Just an added suggestion for those who are struggling and need to access a food bank/pantry and also have a small budget for additional groceries. Go to the food bank first so you can see what they have available and then hit up your grocery store to fill in the gaps and hopefully make full meals.
I suggest this often, too. Many times people wait until they're low on food or money,, giving them less options. I know most food banks are scheduled, but f possible, always try to plan your shopping after the food bank instead of before.
Also, think about other ways to utilize the items you get at the food bank. " Think outside the box😂😉". Are there items that can be used together to create a different meal option? Can a certain item be tweaked with spices or low cost spreads or condiments? Can certain items be used for more than one meal instead of all at once? Can an item be used for a meal at a different time( oatmeal for dinner or leftover meatloaf on toast for breakfast)? Using one's creativity and becoming adventurous can go a long way in keeping costs low.
I am 71, and finally had to reach out to my local food bank last month. Was I ashamed? Yes. Am I sorry? No. Thank you for saying that we should not be ashamed.
You should never feel ashamed if you need help. My son and I volunteer at a food bank and we really enjoy being able to help others. When a family member lost got laid off, I recommended that they check out the local food banks. That's what they are there for.
Nothing to be ashamed of for people that have a need. This is why you donate in the good seasons of your life joyfully. Everyone should do so with also the thought that one day you may be the one in need of help. things happen. Not to mention age and the additional expenses and needs that come with it.
Back in The day (2010) I was a BROKE collage aged kid who worked at a Kroger. I was absolutely thrilled one day, when I got to work, I found a dime in my pocket. Then later, I found a quarter in the parking lot. I was a able to buy a single banana and a string cheese. The food clearance section also saved my life.
I also volunteer at my local food bank monthly and use it as a benefit. My local bank will match sweat equity four hours = a cart of food .. over 200 dollars worth of fruits and veggies sometimes fish depending on the donations received .. that helps cover other expenses and I don’t have to stress about healthy food options .. check your area for options. Please do not allow your pride to talk you out of feeding yourself and your family .
To stretch our food budget, Mom would make potato soup. She used potatoes and onions that we grew in our garden, salt, pepper and evaporated milk. If we had celery she would add it. However, we usually only had celery on hand during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I just posted my mom's recipe, too. It sounds very similar. To bulk hers up, she adds egg noodles. I have done other pasta or rice, cooked separately and added as served if not using egg noodles. I try to keep frozen celery or dehydrated celery on hand, because that's the one thing that always goes bad before I can use it. She also adds a couple of carrot to hers. It's delicious, velvety, filling, last for multiple meals, and is inexpensive.
Even if you don't grow potatoes, you can get a huge bag for relatively cheap. In college, we used to buy a 20-pound bag every week. The versatility is a huge plus - grate one for hashbrowns, baked, mashed, roasted with different spices, diced in a casserole, and soup. It was like a different meal each time.
I just moved out of state and my housing situation fell thru 2 months in. I am staying with a family from church, but I have been struggling pretty bad. I went to a food pantry and my church is also helping me with food. I told them I was embarrassed but then she said something I’ll never forget and it made me cry: one day, you’re gonna meet someone in the same spot as you are currently and you’re gonna invite them to church with you to get food. They are going to say, no I’m embarrassed and you’re going to share your story of how you were too. Then they will come with you, you will hold their hand and walk them back there, and they will come to know the Lord thru you. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. So thank you for speaking about this cuz I think a lot of people feel that way.
A very wise Rabbi once said, "It is more blessed to give than receive." Something to think about, If you weren't in a position to receive, I couldn't give and in turn couldn't be blessed.
Let me just add in, if people don’t go to food banks that food goes to waste. Do not feel ashamed. Food is available for a reason. Stay blessed everyone and girl thank you for this video, the food looked delicious
Something to add, if you have kiddos in public school be sure you are signing up for free lunch, in most states now it includes breakfast as well. In MI where I live all children get fed two meals a day. (You can sign up any time during the school year). There is also a program called Blessings in a Backpack, that provides weekend meals and snacks. Check to see if you school participates and sign up, every thing helps.
Budget meals at my house starts with a meatloaf. I fix a pot of beans- fried potatoes and a pan of cornbread. The leftovers is where you save. The meatloaf you can use to make sloppy joes or just have for sandwiches or tacos/burrito . You can add the meat to the beans and make. Chili. Leftover chili you can use for taco salad, beefy nachos or Fritos pie. I initial cost may be a little more than $10.00 but you get a weeks worth of meals. I enjoy your show. 11:24
We love chili over spaghetti noodles aka Cincinnati chili. You can add onions, sour cream or shredded cheese if available. It really stretches the chili and feels like another meal. My husband also likes chili over rice. Meatloaf quesadillas have been a thing in our house too. Thanks for sharing your ideas to stretch meals.
Minced meat is a great choice in terms of protein and minerals! Also eggs are really good in anything. I feel like these two get overlooked as many people opt for cheap carbs but those have very little nutrition. Beans are hard to digest, as well.
Last night I cooked 1/2 of a 1 pound pack of food bank ground beef, a can each of food bank commodity pasta sauce and diced tomatoes, a pound of food bank rotini, 1/2 pound of food bank mild cheddar shredded. Mixed it together with a heavy hand of garlic powder and onion powder ($1.12 a container at Walmart) and dumped into a casserole dish. Topped with food bank sliced mozzarella and baked for 20 minutes. I use my $23 in food stamps for spices and splenda, the rest of my food comes from the food bank. With 4 servings of poor man's baked ziti I'm eating well!
That’s amazing! I most of the time use half pound so that way a pound is two meals. Now my niece lives with us so doesn’t really work anymore but I still try!
When you're on a budget, and your budget allows, a 5lb bag of potatoes will yield several meals. Check your local places of worship. Many will have food pantries. Something I have seen where I live is a blessing boxes. If you don't feel comfortable asking for help you can take what you need with no questions asked
Dont forget to leave the skin on! Because its where all the vitamins and minerals are. Anecdote: In WWII POWs had better health outcomes in German camps than Japanese and it was directly tied to diet. (Well that and the Japanese treated prisoners much worse but I digress). Germans fed them potatoes, Japanese rice. Rice is nutritionally incomplete and prisoners suffered severe deficiencies and death because of it.
Cheap meal I eat is bean soup. Hurst's 12 bean soup mix, water or vegtable stock, an onion and a pound of ham. Soak beans overnight. Add ingredients to pot. Boil for a half hour, then simmer for 2 and a half.
If I had a bag of rice and beans I’d make them 4-5 different ways so as not to get bored. Like rice with a little chicken bouillon, or with some sugar for a treat, or the jalapeño and peanut butter could be a sauce, make some beans with the sausage and some without, make some like refried beans, or soup, or chili. You CAN season things differently so you get variety, instead of cooking everything all at once and eating the exact same thing for 2 weeks.
or make giant batches like this and then each week if you make a different big something, freezing half means eventually you'll have a store of variety in your freezer assuming the sale items vary each week.
chicken legs on sale this week 88 cents a pound. cheaper than my usual $1.25 beans at Dollar Tree (dollar tree beans are the cheaper than Walmart where i live.) to save power i cooked them up all together in the oven. then took the meat off the bones and simmered the bones in a huge pot to make a yummy broth. after the broth was 'done' i fished out all the bones and reduced the broth so that an ice cube's worth would be equal to a cup (just to save room in the freezer). i froze the cooked chicken into tiny portions so it would be easy to grab and eat. the fat from the roasting pan and the top of the broth, i saved in a container in the fridge ~not the liquid gold that bacon fat is but still a "free" fat to use in making a roux or gravy. when i was a tiny girl, my grandmother would have us crack the chicken legs and scape out the marrow. i was to tired and just not "quite" ambitious enough to do that...maybe if i had grandchildren to feed? thanks to ALL the commenters for sharing THEIR ideas.
Whenever I make a broth from the carcass of a cooked chicken, I break the larger bones in half before adding them to the pot. The marrow cooks out of the bone & into the broth.
@@j.l.emerson592 i "know" intellectually that YOU are right. Yours is a much more nutritious broth. but i am 'addicted' to the clear broth with subtle flavor, especially to add in other recipes. i think i might give your way a try for a nutritious warm broth drink, just keep it separate from my zip bag of chicken broth concentrate cubes. 🐓
The food bank at my church gives away almost 400 bags of food every month (we only give food monthly, but we offer staples and fresh food) I'm so glad these resources exist!
My local food bank used to have a program in which you could buy a huge box of food for a very minimal fee. It really helped me stretch my budget during a time when we were so poor.
I know if I was actually needing to eat this way, and absolutely starving, you have to do what you have to do to stay fed. But I personally don't think I could eat that chili rice mixture, or any of the same meals, for 10-14 meals straight. I probably would have cooked half the meatball meat ground, and made patties or mini sliders out of the other half to have different textures. Since the meat was already spiced I would have cooked half the beans with the taco seasoning. The rice I would keep separate too. Then I could make some soup, use the peanut butter and Jalapeno to make a sauce to pour over the rice, or use the rice to make congee to have variety at breakfast as well.
I absolutely agree! I am only cooking for myself so if I cook 6 chicken legs I’m seasoning them 3 different ways so I have some variety. I will often make rice, noodles, or potatoes enough for 3-4 days and make different things to go with them, like veggies and sauces. Perfect.
@@LisaofHopewell my grandparents had the same breakfast for years. But I like a little variety and would season/flavor/cook them in different ways to make it taste different. Eating the same thing is fine but you can season it however you want.
I was binge watching all your old budget challenges! They are soo funn to watch im soo happy to see you made a new one ahh! These are so informative and helpful to some! Thank you for your service
I really appreciated that you spoke about using local organizations to get free food. We are all neighbors just wanting to help each other out. There are resources out there for those who need food. Churches, pantries, schools, libraries... please contact them and they will help!
The cheapest meal I make. My Mom's Potato soup. It's inexpensive, makes a full pot, and last for days. No meat. No cheese. It is made with evaporated milk and egg noodles, but in a pinch I have done instead rice or a small pasta separately and added it to the soup when served You cannot add these directly to the soup as they continue to absorb the liquid and swell. Milk can be cheaper than the evaporated milk, but the evaporated milk gives it a creamy rich flavor. You can increase the veggies for a larger pot with no need to increase the egg noodles or milk. The recipe as she makes it... My Mom's Potato Soup Recipe: Cube 3-4 potatoes, 1 carrot, 1-2 stalks of celery. and 1 diced onion Fill pot with water and veggies, add salt to taste, bring to a boil, when potatoes are almost done, add egg noodles until tender. Add 1 can of evaporated milk, dry parsley for color, a little butter. Thicken the soup with a hand full of instant potato flakes.
@@deboranndeborann933 That's fair. I think the potato flakes and the egg noodles are stretch items in her recipe. I usually do a potato per person plus one for the pot.
Pound for pound; protein pasta is cheap protein as are eggs. Meat is expensive for protein, but many delis have meat and cheese ends for cheap. These are the ends from what they slice from and they can’t slice more. You usually can get a small package for under $2.
Thanks Christine. Meal looked delicious. It is very difficult with the price of food these day to eat on such a small amount of money. You did a good job.
So a suggestion for the rice. Growing up, we were really poor. My mom was disabled due to a heart defect from birth that was diagnosed when was little. Mom would make sweet rice and toast for us for breakfast. She made it like she made oatmeal. Some brown sugar, raisins and a little milk and it was delicious. She usually made it from leftover rice from the night before. Man the memories! Miss her. I think I am going to have to cook some rice now! 😋
same thing with my girl. rice pudding was considered a blessing, as she was not so fond of oatmeal. i LOVE oatmeal; same protein content as ground beef (17%). in the beef, the other 83% of calories is from FAT, in oatmeal it is from carbs. and hey, just look at the horses and men they grow in scotland.
@@FrugalFitMom food banks/pantries are like an episode of chopped. I open the box and have to think a minute...then get in gear, shop my pantry and THEN the grocery store. Some of the ingredients that cause the most stretching in my culinary expertise turned out amazing and have become family favs. Thanks for your awesome and inspiring videos!
Homemade biscuits with tomato gravy or with eggs for breakfast; and, pinto beans with a plain homemade cornbread every night. That's what my grandmother always did. Everything simple, and it satisfies. I never heard anyone complain.
Thank you for mentioning the food pantries. Sharing with our neighbors is exactly why the pantries exist and why I support our local food pantry. 💕 No shame - we’re all in this together!
Try shopping at Mercado stores. For example Food City. Ethnic stores will have cheaper items, such as rice, and beans. Usually fresh produce is always cheaper. So don't be intimidated going into ethnic stores. If you have a question just ask a Nana!
I used to make spaghetti and sauce and sometimes meat if I could afford it. It made a huge bowl. I would eat it all week. Good thing I loved spaghetti. I wish I had your videos back then, because I believe I could have eaten better than I did. It also would have been nice to have a dollar tree too. I was unaware I could have told the meat department a half pound of hamburger. (That store had a fresh meat market) Your videos are so helpful to many people. I love your care and concern for many people that struggle. Your heart is kind.💕
I know from when I was in college people bought, $.50, burritos in the frozen area of a grocery store we all shopped at. Now it would be: Ramen noodles 33 cents a package( x2) $.66, Bread $1.00, Bologna $1.84( 14 slices), Cheese slices( 16ox/ 24 slices)$2.48, condiment packets from fast food places for free, peanut butter $2.00, Chimichanga 1@.62x4/$2.48. These are typical items a college kid would get, because most of them either do not cook, will not cook, are busy working and going to college so they don’t have time to cook. 😂 plus, all extra curricular activities. These items from WM and Dollar Tree come to a total of $10.46 without tax. Which could be cut more by buying more Ramen and less of the chimichangas. Though, I still think the Best Buy for a week of meals would be a rotisserie chicken ($4.98) @Sam’s. rice, boxes of cheap 4:14 Mac & Cheese, Ramen, Instant Potatoes, Pasta. I know I can make more meals out of one large piece of protein than a lot of different small things. I can take one whole chicken and get five meals out of it, I can make a pot of chili and get at least four meals out of it and a pork loin center cut will give me around eight pork chops, two small roast, chunky pieces for stir fry or kabobs, scraps are ground up for homemade breakfast sausage, and it usually runs me around $16-$20. I will use the ground sausage to make: sausage gravy, sausage & cheese biscuits, in a soup, in my chili, or cooked and used as a topping on a homemade pizza.
@@MichaelBurkett-dh9uu well might well could be if that is what you ate…no one should judge you or anyone for doing what you need to do to make ends meet. Though the people I am referring to are over seeing not one, but three plants for a company that produces paper products for a majority of the US. The other one is an occupational therapist. My point being is that most college students are not going to cook, unless they are older and not living on campus. Also, when I was in college I knew how to cook. Those of us who did, got together and cooked. You have no idea how many people I cooked for and fed! To this day most of us still keep in touch and have very good memories of our college days. I hope you are blessed with such wonderful friends and memories.
Thanks for this! I often buy clearance items, cook them separately on meal prep day and then mix them differently to not get bored... Some ideas: for breakfast: simple bread pudding with roasted apples (boiled apples in water, sugar or honey packets and cinnamon, wet bread in the mix, add a bit of butter and bake) basic rice pudding (think starchy, rice oatmeal) with peanut butter and the apple Also could have split up the meat, bread, beans and rice: some ideas: one portion grilled sausage sandwich starchy rice with meat mix on top Refried beans and rice Bean soup with the cooking broth and fresh onion topping Maybe could have stuffed a couple of slices of bread with smashed beans or meat like flautas and baked to get crunchiness Just some ways I keep from getting bored...
I work in municipal government, so I'd like to encourage people to not just start calling the police, library, fire, etc. Unfortunately, you will probably get people on the phone who are not aware of those resources. I don't want people to feel discouraged! Instead, look on your City's website at the committees made up of citizens who have been chosen by city leadership. Most cities have committees like Health Coalitions, Homeless Coalitions, etc. The citizens placed on these committees will be from various workplace sectors, but all have a vested interest in the topic. They will know of SO MANY resources!!
I love shopping at dollar tree! Some dollar tree stores have a frozen section that a person can pick up some mixed stew starter veggies. I picked up an instant pot at a thrift store that was in like new condition. I was so pleased to find it. Another kitchen friend is a slow cooker! Cabbage soup is another money saver meal! Cabbage,rice, ground meat,onion,garlic,bell pepper or stew starter veggies,and tomatoe juice or diced tomatoes&tomatoe paste add water to make a sauce, italian seasoning and some cheese if you have it to make a unstuffed cabbage roll soup!
PB is my emergency office snack - when I'm starving mid-afternoon, a spoonful saves me from the vending machines. And If I'm starving at the end of the day, a spoonful is enough to resist the fast food places I drive past on my way home. And it's perfect since it needs no refrigeration.
We have an excellent program in Minnesota called Fare for Life. Once a month you can get a big box of fresh veggies and fruit. Theres usually bread also. Only $5 a box!
@@FrugalFitMom Yeah, I don’t know if it’s only in Minnesota. But it’s worth a Google search for people to find out if they offer something like this in their area.
I got my brand new, in the box, instant pot on fb marketplace for $50. All accessories included. She got it as a gift and had a combination of fear & disinterest in it.
Great ideas! In all sincerity, for a low-budget meal, it looks really good and flavorful. The only thing I would suggest is substituting the Italian meatballs with Mexican chorizo-beef, pork, or soy would work-and mashing that with the beans and bacon fat. It's a low-cost sausage option that has a flavor profile that would fit better with the theme you have going on. I would toast the rice in some kind of oil for added flavor and cook it with bouillon powder and water. Keep the rice and beans separate so you can use them in different preparations. If the budget permits, you can buy a pack of tortillas and make tacos, burritos, flautas, or fry up the tortillas to use as chips for your meals. The ability to vary the dishes keeps things from getting boring. Thank you for sharing these videos!
11:24 Growing up I ate "rice cereal" If u have milk and sugar you make plane rice ( like she did for lunch ) but instead t pour milk and a little sugar over it ( cinnamon if you want to get fancy it makes a yummy Breakfast And with toast it'd fill you up
My community also has lots of community pantries everywhere, almost like the Free Little Library, but full of food. And then there's an area FB page where we all post when we add to them or fill them &/or organize them. They're great because it would be 24 hours, so you can go when is convenient for whatever your schedule is. When we add to them, we add everything from soaps/deodorants/period supplies to different types of foods. I also always try to donate a can opener OR pop top lid canned goods for ease of access. Dollar Tree also sells shelf stable milk (even not just dairy based) and I've learned those are great to include (along with powdered milk). My neighborhood also set up a free produce stand where anyone can donate their backyard garden harvest extras & anyone can come take what's donated. This year I traded out figs from my yard for beautiful heirloom tomatoes. It's not restricted just to our neighborhood, it's just there for anyone in need or who wants to share.
Also just remembered there are free downloadable recipe books that center foods that are SNAP/WIC approved foods so you can kind of mix it what you're cooking with what you have available.
wanting to add - my family has utilized services, so my comments come from a place of understanding from lived experience & also the belief that no person should be hungry.
Just want to say I appreciate you and all the work you put into these videos. You keep it upbeat and focus on overcoming a challenge, I think it's so sad that some people are so down that they fail to see it.. And beans have become my friend! I still can't make tortillas as good or cheap as the local market but I can afford to make and stuff my freezer full of bean and cheese burritos makes for some happy teenagers!
I integrate my grocery shopping with my walks, so no waste of gas. So, morning walk has more of a sense of purpose rather than just walking around in circles. Also, I average $120 a month for food. Bulk stuff, I get at Costco. Early morning is coffee with cream 3 am, an egg dish with toast at 9 am, then usually a rice and bean dish for dinner at 3 pm. Will mix in meat occasionally.
Im in California (i.e. expensive) and i have a max budget of $50 a week and a hopeful budget of $25 (and falling somewhere in the middle) i went to dollar tree for rice because a pound of rice elsewhere is $5 AND almost all the rice and beans were gone. I think everyone in my town ia shopping there EDIT: also I say one pound because all the 2 pound long grains were gone so I had to grab a 1 pound jasmine rice
Cheap meal: ground Italian sausage, orzo, and Parmesan. Add some spinach or veggies if you have them. Cook Orzo with some chicken broth/bouillon like you would rice so it’s fluffy. Brown sausage and any veggies (if you have). Combine the two and sprinkle with Parmesan. I prefer shaved or shredded but the powdered stuff works too.
Not all food banks have much to give. In my state there's barely any food at our food banks. When I did go the food would only last a few days. They just don't have it to give.
I go to Walmart on weekdays at various times to get the discount meat. Like Thursdays at 8 PM or Tuesdays at lunch break. Times when no one else is there and before they restock the meat for the weekend.
I go to our local Kroger store to get discounted meat and fresh veggies that are on clearance. Fresh mushrooms for $1.00 and salad kits. I buy a lot of mushrooms and can them. I also go early and buy discounted meat at Wal-Mart. I recently started canning meat because my freezer is full. 😂
Don’t forget to contact your nearest LDS church & friends. There is a reason why they pay tidings. When I was in a really rough place my LDS friends invited me to their church & GAVE me food & for that I will be forever grateful for them & the LDS church
I have heard that your church traditionally keeps food in their homes for emergencies, so it's nice to know you have neighbors and friends to share and help ☺️
It’s heartbreaking seeing how many folks are in such a similar situation as I am. Not even being able to afford meat! I’m allergic to nuts, beans and soy, so there go several protein options. Anywho…exciting news! In early August, northeast Ohio (where I live) had 5 tornadoes tear through (not the good news). Power out for 9 days. For being out of power (losing all food in fridge and freezer), I was reimbursed money to replace some foods, and enough was available to buy two steaks. One for my mama and one for me. We ate them this evening. It was like dying and going to heaven. It’s been over a year since having steak. My point being, life shouldn’t be like this for anyone.
I would use the peanut butter (with some pantry stables like soy sauce etc)to make a satay sauce, use 1/2 of the meatballs and grab a bag of frozen broccoli serve over rice 😋 That way you could alternate meals
One of my favorite meals from my childhood is what we call macaroni and bacon. You cut up bacon into 1 inch pieces and cook in a pot until crispy (or you can just put some bacon fat in the bottom of the pot). I usually cook 6-7 pieces of bacon. And then add boiling water after draining your bacon fat. I fill the pot like I’m going to cook a pound of pasta. Salt and pepper the water. Add your macaroni. I normally do 3/4’s of a box of macaroni. When the pasta is cooked, take it off the stove and add a can of tomato sauce to taste. I normally do most of an 8 ounce can. My mom grew up very poor and this was like a poor man’s goulash. It is very filling and one of my favorites.
Thanks for the call-out of local food banks! Highly recommend folks volunteer with their local banks. As someone who has faced food insecurity before, it feels super good to hand out 500+ families worth of a week's food. And it was good stuff, too! If I was ever in that situation again, I'd show up without hesitation. Everyone involved, giving or taking, in the food bank operations are usually super happy that there is good food going out.
Kroger also has produce marked down to a dollar per mesh bag. I like walking by and playing “What can I make?” The other day I got a mess of green beans. Sometimes there are 2-4 types of produce bagged together. The trick is to use it in 2 days. My go to is soups for these situations. I also play “what can I make when I go to the mobile bank. The food bank is nice because I can share/swap. I with my extended family and friends. I also like to freezer prep once a month. It is amazing what all you can freeze.
I love getting those 10 lb bags of chicken leg quarters from the store. It's always less than $5 a bag and my local grocery has had 5lbs of potatoes for $0.97 the past few weeks. I'll make BBQ chicken, roast chicken, gumbo and chicken and rice. And when I can find smoked sausage on sale like it is now, I'll make red beans and rice. We're not really fond of steak in my family and I've even started switching ground beef for ground turkey bc I can find it for $1.87/lb. I can't tell the difference.
God bless you for making videos like these…I am sure these can really help people in need and it’s helpful for middle class families like mine, too. Love your channel ❤
Only eat two pieces of toast a day and now you have 1 piece a day for next week too. My favorite go to poor meal is Mac n cheese and beans. I also will use baby food on toast it’s a lot healthier than jam and cheaper too.
Thank you for admitting this. I’ve really tried following those kinds of videos-I even went to 4 diff grocery stores to catch the best prices, used coupons, couldn’t pull it off
What I appreciate the most in this video is the honesty and realism. There weren't any cop outs like "Oh I got these eggs from my family's farm". It was simple and clear, while also showing the effects that inflation is starting to have, even on the cheapest staples. I've done work in food pantries before and I can say: YES! Please speak with people in your city and please come by to the food drive. I live in a fairly cold region and living here can be pretty tough. No one should have to be hungry and no one should have to be cold. There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. We all have our own struggles, and not everyone has someone to bail them out when times get tough. Food pantries, food drives, donation centers, they all exist so that you can use them. Please do!
You are the reason I applied for WIC when money got tight. Being low income and raising littles is worth the work. Wic covers breakfast completely for our family.
If you want free meal prep containers, old salsa, cottage cheese, sour cream, etc containers work quite well and even hold up in the freezer. Some lunch meat comes in a surprisingly good sandwich box as well. Just be careful and don't use abrasives when cleaning!
I ❤ your ideas Christine! I would have seasoned the beans with the taco mix, and kept mince w onion and peppers separate, this way u could have two sauces for rice throughout the week. PB toast for breakfast, apples for dessert after dinner. 🩷🩷🩷
I just shared this elsewhere but I like to do 2 cans of chili with beans, jiffy cornbread and Romaine lettuce for a salad with some cheap ranch from aldi. The whole meal takes about 15 minutes or so to make and is very cheap and filling. We usually have a little leftover chili and cornbread. If you have anything on hand to add like cheese, sour cream, or fire roasted diced tomatoes, it's even better. It only costs about 5-8 bucks for the night depending on where you shop and it fills up my family of 3 very well.
The clearance rack at my local store is usually so full of mold that by the time you cut away the inedible and toxic parts you end up paying more than buying full price for good food. It’s disgusting what some of these stores are doing now.
I have always been told this but find it not to be true when I've done it. I end up with better flavor and less split skins adding salt when soaking or cooking
@heirloomacres7445 Have you cooked them in the Instapot with salt? I've always heard not to cook beans with the salt, and they came out rather boring! -Harriet G.
Slow cook meal idea: white beans, potatoes, green beans, onions and an inexpensive meat if you have i - maybe a 1/2 pound of ground meat, or diced/minced smoked sausage, or regular sausage, or ham, a ham bone or even ham bouillon.
My local food banks are increasingly asking for food that doesn’t need to be cooked, like canned goods that can be eaten straight from the can, as families are struggling to afford ways to heat food :(
When I lived in St Louis MO Aldis was cheap. Everything was Aldis brand. That was 20 ago. I live in Kansas now. The Aldis here is different. It's more expensive and some of the products aren't good. I do get better prices on meat and milk is cheaper.@@dianasimplifies
I'm an international graduate student in US. My university has a program called "food pantry" started off by a masters student as project later decided to extend as a permenent program by the campus. They contact local businesses and get donations and sometimes give out extra cooked food from dinning halls for free. It's nothing fancy, but with the salary we get it is very hard to manage the living expences with the university bills and health insurances every semester. I know it sometimes could be harder for US students because of loans and stuff. So having something like that is kind of reassuring. They also have food pantries run by churches where I live. This is a really good thing I found in US.
Food clearance is the best. Our grocery store here in Germany is Rewe and it is a discounter. The other discounters are Aldi, Lidl and Netto. Rewe also sells bump and dent vegetables so i save on tge fresh stuff too. If you find anything in the store past the sell by date they usually give it to you free, doesn't hapoen alot but feels like a "bingo" when you do. German labelling encourages you to buy smaller packs instead of giant packs to avoid food waste. Zero food waste is a great goal, if you cant eat it, then feed it to a farm animal or pet ( as long as it is edible) consumable or compost it.
We went to the Renaissance Festival yesterday. I brought home my daughter's leftover turkey leg. Lol (had an ice pack in my bag for food safety). Just put in my IP w pinto beans and water. Lol
When U go to food pantries please be nice because politeness can get U a long way. My aging mom goes to a food pantry sometimes and she gets whatever she wants before others SIMPLY because she is polite......Some people start acting crazy in the queue and start yelling at the volunteers......Being polite will get U a long way in life.
A bottle of passata (Italian tomato cooking sauce) goes a long way in recipes. Use some as a pasta sauce. Add a 1/4 cup to water to make a minestrone soup base. Make rolls using cabbage leaves stuffed with cooked rice and simmer them in passata mixed with water. Poach eggs in passata. Mix a bit of passata with bread crumbs, grated carrot and ground meat or canned fish or mashed potato to make patties. Etc
You can also ask the employees if there is a certain day that shelf stable items go on clearance. For my local Fred Meyer store, it is every Tues morning, so the best time to shop is Tue morning so you have first pick at all the options. Perishable items go on clearance as needed throughout the entire week.
She's got a great point about hitting up the food bank and churches etc first and then grocery shopping to fill in the blanks. If its an option, of course. Like I know our local one is only open on certain days at certain times, so I imagine its hard if you're working during those hours. We live in a pretty rural area. I've never used it but I have donated before. I've heard 211 in the US can help provide you with local resources.
My Walmart often has cold rotisserie chickens for $2.55, or $3.68, depending on size and French bread for 33 cents or 60 cents. Bolo for great deals and stock up! 🍗🥖
On our way to our annual beach camping trip, we always stop by Walmart to get a rotisserie chicken, French bread, and some fruit for our lunch. It was massively cheaper than going to a restaurant. Especially when 3 of the kids were teens and we needed 2 chickens.
Anytime that I’m near our grocery store and I have a little extra money, I will go to the discount section and grab whatever I know I can use in the future, I also check the fliers to grab sales. I don’t need to do this but I have always done it and you never know what might happen in the future.
Just an added suggestion for those who are struggling and need to access a food bank/pantry and also have a small budget for additional groceries. Go to the food bank first so you can see what they have available and then hit up your grocery store to fill in the gaps and hopefully make full meals.
I suggest this often, too. Many times people wait until they're low on food or money,, giving them less options. I know most food banks are scheduled, but f possible, always try to plan your shopping after the food bank instead of before.
@@yvonnepalmquist8676 Agreed! It’s what I’ve done when I had to use those resources in the past
Yes I agree. It's what I have to do. It really helps. We have a couple in our area and they don't mind if we go to all of them
Also, think about other ways to utilize the items you get at the food bank.
" Think outside the box😂😉".
Are there items that can be used together to create a different meal option?
Can a certain item be tweaked with spices or low cost spreads or condiments?
Can certain items be used for more than one meal instead of all at once?
Can an item be used for a meal at a different time( oatmeal for dinner or leftover meatloaf on toast for breakfast)?
Using one's creativity and becoming adventurous can go a long way in keeping costs low.
I do the same . After food bank I check the clearance at Grocery Outlet . Go to Winco and than Dollar Tree. .
I am 71, and finally had to reach out to my local food bank last month. Was I ashamed? Yes. Am I sorry? No. Thank you for saying that we should not be ashamed.
Do NOT be ashamed ❤️that is what it is there for!
@@Cocacabanabudgets thank you sweet human!
You should never feel ashamed if you need help. My son and I volunteer at a food bank and we really enjoy being able to help others. When a family member lost got laid off, I recommended that they check out the local food banks. That's what they are there for.
The only shameful thing is governments who allow retirees to need a food bank. I hope u got some lovely things x
Nothing to be ashamed of for people that have a need. This is why you donate in the good seasons of your life joyfully. Everyone should do so with also the thought that one day you may be the one in need of help. things happen. Not to mention age and the additional expenses and needs that come with it.
Back in The day (2010) I was a BROKE collage aged kid who worked at a Kroger. I was absolutely thrilled one day, when I got to work, I found a dime in my pocket. Then later, I found a quarter in the parking lot. I was a able to buy a single banana and a string cheese.
The food clearance section also saved my life.
I hope your situation is better now 🙏
@modest8930 Day and night different! But I am so grateful for those days. I learned a lot from those experiences! ❤️
I work at retail and trust mei keep any change i find or ppl dont want.
COLLAGE age? Too bad you NEVER got through THIRD GRADE!!!!
@@Tryp-j9d Rather miss-spell a word than be a jerk.
I also volunteer at my local food bank monthly and use it as a benefit. My local bank will match sweat equity four hours = a cart of food .. over 200 dollars worth of fruits and veggies sometimes fish depending on the donations received .. that helps cover other expenses and I don’t have to stress about healthy food options .. check your area for options. Please do not allow your pride to talk you out of feeding yourself and your family .
Is it USA or Canada? If Canada then which province & cities? Reply please.
I wish that I had not been too proud in my youth to take advantage of this great resource, so cheerfully provided!
@@1110-t5o, not canada. Idaho USA
So glad you mentioned this. I'm checking with my local food bank tomorrow re: volunteer for food
That sounds amazing! What a great idea! I do not know anyone who would not exchange 4 hours work for a grocery cart full of food!
I work in affordable housing and I appreciate how you encourage folks to seek assistance if they need it and not be ashamed for doing so.
Yes key word here is need it or can't afford to buy much in stores.
To stretch our food budget, Mom would make potato soup. She used potatoes and onions that we grew in our garden, salt, pepper and evaporated milk. If we had celery she would add it. However, we usually only had celery on hand during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
That sounds VERY similar to my mom's potato soup!
This is delicious. As a splurge, you can add cheese on top, if funding allows, but it's great as is, too.
I just posted my mom's recipe, too. It sounds very similar. To bulk hers up, she adds egg noodles. I have done other pasta or rice, cooked separately and added as served if not using egg noodles. I try to keep frozen celery or dehydrated celery on hand, because that's the one thing that always goes bad before I can use it. She also adds a couple of carrot to hers. It's delicious, velvety, filling, last for multiple meals, and is inexpensive.
@@yvonnepalmquist8676 Love the noodles idea and the frozen celery tip!
Even if you don't grow potatoes, you can get a huge bag for relatively cheap. In college, we used to buy a 20-pound bag every week. The versatility is a huge plus - grate one for hashbrowns, baked, mashed, roasted with different spices, diced in a casserole, and soup. It was like a different meal each time.
I just moved out of state and my housing situation fell thru 2 months in. I am staying with a family from church, but I have been struggling pretty bad. I went to a food pantry and my church is also helping me with food. I told them I was embarrassed but then she said something I’ll never forget and it made me cry: one day, you’re gonna meet someone in the same spot as you are currently and you’re gonna invite them to church with you to get food. They are going to say, no I’m embarrassed and you’re going to share your story of how you were too. Then they will come with you, you will hold their hand and walk them back there, and they will come to know the Lord thru you. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. So thank you for speaking about this cuz I think a lot of people feel that way.
That is a beautiful story 🩷😻 thank you for sharing
All Glory to God
This me made tear up a little 🥲
A very wise Rabbi once said, "It is more blessed to give than receive." Something to think about, If you weren't in a position to receive, I couldn't give and in turn couldn't be blessed.
Let me just add in, if people don’t go to food banks that food goes to waste. Do not feel ashamed. Food is available for a reason. Stay blessed everyone and girl thank you for this video, the food looked delicious
Something to add, if you have kiddos in public school be sure you are signing up for free lunch, in most states now it includes breakfast as well. In MI where I live all children get fed two meals a day. (You can sign up any time during the school year). There is also a program called Blessings in a Backpack, that provides weekend meals and snacks. Check to see if you school participates and sign up, every thing helps.
Budget meals at my house starts with a meatloaf. I fix a pot of beans- fried potatoes and a pan of cornbread. The leftovers is where you save. The meatloaf you can use to make sloppy joes or just have for sandwiches or tacos/burrito . You can add the meat to the beans and make. Chili. Leftover chili you can use for taco salad, beefy nachos or Fritos pie. I initial cost may be a little more than $10.00 but you get a weeks worth of meals. I enjoy your show. 11:24
those are what i call roll-over meals...and it definitely stretches the food 😊
Great ideas i can use for my family! Thank you
We love chili over spaghetti noodles aka Cincinnati chili. You can add onions, sour cream or shredded cheese if available. It really stretches the chili and feels like another meal. My husband also likes chili over rice. Meatloaf quesadillas have been a thing in our house too. Thanks for sharing your ideas to stretch meals.
Minced meat is a great choice in terms of protein and minerals! Also eggs are really good in anything. I feel like these two get overlooked as many people opt for cheap carbs but those have very little nutrition. Beans are hard to digest, as well.
Making a pot of lima beans as I watch & learn. 8 servings equals one meal a day for where I.nserved over cooked rice.
Last night I cooked 1/2 of a 1 pound pack of food bank ground beef, a can each of food bank commodity pasta sauce and diced tomatoes, a pound of food bank rotini, 1/2 pound of food bank mild cheddar shredded. Mixed it together with a heavy hand of garlic powder and onion powder ($1.12 a container at Walmart) and dumped into a casserole dish. Topped with food bank sliced mozzarella and baked for 20 minutes. I use my $23 in food stamps for spices and splenda, the rest of my food comes from the food bank. With 4 servings of poor man's baked ziti I'm eating well!
Sign is so yummy and satisfying
That’s amazing! I most of the time use half pound so that way a pound is two meals. Now my niece lives with us so doesn’t really work anymore but I still try!
When you're on a budget, and your budget allows, a 5lb bag of potatoes will yield several meals. Check your local places of worship. Many will have food pantries. Something I have seen where I live is a blessing boxes. If you don't feel comfortable asking for help you can take what you need with no questions asked
A big bag of potatoes is one of my favorite "Go-To's" when times are lean, as well as all kinds of beans and rice.
@@twovirginiacats3753address of Go-To’s please.
Potatoes are a great thing! Highest satiety food, plus vitamins and fiber. Great suggestion!
We dont do potato like that but rice gets insaly cheaper when bought im sack instead of bag, assuming you can do the investment
Dont forget to leave the skin on! Because its where all the vitamins and minerals are. Anecdote: In WWII POWs had better health outcomes in German camps than Japanese and it was directly tied to diet. (Well that and the Japanese treated prisoners much worse but I digress). Germans fed them potatoes, Japanese rice. Rice is nutritionally incomplete and prisoners suffered severe deficiencies and death because of it.
My Puerto Rican cuisine is rice beans, fried plantains and a small portion of beef or chicken
I know that food be good !
Cheap meal I eat is bean soup. Hurst's 12 bean soup mix, water or vegtable stock, an onion and a pound of ham. Soak beans overnight. Add ingredients to pot. Boil for a half hour, then simmer for 2 and a half.
I've missed these budget cooking videos. It's like Guy's Grocery Games. I miss cheap groceries. Aw, the good ol days.
If I had a bag of rice and beans I’d make them 4-5 different ways so as not to get bored. Like rice with a little chicken bouillon, or with some sugar for a treat, or the jalapeño and peanut butter could be a sauce, make some beans with the sausage and some without, make some like refried beans, or soup, or chili. You CAN season things differently so you get variety, instead of cooking everything all at once and eating the exact same thing for 2 weeks.
Rice, butter and white sugar is soooo good
@@hannahaustin272 my daughter loves it that way too.
or make giant batches like this and then each week if you make a different big something, freezing half means eventually you'll have a store of variety in your freezer assuming the sale items vary each week.
Many people in poverty are too stressed out working multiple jobs or caring for children. It is probably easier to just do the same meal.
chicken legs on sale this week 88 cents a pound. cheaper than my usual $1.25 beans at Dollar Tree (dollar tree beans are the cheaper than Walmart where i live.) to save power i cooked them up all together in the oven. then took the meat off the bones and simmered the bones in a huge pot to make a yummy broth. after the broth was 'done' i fished out all the bones and reduced the broth so that an ice cube's worth would be equal to a cup (just to save room in the freezer). i froze the cooked chicken into tiny portions so it would be easy to grab and eat. the fat from the roasting pan and the top of the broth, i saved in a container in the fridge ~not the liquid gold that bacon fat is but still a "free" fat to use in making a roux or gravy. when i was a tiny girl, my grandmother would have us crack the chicken legs and scape out the marrow. i was to tired and just not "quite" ambitious enough to do that...maybe if i had grandchildren to feed? thanks to ALL the commenters for sharing THEIR ideas.
Whenever I make a broth from the carcass of a cooked chicken, I break the larger bones in half before adding them to the pot. The marrow cooks out of the bone & into the broth.
@@j.l.emerson592 i "know" intellectually that YOU are right. Yours is a much more nutritious broth. but i am 'addicted' to the clear broth with subtle flavor, especially to add in other recipes. i think i might give your way a try for a nutritious warm broth drink, just keep it separate from my zip bag of chicken broth concentrate cubes. 🐓
@@j.l.emerson592great idea!
The food bank at my church gives away almost 400 bags of food every month (we only give food monthly, but we offer staples and fresh food) I'm so glad these resources exist!
My local food bank used to have a program in which you could buy a huge box of food for a very minimal fee. It really helped me stretch my budget during a time when we were so poor.
In the Midwest there is Ruby's Pantry which a "share" is $25 or by donation if you can't afford it. They come once a month to my area in NW Wisconsin.
Thank you for all you do supporting the community
I know if I was actually needing to eat this way, and absolutely starving, you have to do what you have to do to stay fed. But I personally don't think I could eat that chili rice mixture, or any of the same meals, for 10-14 meals straight. I probably would have cooked half the meatball meat ground, and made patties or mini sliders out of the other half to have different textures. Since the meat was already spiced I would have cooked half the beans with the taco seasoning. The rice I would keep separate too. Then I could make some soup, use the peanut butter and Jalapeno to make a sauce to pour over the rice, or use the rice to make congee to have variety at breakfast as well.
I absolutely agree! I am only cooking for myself so if I cook 6 chicken legs I’m seasoning them 3 different ways so I have some variety. I will often make rice, noodles, or potatoes enough for 3-4 days and make different things to go with them, like veggies and sauces. Perfect.
Nothing wrong with eating the same thing in an emergency.
@@LisaofHopewell my grandparents had the same breakfast for years. But I like a little variety and would season/flavor/cook them in different ways to make it taste different. Eating the same thing is fine but you can season it however you want.
Great ideas. Thanks for sharing. Inspires me to think outside the box.
Love these ideas.
Yes! Beans and rice can be delicious! Frugal and healthy!
I was binge watching all your old budget challenges! They are soo funn to watch im soo happy to see you made a new one ahh! These are so informative and helpful to some! Thank you for your service
I really appreciated that you spoke about using local organizations to get free food. We are all neighbors just wanting to help each other out. There are resources out there for those who need food. Churches, pantries, schools, libraries... please contact them and they will help!
The cheapest meal I make. My Mom's Potato soup. It's inexpensive, makes a full pot, and last for days. No meat. No cheese. It is made with evaporated milk and egg noodles, but in a pinch I have done instead rice or a small pasta separately and added it to the soup when served You cannot add these directly to the soup as they continue to absorb the liquid and swell. Milk can be cheaper than the evaporated milk, but the evaporated milk gives it a creamy rich flavor. You can increase the veggies for a larger pot with no need to increase the egg noodles or milk. The recipe as she makes it... My Mom's Potato Soup Recipe: Cube 3-4 potatoes, 1 carrot, 1-2 stalks of celery. and 1 diced onion Fill pot with water and veggies, add salt to taste, bring to a boil, when potatoes are almost done, add egg noodles until tender. Add 1 can of evaporated milk, dry parsley for color, a little butter. Thicken the soup with a hand full of instant potato flakes.
If you don't have potato flakes, it can be thickened by mashing some of the potato chunks, or adding a flour or cornstarch slurry, instead.
Oooh potatoe flakes is a great idea to thicken the soup. Thank you so much for the recipe. I learned something new.😊
There were us 6 kids, Mom and Dad. I don't ever remember less than 12 good-sized potatoes for the presto cooker--if we had them.
@@deboranndeborann933 That's fair. I think the potato flakes and the egg noodles are stretch items in her recipe. I usually do a potato per person plus one for the pot.
You can make evaporated milk by reducing milk at a low simmer by 60%. Add sugar and reduce by half and you have condensed milk.
Pound for pound; protein pasta is cheap protein as are eggs. Meat is expensive for protein, but many delis have meat and cheese ends for cheap. These are the ends from what they slice from and they can’t slice more. You usually can get a small package for under $2.
The extreme budget meals are my favorite. It feels like a challenge/puzzle that I love!
Thanks Christine. Meal looked delicious. It is very difficult with the price of food these day to eat on such a small amount of money. You did a good job.
So a suggestion for the rice. Growing up, we were really poor. My mom was disabled due to a heart defect from birth that was diagnosed when was little. Mom would make sweet rice and toast for us for breakfast. She made it like she made oatmeal. Some brown sugar, raisins and a little milk and it was delicious. She usually made it from leftover rice from the night before. Man the memories! Miss her. I think I am going to have to cook some rice now! 😋
We did the same...add cinnamon and a little sugar
How nice! Here in Brazil we eat sweet rice as dessert…it’s yummy 😋 Some ppl add condensed milk or caramel
My mom made this for me too. And lots of Ramen noodles and tuna noodle casserole with peas.
same thing with my girl. rice pudding was considered a blessing, as she was not so fond of oatmeal. i LOVE oatmeal; same protein content as ground beef (17%). in the beef, the other 83% of calories is from FAT, in oatmeal it is from carbs. and hey, just look at the horses and men they grow in scotland.
You should do a video where you go to a food pantry and see what kinds of meals you can make out of it
I did that a LONG time ago (6 years?). It might be time for another try
@@FrugalFitMom food banks/pantries are like an episode of chopped. I open the box and have to think a minute...then get in gear, shop my pantry and THEN the grocery store. Some of the ingredients that cause the most stretching in my culinary expertise turned out amazing and have become family favs. Thanks for your awesome and inspiring videos!
@@FrugalFitMomthat was one of my favorite videos
Homemade biscuits with tomato gravy or with eggs for breakfast; and, pinto beans with a plain homemade cornbread every night. That's what my grandmother always did. Everything simple, and it satisfies. I never heard anyone complain.
How do you make tomato gravy?
Thank you for mentioning the food pantries. Sharing with our neighbors is exactly why the pantries exist and why I support our local food pantry. 💕 No shame - we’re all in this together!
I like an apple with a little peanut butter
me too!
Or with a slice of cheese
Try shopping at Mercado stores. For example Food City. Ethnic stores will have cheaper items, such as rice, and beans. Usually fresh produce is always cheaper. So don't be intimidated going into ethnic stores. If you have a question just ask a Nana!
I used to make spaghetti and sauce and sometimes meat if I could afford it. It made a huge bowl. I would eat it all week. Good thing I loved spaghetti. I wish I had your videos back then, because I believe I could have eaten better than I did. It also would have been nice to have a dollar tree too. I was unaware I could have told the meat department a half pound of hamburger. (That store had a fresh meat market) Your videos are so helpful to many people. I love your care and concern for many people that struggle. Your heart is kind.💕
in my leanest days, i learned that pasta does require sauce. i'd put a bouillon cube when cooking.
I know from when I was in college people bought, $.50, burritos in the frozen area of a grocery store we all shopped at. Now it would be: Ramen noodles 33 cents a package( x2) $.66, Bread $1.00, Bologna $1.84( 14 slices), Cheese slices( 16ox/ 24 slices)$2.48, condiment packets from fast food places for free, peanut butter $2.00, Chimichanga 1@.62x4/$2.48. These are typical items a college kid would get, because most of them either do not cook, will not cook, are busy working and going to college so they don’t have time to cook. 😂 plus, all extra curricular activities. These items from WM and Dollar Tree come to a total of $10.46 without tax. Which could be cut more by buying more Ramen and less of the chimichangas. Though, I still think the Best Buy for a week of meals would be a rotisserie chicken ($4.98) @Sam’s. rice, boxes of cheap 4:14 Mac & Cheese, Ramen, Instant Potatoes, Pasta. I know I can make more meals out of one large piece of protein than a lot of different small things. I can take one whole chicken and get five meals out of it, I can make a pot of chili and get at least four meals out of it and a pork loin center cut will give me around eight pork chops, two small roast, chunky pieces for stir fry or kabobs, scraps are ground up for homemade breakfast sausage, and it usually runs me around $16-$20. I will use the ground sausage to make: sausage gravy, sausage & cheese biscuits, in a soup, in my chili, or cooked and used as a topping on a homemade pizza.
That also sounds like a divorced food budget for the 1980s😅
@@MichaelBurkett-dh9uu well might well could be if that is what you ate…no one should judge you or anyone for doing what you need to do to make ends meet. Though the people I am referring to are over seeing not one, but three plants for a company that produces paper products for a majority of the US. The other one is an occupational therapist. My point being is that most college students are not going to cook, unless they are older and not living on campus. Also, when I was in college I knew how to cook. Those of us who did, got together and cooked. You have no idea how many people I cooked for and fed! To this day most of us still keep in touch and have very good memories of our college days. I hope you are blessed with such wonderful friends and memories.
Thanks for this! I often buy clearance items, cook them separately on meal prep day and then mix them differently to not get bored...
Some ideas:
for breakfast:
simple bread pudding with roasted apples (boiled apples in water, sugar or honey packets and cinnamon, wet bread in the mix, add a bit of butter and bake)
basic rice pudding (think starchy, rice oatmeal) with peanut butter and the apple
Also could have split up the meat, bread, beans and rice: some ideas:
one portion grilled sausage sandwich
starchy rice with meat mix on top
Refried beans and rice
Bean soup with the cooking broth and fresh onion topping
Maybe could have stuffed a couple of slices of bread with smashed beans or meat like flautas and baked to get crunchiness
Just some ways I keep from getting bored...
I work in municipal government, so I'd like to encourage people to not just start calling the police, library, fire, etc. Unfortunately, you will probably get people on the phone who are not aware of those resources. I don't want people to feel discouraged! Instead, look on your City's website at the committees made up of citizens who have been chosen by city leadership. Most cities have committees like Health Coalitions, Homeless Coalitions, etc. The citizens placed on these committees will be from various workplace sectors, but all have a vested interest in the topic. They will know of SO MANY resources!!
I love shopping at dollar tree! Some dollar tree stores have a frozen section that a person can pick up some mixed stew starter veggies. I picked up an instant pot at a thrift store that was in like new condition. I was so pleased to find it. Another kitchen friend is a slow cooker! Cabbage soup is another money saver meal! Cabbage,rice, ground meat,onion,garlic,bell pepper or stew starter veggies,and tomatoe juice or diced tomatoes&tomatoe paste add water to make a sauce, italian seasoning and some cheese if you have it to make a unstuffed cabbage roll soup!
I absolutely love peanut butter! I have it in the house all the time and take it camping and on road trips! (And I am in my 60’s) 🎉
PB is my emergency office snack - when I'm starving mid-afternoon, a spoonful saves me from the vending machines. And If I'm starving at the end of the day, a spoonful is enough to resist the fast food places I drive past on my way home. And it's perfect since it needs no refrigeration.
We have an excellent program in Minnesota called Fare for Life. Once a month you can get a big box of fresh veggies and fruit. Theres usually bread also. Only $5 a box!
That's amazing!
@@FrugalFitMom Yeah, I don’t know if it’s only in Minnesota. But it’s worth a Google search for people to find out if they offer something like this in their area.
*fare for all. Took a while to find on Google. Looks like it's only your state.
@@teamshoemaker Super sorry about that, stupid phone. Thank you for the correction. ❤️
I got my brand new, in the box, instant pot on fb marketplace for $50. All accessories included. She got it as a gift and had a combination of fear & disinterest in it.
Great ideas! In all sincerity, for a low-budget meal, it looks really good and flavorful. The only thing I would suggest is substituting the Italian meatballs with Mexican chorizo-beef, pork, or soy would work-and mashing that with the beans and bacon fat. It's a low-cost sausage option that has a flavor profile that would fit better with the theme you have going on. I would toast the rice in some kind of oil for added flavor and cook it with bouillon powder and water. Keep the rice and beans separate so you can use them in different preparations. If the budget permits, you can buy a pack of tortillas and make tacos, burritos, flautas, or fry up the tortillas to use as chips for your meals. The ability to vary the dishes keeps things from getting boring. Thank you for sharing these videos!
11:24 Growing up I ate "rice cereal"
If u have milk and sugar you make plane rice ( like she did for lunch ) but instead t pour milk and a little sugar over it ( cinnamon if you want to get fancy it makes a yummy Breakfast
And with toast it'd fill you up
I have 3 pantries I like in my area. And they don't judge you, they are there to help. My case manager takes me to the pantries. It helps a lot.
My community also has lots of community pantries everywhere, almost like the Free Little Library, but full of food. And then there's an area FB page where we all post when we add to them or fill them &/or organize them. They're great because it would be 24 hours, so you can go when is convenient for whatever your schedule is. When we add to them, we add everything from soaps/deodorants/period supplies to different types of foods. I also always try to donate a can opener OR pop top lid canned goods for ease of access. Dollar Tree also sells shelf stable milk (even not just dairy based) and I've learned those are great to include (along with powdered milk).
My neighborhood also set up a free produce stand where anyone can donate their backyard garden harvest extras & anyone can come take what's donated. This year I traded out figs from my yard for beautiful heirloom tomatoes. It's not restricted just to our neighborhood, it's just there for anyone in need or who wants to share.
Also just remembered there are free downloadable recipe books that center foods that are SNAP/WIC approved foods so you can kind of mix it what you're cooking with what you have available.
wanting to add - my family has utilized services, so my comments come from a place of understanding from lived experience & also the belief that no person should be hungry.
Just want to say I appreciate you and all the work you put into these videos. You keep it upbeat and focus on overcoming a challenge, I think it's so sad that some people are so down that they fail to see it.. And beans have become my friend! I still can't make tortillas as good or cheap as the local market but I can afford to make and stuff my freezer full of bean and cheese burritos makes for some happy teenagers!
Long time follower. LOVE your channel.
I integrate my grocery shopping with my walks, so no waste of gas. So, morning walk has more of a sense of purpose rather than just walking around in circles. Also, I average $120 a month for food. Bulk stuff, I get at Costco. Early morning is coffee with cream 3 am, an egg dish with toast at 9 am, then usually a rice and bean dish for dinner at 3 pm. Will mix in meat occasionally.
I took a page out of asian cookery by making congee for breakfast often. Fills the void, can use leftover bacon fat and its good with an egg on top
I'm going to try this.
You do a. nice job on your videos. Thanks for all your hard work making videos we all can watch.
I appreciate that!
@@FrugalFitMom Who's voice was that on some of the voice overs? It didn't sound like you Also thank you for this video!
Im in California (i.e. expensive) and i have a max budget of $50 a week and a hopeful budget of $25 (and falling somewhere in the middle) i went to dollar tree for rice because a pound of rice elsewhere is $5 AND almost all the rice and beans were gone. I think everyone in my town ia shopping there
EDIT: also I say one pound because all the 2 pound long grains were gone so I had to grab a 1 pound jasmine rice
Cheap meal: ground Italian sausage, orzo, and Parmesan. Add some spinach or veggies if you have them. Cook Orzo with some chicken broth/bouillon like you would rice so it’s fluffy. Brown sausage and any veggies (if you have). Combine the two and sprinkle with Parmesan. I prefer shaved or shredded but the powdered stuff works too.
Not all food banks have much to give. In my state there's barely any food at our food banks. When I did go the food would only last a few days. They just don't have it to give.
I go to Walmart on weekdays at various times to get the discount meat. Like Thursdays at 8 PM or Tuesdays at lunch break. Times when no one else is there and before they restock the meat for the weekend.
I have also purchased discount meats from Target.
I go to our local Kroger store to get discounted meat and fresh veggies that are on clearance. Fresh mushrooms for $1.00 and salad kits. I buy a lot of mushrooms and can them. I also go early and buy discounted meat at Wal-Mart. I recently started canning meat because my freezer is full. 😂
For those in Arizona there is a thing called produce on wheels without waste. 70+ lbs of produce for $15. Locations vary depending on the season.
Don’t forget to contact your nearest LDS church & friends. There is a reason why they pay tidings. When I was in a really rough place my LDS friends invited me to their church & GAVE me food & for that I will be forever grateful for them & the LDS church
I have heard that your church traditionally keeps food in their homes for emergencies, so it's nice to know you have neighbors and friends to share and help ☺️
Don't they also sell inexpensive bulk food to the public? There is one about an hour away from us that does.
It’s heartbreaking seeing how many folks are in such a similar situation as I am. Not even being able to afford meat! I’m allergic to nuts, beans and soy, so there go several protein options.
Anywho…exciting news! In early August, northeast Ohio (where I live) had 5 tornadoes tear through (not the good news). Power out for 9 days. For being out of power (losing all food in fridge and freezer), I was reimbursed money to replace some foods, and enough was available to buy two steaks. One for my mama and one for me. We ate them this evening. It was like dying and going to heaven. It’s been over a year since having steak. My point being, life shouldn’t be like this for anyone.
I would use the peanut butter (with some pantry stables like soy sauce etc)to make a satay sauce, use 1/2 of the meatballs and grab a bag of frozen broccoli serve over rice 😋 That way you could alternate meals
One of my favorite meals from my childhood is what we call macaroni and bacon. You cut up bacon into 1 inch pieces and cook in a pot until crispy (or you can just put some bacon fat in the bottom of the pot). I usually cook 6-7 pieces of bacon. And then add boiling water after draining your bacon fat. I fill the pot like I’m going to cook a pound of pasta. Salt and pepper the water. Add your macaroni. I normally do 3/4’s of a box of macaroni. When the pasta is cooked, take it off the stove and add a can of tomato sauce to taste. I normally do most of an 8 ounce can. My mom grew up very poor and this was like a poor man’s goulash. It is very filling and one of my favorites.
Cheap carbonara
Oh this sounds like a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
i really enjoyed the video you volunteered at a local food bank and then went out and bought the same thing and make a meal plan out of that!
Toast with peanut butter sliced apples with cinnamon on top is my favorite with a nice cup of tea.
Thanks for the call-out of local food banks! Highly recommend folks volunteer with their local banks. As someone who has faced food insecurity before, it feels super good to hand out 500+ families worth of a week's food. And it was good stuff, too!
If I was ever in that situation again, I'd show up without hesitation. Everyone involved, giving or taking, in the food bank operations are usually super happy that there is good food going out.
Kroger also has produce marked down to a dollar per mesh bag. I like walking by and playing “What can I make?” The other day I got a mess of green beans. Sometimes there are 2-4 types of produce bagged together. The trick is to use it in 2 days. My go to is soups for these situations. I also play “what can I make when I go to the mobile bank. The food bank is nice because I can share/swap. I with my extended family and friends. I also like to freezer prep once a month. It is amazing what all you can freeze.
I love getting those 10 lb bags of chicken leg quarters from the store. It's always less than $5 a bag and my local grocery has had 5lbs of potatoes for $0.97 the past few weeks. I'll make BBQ chicken, roast chicken, gumbo and chicken and rice. And when I can find smoked sausage on sale like it is now, I'll make red beans and rice. We're not really fond of steak in my family and I've even started switching ground beef for ground turkey bc I can find it for $1.87/lb. I can't tell the difference.
My store now has that bag for $9
@@FrugalFitMom might be time to come back to Texas ☺
It’s $8 in Oklahoma! ♥️🇺🇸♥️
You are so resourceful. What a blessing you are to help those who need encouragement ❤and a helping hand.
God bless you for making videos like these…I am sure these can really help people in need and it’s helpful for middle class families like mine, too. Love your channel ❤
I love peanut butter. When I worked, I would eat bread and peanut butter on the way to work.
Only eat two pieces of toast a day and now you have 1 piece a day for next week too. My favorite go to poor meal is Mac n cheese and beans. I also will use baby food on toast it’s a lot healthier than jam and cheaper too.
Thank you for admitting this. I’ve really tried following those kinds of videos-I even went to 4 diff grocery stores to catch the best prices, used coupons, couldn’t pull it off
try Swiss Birchermüesli (yogurt, oats, ground apple)
I make a bean a rice meal with sausage when I can get it! It’s phenomenal 😍😍😍
You are correct, no one should go hungry. Ty Christine.
Rice for breakfast. At some sugar and a little milk. Done! Add raisins if you’re feeling fancy.
My to go meal would be, any pasta noddles with butter or oil, salt and eggs .... if available some parmesan cheese .
Yummy.
What I appreciate the most in this video is the honesty and realism. There weren't any cop outs like "Oh I got these eggs from my family's farm". It was simple and clear, while also showing the effects that inflation is starting to have, even on the cheapest staples. I've done work in food pantries before and I can say: YES! Please speak with people in your city and please come by to the food drive. I live in a fairly cold region and living here can be pretty tough. No one should have to be hungry and no one should have to be cold. There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. We all have our own struggles, and not everyone has someone to bail them out when times get tough. Food pantries, food drives, donation centers, they all exist so that you can use them. Please do!
You are the reason I applied for WIC when money got tight. Being low income and raising littles is worth the work. Wic covers breakfast completely for our family.
The leftover rice, you could add milk, sugar, cinnamon and have it for dessert or maybe even breakfast!
If you want free meal prep containers, old salsa, cottage cheese, sour cream, etc containers work quite well and even hold up in the freezer. Some lunch meat comes in a surprisingly good sandwich box as well. Just be careful and don't use abrasives when cleaning!
I ❤ your ideas Christine! I would have seasoned the beans with the taco mix, and kept mince w onion and peppers separate, this way u could have two sauces for rice throughout the week. PB toast for breakfast, apples for dessert after dinner. 🩷🩷🩷
I was here back in 2018, just wanted to say your videos got me through some tough times. I really appreciate you.
I just shared this elsewhere but I like to do 2 cans of chili with beans, jiffy cornbread and Romaine lettuce for a salad with some cheap ranch from aldi. The whole meal takes about 15 minutes or so to make and is very cheap and filling. We usually have a little leftover chili and cornbread. If you have anything on hand to add like cheese, sour cream, or fire roasted diced tomatoes, it's even better. It only costs about 5-8 bucks for the night depending on where you shop and it fills up my family of 3 very well.
The clearance rack at my local store is usually so full of mold that by the time you cut away the inedible and toxic parts you end up paying more than buying full price for good food. It’s disgusting what some of these stores are doing now.
i did a $4/day challenge about 10 yrs ago. and it was hard then. I lasted 19 days. Good for you for taking up a challenge today. Inspiring
I've found salting beans before cooking makes them quite tough.
I have always been told this but find it not to be true when I've done it. I end up with better flavor and less split skins adding salt when soaking or cooking
@heirloomacres7445 Have you cooked them in the Instapot with salt? I've always heard not to cook beans with the salt, and they came out rather boring! -Harriet G.
Slow cook meal idea: white beans, potatoes, green beans, onions and an inexpensive meat if you have i - maybe a 1/2 pound of ground meat, or diced/minced smoked sausage, or regular sausage, or ham, a ham bone or even ham bouillon.
My local food banks are increasingly asking for food that doesn’t need to be cooked, like canned goods that can be eaten straight from the can, as families are struggling to afford ways to heat food :(
My aldi is across the street from Walmart
Same and unfortunately due to that their prices are not cheaper at my Aldi.
@@wendybunce yes I shop at Aldi weekly. So I know the prices. Thx. 🩷
Mine also
When I lived in St Louis MO Aldis was cheap. Everything was Aldis brand. That was 20 ago. I live in Kansas now. The Aldis here is different. It's more expensive and some of the products aren't good. I do get better prices on meat and milk is cheaper.@@dianasimplifies
I'm an international graduate student in US. My university has a program called "food pantry" started off by a masters student as project later decided to extend as a permenent program by the campus. They contact local businesses and get donations and sometimes give out extra cooked food from dinning halls for free. It's nothing fancy, but with the salary we get it is very hard to manage the living expences with the university bills and health insurances every semester. I know it sometimes could be harder for US students because of loans and stuff. So having something like that is kind of reassuring. They also have food pantries run by churches where I live. This is a really good thing I found in US.
People need someone like you to show them the ropes . as in how to shop . good for you .
Food clearance is the best. Our grocery store here in Germany is Rewe and it is a discounter. The other discounters are Aldi, Lidl and Netto. Rewe also sells bump and dent vegetables so i save on tge fresh stuff too. If you find anything in the store past the sell by date they usually give it to you free, doesn't hapoen alot but feels like a "bingo" when you do. German labelling encourages you to buy smaller packs instead of giant packs to avoid food waste. Zero food waste is a great goal, if you cant eat it, then feed it to a farm animal or pet ( as long as it is edible) consumable or compost it.
Thank you for sharing! You are right nobody should go hungry and you were informative and supportive about it!
We went to the Renaissance Festival yesterday. I brought home my daughter's leftover turkey leg. Lol (had an ice pack in my bag for food safety). Just put in my IP w pinto beans and water. Lol
Turkey legs make the best pinto beans 😊
So smart.
waste nothing!
When U go to food pantries please be nice because politeness can get U a long way. My aging mom goes to a food pantry sometimes and she gets whatever she wants before others SIMPLY because she is polite......Some people start acting crazy in the queue and start yelling at the volunteers......Being polite will get U a long way in life.
A bottle of passata (Italian tomato cooking sauce) goes a long way in recipes. Use some as a pasta sauce. Add a 1/4 cup to water to make a minestrone soup base. Make rolls using cabbage leaves stuffed with cooked rice and simmer them in passata mixed with water. Poach eggs in passata. Mix a bit of passata with bread crumbs, grated carrot and ground meat or canned fish or mashed potato to make patties. Etc
I understand where the comments about gas prices/drive time to hunt deals, but the lessons are the same and I love your message!
You can also ask the employees if there is a certain day that shelf stable items go on clearance. For my local Fred Meyer store, it is every Tues morning, so the best time to shop is Tue morning so you have first pick at all the options. Perishable items go on clearance as needed throughout the entire week.
She's got a great point about hitting up the food bank and churches etc first and then grocery shopping to fill in the blanks. If its an option, of course. Like I know our local one is only open on certain days at certain times, so I imagine its hard if you're working during those hours. We live in a pretty rural area. I've never used it but I have donated before. I've heard 211 in the US can help provide you with local resources.
My Walmart often has cold rotisserie chickens for $2.55, or $3.68, depending on size and French bread for 33 cents or 60 cents. Bolo for great deals and stock up! 🍗🥖
On our way to our annual beach camping trip, we always stop by Walmart to get a rotisserie chicken, French bread, and some fruit for our lunch. It was massively cheaper than going to a restaurant. Especially when 3 of the kids were teens and we needed 2 chickens.
I buy a couple of these cold chickens and can the meat and make bone broth with the bones. Never waste.
Anytime that I’m near our grocery store and I have a little extra money, I will go to the discount section and grab whatever I know I can use in the future, I also check the fliers to grab sales. I don’t need to do this but I have always done it and you never know what might happen in the future.