feedback Jean! I would never suggest just "taking" packets, for sure! I have always asked at the counter and been given them :) I have more than enough to use in my condiment drawer that it's not something I need to do at the moment!
I seem to be in the minority, but I'm not so keen on using the condiment packets. What I really enjoy about your 21 dollar challenges is watching you slowly build up some spices/condiments over time and seeing how you make your choices on a very limited budget and get very creative with it. Also, those condiment packets come mainly from resturant takeout meals, so I don't think someone really trying to live on 21 dollars a week for food would have much access to little condiment packs unless they can get them for free somehow.
I totally understand you’re point. There are some creative ways to come by free condiments, even asking friends. I’ve even just gone to fast food counters and asked and they hand them out usually. This far into the challenge I feel okay about it. I wouldn’t suggest anyone try to eat on $21 a week for very long, hopefully it’s just an emergency situation. There are many resources I am not taking advantage of that people on a limited budget might use, such as food banks or other charity organizations. 🤷♀️
Use your packets! Is fine! I may be the only person who doesn’t have a packet drawer. 🤷♀️ I pack foods when I’m not home/on the road.
Atomic shrimp 🦐 I’m also a fan
Thanks for your thoughts on the packets! Isn't Atomic Shrimp great :D I love everything he does! Just watched his latest foraging video this morning! :)
Mince cooked with onions on rice with soy sauce was my favorite thing growing up. Usually with canned green beans.
I was super picky.
My family makes that tuna pasta salad but adds boiled egg. It's always better the second day. We have it at almost every bbq.
I feel that you certainly should be able to use your condiment drawer. I watch a couple of Content creaters who do very often.
I love that you did cake for breakfast and brunchy lunches. It's fun and different.
These ideas would be great for people who only eat once or twice a day, especially.
I do a batch of blueberry muffins that lasts my DH for most breakfasts and I will have them as a treat. I use the Kibg Arthur recipe and it's quite easy and delicious.
I also enjoyed how u shopped your pantry. I have been doing this strategy often. I have a desire to learn to better use what I have to avoid waste.
A sushi or budha bowl would be good with the tuna n rice maybe.
If you are to get a produce box it would make your meals shine, but you are doing a great job!! Can't wait to see the rest of the challenge.
I think your garden stuff should be free, too.
Just a thought.
Hey Tina Blair! Great to see you and I love the ideas! I’m hoping to grab a produce box for this challenge, it would be a game changer for sure! Maybe I can afford some seeds and plant some things for the challenge but starting a garden isn’t without its expenses!
Flat pancakes: baking powder may be old. Batter may be too alkaline. Add some yogurt as an acid to help activate your baking powder.
Thanks for the thoughts...there was yogurt I added instead of sour cream, so that was covered...hmm and I haven't been having any other problems with the baking powder. Good to know to look for those reason for flat pancakes though!
Love what you do! Thanks so much for sharing! ❤
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the channel! 🧡😀
Next week buy some cheese! Also buy some beef boil lion for french onion soup - yum. Also you need some bread - tuna sandwich, egg salad sandwich. Do you have peanut butter - id want some peanut butter on toast for breakfast. Also some minestrone soup would be good. Need more frozen mixed veggies. Also more baking powder, flour, yeast? I can sure spend your grocery $ huh? You’re doing very well!
It's so great to have you thinking of a plan! French onion soup would be fabulous! Great idea :D Peanut butter would be great...I keep checking for a good sale on it! I love the great suggestions and ideas!
Great meals again. You're doing so well with this series.
About the condiments, anyone with truly only $21 for meals would be scouring their pantry and fridge for every possible condiment to use. I feel the number of extras is the balance, a few isn't cheating. Also if you tasted something, decided it really needed salt/ketchup/herbs etc and sprinkled any on top (especially for Mr Wanders) I think that would be ok.
The pantry shopping was perfect
I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! Sorry I missed your comment! The survey definitely said "use the condiments" Yay!
I love love love your channel Jessica ! I stumbled upon it a couple of days ago and have been hooked. I’m learning to cook. And learning to cook with what I have and you make it so comforting and make me want to try! Thank you!! ❤️❤️❤️
That's awesome! Welcome! I'm so glad you're enjoying the channel! :D
Thanks for your videos thanks ❤😊
You’re welcome! Thank you for watching 🙂🧡
I'm glad you mention the thumbs up. For some reason I always forget to do that.
I must be coming across as obsessed or something. I promise I'm not a crazy person. It's just that I know there are a whole lot of people who would absolutely love your videos and I want them all to be able to find them.
Also... I'm off work on disability and getting a little bit bored.
Thumbs up and comments all help the TH-cam machine decide to give me more exposure so any help is appreciated! I love all the ideas and comments too 👍🏼🧡
If you literally had only $21 to buy food for a week..You'd use whatever was at hand to make the best meals possible. Rather it be 1oz of frozen peas or a ranch packet lol.. i say packets are very realistic to this challenge.
Thanks for your feedback Heather! 👍🏼🙂
I have sooooo many packets. I collect them too and hubby brings some home from work lunches the guys are given. Totally fair. I really don’t think spices should be included in your cost because most people buy spices once or twice a year. Stuffed tortillas would be cheap and could be used for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Rice pudding for breakfast would be cheap too. Love to see what you come up with. Very nice little leftover pantry! ❤
Thanks for your feedback about the condiments! :) I seem to never use them up unless I'm forced to, although they are handy to have in the camper as they don't take up as much room as big bottles! I think I leave out spices because they can be pricey to buy on a limited budget and they make such a huge difference that's it's important to choose wisely! ;) Thanks for sharing your stuffed tortilla idea! Sounds great :D
If you have ever watched "Struggle Meals," he has a drawer full of condiment packages and he uses them all the time!
Awesome! I've only watched a couple of his videos but he's great! :)
When you do a what we eat in a week video, you can use what have. Dont listen to the haters .
We are here to develop our creativity in making new recipes
Thanks for sharing your thoughts K A
Yes you can use any thing you have
Thank you for your thoughts! 👍🏼🙂
Using your pantry items/seasonings is essential for the creativity that helps us all. Thx Jessica🌸
It really does help the meal planning to have some spices and condiments! Thank you for being here watching! :D
Over all everything is great! I’m impressed with your creativity and follow thru
Thank you so much Tara :D
Google yogurt cheese recipe and make that sour yogurt into some creamy soft cheese. You can add some herbs to it and make it even better. I think that using your condiment packs is a great idea! Don't listen to the haters they have nothing better to do with there life than be mean. You are doing a awesome job helping other people who are looking for ways to still afford food and be creative with the food that they can get. Keep it up lady! Have a great day! 🥞🎂👍
I haven't made cheese out of yogurt before! I don't think I had quite enough to work with but I'd love to give it a try some time! I don't mind people's opinions (since I asked for them in the beginning, of course!) It does seem that the majority of people are okay with using the condiments though so I'm excited to use a few here and there. I'm so glad you are enjoying the videos Jo and it great to have all the feedback! :D
100% good with the free condiments. We did a family challenge with each of us trying to eat for $21 in the week and I actually reached out on our local Pay It Forward page for more free condiments - those condiments drawers seem to be in everyones fridge - truly helped to get us through the week!
What an awesome resource to use! Make use of whatever you can 👍🏼😃
Absolutely you should be allowed to use packets!!! Most people I know do ( including me, food prices ARE HORRIBLE, take a break when you can)!!!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Aren't the prices crazy?! Ughhh!
Anyone on a $21 budget would use anything and everything at their disposal INCLUDING whatever sauce packets they have in their cabinet. 😉
Indeed! Thanks for sharing your thoughts :)
Using your condiment stash is fine with me. I think your pancakes were flat, because the batter was thin, but I'm sure they tasted just fine. If you had mayonnaise, or made it yourself, I think it would help with the flavour and moisture of the macaroni salads? I also like hard boiled eggs sliced up in them.
You are brave not having any bread...I love my toast and jam.
Great video, as always
Hi kathryn :) After looking at the recipe pictures, I think they were meant to be a thinner pancake and they did taste amazing :) I know, the decision to not have bread this week...I had to tell myself I was eating more than enough pasta to make up for it lol I'm so glad you enjoyed the video!
Love it girl!! Keep it up!!🎉❤💯
Thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying the series! :D
Awesome series! Because you enjoyed the ranch dressing, I wonder if you don't normally like pasta salad using mayonnaise? anyway, thanks so much for the inspiration :)
Hi! I'm so glad you are enjoying the series! It could be that's what the problem is with pasta salad! I'll have to remember to compare ingredients the next time I make it. Thanks for your thoughts :D
Hello Jessica Just viewed episode 6 of the challenge, you are doing well. The budget pasta with beef sauce is getting popular in Oz due to meat and fuel prices. Just needed some cheese and chopped fresh herbs for me.
Hello! :) It's such a handy meal, pretty quick to whip up and yes, much better with fresh herbs and cheese! So great to have you here watching!
The spaghetti sauce looked great.😊
Thanks! It was so yummy :)
If you can afford it sometime, work some celery seed into your budget. Then you can blend it in a spice blender or crush it in a mortar with some salt and make some celery salt. You get the celery flavor for less :)
I'll have to look at it! I don't use celery seed very often as I usually have some frozen celery. I love this tip :) I'll have to check bulk barn! :D
@@JessicaWanders I think the ratio is one part ground celery seed to two parts salt.
@@DeterminedDIYer Thanks!
Love these videos, keept them up. Cheese makes everything better.
We add chili powder and a pinch of cocoa powder, sugar to our spaghetti sauce. Really brings out the flavor
Yay! I'm so glad you're enjoying the videos AJ! Yes...need cheese again, if I go too long I go into withdrawal lol I'm going to have to try out the chili powder! I often do add sugar but cocoa powder, that is a new one :) Thanks for sharing!
I see a delicious minestrone soup in your future, home made bread too! (if you buy some yeast and flour).
Hi Melisa :) Yes...soup! It has started raining like crazy and I'm feeling like some comfy soup! I am almost out of flour and boy yeast is so expensive! Those little 3-packs of yeast are the cheapest at Walmart for $1.97...eventually I'll grab some lol
You should expand on the sauce packet… if you can get it from the restaurant for free, you should include it. Red pepper flakes from pizza place, mayonnaise packs and such from burger places. Our Chick Fil A has lemon juice, honey, condiments, jelly packs available all the time on a side bar. The dipping packs come with your order. So what you can reasonably get at your local restaurants can be included
Great ideas! Thanks for the awesome tips! :D
Oh, also, you can make baconaise in a food processor with the bacon fat to use as a spread on sandwiches or as a dip on raw veggies ... 2 egg yolks, 1 teaspoon of mustard, 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar OR lemon juice, 1 cup of bacon grease (cooled but not solid) and pinch of salt. Process the yolks and vinegar (or lemon juice) then while its running, SLOWLY add your bacon grease.. I mean slowly! Almost a drip at a time. If added too fast, the emulsion may break. Then add your mustard and pinch of salt. You can split the recipe to just try it. Also, you can add flavorings like hot sauce, chives, minced onion at the end.
This sounds amazing! Dang I have problems making mayonaisse though lol I might just be a bit to impatient!
A super weird spaghetti trick is either a tiny dash of cinnamon or cumin. Sounds bizarre but it’s a yummy little twist
Ohhh I've never heard that one! Interesting :)
Maybe your baking powder is out of date since it was the last of it. You can make your own baking powder if you have baking soda. It's on the internet for directions. This is an amazing challenge AND great fun to watch.
I'll have to see if it happens again! I believe I used some from a larger jar in the pantry. I sure hope it's not all too old! :( Thanks for the tips :)
I think using the “leftover” condiment packages is being a good steward of what you have. Most of the grocery challenges I’ve watched one of the first things they say is make it your own so if you have those things in your home I would say anyone else’s opinion doesn’t matter. Be blessed.
Thanks Kathi :) I wanted to know where people stood on it but it seems the majority of people are all for using them up which is great!
I’ve always found that adding a splash of cold water to my scrambled eggs rather than milk makes them nice and fluffy. My Dad taught me that in the 90s and everyone loves my eggs 😊 Loved the 5K cake 😍 looked absolutely delicious!
That's so funny! My father taught me the exact same thing! I find them fluffier that way as well. Sometimes I like to add milk just to add some extra calories ;) I'm so glad you enjoyed the cake! It turned out much better than I had hoped!
Pasta and peas look good for those who cant eat tuna canned chicken would work nice with it too..
It definitely would work well with the chicken! :)
Chicken bullion plus rice and a little franks and ketchup and a little chilli powder if you have any and a little roasted chicken and youd have a really good Arroz com poyo ( chicken and rice casserole)..the franks would make up for the Mexican spice and your ketchup make up for the tomato sauce...oh and yes bbq sauce in rice is a thing if you take your bbq sauce mix it with some ketchup and hot sauce and some gravy like think brown gravy or a Roux set it off to the side then made yourself some pinto or whatever beans you have to the side and cooked some rice and that hamburger you have left and that sauce youd have a very good poor man's beans and dirty rice..its called dirty cause of the sauce its supposed to look like mud or swamp water it's supposed have sausage but hamburger or chicken will work and its served over rice..thats a Louisiana and texas dish but there's so many variations of beans and dirty rice but when you said bbq sauce in rice im like cool dirty rice and beans??..haha not sure if you have that or Arroz comp poyo but those are two things i thought of when you were doing your ingredients run down lol not being a busy butt and this is your deal I just like getting ideas and seeing what you make but just being um nice or something but yeah those were two dishes I noticed from your run down if you needed ideas you have two haha and so far so good😊
I love all the great ideas Lola! Great thoughtful comments! Thanks for sharing your suggestions :D
@@JessicaWanders no problem and alot of us do half butt cooking like you do it's very common especially in my neck of the woods..and that chicken bullion you buy it's popular here and it's got real chicken in it they just don't tell you the chicken flavor is ground up chicken carcass and bones cause oversensitive types might b about it but it's still chicken and still food and your cake looked good there are breakfast cakes not just coffee cake so it's not weird you had your cake for breakfast..haha sometimes we have left over dinner for breakfast depending on what it was..but yeah just look up dirty rice and you'd be surprised that bbq sauce is in alot of those recipes haha and if you run out of cheese you can either make farmers ( kinda like mozzarella)or swipe your noodles from a Kraft Mac and cheese dinner for one dish but save the cheese packs as a emergency cheese reserve for another recipe if you want haha and we don't call it KD but when I saw the box I got a pretty good idea what it was haha same junk different cardboard..and no problem..if you look at ingredients on your bbq sauce and different spice packets 90% of the time they have ingredients you need for one dish or the other so me personally if I go to make say tamales and I need five spices I'm not going to pay 20$ if one pack of taco seasoning has four of the spices for .88¢ and a can of enchilada sauce has the rest of the spices and more for 1.40$ that's stupid you can still half butt it and make it taste good on the cheap..haha I like your deal so far cause you do that and I've gotten a few recipes I can sneak on dad so thanks lol
No chili powder in an Italian sauce/gravy Spices traditionally are basil oregano thyme garlic onion salt pepper. You can also sweeten the sauce with carrots or a little sugar.
Thanks! I was just wondering what it would taste like ;) I did add carrots and I sometimes add sugar too! Great additions!
Love your videos! The information has been very helpful for cooking for one. Your pancakes may have been flat because I were over mixed. Pancake batter should be slightly lumpy.
Yay! I'm so glad you're enjoying the videos! Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I ended up mixing it more than I usually would for sure. Great thoughts ! :D
I love spaghetti! 😋
Right?! It's such a staple meal around here :)
I would had added complete can of tuna
A complete can would be good too 👍🏼 Sometimes I’m trying to stretch things a bit 🙂
If you have food banks just Google food banks in your area you can get can fruits and vegetables beans and meats Southern California has great food banks great way to stock up. Have a great week end week end
here WalMart has Great Value Celery Salt, 5.25 oz $2.28 so I would check my Dollar Tree or 99 cent store to see they have a jar for cheaper. the other thing to do is when you get your head of celery ; first cut the bottom and put in a saucer of water to get the roots growing and move to better container as it grows. the other thing to do is cut the ends off and the leaves and dry in the oven at 2oo degrees or lower if you can then grind to make celery seasoning and you can add salt if you want
Great ideas Lorita :) We have a bulk barn that sells spices by weight so I can get an amount that fits into my budget. I've tried regrowing things without too much luck in water without having to transfer them into dirt. And...to boot, my darn oven does go that low but I do have a handy Excalibur dehydrator that I could use ;) Because it's the winter...kind of still...celery isn't cheap yet. Still $2.97 for a head at Walmart :(
@@JessicaWanders Storing Celery in Aluminum Foil Wrap the celery tightly in aluminum foil. Celery often goes bad fast because it releases ethylene, a ripening hormone. When wrapped in foil, foil allow the ethylene to escape. If celery is stored in a loose plastic bag, ethylene is trapped, which will cause the celery to get limp. Aluminum foil prevents celery from becoming overripe and losing crispness.[1]
Ethylene is a hormone plants give off naturally. It's an aging and ripening hormone, which causes plants to ripen and then decompose. While ethylene is necessary to get plants ripe, it can cause decay and overripe plants after a certain point. Storing celery in a plastic bag traps ethylene, causing celery to go bad quicker. Re-wrap your celery after each use. After using celery for a meal, be sure to re-wrap it in aluminum foil. Remember to wrap the celery tightly, as this will allow the ethylene to escape.[2]
If your aluminum foil is getting dirty, replace the wrapping with a new piece.Using Paper Towels Wet a paper towel. Remove a large enough strip of paper towel to wrap around your celery stalks. Run the paper towel under the faucet. Get the towel damp, but not soaking wet.[4]
You can also use filtered water to wet the paper towel, if you prefer.
Wrap the paper towel around the bottom of the stalk. Fold the paper towel in half. Then, wrap the towel tightly and make sure to cover the full stalk. When the towel is fully wrapped, take a rubber band. Use this to secure the paper towel to the celery stalk. Wrap the celery in a plastic bag. You can now place the celery back in the plastic bag it came in. However, you do not want ethylene to get trapped in the bag. Ethylene is a ripening hormone that can cause celery to go bad faster. Wrap the bag around the celery tightly, as this will allow the ethylene to be released. Then, use rubber bands to secure the bag in place. Storing Celery in Water
Storing Celery in Water Prepare the celery for storage. You will have to chop up the celery in order to store it in water To start, cut the stalks off the base of the celery.[8]You should also remove any leaves. If you want to use the celery leaves for cooking, store them elsewhere.Once the leaves and stalks are removed, cut each piece of celery in half.
Place the celery in a container. Choose a container that can comfortably fit all the pieces of celery. It should also have enough room that you can have about an inch of headspace on top. A Tupperware container or a larger bowl would work well.[9]A container you can easily seal works best. The less exposure celery gets to air, the better.
Fill the bowl with water. Use filtered water, as tap water can expose your celery to chemicals. Pour enough water to cover the celery. Seal the container tightly and then place it in the fridge. If your container does not have a lid, seal it with plastic wrap. Change the water daily. It's important to remember to change the water. This method will not work as well if celery sits in the same water each day. Throw away celery that's gone bad. Eventually, celery will go bad even with proper storage. It usually goes bad after three to four weeks. Bad celery will have a whitish color. It will also hollow out in the middleHow to Preserve Celery Leaves Want to make the anise-y flavor of celery leaves last? Here are a few ways to preserve celery leaves:
DRY THEM
Dry your leaves in a low oven or dehydrator. Pulverize and blend with salt for a handy seasoning. Or grind the dried, crumbled leaves and use like a spice to add an aromatic boost to recipes.
PICKLE THEM
Pickled celery leaves add a bright, acidic companion on a cheese or charcuterie plate.
MAKE SODA
Celery soda is a New York classic. A syrup made from both the stalks and the leaves is an intriguing base to make at home, mixed with soda water to use for cocktails.
Here’s how to regrow celery:
Save about 2-3 inches of the root end of a bunch of celery (that’s the bottom part where the plant was originally cut). If you’re planning to use the full bunch within a short time, you can even cut the bottom off right away and store the cut stalks. Properly stored celery should keep for several weeks.
Push 3 or 4 toothpicks around the celery bottom. You’ll be placing the celery bottom in water in a glass or jar You don’t want the celery to touch the bottom of the glass as that can cause it to rot, so the toothpicks should allow it to hover on the edges of the glass, with the root end in water and the top kept dry.
Place the toothpicked celery bottom in your glass or jar, root end down and fill with enough water so that just the root end is submerged.
Put the celery in a window where it will get several hours of bright sunlight each day.
Regularly check the water level and top it up as needed so that the root end is continuously submerged, but be sure to keep the top dry.
A few new leaves should start to pop up from the middle after a few days.
After a week or so, it will likely be ready to be planted in soil. If you leave it in water too long, the old cut stalks will start to rot, which isn’t good. It’s normal for them to look a bit soggy and brownish, but you don’t want it to go further than that. Once you’ve got a few leaves with small stalks that will stay above the soil, you’re ready to plant.
Plant your new celery plant in rich gardening soil outdoors, or in potting soil in an indoor or outdoor pot or planter. When planted, the new growth should be above the soil, with the old cut parts beneath the soil.
Watch it grow!
A full celery plant needs some sun, but ideally should get shade during the hottest part of a summer’s day, so keep that in mind if you’re planting it outdoors. Also note that critters like squirrels and groundhogs love celery. If you’re keeping yours indoors, that won’t be a problem, but if you’re planting it outdoors, you may need to protect it in some way.
@@JessicaWanders when celery does come down in price I would put that Excalibur to work for sure - if you do get a head of celery this next week I would cut of the tips and the leaves and put in your dehydrator for sure
Any normal person that has these items in their fridge would use them. They always help in. A pinch when you run out of the condiment and need it.
Hi Lisa! I sure would enjoy the chance to use them up! I never reach for them and I'm pained to throw them away lol I'll be including some in the future weeks :)
2 cups self rising flour. Tad of oil and milk of choice for biscuits or pancakes
Thanks for sharing! :)
How about buying some nutritional yeast from the bulk barn for a bit of 'cheesiness' ?
I'll look to see if they have some! I've been meaning to give it a try! :)
@@JessicaWanders You wanted to try new things!
Hey breakfast for lunch works and banana cinnamon pancakes are a thing if you have a muffin pan and cooked bacon you can crumble the bacon into the muffin pan and pour your pancake mix over it and bake them at 350 like for the usual time it takes to cook a muffin and you'd have breakfast poppers..( pancake muffins) haha your creps looked just fine
Ohh breakfast poppers sound great! Thanks for the idea!
@@JessicaWanders no problem and they're really good and easy to make you can put your grape syrup in them or maple syrup if you have any.. pancake mix works too ..if you have bits of link sausage it works too and pancake mix works too lol but any pancake batter works
Garlic powder in the pasta tuna and peas
That would have been great! :)
I put chilli powder in spaghetti sauce or curry powder.
Thanks for sharing...that's good to know, I think I'll give it a try sometime!
Did you know that you can make biscuits out of sour cream or yogurt instead of buttermilk… the recipe I have for them does not call for any shortening either. So when you are out of everything you could make these and some sausage gravy. The name of the biscuits are called Sopping biscuits. If you had had blended your carrots & onionwith little bit of water then added it to your spaghetti sauce , would have stretched your sauce to have used it for stuffed bell peppers with your rice. Also, if you had used the bananas to make banana muffins… would have stretched breakfast items too. Plus, you could have taken the ground beef mixed ( most of it ) with bread crumbs, onion, garlic, bell pepper, Worcestershire sauce, S&P) made it into a meatloaf or Salisbury steaks. The steaks after frying them in a skillet, taken out, add a little flour, S&P with water… season with some type of herb. Served it with rice, some of your peas and reserved carrots. If you had made your spaghetti meat sauce using your leftover sausage, would have given more flavor and not used up your ground beef. Also, if you want to spend less and have a very tasty sauce, use a little bacon drippings to sauté your onions in with a clove of garlic and your meat. Then add in a can of GV tomato soup. Do not need carrots then, because soup already has a sweetness to it. Then I add either fresh tomatoes or canned…whichever is on sale. Then I add my Italian seasoning, little red dry wine if I have it, a piece of parmigiana rind( I save in the freezer) or a packet of Parmesan and red pepper flakes from the pizza place( I always ask for plenty of them) or all three. I add tiny diced green bell pepper and mushrooms if I have it, along with more S&P to adjust at the end of simmering it for about 20-30 minutes. When on such a tight budget, you have to use less meat to stretch that kind of protein! My mother use to make her meatloaf with garlic, bell pepper, onion( all finely diced), bread soaked in a small amount of milk( I just use bread crumbs finely ground then add a little milk along with the vegetables), add a little Worcestershire sauce and add a packet of onion soup mix instead of diced onion if I have it… then place in a baking dish( not loaf pan. Form it into a loaf, and brown it in oven at 350 degrees. Now add a can of stewed tomatoes over it, and cook little bit more. Serve with cooked rice or creamed potatoes ( you have a tomato gravy to serve over the starch and meat). Add a vegetable. Then any meat and gravy you have left can be used to make a vegetable soup or to make stuffed bell peppers along with adding in additional items to make next dish. Never forget that a small can of tomato paste can enhance and thicken tomato dishes! Also, a banana bread pudding would have stretched a loaf of bread that could go with your meals( use pudding for breakfast and some of bread to serve with meals. Since bananas are naturally sweet it does not take as much sugar to sweeten your custard to pour over it. Add in some nuts if you have any to boost up protein. I made a banana bread pudding other day my spice was pumpkin spice added to custard along with vanilla. My son said it was the best bread pudding he had ever eaten! 😂
Worcestershire sauce would be a great addition to the pantry! It does add a ton of flavour to many meals! I love all the ideas Nancy :)
If you have nutritional yeast, that can be sprinkled on the eggs (and other dishes) as a cheese substitute. Also, when you order pizza, ask them for extra grated cheese packets . I think it would be ok to use those, just as you’re using the ranch dressing cups.
I'll have to check out that nutritional yeast! My condiment drawer is pretty limited but I'll have to remember to ask for more variety in the future! Mmm free cheese...
for your next challenge I challenge you to buy a container of cottage cheese and see how many ways you can use it. If you blend or use the food processor you can make it like sour cream, you can also use it instead of Ricotta cheese in pasta recipes; but my favorite way is cottage cheese filling in crepes.Basic Crepes From the Kitchen of: Lorita Sutton
Ingredients: 3 Tbsp. butter
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
Butter
Cottage Cheese Filling
Strawberry sauce
Recipe instructions: Melt butter in 8 inch crepe or skillet. Pour butter into mixing bowl, set pan aside. To mixing bowl add eggs, milk and water; beat with rotary beater. Blend in flour and salt till smooth. Refrigerate batter for 2 hours or overnight. Note: Allow 2 to 3 crepes per serving. To Freeze: Leave crepes between sheets of waxed paper. Wrap in foil. To reheat in oven: Remove wax paper, wrap in foil and heat in preheated 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes.
Recipe instructions: Place buttered crepe pan over medium-high heat until hot enough to sizzle a drop of water. For each crepe pour 3 Tbsp. or a scant 1/4 cup batter into pan/skillet, rotating pan as batter is poured. Crepes should be thin lacy pancake almost immediately. If too much batteris poured into pan, pour off excess immediately. If there are holes, add a drop or two of batter for a patch. Cook until lightly browned on bottom; turn and brown other side. It may be necessary to add more butter to grease pan before pouring in batter each crepe. Stack crepes between sheets of paper towels or waxed paper until ready to use. Spread 3 Tbsp. Cottage Cheese Filling down the center of each crepe; fold the two sides over the center. Serve with Strawberry sauce
Recipe for: Cottage Cheese Filling & Strawberry sauce
Cottage Cheese Filling Ingredients: 3 cups small curd cottage cheese, 3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Recipe instructions: Blend together cottage cheese, sugar, lemon peel and vanilla. Use to fill crepes makes 3 cups.
Strawberry Sauce
Ingredients: 1/2 cup sugar
3 cups fresh strawberries
1/4 cup water, dash salt
1 Tbsp. corn starch, 1 tsp. butter
Recipe instructions: Wash & hull strawberries; crush 1 cup. Slice remainder and set aside. Combine crushed berries, sugar, water, salt, corn starch. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens & boils. Boil & stir 1 minute. Add butter, fold in sliced berries.
My Notes: I try to remember to make the crepe batter the night before unless eating a late breakfast or brunch.
I usually use frozen berries and thaw them unless there is a good sale on berries
Wow! This recipe sounds amazing! I do love cottage cheese! I’ll have to try it some time 👍🏼🙂 Thank you for sharing Lotita!
Instead of eating two tuna pasta dishes in one week I would have taken one or both of those chicken legs, boiled or baked them, cut them into bit sized pieces and made chicken pasta bake with the same ingredients as the tuna one. Or add some chicken broth made with the bullion cube to make it more saucy. Plus make chicken broth with the skin and bones for the freezer. Of course I’m not a fan of tuna and pasta anything, hot or cold. So thats just me. Thanks for another video. You are doing great.
I am trying to keep things for longer than one week so that some week…Ughh eventually…one week…I might be able to buy a bulk pack of something for a little more money 😂 I know that sometimes it’s a bit repetitive and lack lustre but I have hopes it will get better 🤞🏼
I think she meant use chicken from your freezer and save a can of tuna for another week.
@@janetgarner6770 yes. That’s what I meant. Instead of eating tuna twice in a week eat chicken once and save the tuna for another week. I’d think one leg with some thigh as pictured would produce nearly as much meat as a can of tuna. That way you still have two sources of protein in your stash. Just more variety.
Even if you didnt have the condiment packets, someone could get a condiment each challenge for $1.25 at dollar tree or even less if watching for good sales and build a collection of smaller condiment bottles.
True! I kinda want to have a reason to use them up though lol :P
With how little your portions are for food, you use those condiments. If money is so tight anyone of use would take help from someone.
That’s very true! Thank you for your thoughts 👍🏼🙂🧡
If you have it use it. I would.
Thanks for your thoughts! 👍🏼🙂
you might add celery salt to your to buy list
That seems to be a popular suggestion! It would save me having to get some celery! Great Idea!
Your baking powder could be bad? It only lasts 3-6 months. It’s definitely not something you want to use past it la date. Flat pancakes are ok too 😊
I’ll have to check it! Great tip!
Never use chilly except in chilly
Thanks for your thoughts on that!
Interstate funny you talk in kilos, grams and pounds as an old American I am confused. LOL😊🤔
As a Canadian born in the 70s I went through school while Canada was switching from Imperial to Metric so I use different systems for different things. I am confused too hahaha :P
I dont care about using what ever you have in the house but I do want to remark.....I have not nor have I ever had, nor have I ever known anyone with a condimentdrawer😅 I only learned of their exhistance since I followed Americans (and aparently Canadians) here on YT. I live in the EU and I think its not really a thing over here, probably some people have that much condiments but the majority dont.
That's so funny...I never thought about it...most people know what I mean LOL I FEEL like (but have no actual knowledge of...lol) maybe Europeans eat out in restaurants more frequently? Although with covid I'm not sure how that went. When you get take out or food delivery don't you get the huge overabundance of free condiment packages that come with it like we do? :P I can't ever bring myself to throw them away and so they accumulate in what is clearly meant to be my meat and cheese drawer haha
I’m also Canadian and I don’t have a condiment drawer or even a condiment basket. I very rarely eat out and order food in even less. My idea of “fast food at home” is a sandwich or some scrambled eggs. Lol
Canadian here! I have an old pickle jar with a few soy sauce and sweet and sour sauce packets from Chinese food. It’s not a drawer, but same type of idea. I think the idea of the drawer came from a few people online and the term just stuck. The only person I have ever heard of who had an entire drawer was the guy on Struggle Meals here on TH-cam.
The portions seem very small to me
Thanks for your feedback! I do judge the meals based on whether they fill me up until the next meal. If you are a more active person than me you may need bigger portions.
@@JessicaWanders I appreciate all the videos you do, it's very realistic for a lot of people but I do eat more, that's all, so I struggle seeing the portions
Personally, I would love to see total calories per day & grams of protein per day as part of the challenge, because I enjoy statistics like that…but I realize that is asking you to do MORE MATH 😱and devote even more time to each video. So I certainly understand if you can’t or just don’t want to!
Also I love the spice drive idea! ❤
It would be an interesting metric to look into but, yes, right now it would be too much for me.
The Spice Drive is already going really well $14 dollars so far! :)
Haha you make banana bread right and put cinnamon and nutmeg in that right ??..so just think banana bread in crepe or pancake form haha..and if your running low on protein for a dish its not weird to add cooked navy beans smushed or any kind of beans even your yougurt adds a little extra protein if you have boxed bullion a few tbsp of that works i stock up on canned pinto beans to stretch meat dishes haha dad can't tell the difference and evaporated milk done the way you did thats an original way to use it thats how my grandpa survived ww2 if they had to kill old bessy to eat for a month evaporated milk in a pitcher and less milking for gramps lol haha you can always learn how to make your own farmers cheese from a book or YT video haha....if you run out of butter there's still butter churns for sale and books on how to do it 😅lol
All great additions! I wasn't worried about my proteins this week at all but there are loads of things you can add, for sure! :D I find the evaporated milk is just fine mixed up with water and it's a great inexpensive option!
@@JessicaWanders I figured you weren't worried about the protein thing I just saw someone had mentioned it I'm like whatever and I only mentioned what I knew to be sweet.and yeah evaporated milk the very first shelf milk lol except now we can have better shelf milk in a box lol...beats powdered haha and I only do the bean thing not as a health nut thing I'm a cheap butt and I'll get like six pound pot roast cook it and try to get four meals out of it and I'll put beans in them to stretch it that and bullion haha my dad can't tell the difference..
Dollar tree sells quarts of shelf stable milk. You can get the traditional low fat but they also offer 2% and whole. Long shelf life and perfect in a pinch. My grandkids eat cereal with it nice and cold and they don't even notice.
Nah finish the cake off
That's what Mr.Wanders said too lol :P
pancakes don't need eggs
I always try to follow a new recipe to see if I like it :D
I really appreciate the effort you put into these and have been inspired by your creativity but, sorry, this was my least favourite. Hypothetical shopping makes the challenge less realistic - some of your best work comes from inventiveness with substitutes. Also so much repetition (7 portions of pasta) fulfills the 21 meals brief but doesn’t seem as relatable as when you make smaller quantities of a more varied diet. I think I am missing some of your researched, experimental efforts. I guess the truth is that sticking to a super tight budget week in, week out grinds the truly poor down and would drive anyone to a week of cake for breakfast followed by pasta and more pasta. Hope you get back to being inspirational next week!
I mean I had tuna and rice and tuna and pasta...but I get your point. Not everyone video is going to appeal to everyone and I was admittedly distracted with the 5000 subscriber cake baking this week lol I hope you continue to enjoy the challenge in the following weeks :)