$21 A Week Grocery Challenge | Week #15 

I think you have enough food leftover that you could buy both butter and Parmesan cheese this week. Make a loaf of bread to serve with soup and curry leftovers. Maybe some rice and veggies to round out your menu. And berries for your oatmeal. Comfort food next week for sure. When I am stressed comfort food is a necessity.

I imagine that with all the storm impact in BC this past week that there is a lot of collective stress and grief within your community. Be kind to yourself. I love that you didn't give up on the scrapple. Many times I have used and reused ingredients so as not to waste food. Hope you have a better week and if you need a break take one.

Your weekly meals have been so awesome that you deserve a pass for he week. Honestly if you hadn’t told us that the recipes weren’t a success, most of us wouldn’t have noticed. All of your recipes have been really innovative and you have always thought outside the box, (not just rice and beans.) So good job and give yourself a pat on the back.

I give you an A+ for your efforts this challenging week. A $21.00 budget certainly does not stretch as well with Canadian grocery prices. Bravo for your efforts.

This video really made me laugh...sorry....I laugh at your struggles. Showing FAILS is a good thing. It is real life. Not everything will work out but you had determination, and I like that. I'm sorry you had a crap load of it though...😅 Did you notice your eyesight improve with all the carrots? Hang in there. It's been a rough time lately. The tofu didn't help. Lol. We all have weeks like this where we want to cry into our failed corn meal pancakes whatcha-ma-call-it....❤ ((Hugs))

If you grate some raw potato in with the carrot starch will help bind....but you have to use an egg so mixture will not fall apart. If you take some of the carrots, boil them in water with bouillon and little onion and about half tsp of grated or powdered ginger. Makes the best soup! Put a dollop of sour cream in your bowl and swirl it through your soup. Soup freezes well too. If you have it use some of your milk to cooked soup to make it creamy.

I admittedly found this week rather entertaining. I think we can all relate to weeks where nothing goes as planned. Your sense of humor in the face of disaster was amazing. Great effort, though... bonus points for making things work and eating the disaster anyways. Many would have thrown it out. However, I probably would have eaten it, too. I don't think I would have braved the gizzards. I'm not even a fan of dark meat. I was impressed with the tofu. I think tofu has a bad reputation, but it really is an awesome cheap protein option! Anyways, 2 👍 for your bravery this week!!!

Use up some of your freezer leftovers, so you can buy the parmesan and butter. You are brave to buy gizzards and sardines...lol (never tried them, and never will) We all have weeks where some recipes never go as planned, very happy you included them. I'd like you to change your "rules" a bit, and allow yourself to use the oven, and any other appliance you have. You've already shown it is possible to do it without them. Great video !!

I love that you show your failures as well! And then you turn it around to be a success!

I LOVE gizzards! I'm happy with them just simmered in water or stock until they're tender.

I make fried cornmeal mush often. I don't add meat to mine. I let it sit in the refrigerator over night then fry it in the morning. I do cook it thicker though. I turn the loaf pan upside down on a cutting board and then slice it.

My favourite part of the video was when you said "You didn't understand the assignment". Lol. Sorry you had a challenging week.

Another Fantastic video! Thanks for being real and showing how we all make mistakes but it’s how we handle them that matters. You handled yours so well. Thank you for that!

Greetings from Ontario. I am loving your videos. Take care

Love your videos! Creative, thrifty and unique. Inspiring as well especially when you press on despite setbacks. I love chicken gizzards...they were fought over in my family. Please don't feel you need to apologize for anything. I so appreciate the time and effort you're investing in these videos. Look forward to them.

You are doing great.Sometimes we have to do whatever works to get through and after the last couple of weeks give yourself a pass. Meals looked good

Packets are fair game... you can pick those up free at restaurants or gas stations

HEY, it's food! your food. no one else has to eat it. the best part is you didn't give up. I give you so much credit, I also love your willingness to persevere, try new things and yes fail. what your doing is difficult. don't let miss steps get you down, when I make something so so I tell my family, " Well they can't all be winners", lol.

You did great this week. I love that you have continued as long as you have. I've been planning to do exactly this except I'm.stsrting with nothing no oil, salt or pepper for a year now but I haven't made the jump. I literally have my first 4 weeks grocery list saved in my shopping app. My first week I'd buy 2 kg flour $1.80 1kg small dried chickpeas $2.50 (they are like half the size of the normal ones) 1kg white rice $1.40 1kg salt $.90 4 litres veg oil $11 250g minced garlic $1.25 500g tomato paste $1.25 1 carrot $.35 1 onion $.45 1 red chili $.12 =$21.02 and as I'm in Australia that would be rounded down to exactly $21. I would make a chick pea pasta, garlic flat bread, refried chick peas, rice and chick pea patties, normal flat bread to have with the refried chick peas, a Cajun roux with the flour and oil to have as gravy, chick peas with some of the veg in a tomato sauce on rice. A few other things I can't remember off the top of my head. A lot of the same types of foods so it's boring but week but week 2 would be a lot better as I wouldn't spend half my budget on oil. I'd use all my flour, all but a cup of rice, I'd have 1/3 of the chickpeas left. Half the jar of tomato paste, lots of oil, salt and garlic left over for the next week. I cooked it all up once and ate it for a week but I stuffed up filming and it was such a boring week of food I've put off remaking it.. I like that you problem shot and could come up with something like cornbread pancakes. :)

When I was a kid my mom would often fry us up chicken gizzards and hearts for a special treat. We all loved them and still do. Hearts were my favorite back then but now I prefer the gizzards. We didn't have to eat them because we were poor or anything. We were definitely not poor, very much the opposite actually. They just taste really good and we enjoyed their texture.

Instead of Scrapple we have Goetta in my region. It's made of ground oats and pork sausage or turkey sausage spiced how you like. Formed into a loaf and baked like meatloaf. Goetta is often on breakfast menus and grilled sandwiches.

You could drain your bacon on a slice of bread or over a veg. We don't filter our bacon fat, like to use it in potato dishes or on popcorn.

You're building up a nice supply of surplus/leftovers at the end of each week. Now, if you're not feeling well or busy one night, you can pull out a leftover meal to reheat. My freezer is full of leftovers. I'm not a gizzard lover but I can't complain because I would have Vegemite through an IV if allowed (yes, I'm Australian).

You could drain your bacon on a slice of bread or over a veg. We don't filter our bacon fat, like to use it in potato dishes or on popcorn. If I was going to try scrapple with your ingredients, I'd grind up the raw bacon and get it cooking in some water, then add enough cornmeal stirring until it thickens.

I sympathize with you this week. I decided to make a big pot of soup with some soup starter that someone had given me. It was awful, and I used up all of my turkey left over from Thanksgiving. My kids refused to eat it.It was so bad I couldn’t save it in anyway

My mother would make smothered liver and onions and served it with grits and gravy from smothered liver. You can also cook the grits pour into a 13/9/2 inch pan. Cool until sets up in frig. Next cut in rounds and fry in bacon grease and serve with eggs and biscuits. You can also add cheddar cheese to thicken and season grits. You can make Mexican cornbread is a meal within itself. Make smoothies out of the tofu and fruit. Make a breakfast sandwich out of egg, cheese, bacon. You can take your can of corn drain it, In pot put some butter or margarine add corn in add S&P, little sugar, some milk and some cornstarch mixed in it. Cook until thickened and now you have creamed corn. I think the gizzards would be better if you S&P them toss them in flour and fry them in a tasteless oil. Way we cook them in the South in US. Pour off most of oil, leaving around 4 tablespoons and add flour to the oil. Cook for couple of minutes. Now add some water and milk to it. Cook until it thickens and spoon it over some biscuits.

Gosh, such a tough week! I hope it didn't get you too down. The little "cheats" totally make sense here. I wish you a better week next week!

You could also make Johnny Cakes out of the failed dish and serve with syrup. You can also make homemade syrup out of butter, brown sugar, water and vanilla. You can also get a small can of crushed pineapple add to grated carrots, with pumpkin pie spice, flour, white sugar, egg and vegetable oil. Now you have the makings of a pineapple-carrot cake. Can ice with cream cheese icing ( adds protein) or eat as snack cake. You can also roast the carrots and other vegetables and make a vegetable sandwich out of them on some crusty bread. I add onion and garlic to them and spread mustard on my bread. You can also blend up black beans, carrots, the tofu and seasonings... add an egg and mix well. Add little flour if too wet. Make sure to drain the beans well. Get you a sweet potato and make fries out of it and serve with a drizzle of your homemade syrup. Just some ideas to help you with variety. If you do not know how to cook some of these just google it. Keep up the good work! If nothing else you can use bacon to make a good BLT.

With the carrots and evaporated milk you can also make a creamy Thai carrot soup.......My kids barely eat anything but they like that.......I like carrots and pumpkin coz I don't love vegetables but if I can make a healthy carrot cake or pumpkin pie then I am eating vegetables without realizing it.

It’s okay that mistakes are happening, they’re bound to when you’re doing this ongoing! You’re doing an amazing job ❤️❤️

Food waste troubles me. I've seen the most conspicuous consumption of food waste in Vancouver. From meat to fish to chicken to vegetables and fruit that has never been seen. I can't save it all. It is disgusting but it happens everyday for years and years. Take care. 🇨🇦❤

Hope your week gets better! I think you did great with your recipes 👍

I make a lot of mistakes when I cook. It's ok.... Good with the bad. I think I'm going to have cream of wheat for dinner. I add bacon to mine. Sorry for ur lost. I'll continue to pray for u.

You are very creative. I used to eat a lot of bangers and mash which was sausage mashed potatoes and gravy. I also ate a lot of instant mashed potatoes stuffing gravy and canned veggies. My favorite though was baked mac n cheese with diced tomatoes cheese block and I always used margarine. I couldn't always afford a box of milk from the dollar tree. It tastes better with out milk any I think.

Sending you my ♥️ I'm really enjoying being on the journey with you. You’re killing it!!

I think that I would have cooked and mashed the carrots and made them more like potato pancakes. Making flour from oats is an excellent idea.

Bacon goes with everything!! We grew up on things like gizzards and livers and I love them to this day mom always fried them I would never think of boiling them but what a great idea. Mom also used to buy things like beef tongue, she only put it on a platter once and we kids nearly died because it still had the taste buds on it. Tongue, liver, heart, gizzards were all really cheap, like pigs feet (that she never made LOL cuz it freaked her out :) Tongue and heart she would cook and run through a grinder and made meat salad, although with your limitations I don't know how you could accomplish this she always used her presser cooker. You were very creative this week and I enjoyed watching how you turned your "mistakes" into something better. Thaw a couple of your frozen meals and buy something you really want like Parm. In the US we have a lot of sales during the holidays so maybe you can luck into some great things for next week. Use the packets, it is crazy not to if you have them already. Praying for everyone in Canada after the storms in BC that caused so much destruction. Maybe you need a break when I lived like this in my 20's it was always great to have dinner at Mom's it made everything easier, most people living on this budget get a break every now and then. Hope this week is easier.

I admire your ingenuity. I think I would have starved at your house this week. Well, except for bacon.🤣😂 I hope things improve in BC and Mother Nature gives you a break. Keep well.

I have been thinking of you and everybody else in BC dealing with this crisis. I can’t imagine how you’re getting through and you did so well with this video. Thank you for still sharing this with us. I’m so glad that you made the suggestion about checking the international aisles in the grocery store for less expensive versions of the same products. That egg substitute hack?? So smart. I watch a lot of these videos and I think I have only seen that substitute on one other channel. It’s really a great thing if you are making something that needs eggs and either don’t have them or want to save your eggs for actually having eggs. .I haven’t watched the whole video yet and so I’m doing that comment before I’m done thing but I’m commenting before I’m done… I love your channel because I think it is one of the few that is showing Canadian prices for less expensive groceries. I am curious how the gizzards tasted. I can’t stand liver and I’m wondering do they taste like liver. And I have to get that grinder!

Not every recipe works. It's ok ! I'm glad that you tweaked it, and made the best of what you had. Keep up the good work. I'm sure people appreciate the challenge, and for others it may just be their reality of food shortages. Well done. Ps it's not cheating to use what you have. So feel free to make adjustments.

Hi Jessica! Extra points for creativity this week… I love that you took the polenta and made the pancakes. I think the porridge would be great with diced jalapeño and cheese (like grits). The ground beef dish would be great over rice. Can’t be wait until next week! 💜

I think those cornbread pancakes looked delicious! Good save!

Love your experimentation! That’s when you discover new taste treats!

For the tofu you had it basically right you'll just want to add a kitchen towel under and around the tofu to absorb the water!

Bacon seems to be fairly cheap there. You got a great deal on the carrots too.

I feel like using old packets is NOT cheating at all and is actually making really good use of something that usually ends up tossed in the trash and wasted!

Mush with 🥓 yummy and it needs to stay overnight in the fridge to thicken up like you want it to be

I think you did great this week considering that you had some setbacks. You've been doing this now for so long- I think what would be interesting to find out is do you feel any different? Do you feel like you have less energy or the same since you've been eating on $21 a week? Is there a particular things that you miss having that you can't fit into the budget?

I like using chicken gizzards in dirty rice, like a cajun meal.

I love Gizzards!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes indeed….,groceries are getting more expensive every week I swear. I love that you are telling it like it is. We are all making do with current circumstances. Love your videos!

What a deal on bacon. Im paying over $5 for 375 grams. Oh, yes International aisle i get spices for really reduced prices😄

I know you were feeling a bit stressed out from everything going on but I really enjoyed your increased 'que sara sara' approach to how things went this week. :) It became quite humorous towards the end but it was enjoyable to watch, perhaps not so enjoyable to experience though?! :) Your determination and will to keep going though was highly admirable. I actually really enjoyed a lot of the meals you made and was excited to see you using tofu. I get a firm tofu from Aldi and it doesn't need pressing so that helps. There's a carrot pancake recipe that I use where you cook the carrots first and then roughly mash them before adding them to your pancake batter, keeping it savoury though. You could try it that way sometime, really good when you add some curry powder and cumin. That scrapple dish you made that didn't quite set properly, would your corn starch slurry have helped it at all? I hadn't heard of that recipe before but if you're game to try it again I'd love to see how it's supposed to be, I was really intrigued by that one. Liked the look of the carrots, corn and mince stew thing on mashed potato, comfort food in a bowl, bring it on! :) Thanks for all that you do. :)

Great video as usual. You amaze me with your receipes.

Check out Johnny Cakes Recipe.

No judgement about the gizzards. I grew up in the southern US. I don’t eat them but my grandparents love them.

Wasn't expecting you to get back so soon but I'm glad you did By the way I love gizzards I either have them by themselves or with rice

Thanks my friend you’re one of the best instructors I ever follow. ♥♥ ♥♥ 3:15

I love gizzard. Breaded and fried. Good for you.

That was a tough week. Koodoes for closing well 🎉🎉

I got eggs yesterday at Kroger with a digital coupon for 97 cents! 18 eggs too not just a dozen. I was so happy. It was a loss leader sale. Lately they've been A LOT more than they used to be in the states. Like around 1.70 a dozen. You could get a whole dozen for a dollar at Aldi like two years ago, not on sale. Maybe you should invest in a pancake turner? :)

In the US we call it 🌽 meal mush, well that's what I grew up calling it

I love chicken livers. Cook them once a week. Haven’t had just gizzards but have had gizzards in gravy with “giblets.” They are all getting harder to find here (Alabama) though as not as many people eat them anymore.

We eat all kinds of chicken, pork, beef parts where I'm from. It's even a delicacy. C'mon! No shame. It's even better than eating expired food. LOL

I wonder if after you shredded the carrots if you steamed them, then mash them if the patties would have shaped in a firmer way and held together better?

Very resilient. Nice save

I can’t believe how much stuff you have left!

Organ meat is very good for you Perhaps adding cornstarch to the carrot patties Lots of good ideas

It’s only works if you got a store of food

I love gizzards.

Girl I so wish I could find chicken gizzards my dogs haven’t had them in a while my 12-year-old daughter loves them and we haven’t had chicken gizzards in our local Walmart for over a year I don’t know what’s going on where to get outside because we can pick up chicken but seriously we haven’t been able to find gizzards in over a year

👍❤️

If you want to use tofu in soups, I will suggest you to freeze the tofu first, then defrost them instead of pressing them. If you are frying the tofu it would be a different story, but for soups, you don’t even have to press the tofu this way, it’s just adding a bit more water.

Team gizzards!

We had a magic bullet that I bought in January stop working in MAY!! After weeks of going back and forth with customer service giving them every tiny detail they finally decided that we just used it too much and that's not under the warranty??? Sorry what??? Never buying another from them!

My husband LOVES gizzards!! He saw this while I was watching it. He is now having gizzards tonight. Lol Also, would it be better and could you go shopping just once a month and spend the 84 dollars instead of 21 a week? Ty Also, bacon and a fried egg in the corn meal is almost like the grits my husband eats. ( He was born in New Orleans). He eats grits a couple times a week! Lol

I think the cornmeal and bacon could have been made in to oven bake mini meatball

One person diet does not make it right for everybody’s diet everybody’s health is different and requires different nutrition

Why would anyone give you crap for gizzards..its ofal and meat is meat and they're a staple here in the south.i just don't eat them cause of bp..but if you soak them in a little mix of white vinegar and apple cider vinegar and water like a few tsp (4 tsp) and a little hot sauce with a whisked egg and some salt and pepper..and you put them in one half cup flour and 1/4 corn meal mix with about 1tsp of baking powder in your dry batter and just fry em in hot oil like you would nuggets and eat with your favorite dipping sauce..but good grief meat is meat..and i feel for you .97 ¢ would buy you four ears of corn here sometimes ten ears if you get it cheap enough..but we pay almost half of that for gv corn.i feel for you my friend😊..and oh maze porridge..thats good stuff pretty hearty too.. and I like tuning in for ideas and see what you come up with odds and ends..gives me good ideas for when I hit my grocers clearance isle or discount meat bins lol..oh good grief your doing just fine lol

Aren't you allowed to use your food processor?? Why not??

Actually most of those soy sauce individual packets aren't really soy sauce... It's just salt water mixed with food coloring.

You might be able to get accomplished this if you buy in bulk

This price should not be for everybody as everybody has different eating habits and different health habitsIn the whole population should not look at this as a way to eat

Question.. Can I freeze reconstituted milk? And what's it's shelf life? Thanks.

Would it have been cheaper to buy a gallon of milk and freeze some?

But then you have a chance of the food going bad

I'm a New Subbie ❤️ Where are you from?

Po Box?

This video is no longer viable as prices have increased so much that this is no longer possible

Good grief if karen doesn't like you being smart and refilling your soy sauce she can just back to Walmart and annoy someone..and its keeping with the challenge if you already had it on hand and was just putting it in a container you have while saving money..and the processor to shred carrots is keeping with challenge its a shredding tool right?? and if you have arthritis or hand limits like me that things a help..so your only going to get nice words and a laugh ( fun trolling from me)..but your concoctions arent bad and I'll be making your egg noodles.. eventually..oh yeah gizzards make good chicken stock and soup..