Love this thank you! We are tight this week and I realized I have all these ingredients on hand, even the stroganoff! We can get through the week and I don’t have to stress.
I would LOVE to see a cost comparison where you buy only name brand items for a "budget friendly" challenge like this and then buy all store brand to really show just how much you can save by buying storebrand instead. Even if you save 4 or 5 dollars on 4 meals, thats a large savings over the course of a month.
And if you look into the store brands and who makes them a lot of times it’s made by name brands anyway. Like some Costco coffee is roaster by Starbucks. Their dog food is made by Diamond. Their tuna comes from Bumblebee and so on. There really isn’t much reason to buy name brands
Mindy, I believe you are nothing shy of a genius in the kitchen. Thank you SO much for taking the time to do the planning of such meals as these. I'm 50, yet I have zero imagination when it comes to being creative in the kitchen. Your awesome budget meals are just that...awesome. Thanks for taking the time to make your videos. You are doing such a great service to people like me. ❤ from SC.
Rotisserie chicken would work very well in this meal plan and possibly be even less expensive than a raw whole chicken and still give you the bones to make broth. Where I live I have seen Rotisserie chicken on clearance at Walmart for under $3.00 for the whole cooked chicken. Just a thought.
@SMM I live in Southern California and citrus trees grow easily here. I have a lemon and an orange tree and one time my neighbor called to ask if she could bring her relatives from Kansas over to look at them. They marveled and took pictures and it was super charming and then I realized if I was in Kansas I’m pretty sure I’d want to stand out in a corn or bean field and get my picture taken. ☺️
haha! That's too funny! Yes, I actually mentioned that because my SiL lives in the bay area and the have multiple fruit trees (including lemon) in their backyard and she uses them all the time in her cooking!
@@Kristemamber81Over in the deli, where you see the potato salad and macaroni salad, you will find cold rotisserie chickens there on the bottom shelf. That's where they are in my store anyway. 😊
In my area, I've found that buying frozen veggies is much more affordable than buying canned or fresh produce. We don't have any Aldi or big discount grocery stores here. So I almost always buy the store brands of everything if there's that option. My hubby is a meat n potatoes man but with these crazy prices since the pandemic, he's really starting to enjoy the meatless meals I make a couple times each week. I'm so happy to see you incorporate leftovers into a new meal. That's how I was raised and so many folks nowadays don't do that. It's a great way to stretch the food budget.
Im going to resign from my job at the end of the year to be a stay at home mom. Really appreciate these videos, since I'll be watching the budget a bit more!❤
Mom of 5 here-four still at home!! Mindy- I love that your kids have a healthy appetite ❤ 2 of mine are severe/sensory picky eaters and will flat out starve before they try even average kid meals. BUT!! I am here to try your challenge on this one-sounds like fun to me. I bought bigger portions and spent $25.48 at Wakmart. I’ll come back and comment what everyone thought. Thank you!!
My kids said it was alright-which I thought was pretty spectacular because even the most kid friendly foods they don’t want and think are “disgusting”. So my kids eat “alright” foods then I’m calling it a win!
To make tostadas super easy- Spray some olive oil on each side of the tortilla and bake it in the oven 400 And flip it half way through. You can do so many at a time. I think it’s easier and they’re all done and warm at same time. Plus I don’t have to clean up oil splatters!
Your cook once eat twice videos are my FAV!!! When you cook a protein and show ideas on how to spread it out over multiple meals.... THE BEST! Wouldn't mind a video like this using every protein 😁
If you have an air fryer, roasted carrots are SOOOOOOOOOO good. Peel and chop, toss in oil salt and seasonings ie: pepper, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder etc. air fry for 8-10 minutes on 375 and they are so delicious
Love all the inexpensive meal ideas for the family! Keeping it simple yet filling. We love the game Dominion. I'm usually the reigning champion in our house!
The most economical way that I have found to get shredded chicken, is to buy rotisserie chicken at Costco. I bring it home and shredded into Ziploc bags and put it in my freezer. I can usually get two Ziploc bags at one pound bags of meat each out of a single rotisserie chicken from Costco.
Now I need to add tostados to next weeks menu. They look amazing! Once I turned home canned pinto beans into refried beans out of necessity but now I do it intentionally because it’s the best I’ve ever had!
I love the clips from The Princess Bride! My all time favorite movie and book. I appreciate these $5 meal videos. I can only imagine all of the work that goes into them. I use all of your videos for inspiration. I’m not familiar with the game Dominion. At a glance it looks similar to pokemon and magic the gathering. Both often played by my family. Both require much knowledge and strategic skill. I have proudly called myself a nerd for more than 4 decades. I do consider them nerd games if going by my definition of nerd. You offer such great value to your viewers. As a nerd I can’t stop myself from asking, is it necessary for you to even in jest apply labels such as nerdy? I personally didn’t even attempt to learn how to play the game of chess until I was in my 30’s because I was often told that it was a game for strong academia’s. I didn’t even question what that meant or if it applied to me. 😂
@@katv1195 thanks. I am going to try to observe a game at our local gaming shop Saturday. The owner can set me up with whatever is necessary to play afterwards.
Since the Pink Beans were on clearance and are often used in refried beans,which is a regular or frequent ingredient for you I would have stocked up on 5-10 bags . Because, at that price you will save a goid ampunt of money having them in hand.
You are so clever coming up with meals to stretch a budget. These times are hard so I appreciate this very much. We’re ok right now, but you never know what could happen and these ideas are wonderful.
Great video Mindy I was just looking at my (ingles) sale flyer and they have a 5lb bag of chicken drum sticks for $4.48 so that means, chicken & noodles, chicken & rice and chicken and stuffing will be on the menu over the next few week's. I will buy 2 bag and put them in the slower cooker and let the go all day and save the stock to use for extra flavor. Thanks for the video.
We did all of these and they were such a hit, even with my picky eaters! For the chicken and noodles, I browned the carrots then added the broth. I also added a bit of tarragon. It was our favorite out of all of the recipes.
Mindy, I absolutely love you! Such a beautiful lady inside and out, and I love your mission and recipes! My favorite budget meal youtubers by far. God bless you!
I have discovered canned chicken due to financial reasons. It is very good. Winco brand has large chunks of tender breast meat , some broth & no fillers in their cans. It is quick, handy & very inexpensive. I like it better than canned (the cheap kind-not albacore) tuna.
I love your Videos but I am always shocked by prices in the US… Eggs cost 3-4 times as much in stores in my region… Even though not everything is the same here, I love your meal ideas, makes me feel inspired 🤗 All the best from Austria 🇦🇹
Hi Mindy…I shop at Aldi as part of my regular grocery shopping weekly. I agree that they continue to have some great prices although they keep going up. Also I hate candy corn! 😝
my significant other is Asian and he suggested I get a rice cooker, and the brand...oh my gosh I am so glad I got one, the best for cooking rice(especially since I make a lot of Asian recipes now)...plus it can be used for other things as well...one of the things I have ever purchased especially since I use it all the time
Thank you! Love your ideas and channel! These are skills like my grandma used that people who grew up in a time of abundance may not have learned. You really plan how to use each item to its fullest and not waste.
Good comfy recipes! I will try these. Plus they look pretty easy to make. I'm definitely making that whole chicken in the crock pot for meals! When I fry my corn tortillas I use a flat spatula like you use for flipping pancakes. This keeps me from tearing my tortillas. Thanks for these delicious nutritious meals!
Hey thank you! I was walking through target and I’d realized that we were eating for about $50 a day on average. I’m at a loss on what to do. I’m bringing that down to 20 a day and these meals are really a good guide to follow. Thank you!
Hello, I’m Jessica. I’ve been told all my life that if you rinse your beans with cold or lukewarm water after boiling them or soaking them that it makes it harder to cook them or make it difficult to cook them like it can take up to a day for them to work throughly. I’m Mexican do my whole family has always told me that .
Oh I know it’s possible cause I just put a video up today and I made three meals and ended up. I got all three meals for $16 breakfast lunch and dinner and I got leftovers of the pasta salad for the next day and I have leftovers for the day for two more dinners. Anything is possible if you just really pay attention to how you’re preparing meals. Thanks for some more great videos today with some great recipes budget friendly
Congrats from Arizona! One or two suggestions regarding the corn tortillas. Roll them up into taquitos with a variety of fillings. Mashed potatoes, well seasoned, diced chicken mixed with the refried beans, or just chicken itself! Corn tortillas are a lifesaver for budgets. ❤
They’re deviously price gouging us to get every dime they can. I like doing a Mac and cheese with meat in it, like tuna or chicken, maybe even those salads packs of bacon
The tic tok algorithm put Wal-Mart great value ingredients in my fyp. Apparently there’s fish in marshmallows and syrup? I don’t have a Walmart near me, wonder how true this all is.
Wow the prices for food in the US are so cheap in comparison with Europe. The middle class employee in Europe earns half as much and pays 3 times as much for food in most advanced European countries. Eggs cost 3 € a dozen in the cheapest supermarket.
As a Canadian, I always find it weird that people add sugar to vegetables. Other than that their are some good money saving ideas here. PS we pay at least 3 times as much for our groceries here.
Why didn’t you just buy box of elbow noodles n use half the box Then you would have noodles for another dinner N the packets are a dollar or just use season on hand that’s in packets which have way to much salt anyway
I also wanted to comment on one of your other subscriber. They're is nothing wrong with using items that are not Brand name groceries, I think that discounted or store Brand.
These are amazing ideas (as always!) 🎉 the type of tongs lifting the tortillas may leave a plasticity sort of taste for some , so definitely worth using metal or wooden types :) now all I got to do is convince my family stroganoff is on the menu this week
"Bottle" of milk, Mindy? Is that what you were searching for? 😆 Words are hard some days. Or most days. I was surprised you didn't eventually call it a thingamadoodle. It feels like it's not a SMM video without a "thingamadoodle." "Those biscuits were gonna bust my budget!" sounds like something a Southern grandma would say when she was displeased. These meals look really good! I've never fried tortillas at home because I'm a wimp. I bake them in the oven. They turn out more crunchy than crispy, but I like crunchy.
Thank you so much for this video! I am on a strict diet due to health issues, but I think I can adapt some of these to lower my grocery budget. I will definitely go through some of your other videos. I think these types of videos are very helpful in the times we're living right now.
Great video. I just finished making chicken stock in the slow cooker and freezing it in XL ice trays today! I let them freeze & then store them in my frig freezer so I can access them easily for veggies & soups!
@SeeMindyMom Thank you. This time I had gotten 2 rotisserie chickens for $10 & I didn't want to waste a thing. The whole chickens (raw) were over $8. I got 2 cooked chickens, pulled the meat off, got 11.5 cups of meat, & plopped the carcasses in a crock pot each ( I, too, have multiples!) I have 2, 1 gal. Freezer bags of stock and meat for many meals ready to go! The difference that stock makes for canned green beans is incredible 🙌
Great ideas! Is it possible to make the fresh tostadas into fresh taco shells? Can they be draped over something after frying? Any ideas for that? Thanks as always for sharing these great videos! Katy
I love all the coulda, woulda, shoulda comments. 🙄 thanks for all the help Mindy. These are fantastic ideas and will help so many people! I’m totally going to try a whole chicken in the crockpot. I can’t believe I’ve never thought of that!! Thanks again!
