I just did a complete inventory of my fridge, freezer and pantry. Now we are dilligently making neals from those items. So i am using my grocery budget to pick up serious sale items and holiday food.
Mindy! You hit the nail on the head for me and it touched a nerve for me, lol. I go to the grocery store for 1 or 2 items weekly (which turns into 10 items) when I want to cook a specific dish. Instead of altering my 'craving' and just shopping from what I have on hand. I have a small chest freezer that is FULL in my garage and a fridge/freezer and pantry full, as well. I need to start delayed gratification if I'm going to NOT let food go to waste. Thank you!
After my kids grew up and left home, I got out of the habit of using my budget diligently. With just the two of us, both retired, and the price of food now, I’ve gone back to meal planning and budgeting. I love your videos!
Mindy, keeping you and your family in prayer at this time. I appreciate how you have included how your faith is an important part of your family's life. Love your programs!
Even more frugal - I take a box from Aldi (my store has a pile of them for the taking) and leave that in my trunk. I use the *free* box in place of a basket to take my groceries in 😊
Broccoli was .99/lb this week. So it was a side veggie last night, we're doing broccoli cheddar soup in the crockpot tonight (one child's been requesting it, perfect!) and I will make a chicken broccoli alfredo later this week. One veggie 3 very different ways for the week. (yes, we'll eat other veggies other days).
German here. Your first instinct on how to pronounce "Spätzle" was correct. The e at the end is not silent. Well done! My favorite way of eating them: Käsespätzle, basically German mac and cheese, topped with crispy fried onions. Pure cozy comfort food, especially in the colder months.
I love the challenge of coming up with a meal out of what needs used. With leftovers, I package individual servings. I found that my kids would grab a single container and warm it up to eat, but won’t mess with getting bigger containers out to get a serving to reheat. (Lazy. Lol) But whatever works is what I do.
just call me a sixty four year old kid 🤣😂 have only ever cooked for one so - putting meals in single portions allows me to see at a glance how many meals I have and how many more I need to prepare - I try not to make more than three portions of any recipe at a time (one for the day I prepare it and two more - 2nd one for that week and 3rd one for the freezer for beginning of next week) also helps on those days when reheating rather than full on prep from scratch is the way to go - I use single serving Pyrex oven bowls (freeze / refrigerate, cook, serve) and 20 mins on warm or 30 mins 400C in toaster oven and main is ready - sounds like big kid meals to me 🤭😉🇨🇦🙏
You are NOT crazy!!! I’ve been looking for Aldi onion soup mix for a month! My rule is Aldi first so if the don’t have what I need I can get it at the next store 👍🏼
Tip for cheese. The giant blocks freeze well. I cut them in half bc we can't use it up fast enough. However freezing it does make it more crumbly when you cut it, after it's thawed. So that might not work for everyone. But it's better than throwing out moldy cheese.
It is the shortcut way of grating the cheese as well and you still can make grilled cheese sandwiches with grated cheese. Or you can top some crackers and melt that I'm in the microwave!🎉
Just cut off moldy spots or lightly wipe the whitish spots with vinegar. No need to throw out a solid piece of cheese because of some moldy spots. However...if entire solid piece is green, then, yes, too much cheese not getting consumed at a realistic rate.
I totally agree...it is crumblier but works amazing in sauces , like whme u want to make cheese sauce for broccoli or Mac n cheese.....also great for grilled cheese sandwiches.
Chef Jacques Pepin is great to watch, especially on Facebook, as he makes many videos on what to do with leftovers and how to make last night's dinner or some leftovers in the fridge into a meal.
😂😂 When we lived in Minnesota, you would get teased for buying zucchini at the grocery store because it meant you didn't have any friends. Everyone grew them and had way too many.
The story in southern Australia is that you should keep your car doors locked in January and February....unless you want a back seat full of zucchini! ❤ to all.
Great suggestions! Btw my Aldi moved the onion soup from the "spices/pantry" aisle to over by the pasta/canned fish. It's by the gravy & hash on my shelves.
You have some great tips! One weak point in my shopping habits is to run to the store too often. I shop the sales at 3 stores that are close to me. If I am out and about or see something good in the flyer I’ll go to that store for an item or a few. I’d be better off just going once a week. This is a good reminder.
We have a food budget that is fueled by a set of items that I know will meet my budget. Here is what I do: This year we got our variety in by setting up theme months. One month was British and one was Mexican and so on. Then, I look for recipes that are using these same low cost items. We now have some new favorites which add variety but keep us on budget.
Re: laundry basket for groceries ~ during coofid I would bring in cardboard boxes for the same purpose as it would take far too long for me to check out and try to bag my groceries that checkers wouldn't touch (after they touched all MY food .. hookay, I'm not bitter). I thought it was such a good idea that I purchased collapsible crates from Amazon. They work, ok, but a pain to assemble and make sure the tabs are locked in place. So maybe I'll consider a laundry basket next.
Tip for using leftovers: We call it catch All soup. Pick a leftover protein and use anything leftover or you need to use asap. Add broth seasoning and anything you wanna dump in and boom soup! Our 1st time doing this was with meatloaf and was best soup ever. Fed us for 2 days and used up stuff. Now we do it on purpose lol
Love your laundry basket tip. My family is from Hungary and lived in Germany. We say "schpay-tzel" Long A. Every dialect has their own way of saying things.
In addition to stretching out time between runs if you have to run in to pick one or two things up, use online ordering, in store pickup, delivery, etc. (Where there is no fee) so you are not tempted to buy additional things!
I have a basket on top of one of the bookcases in my pantry/ foyer it has a label " USE FIRST ". These are items that are close to or over their use by dates, random items such as canned Artichoke Hearts I bought on sale and am unsure what to do with them [ great in a stir fry or soup ] or things I just want to get to soon. This method works great ! I am down to just 6 cans our of 20 something, and will be adding more items to the basket . It turns a have to into a more creative method while using up what I already have in my pantry.
We use canned artichoke hearts in cold Summer pasta salads and there is a recipe in pinterest for a Johny Carrinos "spaghettini" (which is not anyway like traditional spaghetti!) It's delicious served hot or cold. Hope this helps.😊
When I batch cook it saves me time and money. I have made it a habit to buy the large family sized packs of chicken breast or thighs and cook them, either in the slow cooker or the oven, then package them into portions for meals and then tuck them into the freezer. I do the same with large quantities of ground beef, too. This way I have the beginnings of many meals ready to go.
Same here. It seems daunting to batch cook at first, but if I freeze smaller portions of the raw protein, for some reason I’m not as motivated to use it. I will do this with beef roasts or pork roasts as well. Just use some simple spices when cooking then use a specific flavor of spices/seasonings when I reheat for a meal. Mississippi Roast leftovers make a great taco bowl or shepherds pie. I do the same with dry beans by cooking them overnight in my crockpot.
One of your most useful tips from an older video - shop your pantry! That tip has saved us SO much money. Is it what we want to eat that day? Probably not. But can I make a tasty meal with ingredients that will soon expire? Absolutely! Thanks for all of your useful tips over the years.
As i was planning a stop at the store for stawberries and green onions i decided to just not! We can use up some canned fruit and I will use regular onion in the hashbrown quiche recipe!!
Thanks, Mindy! I really appreciate your channel. I know many of these things from my 40 years of experience and having raised a family of 5 on one income. I watch, enjoy the "kindred spirit" feeling of your endeavors, and forward them to my 3 grown daughters. 😂
I passed up the peanut butter puffs because I knew I had the Trader Joe's puffs at home. But now it's on my list to get when I go back to Aldi if they are still there. And yes, Aldi does have the onion soup mix. My store in Minnesota still has it. Maybe your store was just out. Things at my store seem to still go in and out since well....2020!
I look at Walgreens ad every Sunday to see about soda prices and laundry prices. For example, yesterday I got laundry fragrance beads for 1.99 and liquid laundry detergent for 1.99. I get the limit amount of each and we are stocked for a long time. Soda prices were lower at Walmart.
Aldi definitely used to have onion soup / dip mix! Instacart shows my Aldi has it in stock. The item my store doesn't seem to stock anymore is 'bisquick' baking mix. It's a bummer when they change their inventory.
@@SeeMindyMom The Aldi by me puts it nowhere near the soup... but by the salt/seasonings. smh right? I couldn't find it either until an employee pointed that out.
I totally agree about selecting less ingredients and trying to use them differently across the meals in a particular week. It helps to save money and avoid waste. I also noticed we are repeating meals. I actually made a list of meals that I know are easy and quick for me but are also something I just never get bored of. This way if i am lacking inspiration, I can always look at the list for a dinner I will surely enjoy. :D
I just got a loaf of the discount bread in FL at Walmart and it was $1.03. Also, I put my Ibotta money back in my grocery budget, because I often spent more for the item before the cash back, so I kinda count it like a coupon.
I’ve been doing a pantry clean out for several months. We’re empty nesters so it doesn’t take as much as it use to. When the boys and their family come, of course, I cook more. I don’t really grocery shop for large quantities anymore. We have a garden every year and I can mostly but do freeze some. We really don’t go out to eat often because when the Covid hit, I cooked all the time and we got use to eating food that is seasoned to our liking. When we did go out, the taste was very bland. I hear you about the price of groceries!! Love these types of videos!!
We have really cut down on processed foods. Those are where a lot of prices are so high. We use Aldi, Walmart and local grocery for on sale meat. We won't pay over $2.99 for meat. Sometimes if roast is on sale at $3.99 we will buy that. We keep canned meats and veggies stocked up. We had potatoes for 4.97 at local grocery. We bought several bags and little by little they are being chopped, diced and made into french fries to freeze in vacuum sealed bags. One store had pasta sauce for $1.25 so we got about 12 cans thoroughout the week.
I just bought it at Aldi today. It's with the spices.:) And I just checked out Waterdrop. What a great Christmas gift for a new almost daughter in law!
We tend to eat in themes anymore. We like Mexican so it’s a lot of burritos, bowls, tostadas, taquitos or tacos. I’ve also found recipes for diced chicken and air fried potato’s. If you change the sauce/cheese you have variety. BBQ, garlic parm sauce, honey mustard. It’s been working for us to save money and shop less since it’s mostly the same type of items.
When buying per bags fresh fruits and vegetables don’t forget to weigh them to make sure you are getting the most from your money. As one bag might contain only 5 apples and another bag might contain 7 I would think from the same price most people would buy a bag more of the item in it
We DO use almost every single thing purchased each week from the grocery list but we use a menu plan (or adapt meal plan to on sale items) and only buy what is needed for the plan plus stock items which have run out. If we have an item still in pantry or fridge for some reason, then it goes on next weeks menu plan. We are a family of 6 in Mexico and do not have access to many prepackaged items. There are a lot of homemade meals. However we buy some bread, tortillas and totopos each week rather than make them. Love your meal plan videos! Thanks!
Yes Aldi did have onion soup mix. I have some in my pantry but am not sure if they still carry it. I am going to take on your challenge of not going to the grocery as often and use up what we have on hand.❤
I stock up when pork roasts are .89/lb and briskets are 1.77lb. I cut off the fat and tender it down for cooking grease. The crispy bits from that become dog treats or food for the night. I then stretch the meat by doing burrito bowls with beans and rice or burritos with meat, potatoes, and a little cheese. Could do rice instead of potatoes too.
@@SeeMindyMom Less so for me but since the taco bell mild sauce in the jar is actually like the sauce in the packets now I never need to go to taco bell. I used to go, order a chalupa and get a handful of sauce to refill my stash... but now I just spend $1.80 or so on the sauce. Much more economical. ha
You got some good buys there at your store. I live in Upstate New York and haven't seen prices like you have there, here, in a very long time! You are blessed! I love your videos!! God Bless!
I use to work at Taco Bell years ago… they use pita bread for chalupa/gorditas. We would fry the pita bread for chalupas and just warm up the gorditas on the griddle for Gorditas. You can shape the chalupa like a corn tortilla when you fry them for crunchy tacos. So save your money buy whatever pita bread is one sale 👌🏽
Neufchâtel was almost perfect. Just stretch the «a» a bit, so each syllable is of equal value. Neuf-cha-tel. Not Neuf-ch-ttel. But I'm nitpicking for perfection. You're amazing. I was sincerely amazed. Also great tips! thanks!
I use a laundry basket for different things. Transporting Christmas presents to and from Family gatherings. Taking stuff over to friend's house, when a group of us all brought the items to make a recipe or 2 to share.(did crockpot freezer meals one time, cookie baking another).
I am doing a Grocery Challenge for November $100/ my groceries/ month. So far November 9th, I have spent $19+ with $8.75 being for items for my prepping pantry. So I have only spent $10+ ! Yea ! I am having fun being creative with meals using items from my pantry as well as the few I purchased. Meals have been healthy, delicious and frugal
Great ideas! I’m not feeling well and my daughter made hamburger soup for dinner. That beef soup looked so good! And the triscuit fast breaks are my favorite too! Yes Aldi used to have onion soup mix. I haven’t been to Aldi in awhile so I don’t know if they still do. I’m lazy and do a lot of Walmart delivery. Keeps me from impulse buying. Have a great week!
Hi Mindy, thank you so much for your very helpful videos. I love all of them. I'm German and can confirm that your pronounciation of Spätzle was right. The "e" at the end is not silent. All the best for you!
I'm not sure what happens elsewhere but single use grocery bags are not allowed in Australia. You can buy paper bags at 20 cents each. Doesn't bother me because I've been using cloth bags since 2002 (I wrote the date on them to see how long they'd last). Light produce bags are also on the way out. I have been using them for about 5 years now. I made them out of old sheer curtains. They are now available to buy in supermarkets at low cost.
I love the idea of separating non-essentials into the 'entertainment' budget, and especially the idea to find extra income avenues to fund it. LOVE Water Drops cylindrical ice cube tray - I must have it!!! Delaying trips to the store to save grocery $$$ is the absolute best one, and the one I'm the worst at. Thanks for the inspo!
My spouse and I are currently on a cruise. Every day there is so much choice at each meal, especially breakfast. We both said that we miss our normal daily breakfast from home. Cereal for my spouse, a homemade egg mcmuffin for me.
We don't have Aldi in our area, and I'm a little picky about meat and poultry. One of the things I do is to purchase a beef roast on sale at our favorite stores, then cut it into pieces rather than buying stew meat. It's less expensive per pound, and I always know what I'm getting in terms of quality. If there's a particularly good sale, I'll buy 1-2 extra roasts, cut them up, vacuum seal them, then pop them in the freezer to use later.
We grow quite a bit of our own veg, when it’s in season we might eat the same veg four times a week, because we don’t want it to go to waste. We do freeze our veg but we still need to eat fresh several times a week. I’ve been cooking with green beans almost every day for six weeks now. But that is the way it is…
Beef stew meat is also great for pot roast bites. I make Carlsbad cravings recipe for "beef tips" for stew meat and I doubt I'll make pot roast ever again because it's the same things essentially but way easier to serves my kids and delicious gravy.
I thought of you today. I was watching an episode of Chopped on the Food Network channel and one of the baskets they had made me think of you and how I knew you'd be able to come up with a meal that was good and completely your own :)
I've seen the peanut puffs before, and was afraid to try them because it seemed like a weird combination. After seeing this video I decided to try them, and I have to say, they are amazing. It's like eating crunchy peanut butter. Thank you for showing them. I also didn't realize Aldi's had grass fed stew meat. I got some of that too. Great video!!!
Aldi didn’t have any beef broth today and I was out. They did have chicken so that was great. They used to have boxed onion soup. I didn’t need it so I don’t know if they have it now.
I didn’t realize how simple and cheap rice pudding is to make. It’s simply milk, rice, sugar and spice. The recipe I got on Pinterest tastes like the Mexican rice puddings from the store at a fraction of the price. Being in fall, I use pumpkin spice. It’s sooo good!
A tip that I have had to learn out of necessity. Weigh bags of fruit like grapes & cherries, etc. Usually they are sold per pound. I have found out that the bags (with the zipper closings) are way over 1 pound and generally at least 2 pounds. I always weigh out how much I want so I don't get shocked when my grapes & or cherries ring up to $7 for the bag. I love canned chicken breast. i use it in lots of recipes calling for cooked chicken. My budget only allows doe meats $3 a pound & under. It is doable when finances are tight.
You pronounce „Spätzle“ perfectly right 👏🏼👏🏼 in standard german it is pronounced with the e at the end. In my regional dialect in Austria we pronounce it just „Spatzl“ without ä and e… but stick with standard german, your way of saying it sounds perfectly correct 👍🏻 all the best from 🇦🇹
I find many people don’t want to change the way they grocery shop whether it is the items they buy or how they shop. We do the entire monthly menu based on what we have on hand and I know what things I need to get. When soda got too expensive then we bought two liter bottles that the whole family liked and we would get to share that on a Friday night. We have a takeout budget and if we don’t use it then I use it to buy extra treats but I don’t keep the treats totally separate but that sounds interesting. I make many of our things from scratch and keep adding to our list of things we don’t buy.
I think you are so right. I sometimes receive comments evidencing that kind of mindset (I want to save money but I don't want to make any changes...). One thing I meant to say and didn't was that if we don't want to change anything, then we need to change our budgets (increase). Sounds like you've got a good system!
I have a separate budget line for grandchildren groceries. Those items I buy when they come to visit and not $$$ used from my monthly budget. I also purchase milk with less sugar in it for pre diabetic and diabetic family members. That purchase comes from my medical miscellaneous budget.
Yay! A See Mindy Mom video! I say something like "spetch-luh".... german grandmother, but I'm totally Texan. Grilling cheese is like halloumi... not very melty, but a pretty squeaky bite. You can literally grill it on the BBQ. Great for veggie skewers.
I live tap water...I used to drink water through a Brita filter but the filters are so expensive so I drink tap water All the time! Super ideas!! Thank you!
I see a lot of folks putting zip locks, cling wrap, dish soap, paper towels etc in their grocery budgets. It can be hard to budget those things because when we want them, we want them. Its hard to think of them as non essential convenience items, instead of using things like reusable bags, tupperware, silicone baking mats, rags, and reusable bowl covers (which do cost a lot of money up front!)
I laughed when you mentioned past prime produce. Today after work I made banana muffins and banana bread so that my over ripe bananas wouldn't go to waste. Breakfast for the next couple of mornings and treats for the freezer!
Betty Crocker has an amazing recipe for banana cookies... it's like a basic dry recipe that makes a few servings but then it's portioned out and the wet is added... the banana cookies are my favorite!
I just did a complete inventory of my fridge, freezer and pantry. Now we are dilligently making neals from those items. So i am using my grocery budget to pick up serious sale items and holiday food.
👏👏GREAT $ saving tip!
Great job! That’s the way to do it! :)
Ooooh Holiday food.... I think this is rhe perfect time to do this because the Holidays can be expensive. Thanks for the motivation and idea!
Right on the holiday food time to start squirreling away some
Aldi used to have the onion soup mix not crazy
Mindy! You hit the nail on the head for me and it touched a nerve for me, lol. I go to the grocery store for 1 or 2 items weekly (which turns into 10 items) when I want to cook a specific dish. Instead of altering my 'craving' and just shopping from what I have on hand. I have a small chest freezer that is FULL in my garage and a fridge/freezer and pantry full, as well. I need to start delayed gratification if I'm going to NOT let food go to waste. Thank you!
You can do it! Make an effort to use what you have in a way you really enjoy!
This applies to myself- with 2- over the fridge freezers and 2- upright freezers and still frequenting the grocery 3-4 times per week.☹️🤷♀️
After my kids grew up and left home, I got out of the habit of using my budget diligently. With just the two of us, both retired, and the price of food now, I’ve gone back to meal planning and budgeting. I love your videos!
Same🙋🏻♀️
Mindy, keeping you and your family in prayer at this time. I appreciate how you have included how your faith is an important part of your family's life. Love your programs!
Thank you!
Even more frugal - I take a box from Aldi (my store has a pile of them for the taking) and leave that in my trunk. I use the *free* box in place of a basket to take my groceries in 😊
Mine stopped doing this! I miss them so the laundry basket is a great idea!
Mine doesn't always have the big box bin out either. The store is a pretty small one, so I think it takes up too much space when it's busy.
Great idea! Thanks for sharing ❤
Broccoli was .99/lb this week. So it was a side veggie last night, we're doing broccoli cheddar soup in the crockpot tonight (one child's been requesting it, perfect!) and I will make a chicken broccoli alfredo later this week. One veggie 3 very different ways for the week. (yes, we'll eat other veggies other days).
Oh that sounds delicious! My kids are also big fans of broccoli cheddar soup!
You could also do a broccoli and cheddar baked potato too. Yum.
Great idea! Thank you for sharing ❤
German here. Your first instinct on how to pronounce "Spätzle" was correct. The e at the end is not silent. Well done! My favorite way of eating them: Käsespätzle, basically German mac and cheese, topped with crispy fried onions. Pure cozy comfort food, especially in the colder months.
Oh that sounds delicious!
Käse Spätzle, such a fast and yummy dinner 🥰🥰
I love the challenge of coming up with a meal out of what needs used. With leftovers, I package individual servings. I found that my kids would grab a single container and warm it up to eat, but won’t mess with getting bigger containers out to get a serving to reheat. (Lazy. Lol) But whatever works is what I do.
just call me a sixty four year old kid 🤣😂 have only ever cooked for one so - putting meals in single portions allows me to see at a glance how many meals I have and how many more I need to prepare - I try not to make more than three portions of any recipe at a time (one for the day I prepare it and two more - 2nd one for that week and 3rd one for the freezer for beginning of next week) also helps on those days when reheating rather than full on prep from scratch is the way to go - I use single serving Pyrex oven bowls (freeze / refrigerate, cook, serve) and 20 mins on warm or 30 mins 400C in toaster oven and main is ready - sounds like big kid meals to me 🤭😉🇨🇦🙏
You are NOT crazy!!! I’ve been looking for Aldi onion soup mix for a month! My rule is Aldi first so if the don’t have what I need I can get it at the next store 👍🏼
I have one packet left in my cupboard. It definitely exists
I agree, it exists. It seems to be hard to come by anymore though!
I have asked at the store now for it. It is really hard to come by and they told me they aren’t getting it much. So buy a few if you find it.
@@kathyflanagan3677 thanks, I went to a different store today & still couldn’t find it
Tip for cheese. The giant blocks freeze well. I cut them in half bc we can't use it up fast enough. However freezing it does make it more crumbly when you cut it, after it's thawed. So that might not work for everyone. But it's better than throwing out moldy cheese.
It is the shortcut way of grating the cheese as well and you still can make grilled cheese sandwiches with grated cheese. Or you can top some crackers and melt that I'm in the microwave!🎉
i grade first then freeze
Just cut off moldy spots or lightly wipe the whitish spots with vinegar. No need to throw out a solid piece of cheese because of some moldy spots. However...if entire solid piece is green, then, yes, too much cheese not getting consumed at a realistic rate.
I totally agree...it is crumblier but works amazing in sauces , like whme u want to make cheese sauce for broccoli or Mac n cheese.....also great for grilled cheese sandwiches.
Chef Jacques Pepin is great to watch, especially on Facebook, as he makes many videos on what to do with leftovers and how to make last night's dinner or some leftovers in the fridge into a meal.
Yes!! He really helped me a few years back as we started our family. Frugal food but tasty.
😂😂 When we lived in Minnesota, you would get teased for buying zucchini at the grocery store because it meant you didn't have any friends. Everyone grew them and had way too many.
Oh, haha! That makes sense.
That's so funny 🤣
That’s true , I live in Minnesota and I couldn’t give away some of the zucchini I had this summer 😂
The story in southern Australia is that you should keep your car doors locked in January and February....unless you want a back seat full of zucchini! ❤ to all.
Thats funny!!!!
Great suggestions! Btw my Aldi moved the onion soup from the "spices/pantry" aisle to over by the pasta/canned fish. It's by the gravy & hash on my shelves.
It's all the same aisle at my store.
Good to know
You have some great tips! One weak point in my shopping habits is to run to the store too often. I shop the sales at 3 stores that are close to me. If I am out and about or see something good in the flyer I’ll go to that store for an item or a few. I’d be better off just going once a week. This is a good reminder.
We have a food budget that is fueled by a set of items that I know will meet my budget. Here is what I do: This year we got our variety in by setting up theme months. One month was British and one was Mexican and so on. Then, I look for recipes that are using these same low cost items. We now have some new favorites which add variety but keep us on budget.
I LOVE this idea! Thank you for sharing.
Re: laundry basket for groceries ~ during coofid I would bring in cardboard boxes for the same purpose as it would take far too long for me to check out and try to bag my groceries that checkers wouldn't touch (after they touched all MY food .. hookay, I'm not bitter). I thought it was such a good idea that I purchased collapsible crates from Amazon. They work, ok, but a pain to assemble and make sure the tabs are locked in place. So maybe I'll consider a laundry basket next.
It literally made no sense to me either 🙄 touching all the food packages but not bag said food packages 😂
I keep a laundry basket in my vehicle. Great for hauling groceries & keeping things from rolling around in the back.
Tip for using leftovers: We call it catch All soup. Pick a leftover protein and use anything leftover or you need to use asap. Add broth seasoning and anything you wanna dump in and boom soup! Our 1st time doing this was with meatloaf and was best soup ever. Fed us for 2 days and used up stuff. Now we do it on purpose lol
Meatloaf soup sounds kinda good actually lol
Love your laundry basket tip. My family is from Hungary and lived in Germany. We say "schpay-tzel" Long A. Every dialect has their own way of saying things.
That’s a good point! Thanks!
My husband lived in Hungary for a few years. Hungarian goulash is sooooo good!
In addition to stretching out time between runs if you have to run in to pick one or two things up, use online ordering, in store pickup, delivery, etc. (Where there is no fee) so you are not tempted to buy additional things!
Great tip!
I was raised in a family of 6, I was taught to cook for large family, I had two meals
I have a basket on top of one of the bookcases in my pantry/ foyer it has a label " USE FIRST ". These are items that are close to or over their use by dates, random items such as canned Artichoke Hearts I bought on sale and am unsure what to do with them [ great in a stir fry or soup ] or things I just want to get to soon. This method works great ! I am down to just 6 cans our of 20 something, and will be adding more items to the basket . It turns a have to into a more creative method while using up what I already have in my pantry.
That's a great system!
We use canned artichoke hearts in cold Summer pasta salads and there is a recipe in pinterest for a Johny Carrinos "spaghettini" (which is not anyway like traditional spaghetti!) It's delicious served hot or cold.
Hope this helps.😊
Two children myself,now it’s just my husband and I, still trying cook for two, but I do send leftovers to my daughter, and freeze leftovers 👍👍👍
My husband is an Aldi store manager, he just told me that onion soup mix is a seasonal item at his store.
When I batch cook it saves me time and money. I have made it a habit to buy the large family sized packs of chicken breast or thighs and cook them, either in the slow cooker or the oven, then package them into portions for meals and then tuck them into the freezer. I do the same with large quantities of ground beef, too. This way I have the beginnings of many meals ready to go.
Same here. It seems daunting to batch cook at first, but if I freeze smaller portions of the raw protein, for some reason I’m not as motivated to use it. I will do this with beef roasts or pork roasts as well. Just use some simple spices when cooking then use a specific flavor of spices/seasonings when I reheat for a meal. Mississippi Roast leftovers make a great taco bowl or shepherds pie. I do the same with dry beans by cooking them overnight in my crockpot.
One of your most useful tips from an older video - shop your pantry! That tip has saved us SO much money. Is it what we want to eat that day? Probably not. But can I make a tasty meal with ingredients that will soon expire? Absolutely! Thanks for all of your useful tips over the years.
As i was planning a stop at the store for stawberries and green onions i decided to just not! We can use up some canned fruit and I will use regular onion in the hashbrown quiche recipe!!
Thanks, Mindy! I really appreciate your channel. I know many of these things from my 40 years of experience and having raised a family of 5 on one income. I watch, enjoy the "kindred spirit" feeling of your endeavors, and forward them to my 3 grown daughters. 😂
Thank you so much for watching! :)
You look so pretty in those blue glasses. Thank you for your work 😊😊😊
Thank you!
I passed up the peanut butter puffs because I knew I had the Trader Joe's puffs at home. But now it's on my list to get when I go back to Aldi if they are still there.
And yes, Aldi does have the onion soup mix. My store in Minnesota still has it. Maybe your store was just out. Things at my store seem to still go in and out since well....2020!
Onion soup mix near the can soup in my Aldis. Check there next time :)
I found mine near the broth. Just picked some up this weekend!
I look at Walgreens ad every Sunday to see about soda prices and laundry prices. For example, yesterday I got laundry fragrance beads for 1.99 and liquid laundry detergent for 1.99. I get the limit amount of each and we are stocked for a long time.
Soda prices were lower at Walmart.
Aldi definitely used to have onion soup / dip mix! Instacart shows my Aldi has it in stock. The item my store doesn't seem to stock anymore is 'bisquick' baking mix. It's a bummer when they change their inventory.
Oh wow! I'm not sure I knew they carried bisquick. That stuff makes delicious 7-up biscuits!
@@SeeMindyMom The Aldi by me puts it nowhere near the soup... but by the salt/seasonings. smh right? I couldn't find it either until an employee pointed that out.
I totally agree about selecting less ingredients and trying to use them differently across the meals in a particular week. It helps to save money and avoid waste. I also noticed we are repeating meals. I actually made a list of meals that I know are easy and quick for me but are also something I just never get bored of. This way if i am lacking inspiration, I can always look at the list for a dinner I will surely enjoy. :D
Love cooking out of stock pile and freezer
I just got a loaf of the discount bread in FL at Walmart and it was $1.03. Also, I put my Ibotta money back in my grocery budget, because I often spent more for the item before the cash back, so I kinda count it like a coupon.
I’ve been doing a pantry clean out for several months. We’re empty nesters so it doesn’t take as much as it use to. When the boys and their family come, of course, I cook more. I don’t really grocery shop for large quantities anymore. We have a garden every year and I can mostly but do freeze some. We really don’t go out to eat often because when the Covid hit, I cooked all the time and we got use to eating food that is seasoned to our liking. When we did go out, the taste was very bland. I hear you about the price of groceries!! Love these types of videos!!
We have really cut down on processed foods. Those are where a lot of prices are so high. We use Aldi, Walmart and local grocery for on sale meat. We won't pay over $2.99 for meat. Sometimes if roast is on sale at $3.99 we will buy that. We keep canned meats and veggies stocked up. We had potatoes for 4.97 at local grocery. We bought several bags and little by little they are being chopped, diced and made into french fries to freeze in vacuum sealed bags. One store had pasta sauce for $1.25 so we got about 12 cans thoroughout the week.
Laundry basket idea Great tip... so stick of forgetting the bags I have so many
I just bought it at Aldi today. It's with the spices.:) And I just checked out Waterdrop. What a great Christmas gift for a new almost daughter in law!
13:40 the second one is right. Greetings from Hamburg/Germany 👋🏻.
We tend to eat in themes anymore. We like Mexican so it’s a lot of burritos, bowls, tostadas, taquitos or tacos.
I’ve also found recipes for diced chicken and air fried potato’s. If you change the sauce/cheese you have variety. BBQ, garlic parm sauce, honey mustard. It’s been working for us to save money and shop less since it’s mostly the same type of items.
When buying per bags fresh fruits and vegetables don’t forget to weigh them to make sure you are getting the most from your money. As one bag might contain only 5 apples and another bag might contain 7 I would think from the same price most people would buy a bag more of the item in it
We DO use almost every single thing purchased each week from the grocery list but we use a menu plan (or adapt meal plan to on sale items) and only buy what is needed for the plan plus stock items which have run out. If we have an item still in pantry or fridge for some reason, then it goes on next weeks menu plan. We are a family of 6 in Mexico and do not have access to many prepackaged items. There are a lot of homemade meals. However we buy some bread, tortillas and totopos each week rather than make them. Love your meal plan videos! Thanks!
Also forgot to add, menu plan states leftovers for Sat lunch and Sunday. If no leftovers then we get TACOS! Yay!
Yes Aldi does have their own onion soup mix! I always keep a few boxes on hand.
Yes Aldi did have onion soup mix. I have some in my pantry but am not sure if they still carry it. I am going to take on your challenge of not going to the grocery as often and use up what we have on hand.❤
I stock up when pork roasts are .89/lb and briskets are 1.77lb. I cut off the fat and tender it down for cooking grease. The crispy bits from that become dog treats or food for the night. I then stretch the meat by doing burrito bowls with beans and rice or burritos with meat, potatoes, and a little cheese. Could do rice instead of potatoes too.
OH my gosh thanks for pointing that chalupa bread out! I added it to my walmart shopping cart immediately! Perfect! I love chalupas!
Me too! It’s been ages since I’ve had one!
I haven’t seen the chalupa bread. I’m going to be on the lookout for it. I love it.
@@SeeMindyMom Less so for me but since the taco bell mild sauce in the jar is actually like the sauce in the packets now I never need to go to taco bell. I used to go, order a chalupa and get a handful of sauce to refill my stash... but now I just spend $1.80 or so on the sauce. Much more economical. ha
Yes Aldi does still carry the onion soup mix, I bought some the last time I was there
You got some good buys there at your store. I live in Upstate New York and haven't seen prices like you have there, here, in a very long time! You are blessed! I love your videos!! God Bless!
I did chicken and sausage as proteins for months until I got ground beef on sale for 1.99 a pound. Stocked up and now we have a variety!
I use to work at Taco Bell years ago… they use pita bread for chalupa/gorditas. We would fry the pita bread for chalupas and just warm up the gorditas on the griddle for Gorditas. You can shape the chalupa like a corn tortilla when you fry them for crunchy tacos. So save your money buy whatever pita bread is one sale 👌🏽
Oh great tip! Thanks!
Yesss my Aldi quit selling the Onion Soup Mix too. I’ve had to start making it my own.
Neufchâtel was almost perfect. Just stretch the «a» a bit, so each syllable is of equal value. Neuf-cha-tel. Not Neuf-ch-ttel.
But I'm nitpicking for perfection. You're amazing. I was sincerely amazed.
Also great tips! thanks!
Im on social security disability. I get one check a month for bills and food. It sucks 😢 but im learning and thankful for you ❤ Thank you darlin
Same for anyone on SS.
I receive SSD and it is hard, but with this channel, not so unpleasant.
I use a laundry basket for different things. Transporting Christmas presents to and from Family gatherings. Taking stuff over to friend's house, when a group of us all brought the items to make a recipe or 2 to share.(did crockpot freezer meals one time, cookie baking another).
That's a great idea!
I was just at Aldi yesterday and saw the onion soup mix. It was $.89 😮. I live in Ohio.
I am doing a Grocery Challenge for November $100/ my groceries/ month. So far November 9th, I have spent $19+ with $8.75 being for items for my prepping pantry. So I have only spent $10+ ! Yea ! I am having fun being creative with meals using items from my pantry as well as the few I purchased. Meals have been healthy, delicious and frugal
You could make 8-10 good sized french bread pizza portions with those day old loaves.
Yes Aldi did have their brand onion soup mix
Great ideas! I’m not feeling well and my daughter made hamburger soup for dinner. That beef soup looked so good! And the triscuit fast breaks are my favorite too! Yes Aldi used to have onion soup mix. I haven’t been to Aldi in awhile so I don’t know if they still do. I’m lazy and do a lot of Walmart delivery. Keeps me from impulse buying. Have a great week!
I just used Walmart delivery on Saturday. I totally understand!
Hi Mindy, thank you so much for your very helpful videos. I love all of them. I'm German and can confirm that your pronounciation of Spätzle was right. The "e" at the end is not silent. All the best for you!
Thank you!
Fruit at alfi. My aldi has onion soup mix . I just make my own
Hey sweet friend. I'll have to keep these hacks in mind when I grocery shop next.
I'm not sure what happens elsewhere but single use grocery bags are not allowed in Australia. You can buy paper bags at 20 cents each. Doesn't bother me because I've been using cloth bags since 2002 (I wrote the date on them to see how long they'd last). Light produce bags are also on the way out. I have been using them for about 5 years now. I made them out of old sheer curtains. They are now available to buy in supermarkets at low cost.
I love the idea of separating non-essentials into the 'entertainment' budget, and especially the idea to find extra income avenues to fund it. LOVE Water Drops cylindrical ice cube tray - I must have it!!! Delaying trips to the store to save grocery $$$ is the absolute best one, and the one I'm the worst at. Thanks for the inspo!
My spouse and I are currently on a cruise. Every day there is so much choice at each meal, especially breakfast. We both said that we miss our normal daily breakfast from home. Cereal for my spouse, a homemade egg mcmuffin for me.
We don't have Aldi in our area, and I'm a little picky about meat and poultry. One of the things I do is to purchase a beef roast on sale at our favorite stores, then cut it into pieces rather than buying stew meat. It's less expensive per pound, and I always know what I'm getting in terms of quality. If there's a particularly good sale, I'll buy 1-2 extra roasts, cut them up, vacuum seal them, then pop them in the freezer to use later.
We grow quite a bit of our own veg, when it’s in season we might eat the same veg four times a week, because we don’t want it to go to waste. We do freeze our veg but we still need to eat fresh several times a week. I’ve been cooking with green beans almost every day for six weeks now. But that is the way it is…
Beef stew meat is also great for pot roast bites. I make Carlsbad cravings recipe for "beef tips" for stew meat and I doubt I'll make pot roast ever again because it's the same things essentially but way easier to serves my kids and delicious gravy.
Long ago I think it was birdseye that made a frozen in-the-pouch green beans and spaetzle. It was so good.
Oh wow! That does sound good!
Nice idea about defining what is grocery is. Brooke does put her snacks in her grocery budget.
I thought of you today. I was watching an episode of Chopped on the Food Network channel and one of the baskets they had made me think of you and how I knew you'd be able to come up with a meal that was good and completely your own :)
The Halloumi cheese you bought is fantastic grilled on it's own to eat as is or added to a salad.
I've seen the peanut puffs before, and was afraid to try them because it seemed like a weird combination. After seeing this video I decided to try them, and I have to say, they are amazing. It's like eating crunchy peanut butter. Thank you for showing them. I also didn't realize Aldi's had grass fed stew meat. I got some of that too. Great video!!!
Yeah, we still have onion soup mix in our Aldi
Aldi didn’t have any beef broth today and I was out. They did have chicken so that was great. They used to have boxed onion soup. I didn’t need it so I don’t know if they have it now.
I didn’t realize how simple and cheap rice pudding is to make. It’s simply milk, rice, sugar and spice. The recipe I got on Pinterest tastes like the Mexican rice puddings from the store at a fraction of the price. Being in fall, I use pumpkin spice. It’s sooo good!
A tip that I have had to learn out of necessity. Weigh bags of fruit like grapes & cherries, etc. Usually they are sold per pound. I have found out that the bags (with the zipper closings) are way over 1 pound and generally at least 2 pounds. I always weigh out how much I want so I don't get shocked when my grapes & or cherries ring up to $7 for the bag. I love canned chicken breast. i use it in lots of recipes calling for cooked chicken. My budget only allows doe meats $3 a pound & under. It is doable when finances are tight.
I weigh fruit bags for this same reason.
You pronounce „Spätzle“ perfectly right 👏🏼👏🏼 in standard german it is pronounced with the e at the end. In my regional dialect in Austria we pronounce it just „Spatzl“ without ä and e… but stick with standard german, your way of saying it sounds perfectly correct 👍🏻 all the best from 🇦🇹
Yep, you were right 👍In the name "Neufchatel", the f is silent. 😉
I'm eating out of my freezer this week. I have so many half open bags of this and that. It's taking up so much space. Time to go.
Yes, Aldi had onion soup mix
I find many people don’t want to change the way they grocery shop whether it is the items they buy or how they shop. We do the entire monthly menu based on what we have on hand and I know what things I need to get. When soda got too expensive then we bought two liter bottles that the whole family liked and we would get to share that on a Friday night. We have a takeout budget and if we don’t use it then I use it to buy extra treats but I don’t keep the treats totally separate but that sounds interesting. I make many of our things from scratch and keep adding to our list of things we don’t buy.
I think you are so right. I sometimes receive comments evidencing that kind of mindset (I want to save money but I don't want to make any changes...). One thing I meant to say and didn't was that if we don't want to change anything, then we need to change our budgets (increase). Sounds like you've got a good system!
Just learned about you from Money Mom and subbed right away...love your content!
Love to see you challenge yourself with more seafood recipes. Love your channel
In the UK, they say 'BOGOF' buy one, get one free. Sounds like you are saying bugger off 😂😂
I have a separate budget line for grandchildren groceries. Those items I buy when they come to visit and not $$$ used from my monthly budget. I also purchase milk with less sugar in it for pre diabetic and diabetic family members. That purchase comes from my medical miscellaneous budget.
Oh that's a great idea! My kids definitely eat a lot when they visit grandparents! :)
Yay! A See Mindy Mom video!
I say something like "spetch-luh".... german grandmother, but I'm totally Texan.
Grilling cheese is like halloumi... not very melty, but a pretty squeaky bite. You can literally grill it on the BBQ. Great for veggie skewers.
Mindy I really learning from you I took chicken out today for soup I will use the rest for tomorrow video can you freeze block cheese❤
Yes
@@dianeeyestone2040 thankyou
I live tap water...I used to drink water through a Brita filter but the filters are so expensive so I drink tap water All the time! Super ideas!! Thank you!
I see a lot of folks putting zip locks, cling wrap, dish soap, paper towels etc in their grocery budgets. It can be hard to budget those things because when we want them, we want them. Its hard to think of them as non essential convenience items, instead of using things like reusable bags, tupperware, silicone baking mats, rags, and reusable bowl covers (which do cost a lot of money up front!)
Yes! Aldi has their version of Lipton soup mix! You are not dreaming 😊
Our Aldi still stocks Onion soup mix.
Great tips. Thanks😊
I laughed when you mentioned past prime produce. Today after work I made banana muffins and banana bread so that my over ripe bananas wouldn't go to waste. Breakfast for the next couple of mornings and treats for the freezer!
I did the same thing the other day. Enjoyed a slice of banana toast with my egg for breakfast this morning and used several bananas for smoothies.
Yum!
I freeze them for my oatmeal
Betty Crocker has an amazing recipe for banana cookies... it's like a basic dry recipe that makes a few servings but then it's portioned out and the wet is added... the banana cookies are my favorite!
In Schwaben it is spaytslah (where they were popularized) and in Bavaria you hear spaytsell
Great idea with the baskets, we shop aldi and Wal-Mart. I will definitely try it. 👍
A viewer gave me that tip!
They definitely had onion soup mix. Now that you mention it I haven't seen it in north Texas either.
Yes. Aldi has their own onion soup mix. ❤
Thank you for an honest realistic budget and what and how to budget categories.