My favourite vegetable soup 2 Potato 1 onion 1/4 Capsicum 2/3 Carrots Apple Cauliflower Vine ripened tomatoes crushed Chillie A tin of four bean mix One packet of Dutch curry rice soup or chicken noodle soup Half a teaspoon ofI Italian mixed herbs Tomato paste Cut veg small except for couliflower Add water and cook
Hope! I have to say your hair and makeup look absolutely beautiful!! Love your braid!! You always have great tips and advice!! Thank you!! I also found some canned veggies this week for 50 cents a can. Stocked up!👍
I live very rural so finding great sales or bargains is very difficult. We have Walmart and dollar tree now $1.25 in my area. Next large store is 35 miles. The city that has many stores is over an hour away. How can people like me find away to eat cheap without driving hours to the stores like you shop?
I also use asparagus end to make soup..no food waste. I would maybe try to make a chia seed pudding with the chocolate oatmilk. This week I got 2 lb frozen cabbage rolls reg $14.99 for $5.99 CDN ($4.72 USD).( $4 off sale plus a $5 free reward bonus) I couldn't have made them for that price with ground beef lowest price this week at $4,99/lb ($3.93 USD. I also got 16 pure beef hamburgers (6 lbs spiced) for 62 cents (.49 USD) each and 14 lrg sausages for 50 cents each (39 cents USD). This week using lost leader sales, discount, reward points and a gift card I actually saved $79.98 off the cost. out of pocket cost this week $15.30 CDN (12.05 USD). Freezer is full and pantry stocked. Loving these videos
Great video! One thing that haven’t heard you mention is which fresh food staples you always have and are willing to pay full price for if you have to. Mine are carrots, celery, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, greens.
I love the things you always keep on hand. For me, it's definitely carrots, celery, and onions. I don't last too long without greens either. Being a whole foods vegan, I really like to have greens twice a day.
These staples are particularly inexpensive in the fall. I invested in a dehydrator and make good use of it to dehydrate staples to make them shelf-stable.
Storm Eunice is heading our way in the UK. It's very rare we have a 'danger to life' warning. Having emergency prep done is so important. Thank you both. 🙏
@@TermiteVideo no am in Greater Manchester. People I know lost power on Wednesday, a few miles away from me. Feel so bad for the South. Looks like they will get the severe outcome. Storms are so unpredictable. 🙄
I live in the South just outside London and it's been pretty rough with fence panels and trees coming down and even some people losing their roofs near me, but I heard the South West in places like Cornwall on the coast had the brunt of the storm.
I think its helpful when stocking up to have goals for stocking (x cans of corn, x cans of peas, x pounds of lentils, you get the picture). This gives you a tangible end-goal, which can also be a starting point to then expand your pantry (I started stocking tuna, peanut butter, canned soup as well). Don't worry about doing it too fast, even just a few cans a month is progress (so maybe less than $3 of your budget, but if you have a larger family, you may need to dedicate more). I've done this for.... 3 years now, and I have an extremely well-stocked emergency food supply. Practice patience, it will not happen overnight or even in a couple months:)
We had 8” of snow last night so I am having a very frugal dessert tonight - snow ice cream! I made it with clean snow, milk, half and half, sugar and vanilla extract. It was delicious! You could do it with the oat milk. The important thing is to get clean snow - skim just below the surface and stay above the ground, in an open area not near the road. I love your channel, because of your gentle and giving spirits.
CA shopper here: My savings was Trader Joe‘s organic carrots in a bag for 79 cents. 1/3 less than Imperfect Produce (whose mission I applaud) Carrots are a staple.
I found a bag of 7 avocados for $1.25 this week. I also found a lot of discounted food too. Tamales marked down to $3.06, 2.29 pounds of pork shoulder steak marked down to $4.51, 1.74 pounds of thin sliced pork chops marked down to $7.81 and $10 for beef patties.
I first shopped at Hy Vee in 1978 in Norfolk, NE. Lived most of my life in South Dakota and now live in Iowa. The Hy Vee store opened here in 1964. It is one of my favorites. Fareway has great meat and wonderful lost leaders, as well at courteous workers. Love the vegan ideas you share. I must try roasted garbanzo beans! Thank you for your can do presentations!
From southern Iowa where I grew up with a Hy-Vee and Fareway. I always stock up on good meat buys and sale items (and AE chocolate milk YUM!) when I return to visit family. You are very fortunate to have both!
I put a teaspoon of plain cocoa in a cup of coffee for the health benefits. It is a real hunger killer. Of course you could sweeten the cup also if preferred.
I have started to write the price on anything I buy that I can. This allows me to shop my pantry and freezer and pay myself. I then use this money to restock my pantry. I usually have a budget of £75 a month for supermarket shopping. I then have an extra £50 four times a year which I only use if I see a real bargain or is greatly reduced and will help to build up my pantry and freezer stocks. I am strict with myself to only use this extra money on a real bargain. After downsizing my home and becoming a widow I decided to run my food stocks down (always over stocked before in case my husband was too ill for me to get to the shops) but with the sudden price rises I have had a change of plan to try and make my money go further. I have also started to have more meat free meals and do more batch cooking. I make recipes for 4 and then try to stretch each one to 5 portions, eat 1today 1tomorrow and 3 in the freezer for later. I then eat out of the freezer on the last week of the month to use up my pre cooked meals. This allows me to use that week’s grocery money to again top up my freezer or pantry.
My mom moved in with us right before thanksgiving and we combined kitchens. Buy what is on sale especially meat( she does buy some groceries a hit and miss from what I normally). I then make a menu on what’s in stock.
Not a dessert, but you could totally pair the Oatly with some oats and nuts to make chocolate overnight oats! If you have any chia seeds lying around (or if you find them on a rare clearance), chocolate chia seed pudding sounds divine. I’m not sure it’ll freeze, but you could even try to make fudge pops with it! Good luck 👍
Asparagus was on sale at our local Meijer last week. I steamed them using only the tender top parts. They were very good. The rest I threw in the compost. I never thought to try making asparagus soup with the tougher parts. I will try that the next time. Thank you so much for your information. I am always learning something new. Take care.
I think it is very important to know your store . Where are the staples where is the clearance area where are the items on sale. This keeps you focused on what you need and where you need to go to get them. By doing this one is able to avoid the junk foods and the excess one may be tempted by.
I am so grateful for this channel (and Kate Kaden, too, because she referred me over here). I can't begin to tell you how helpful it is to watch your videos and learn from ground up how to save myself money. I wasn't doing badly before (although to my shame, my food waste is still too high, despite menu planning before I shop - but I'm on it!), but I am thinking slightly differently about meal planning now and this channel is a large part of that. Also, it makes me smile every time I pump 6 squirts of dishwashing liquid from a soap dispensing bottle into my washing up bowl, because that was a tip I got from you and it makes me feel I'm managing my life well to know how much it takes to do the job! Hope, you have such a gorgeous long, healthy plait in this video - it does look good! You both look cosy and warm in this video, too. Thank you both, you make a great double act and I really value your content. It may not be flashy but in its own way, it is changing my life bit by bit. Very happy to be part of the Under the Median community.
I am in full agreement. We are transforming from regular frugalers to strategic rockstar frugalers now with Hope and Larry's help. Like having a thrifty aunt and uncle willing to share their secrets with us 🙂
Thanks Hope & Larry 👍 I laughed about potatoes every day because I think a day is only a day with a potato 😂 The oat milk blended with oats for chocolate pancakes? Or with the avocado for a mousse? Free is the right price 😊
A couple weeks ago you included barbecue lentil sandwiches in your meal plan and I thought they sounded so good so I made them this week! They were delicious and I made a bunch of the lentil filling so I could freeze some for quick meals one day when I don’t feel like cooking. For your chocolate milk, I’ve made baked oatmeal with chocolate almond milk instead of regular when I had some I needed to use up and it turned out delicious.
regarding the chocolate oat milk, I make oat milk daily by simply blending 1/8 c oats with filtered water. To make the chocolate, just add some cocoa powder and sweeter of some sort.
You can do it! To make a dessert from the chocolate oat milk, try just adding chi seeds to make chia seed pudding. There high in fiber, omega 3, inexpensive and thicken by just adding chi seeds and refrigerating.
I make my own oatmilk for 16 cents per quart. It is so easy and takes only 5 minutes to make. There’s a lot to be saved there. I’m happy to provide the recipe if you would like it.
Ok guys, here is the recipe. First go to Walmart or order on Amazon an embroidery hoop and one square foot of cheesecloth. Fasten cheesecloth in hoop and find a bowl that the hoop will fit over. You will also need a blender, a one-quart bottle with lid and a funnel. This will take five minutes to make. Then you will need : - Slightly less than one cup dry, rolled oats - Slightly more than four cups of water, room temperature - 1/2 teaspoon salt - 1tablespoon honey, sugar or syrup Put all the above ingredients in the blender and blender on high for just 10 seconds, no more or oatmilk tends to be slimy. Pour over cheesecloth hoop into bowl. Lightly stir or scrape to help liquid to drain through cheesecloth, but DO NOT mash or force it through or again, oatmilk will be slimy. Funnel into quart bottle, put the lid on. Shake well before use each time. Rinse out cheesecloth hoop well and let air dry so its ready for next time. You will have a cup of oat sludge after making the oatmilk. I also have some ideas and recipes on how to utilize this oat-sludge if you are interested. About .16 per quart. Enjoy !! -Annette, Dreamboat Chef Service
You can totally make something nifty out of chocolate oat milk! I have faith in you ;). And you deserve a $2 splurge now and then. You guys do great. Love this channel.
My family really enjoys roasted chicken peas. We have experimented a lot. Cinnamon sugar kind. Spicy kind. Mexican spice kind. There’s so much you can do! And humus is sooo much cheaper homemade.
Hi & thanks Hope and Larry. So much inspiration here! Hope, I saw that you have butternut squash, olive oil, mandarins and garbanzos at hand. You could blend roasted squash, garlic, chickpeas, olive oil,clementine juice, oregano, cumin and paprika and tahini or a cheaper nut butter into a good hummus variation to cook out of the pantry. It probably doesn’t need chickpeas.I like sweet potato-tahini-orange with garlic, oregano olive oil, cumin and paprika.
Potatoes or any other product with a printed weight on the bag weight before u pay the weight on the bag is the minimum required weight for that product. If u weigh your bags go with the one that's the heaviest to get more for your money
Meal planning lately is based on the what I find on sale or on clearance. Rarely are there more than two full price items in my shopping cart. One store always has great produce on clearance so that is where I look first upon entering. if I find as good deal on bags of coleslaw then that is what I buy. Mushrooms , Green Peppers, Tomatos, etc on clearance those are the ingredients featured in a # of meals . People have to stop being fussy and look for new ways to save
The difference in the chili cans are the ingredients. The more expensive one said right on the front of the label it had peppers in it. Makes sense that they were not the same price.
This is awesome. I work for extension and teach nutrition, cooking and food budgeting. So many of these skills I learned from my mother but people think I'm a little nuts when I talk about using the stalk of the cauliflower to make riced cauliflower, or the ends of the asparagus to make cream of asparagus soup. Also so many pumpkins get tossed out after thanksgiving, my friends drop their decorating pumpkins off at my house and I store them in my basement and cook them throughout the winter as a matter of fact I have three left and it's now April. We love two cups of pureed pumpkin added to our chili, pumpkin bread and of course pumpkin pie.
I had roasted chickpea when I was doing an internship in India, they would give them to the kids I was working with as a snack and now I make them all the time. You can add different spices on them to change it up! I was thinking you could make a chocolate Avocado pudding for dessert!
My Kroger had the 47 cent avocados too. Purchased my limit. Ibotta had a 50 cent off 3 for avocados from Mexico. So, I saved even more. Kroger has 50 cents off 3 avocados from Mexico on their Kroger money back program as well. (I believe it started after the original digital sale from last week though). If you can put in a little work, and perhaps change the brand or specific item you usually purchase, you can indeed save money.
One thing I’ve learned about purchasing avocados is to purchase firm, unripe avocados and let them ripen untouched on my counter. I no longer have any issues with getting avocados with bad spots inside. The secret is leaving them to ripen untouched. Also, my first thought for a dessert with the chocolate oat milk is chocolate chia pudding ( if you have chia seeds that is!).
I will try the roasted garbanzo beans, we called them chick peas in the UK! I made hummus to take to a family party last night (every scrap went!) a big bowl of all organic ingredients AND lovely olive oil was way less expensive than a plastic tub of very inferior hummus from the supermarket.
I recently found safeways manager special meat section. I bought $50 of meat for $ 20 and it'll feed us for several weeks (once I freeze it ofcourse) :)
My town, Indianola iowa, has a Hy-Vee store. We are about 20 miles south of Des Moines. And of course Des Moines has several HyVee grocery stores. There is also one in Osceola Iowa espar South as I know until a few years ago they started putting hy-vees in Missouri. When my daughter was in college at Springfield, she was so excited about the new Hy-Vee because now she could have her Anderson Erickson dairy products once again.
Do your boys know how to cook, clean, do the laundry, etc.? I homeschooled my twins, too, and made sure they knew all those things as they became a part of the curriculum.
You two are amazing! Thank you for all of your informative videos. It looks as if you are both cold. I live in cold country. I put on a thermal top, a blouse/shirt, and then a sweater. When it is really cold I wear thermal bottoms and wool socks. I know you lose a lot of heat from the top of your head, so why not a scarf or a hat?... I love the idea of breaking your grocery budget into fifths.... No Hy-Vee near me... When I shop I spend $5 or $6 on pantry items that are on sale to stock up my pantry. Love and Blessings
$2 for a quart of oat milk? that's a steal. For future reference,check dollar tree.sometimes they have soy milk or non dairy milk.thought to share. Maybe chocolate mousse? Ice cream?
I was thinking mousse too. But, all the recipes I found used avocados for the creamy texture. And, I didn't want to use the avocados for a dessert since they are such a treat for us to have.
Butternut and any orange fleshed squash can be used in any pumpkin recipe (not acorn and spaghetti squash which are yellowish). I prefer roasting to steaming because it makes a less watery pulp. It's great for pumpkin pie or custard and use in many baking recipes. Alternately, use cubes in a skillet or roasted veg combo or in a fritatta.
You can take the oat milk and pour in ice cube tray. Once its frozen put in a blender and you have ice cream. Add toppings of choice. You can even add a frozen banana when you mix it for more nutrition
I put all my veg off cuts and bits of veg and salad left in the bottom of the fridge. I sometimes add a few beans or a bit of pasta to make it more filling or serve with nice crusty bread if I have got some on the reduced section. With herbs and seasoning it always tastes super. Only problem is if it’s really yummy you can’t recreate it as it’s made out of whatever bits are in the bottom of the fridge. Nothing nicer in winter on cold miserable nights than a large bowl of hot taste soup.
I just love your thoughtful approach to shopping and meal planning. I would honestly eat any of the foods you were serving. However my family members would not. They want meat, won't eat asparagus or garbanzo beans in anything. It makes life difficult when trying to plan according to local sales at our stores. There are just some items that they want weekly no matter what. I do try to follow sales and purchase can goods and their favorites when I see them priced right. I often tell them if there ever comes a time when your favorites are unavailable anywhere, if you are hungry you will eat what's available and be happy.
Love the braid, by the way. Comments: 1. Thought of chocolate pudding with the oatmilk 2. Never had roasted garbanzo beans. Wouldn't even know how to roast them, let alone roast any veggies 3. My questions are not about the grocery spending, per se, but in your organization methods. 3a. How much time did it take to to set up your spreadsheets to track food and other spending from week to week, month to month? 3b. How much time do you spend traveling to all these places where you shop and how much fuel do you go through? 3c. How much time do you spend NOW inputting all the information in the spreadsheets to track spending, trends, or looking back?
Hi, Hope. here in my town, we don't have a Hyvee, Aldi or a Kroger. We do have Save-A-Lot and the prices are still fairly inexpensive there. I do some of my shopping at Walmart. Their Great Value items are comparable in price to Save-A-Lot's store brands. I have never liked asparagus.
Thank you for taking the time to share how you save on groceries. These tips and tricks help me to stay more mindful of what I am actually purchasing. Thanks 😊
Hi! I'm really enjoying this series-thank you! My questions- do you ever pay full price for things? If not, what do you do when you're out of things? Since you're vegan, what do you put on toast? Do you buy your almond/oatmilk only in shelf-stable containers when on sale? And finally, how do you get 1200 mg of calcium a day, Hope, without dairy? Thanks so much!! You are a blessing!
In another video I saw Hope had plant milk in cartons from the dairy case. You get calcium from greens, beans (legumes), and other plant foods. Dairy calcium is not as useable by the body as one might think it is.
I am vegan also and have been so for over 10 years because of health issues. Take you chocolate non dairy milk add chia see and make a pudding. God's blessing to you and yours
I want to encourage your viewers who may struggle a bit to buy groceries but may not feel comfortable going to a food pantry because of the idea that others may need it more. If I hadn't volunteered at some local food pantries I would have never known that the fresh produce and perishable items will be thrown away at the end of the day due to it being a one day a week pantry only. I visit the pantry when I can at the end of the day and I have been blessed with boxes of vegies some organic. It helps to supplement weekly groceries and it makes me a more creative cook.
You are absolutely right. We helped with our church food bank every month for eight years. Occasionally the food bank director still corners us after church and says, "If you want some of this, take it. Otherwise, I'll have to throw it out." People don't realize that food banks often have fresh produce on hand.
One of the tricks a lot of stores use is to switch up the per unit pricing in the bottom corner of the shelf labels. Some of the items will be broken down to price per pound while others of a similar item are broken down to price per ounce, etc. You have to really watch this when comparing the different packages of similar items.
Q&A : Could you answer/talk about how you formed a good relationship with your local ethnic store owner, Sayed? I'd love to know what a good way to introduce myself, say I'm going to be a regular buyer etc.
I found canned green beans for 59 cents today!! I usually buy fresh veggies for our family. I prefer them, but I do keep canned on hand for lazy days and high prices.
You received and used free oranges, butternut squash and beans. That's a LOT of free food. Did you include what it would have cost you to but it? Do enjoy your videos. Stay warm :)
No, I did not count it toward the total cost of the weekly menu. Although I came in uner $50 this week. So, even if I had added that cost to the total it would still have probably have been near $50. I'm going to address your question in more detail on Thursday's program, because I'd love to discuss accepting food from others and even the idea of bartering for food with our viewers.
I haven't tried it with oatmilk, but my grandmother used to always make a very simple dessert she called "chocolate snowball" that was just one can of Hershey's syrup and two cans of milk (use the empty syrup can) stirred together and frozen overnight in a square pan. (You can also substitute half the milk with water to make it more affordable.) It comes out like chocolate Italian ice. I've made it with almond milk recently and that works well. I would think you might just be able to freeze some of the oatmilk in a pan, then use a butter knife to slice it into small chunks to serve.
My first thought is chocolate Chia pudding. Personally, I blend the pudding because I like the texture better. I would also use some to cook my oatmeal.
We shop HyVee regularly because it is close. Aldi's is not too far, but across town, so that's once in a while. We never go to Walmart. We shop what we need but more what is on sale and stock up. I think you can make a dessert with the chocolate oat milk. Maybe a pudding with chia seeds or aquafaba somehow? Thank you for all the fun and useful information and tips! Stay warm and have a good night!
Our Walmart is, literally, across the street from our Aldi. And I rarely set foot in Walmart. It's so big and I feel like I'm not going to be able to easily find what I need. However, several viewers have been saying that they are finding Walmart prices to be almost equal to Aldi right now. So, I may need to get over my dread of Walmart and give it a try.
Hi Hope and Larry. I am always amazed at the meals that Hope is able to make from simple ingredients each week. You are such a creative cook Hope. I am betting that Hope will make an amazing dessert with that chocolate oat milk. I have only had roasted chick peas that I have bought in a bag from Costco and they were yummy. I heard they are easy to make and cost pennies on the dollar. I think I paid $8.00 for a small bad at Costco.☹ Your videos show us that deals are still to be found if we are willing to pay attention and shop wisely
We have a hyvee in Central Wisconsin here for our area it is higher than many other stores and doesn't seem to have the good sales. Maybe because it's located in a bigger city.
My favourite vegetable soup
2 Potato
1 onion
1/4 Capsicum
2/3 Carrots
Apple
Cauliflower
Vine ripened tomatoes crushed
Chillie
A tin of four bean mix
One packet of Dutch curry rice soup or chicken noodle soup
Half a teaspoon ofI Italian mixed herbs
Tomato paste
Cut veg small except for couliflower
Add water and cook
Hope! I have to say your hair and makeup look absolutely beautiful!! Love your braid!!
You always have great tips and advice!! Thank you!! I also found some canned veggies this week for 50 cents a can. Stocked up!👍
Yes the braid looks great
Like it much better thus way
I also noticed her beautiful hair and makeup in this video right away!
I live very rural so finding great sales or bargains is very difficult. We have Walmart and dollar tree now $1.25 in my area. Next large store is 35 miles. The city that has many stores is over an hour away. How can people like me find away to eat cheap without driving hours to the stores like you shop?
@@LifePrepared maybe you could shop their ads. Then make a plan to go just once a month to stock up. That way driving further would be minimal.
Thanks so much. Honestly, the braid was a last minute decision. Maybe I'll wear it like that more often.
I also use asparagus end to make soup..no food waste. I would maybe try to make a chia seed pudding with the chocolate oatmilk. This week I got 2 lb frozen cabbage rolls reg $14.99 for $5.99 CDN ($4.72 USD).( $4 off sale plus a $5 free reward bonus) I couldn't have made them for that price with ground beef lowest price this week at $4,99/lb ($3.93 USD. I also got 16 pure beef hamburgers (6 lbs spiced) for 62 cents (.49 USD) each and 14 lrg sausages for 50 cents each (39 cents USD). This week using lost leader sales, discount, reward points and a gift card I actually saved $79.98 off the cost. out of pocket cost this week $15.30 CDN (12.05 USD). Freezer is full and pantry stocked. Loving these videos
We do not have that grocery store in Boston
I do that also! Love my cream of asparagus soup for lunch!
Great video! One thing that haven’t heard you mention is which fresh food staples you always have and are willing to pay full price for if you have to. Mine are carrots, celery, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, greens.
I love the things you always keep on hand. For me, it's definitely carrots, celery, and onions. I don't last too long without greens either. Being a whole foods vegan, I really like to have greens twice a day.
These staples are particularly inexpensive in the fall. I invested in a dehydrator and make good use of it to dehydrate staples to make them shelf-stable.
This reminds me (kinda random) of the fall when I my oldest son told his class " my mom feeds us decorative squash"
LOL!
Storm Eunice is heading our way in the UK. It's very rare we have a 'danger to life' warning.
Having emergency prep done is so important.
Thank you both.
🙏
Are you in the south west Janet? We hear it will be bad down there. We had a bad storm on Wednesday night in Yorkshire.
@@TermiteVideo no am in Greater Manchester. People I know lost power on Wednesday, a few miles away from me.
Feel so bad for the South. Looks like they will get the severe outcome.
Storms are so unpredictable.
🙄
I live in the South just outside London and it's been pretty rough with fence panels and trees coming down and even some people losing their roofs near me, but I heard the South West in places like Cornwall on the coast had the brunt of the storm.
@@bex438 hope you stay safe.
@@janetlovesjesus100 Thanks Janet, you too.
I think its helpful when stocking up to have goals for stocking (x cans of corn, x cans of peas, x pounds of lentils, you get the picture). This gives you a tangible end-goal, which can also be a starting point to then expand your pantry (I started stocking tuna, peanut butter, canned soup as well). Don't worry about doing it too fast, even just a few cans a month is progress (so maybe less than $3 of your budget, but if you have a larger family, you may need to dedicate more). I've done this for.... 3 years now, and I have an extremely well-stocked emergency food supply. Practice patience, it will not happen overnight or even in a couple months:)
We had 8” of snow last night so I am having a very frugal dessert tonight - snow ice cream! I made it with clean snow, milk, half and half, sugar and vanilla extract. It was delicious! You could do it with the oat milk. The important thing is to get clean snow - skim just below the surface and stay above the ground, in an open area not near the road. I love your channel, because of your gentle and giving spirits.
CA shopper here: My savings was Trader Joe‘s organic carrots in a bag for 79 cents. 1/3 less than Imperfect Produce (whose mission I applaud) Carrots are a staple.
I love our new Trader Joe's who just came into the area
I found a bag of 7 avocados for $1.25 this week. I also found a lot of discounted food too. Tamales marked down to $3.06, 2.29 pounds of pork shoulder steak marked down to $4.51, 1.74 pounds of thin sliced pork chops marked down to $7.81 and $10 for beef patties.
Great buys! Especially on the avocados.
FYI....avocados freeze Beautifully.
@@lynettepinson1745 how do you freeze avocados? 👀
I first shopped at Hy Vee in 1978 in Norfolk, NE. Lived most of my life in South Dakota and now live in Iowa. The Hy Vee store opened here in 1964. It is one of my favorites.
Fareway has great meat and wonderful lost leaders, as well at courteous workers. Love the vegan ideas you share. I must try roasted garbanzo beans! Thank you for your can do presentations!
From southern Iowa where I grew up with a Hy-Vee and Fareway. I always stock up on good meat buys and sale items (and AE chocolate milk YUM!) when I return to visit family. You are very fortunate to have both!
I use chocolate milk a lot in my coffee instead of creamer.
I must admit, I would have never thought of that. I'm going to give it a try, for sure. Thanks!
I put a teaspoon of plain cocoa in a cup of coffee for the health benefits.
It is a real hunger killer.
Of course you could sweeten the cup also if preferred.
Wow -- good idea!
I have started to write the price on anything I buy that I can. This allows me to shop my pantry and freezer and pay myself. I then use this money to restock my pantry. I usually have a budget of £75 a month for supermarket shopping. I then have an extra £50 four times a year which I only use if I see a real bargain or is greatly reduced and will help to build up my pantry and freezer stocks. I am strict with myself to only use this extra money on a real bargain.
After downsizing my home and becoming a widow I decided to run my food stocks down (always over stocked before in case my husband was too ill for me to get to the shops) but with the sudden price rises I have had a change of plan to try and make my money go further. I have also started to have more meat free meals and do more batch cooking. I make recipes for 4 and then try to stretch each one to 5 portions, eat 1today 1tomorrow and 3 in the freezer for later. I then eat out of the freezer on the last week of the month to use up my pre cooked meals. This allows me to use that week’s grocery money to again top up my freezer or pantry.
My mom moved in with us right before thanksgiving and we combined kitchens. Buy what is on sale especially meat( she does buy some groceries a hit and miss from what I normally). I then make a menu on what’s in stock.
You both have new hairdos. Looking great together💞
Not a dessert, but you could totally pair the Oatly with some oats and nuts to make chocolate overnight oats! If you have any chia seeds lying around (or if you find them on a rare clearance), chocolate chia seed pudding sounds divine. I’m not sure it’ll freeze, but you could even try to make fudge pops with it! Good luck 👍
Yes, we also love roasted chickpeas! So good! We add garlic, cumin and turmeric.
Asparagus was on sale at our local Meijer last week. I steamed them using only the tender top parts. They were very good. The rest I threw in the compost. I never thought to try making asparagus soup with the tougher parts. I will try that the next time. Thank you so much for your information. I am always learning something new. Take care.
I would love love love to see a Cooking with Hope video!
I think it is very important to know your store . Where are the staples where is the clearance area where are the items on sale. This keeps you focused on what you need and where you need to go to get them. By doing this one is able to avoid the junk foods and the excess one may be tempted by.
I am so grateful for this channel (and Kate Kaden, too, because she referred me over here). I can't begin to tell you how helpful it is to watch your videos and learn from ground up how to save myself money. I wasn't doing badly before (although to my shame, my food waste is still too high, despite menu planning before I shop - but I'm on it!), but I am thinking slightly differently about meal planning now and this channel is a large part of that. Also, it makes me smile every time I pump 6 squirts of dishwashing liquid from a soap dispensing bottle into my washing up bowl, because that was a tip I got from you and it makes me feel I'm managing my life well to know how much it takes to do the job! Hope, you have such a gorgeous long, healthy plait in this video - it does look good! You both look cosy and warm in this video, too. Thank you both, you make a great double act and I really value your content. It may not be flashy but in its own way, it is changing my life bit by bit. Very happy to be part of the Under the Median community.
I am in full agreement. We are transforming from regular frugalers to strategic rockstar frugalers now with Hope and Larry's help. Like having a thrifty aunt and uncle willing to share their secrets with us 🙂
I am loving this series and vegan recipes!
Chocolate bread pudding
Thanks Hope & Larry 👍 I laughed about potatoes every day because I think a day is only a day with a potato 😂 The oat milk blended with oats for chocolate pancakes? Or with the avocado for a mousse? Free is the right price 😊
A couple weeks ago you included barbecue lentil sandwiches in your meal plan and I thought they sounded so good so I made them this week! They were delicious and I made a bunch of the lentil filling so I could freeze some for quick meals one day when I don’t feel like cooking. For your chocolate milk, I’ve made baked oatmeal with chocolate almond milk instead of regular when I had some I needed to use up and it turned out delicious.
regarding the chocolate oat milk, I make oat milk daily by simply blending 1/8 c oats with filtered water. To make the chocolate, just add some cocoa powder and sweeter of some sort.
Make roasted garbanzo beans all the time, so good
You can do it! To make a dessert from the chocolate oat milk, try just adding chi seeds to make chia seed pudding. There high in fiber, omega 3, inexpensive and thicken by just adding chi seeds and refrigerating.
I make my own oatmilk for 16 cents per quart. It is so easy and takes only 5 minutes to make. There’s a lot to be saved there. I’m happy to provide the recipe if you would like it.
Yes please
I would also love the recipe. Thank you.
Ok guys, here is the recipe.
First go to Walmart or order on Amazon an embroidery hoop and one square foot of cheesecloth. Fasten cheesecloth in hoop and find a bowl that the hoop will fit over.
You will also need a blender, a one-quart bottle with lid and a funnel.
This will take five minutes to make.
Then you will need :
- Slightly less than one cup dry, rolled oats
- Slightly more than four cups of water, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1tablespoon honey, sugar or syrup
Put all the above ingredients in the blender and blender on high for just 10 seconds, no more or oatmilk tends to be slimy.
Pour over cheesecloth hoop into bowl. Lightly stir or scrape to help liquid to drain through cheesecloth, but DO NOT mash or force it through or again, oatmilk will be slimy.
Funnel into quart bottle, put the lid on. Shake well before use each time. Rinse out cheesecloth hoop well and let air dry so its ready for next time.
You will have a cup of oat sludge after making the oatmilk.
I also have some ideas and recipes on how to utilize this oat-sludge if you are interested.
About .16 per quart. Enjoy !!
-Annette, Dreamboat Chef Service
@@annetteseiler9787 Thank you!
You can totally make something nifty out of chocolate oat milk! I have faith in you ;). And you deserve a $2 splurge now and then. You guys do great. Love this channel.
My family really enjoys roasted chicken peas. We have experimented a lot. Cinnamon sugar kind. Spicy kind. Mexican spice kind. There’s so much you can do! And humus is sooo much cheaper homemade.
I live in Indianapolis, IN. We are considered part of the mid-west, but we don't have Hy-Vee grocery stores.
They are employee owned and we absolutely love their service. The employees all seem really happy and helpful.
There has been a big jump in prices on canned veggies in my area.
I got cans of corn at Aldi for 34 cents apiece this week. Corn was a dollar at the supermarket. Aldi has the best prices!
Hi & thanks Hope and Larry. So much inspiration here! Hope, I saw that you have butternut squash, olive oil, mandarins and garbanzos at hand. You could blend roasted squash, garlic, chickpeas, olive oil,clementine juice, oregano, cumin and paprika and tahini or a cheaper nut butter into a good hummus variation to cook out of the pantry. It probably doesn’t need chickpeas.I like sweet potato-tahini-orange with garlic, oregano olive oil, cumin and paprika.
that sounds divine! Thanks.
It does sound good
Potatoes or any other product with a printed weight on the bag weight before u pay the weight on the bag is the minimum required weight for that product. If u weigh your bags go with the one that's the heaviest to get more for your money
I’ve really been enjoying this series- thank you so much ☺️
Love you guys - always come out with practical useful stuff : )
Thanks. You're very kind.
Meal planning lately is based on the what I find on sale or on clearance. Rarely are there more than two full price items in my shopping cart.
One store always has great produce on clearance so that is where I look first upon entering.
if I find as good deal on bags of coleslaw then that is what I buy. Mushrooms , Green Peppers, Tomatos, etc on clearance those are the ingredients featured in a # of meals . People have to stop being fussy and look for new ways to save
Yep! Homemadehummus; delish! My favorite, lemon garlic garnished with hot pepper paste. Mmmmm
The difference in the chili cans are the ingredients. The more expensive one said right on the front of the label it had peppers in it. Makes sense that they were not the same price.
I think you can make something good with the oat milk. I am anxious to see your recipe.
This is awesome. I work for extension and teach nutrition, cooking and food budgeting. So many of these skills I learned from my mother but people think I'm a little nuts when I talk about using the stalk of the cauliflower to make riced cauliflower, or the ends of the asparagus to make cream of asparagus soup. Also so many pumpkins get tossed out after thanksgiving, my friends drop their decorating pumpkins off at my house and I store them in my basement and cook them throughout the winter as a matter of fact I have three left and it's now April. We love two cups of pureed pumpkin added to our chili, pumpkin bread and of course pumpkin pie.
I had roasted chickpea when I was doing an internship in India, they would give them to the kids I was working with as a snack and now I make them all the time. You can add different spices on them to change it up! I was thinking you could make a chocolate Avocado pudding for dessert!
My Kroger had the 47 cent avocados too. Purchased my limit. Ibotta had a 50 cent off 3 for avocados from Mexico. So, I saved even more. Kroger has 50 cents off 3 avocados from Mexico on their Kroger money back program as well. (I believe it started after the original digital sale from last week though). If you can put in a little work, and perhaps change the brand or specific item you usually purchase, you can indeed save money.
Hope, I love your hair and your specs. All your recipes sound wonderful; can’t wait to try them!
One thing I’ve learned about purchasing avocados is to purchase firm, unripe avocados and let them ripen untouched on my counter. I no longer have any issues with getting avocados with bad spots inside. The secret is leaving them to ripen untouched. Also, my first thought for a dessert with the chocolate oat milk is chocolate chia pudding ( if you have chia seeds that is!).
What do you mean untouched?
@@lory6605 No squeezing them repeatedly to check if they're ripe. :)
I will try the roasted garbanzo beans, we called them chick peas in the UK! I made hummus to take to a family party last night (every scrap went!) a big bowl of all organic ingredients AND lovely olive oil was way less expensive than a plastic tub of very inferior hummus from the supermarket.
I recently found safeways manager special meat section. I bought $50 of meat for $ 20 and it'll feed us for several weeks (once I freeze it ofcourse) :)
Kansas City Missouri I got a Hy-Vee five minutes away from me I’m going there now at least once a month absolutely love them
I would say pancakes or waffles with the oatmilk. You could do a milkshake too with dates and peanut butter.
Hi Hope, if you have some tapioca pearls you could make chocolate tapioca pudding with that chocolate oat milk.
or creamed rice.
Love that idea
or chia seed puddings
We have a nutribullet...peanut butter, frozen fruit, greens in the garden and protein powder...we feel ok if the shelves are empty.
Larry got me a Nutribullet a few months ago. I love it!
My town, Indianola iowa, has a Hy-Vee store. We are about 20 miles south of Des Moines. And of course Des Moines has several HyVee grocery stores. There is also one in Osceola Iowa espar South as I know until a few years ago they started putting hy-vees in Missouri. When my daughter was in college at Springfield, she was so excited about the new Hy-Vee because now she could have her Anderson Erickson dairy products once again.
This week I got can beans for 50 cents a can I prefer dry beans but is good to stock up on can item
Do your boys know how to cook, clean, do the laundry, etc.? I homeschooled my twins, too, and made sure they knew all those things as they became a part of the curriculum.
Free food=love lol I love watching you guys. High quality material on this channel!
Love air fryer chickpeas with different spices for variety.
You two are amazing! Thank you for all of your informative videos. It looks as if you are both cold. I live in cold country. I put on a thermal top, a blouse/shirt, and then a sweater. When it is really cold I wear thermal bottoms and wool socks. I know you lose a lot of heat from the top of your head, so why not a scarf or a hat?... I love the idea of breaking your grocery budget into fifths.... No Hy-Vee near me... When I shop I spend $5 or $6 on pantry items that are on sale to stock up my pantry. Love and Blessings
$2 for a quart of oat milk? that's a steal. For future reference,check dollar tree.sometimes they have soy milk or non dairy milk.thought to share.
Maybe chocolate mousse? Ice cream?
I was thinking mousse too. But, all the recipes I found used avocados for the creamy texture. And, I didn't want to use the avocados for a dessert since they are such a treat for us to have.
Butternut and any orange fleshed squash can be used in any pumpkin recipe (not acorn and spaghetti squash which are yellowish). I prefer roasting to steaming because it makes a less watery pulp. It's great for pumpkin pie or custard and use in many baking recipes.
Alternately, use cubes in a skillet or roasted veg combo or in a fritatta.
You can take the oat milk and pour in ice cube tray. Once its frozen put in a blender and you have ice cream. Add toppings of choice. You can even add a frozen banana when you mix it for more nutrition
Or make a chocolate banana smoothie / thick shake with some vegan yoghurt added.
Yes I have roasted garbanzo beans and they are delicious
I put all my veg off cuts and bits of veg and salad left in the bottom of the fridge. I sometimes add a few beans or a bit of pasta to make it more filling or serve with nice crusty bread if I have got some on the reduced section. With herbs and seasoning it always tastes super. Only problem is if it’s really yummy you can’t recreate it as it’s made out of whatever bits are in the bottom of the fridge. Nothing nicer in winter on cold miserable nights than a large bowl of hot taste soup.
Going to add garbanzo beans in my list
I just love your thoughtful approach to shopping and meal planning. I would honestly eat any of the foods you were serving. However my family members would not. They want meat, won't eat asparagus or garbanzo beans in anything. It makes life difficult when trying to plan according to local sales at our stores. There are just some items that they want weekly no matter what. I do try to follow sales and purchase can goods and their favorites when I see them priced right. I often tell them if there ever comes a time when your favorites are unavailable anywhere, if you are hungry you will eat what's available and be happy.
Love the braid, by the way.
Comments:
1. Thought of chocolate pudding with the oatmilk
2. Never had roasted garbanzo beans. Wouldn't even know how to roast them, let alone roast any veggies
3. My questions are not about the grocery spending, per se, but in your organization methods.
3a. How much time did it take to to set up your spreadsheets to track food and other spending from week to week, month to month?
3b. How much time do you spend traveling to all these places where you shop and how much fuel do you go through?
3c. How much time do you spend NOW inputting all the information in the spreadsheets to track spending, trends, or looking back?
Hi, Hope. here in my town, we don't have a Hyvee, Aldi or a Kroger. We do have Save-A-Lot and the prices are still fairly inexpensive there. I do some of my shopping at Walmart. Their Great Value items are comparable in price to Save-A-Lot's store brands. I have never liked asparagus.
I really enjoyed this video, the bread, rolls and tortillas looked delicious 😋 I'm heading over to check out the recipes now 👍
I just stocked up on dozens of canned fruit and vegetables from Aldi at 50-60 cents a can!
Excellent, I love Aldi's!
Do not overlook tomato paste for your cooking.
FYI. Usually it is cheaper to buy non-food items at discount stores as opposed to grocery stores.
Thank you for taking the time to share how you save on groceries. These tips and tricks help me to stay more mindful of what I am actually purchasing. Thanks 😊
Glad it was helpful!
Hi! I'm really enjoying this series-thank you! My questions- do you ever pay full price for things? If not, what do you do when you're out of things? Since you're vegan, what do you put on toast? Do you buy your almond/oatmilk only in shelf-stable containers when on sale? And finally, how do you get 1200 mg of calcium a day, Hope, without dairy? Thanks so much!! You are a blessing!
In another video I saw Hope had plant milk in cartons from the dairy case. You get calcium from greens, beans (legumes), and other plant foods. Dairy calcium is not as useable by the body as one might think it is.
I am vegan also and have been so for over 10 years because of health issues. Take you chocolate non dairy milk add chia see and make a pudding. God's blessing to you and yours
In Michigan - never heard of that grocery chain! But I have an Aldi not to far away…
I want to encourage your viewers who may struggle a bit to buy groceries but may not feel comfortable going to a food pantry because of the idea that others may need it more. If I hadn't volunteered at some local food pantries I would have never known that the fresh produce and perishable items will be thrown away at the end of the day due to it being a one day a week pantry only. I visit the pantry when I can at the end of the day and I have been blessed with boxes of vegies some organic. It helps to supplement weekly groceries and it makes me a more creative cook.
You are absolutely right. We helped with our church food bank every month for eight years. Occasionally the food bank director still corners us after church and says, "If you want some of this, take it. Otherwise, I'll have to throw it out." People don't realize that food banks often have fresh produce on hand.
You could try making a baked chocolate rice pudding , add a it of nutmeg and sugar. It’ll be delicious
I was thinking something similar!
I just watched a video today where a lady ate hosta shoots out of her garden fixed like asparagus. She said they tasted like asparagus, too. Who knew?
We love your Smoky Bean soup
Thanks, Robin. It's one of our most requested recipes.
One of the tricks a lot of stores use is to switch up the per unit pricing in the bottom corner of the shelf labels. Some of the items will be broken down to price per pound while others of a similar item are broken down to price per ounce, etc. You have to really watch this when comparing the different packages of similar items.
I just started watching your channel and I can’t get enough. Thank you for your amazing content!
Auriel, welcome to the Under the Median family!
Q&A : Could you answer/talk about how you formed a good relationship with your local ethnic store owner, Sayed? I'd love to know what a good way to introduce myself, say I'm going to be a regular buyer etc.
I was able to get my coconut coffee creamer.so,yay.aldi finally got it in
Chocolate oatmilk pudding!
I make my own bread&dinner rolls too...will try your tortilla recipe.
I love chickpeas. I could eat them like popcorn. I have never thought to roast them before. I can't wait to try it.
Soon a new Video 🥰🥰🥰👍👍👍👍💜💜💜
I found canned green beans for 59 cents today!! I usually buy fresh veggies for our family. I prefer them, but I do keep canned on hand for lazy days and high prices.
You received and used free oranges, butternut squash and beans. That's a LOT of free food. Did you include what it would have cost you to but it? Do enjoy your videos. Stay warm :)
No, I did not count it toward the total cost of the weekly menu. Although I came in uner $50 this week. So, even if I had added that cost to the total it would still have probably have been near $50. I'm going to address your question in more detail on Thursday's program, because I'd love to discuss accepting food from others and even the idea of bartering for food with our viewers.
Thank you for all of your help
I buy 28 oz can of tomatoes at walmart for .79... That would be .40 a can
I haven't tried it with oatmilk, but my grandmother used to always make a very simple dessert she called "chocolate snowball" that was just one can of Hershey's syrup and two cans of milk (use the empty syrup can) stirred together and frozen overnight in a square pan. (You can also substitute half the milk with water to make it more affordable.) It comes out like chocolate Italian ice. I've made it with almond milk recently and that works well. I would think you might just be able to freeze some of the oatmilk in a pan, then use a butter knife to slice it into small chunks to serve.
Our family favorite is a plant based kale caesar salad with garbanzo bean croutons. Mmmmm
My first thought is chocolate Chia pudding. Personally, I blend the pudding because I like the texture better. I would also use some to cook my oatmeal.
We have Safeway, Smith's, and Basha's. I really miss HEB (TX only).
Such cool stores and we don't have any of them here. I seriously love hearing from viewers about the interesting stores they have in their area.
We live in central Ohio & have never seen (or heard of) Hyvee. We have Krogers, Giant Eagle, Meijers, Aldi (thank goodness), Walmart.
We shop HyVee regularly because it is close. Aldi's is not too far, but across town, so that's once in a while. We never go to Walmart. We shop what we need but more what is on sale and stock up. I think you can make a dessert with the chocolate oat milk. Maybe a pudding with chia seeds or aquafaba somehow? Thank you for all the fun and useful information and tips! Stay warm and have a good night!
Our Walmart is, literally, across the street from our Aldi. And I rarely set foot in Walmart. It's so big and I feel like I'm not going to be able to easily find what I need. However, several viewers have been saying that they are finding Walmart prices to be almost equal to Aldi right now. So, I may need to get over my dread of Walmart and give it a try.
I make hummus all the time but I’ve never had roasted garbanzo beans.
Hi Hope and Larry. I am always amazed at the meals that Hope is able to make from simple ingredients each week. You are such a creative cook Hope. I am betting that Hope will make an amazing dessert with that chocolate oat milk. I have only had roasted chick peas that I have bought in a bag from Costco and they were yummy. I heard they are easy to make and cost pennies on the dollar. I think I paid $8.00 for a small bad at Costco.☹ Your videos show us that deals are still to be found if we are willing to pay attention and shop wisely
Love roasted garbanzo beans .yes .I've made garlic and onion ones ..and I've made buffalo ones
We have a hyvee in Central Wisconsin here for our area it is higher than many other stores and doesn't seem to have the good sales. Maybe because it's located in a bigger city.