EXTREME CHEAPSKATE MEALS WHEN YOU'RE BROKE! 

I wanted to throw something out there for anyone who may have a stove die, and cannot afford to replace it. DON'T replace it! My stove died and I refuse to pay these horrible prices. People often think they have to have a state of the art stove in their kitchen. I bought an Oster french door toaster oven, ($75 on Marketplace) it does everything a big stove does without the energy guzzling, 50% less!! Then I bought a double hot plate for regular cooking, a used Crock Pot, and a steel cart for it all that fits in the space. My energy bill is now $50!! It pays to think outside the American box.

Thanks for doing this cooking video. So many people are unaware of how easy simple and economical homemade meals can be. From a 72 year old oldster the only thing I would have done different is not poured the potato water down the drain. It would have gone into the soup or even some for the mashed potatoes. Lots of goodness going down that drain. Also have never considered putting butter under the skin, usually put it on top, so thanks for that tip. You are never too old to learn.

Cooking half a chicken is clever…saving the other half for later so economical!

My mother always used the potato or vegetable water to make gravy. It is full of vitamins and flavor,

You could seriously sell a cookbook with all of your great recipes and tips for the kitchen.

I love your videos!! I love the lifestyle. I ate my last $15 Panera salad & said no more of this I can make it better at home for much less.

Just a litte tip; please only use wooden utensils for your teflon (?) pots. You do not want to eat teflon or other stuff when the pot scratches. Personally I already switched to only metal pots and pans. Aluminium, steel and iron are good and do not mind metal utensils. Easy to find in secons hand shops too

You're doing a great service here by showing how to cook this from start to finish. So many people don't know so it's a great way for them to learn how to cook and save $ too!

That potato water you put down the drain would have been in my soup!

I stretch foodshopping till all the food is used. It stimulates my creativity in creating healthy meals

Potato water helps with gravy the starch in the water helps with thickening and it has flavor. My grandma and mom always did that's how I learned

Prepper Princess, Just wanted to see if you know about a vlog a youngman started with his Grandma, called Depression Cooking with Clara. Omygoodness it is precious and so interesting,to hear and see some the types of meals they had during this time.How they made it through on a little amount of food and alot of love. When they had meat it was such a treat. Thought you might enjoy watching. Clara has passed away but what an impact her videos made on so many people.🥰☀️🙏 ❤😊

One thing I use for cheap scape meals is I go to Asian stores, and I buy cheap rice Noodles. Then flavor them with whatever I have on hand.

One thing I do is take a freezer bag and put my veggie scraps, and onion skins in. As I cook, I add more to it. When it gets full, I simmer these scraps with water in a large pot for 2-3 hours on low. Then cool and strain. I end up with homemade veggie broth. You can do the same with chicken or beef bones. When it's cool,I just measure out a cup at a time and freeze in baggies. This saves me so much money.

At night my wife and I slept with CATS (help) - they would get on top of us (the blankets on the king-sized bed) and then a couple would snuggle up close and lay in-between us for maximum warmth then in the morning as the sun-light would come in the bedroom window they would get up and start "licking my nose with their sand-paper tongues" to wake us up so we could go down to the kitchen and open the cans of catfood to feed them - one big HAPPY cat family !!! :-)

Yess! I love your cooking videos 🥳🥂

The pan you used for the gravy needs to be tossed out already. Once the non-stick coating is peeling, harmful chemicals can leach into your food.

have to tell you the trick to potatoes! 1st you don’t drain all the potato water. Most of it but you leave like 1/2- 1 cup in the bottom depending on the amount of potatoes. Then you put at least 1/2 a stick on top (again, depending on how many potatoes) & put the lid back on. Let it melt! Then start your beaters. You mix the milk or heavy cream 1/2 way through for creaminess. I don’t know why this is the way, but I’m tellin ya, every Idahoan mama I have ever known does it this way. Ya know…. Experts and all 😁

Hey, you can use the water from the potatoes to make gravy with too. Helps to thicken and adds flavour 😊 I love my potatoes 🥔!

Enjoyed, but please consider teflon free cookware, or at the very least silicone utensils.😏

I have a freezer full of frozen whole chickens. They go on sale for 99 cents a pound every few months. We use it for everything. Dog food, stir fry, chicken salad, so much. Thanks for sharing. ❤

Looks delicious! Try saving some of the potato water to make the gravy.. yummy!

My husband and I would get a weeks worth of dinners on one chicken when we first got married. Chicken dinners, soup and enough chicken meat bits for a couple of chicken salad sandwiches. I used make corn meal mush and pour it into a bread pan. When cooled, we could slice it and fry it with an egg or two for a meal also. We just made it work.

JUST found your channel. Oh WOW! You cook like I do 😄. I don’t do fancy, it’s not gonna stay fancy once it fills the belly. Working in the garden, yard maintenance, cutting the grass, critter chores… last thing I want is to come in and cook a main dish, throw a side salad together etc Keep it simple 😊 THANK YOU there’s a few channels I watch, the food looks awesome but time consuming. Only thing I do that I’d not give up is dehydrated garden stuff. Easy making soups and stews- just Chuck it in at the end and let it form up and while it’s doing that- make a pan of biscuits 👍 If I could grow coffee and toilet paper I could cut out the trip to town altogether 😄

You are vey inspiring. I went for fast food today, spent 8 dollars for yuck. I will be trying your recipe and cook more at home. LOVE your pups.

You could use the potato water for tastier gravy. It adds extra nourishment.

If you saved the potato water you could have used it in your gravy instead of plain water and used the calories that went down the drain.

Several people in the big family have auto-immune conditions, so we cannot do any grains, starches, legumes, sugar and so on, so mainly have to make all sorts of meat and cauliflower/ broccoli. I cannot even tolerate any vegetables at all. I do buy in bulk both chickens and ground beef. Then cut up chickens and put in freezer. Re-pack ground beef to one time use of about 2,5 lbs at a time.( 7 people in the family). We spend most of our income on groceries. At least this way of life allows me to avoid the medications that were prescribed and gives me freedom of movement. I couldn't walk three years ago - RA. Now in remission.

Yay to half and half in the potatoes!! I always do that, as well as butter. So many people seem surprised and even impressed that I make mashed potatoes from scratch. It’s so darn easy, economical and so much better than the packaged crap. My mom always added some of the drippings to packaged gravy. It makes it taste almost homemade.

Pro tip for the mashed potatoes. You can make them with part of the water they cooked in. It will require less milk, is cheaper and tastes as good.

Add the water from cooked vegetables to your soup to maximize the flavors

Gravy = flour & butter roux, add chicken stock, salt, pepper - that's gravy....the stuff in packets is chemicals....all those juices from cooking the chicked would have helped make homemade gravy without the packet stuff.

Save your potato water and use it to make the gravy.....adds flavor and helps thicken.....

For 8 years I had a local TV cooking show. I never heard of putting butter under the skin of chicken. Turkey breast, yes, but not chicken. I cant wait to try this.

Keep drained potato water to make bread/rolls

I very fortunate to buy rotisserie chicken on weekends and just make rice. Beats fast food. With kids and one on the way I’m so proud of myself that when I was able to cook the chicken I did. Now that I’m exhausted all the time I can just pay for convenience. Then when I’m able to again I’ll go right back to cooking from scratch. Because there’s always time when you just can’t. Always love your video. ❤

Cook that whole chicken, freeze it. Save that electric!

I would have used potato water in the soup instead of tipping it away. Xx

I got a BBQ/ roast chicken s on special $6.00. I made salad and chicken(2 meals) chicken rolls(2 meals) ,curried chicken and rice(6 meals), and 4 litres of chicken and vegetable both The vegetable were all from our garden. We live in a sub tropical area in Queensland Australia ,so can grow vegetable all year round.

I like your cooking videos!!

Just goes to show how with a bit of effort, you can eat perfectly well, on very little. Half a chicken made into 6 meals plus stock, well done! Your mashed spuds looked so fluffy and yummy! Thanks for giving ideas and inspiration to those who may need help.

I really love these cooking videos, I like the cheap basic meal ideas. Look forward to more 😊

My go-to recipe is white wine, garlic, butter, Italian herbs, s&p. I serve with rice pilaf, then make a casserole with the leftovers before dumping the whole carcass, skin, pan scrapings and all into the crock pot to make soup base. The butter, wine and herbs give it a nice flavor. Even if you only get a few servings of soup it’s money saved.

Great video. We can use potato cooking water for gravy and in soup too. Some folks water their plants with it.

Thanks for posting this video. I spend entirely too much on food for myself each week as well as eating too much. This video inspires me to really cut back and rethink how I’m feeding myself. You are the best! Thanks Amber!

I've been watching your videos and got serious about decreasing my grocery spending. Thank you so much! Nutritious, cheap, easy to prepare food for days. I've been making mostly big pot of simple veggie soup. Keeps me satisfied and glad I'm decreasing my food bill and not suffering for it.

Collect the water of cooking potatos, noodle or rice. Cool it down and give it to you r compost or plants.

My first time watching this channel. Thank you so much for these meal ideas. We are a family of 6. Tha last time we ate out it was almost $100. We are on a fixed income and can't do it. Again thank you❤

I'm sure this has been said....but, yikes that mixer on a coated pan with forever chemicals!!!!!! Just chips of Teflon in your taters!

I have that orange handled pot! I got it from my sister. She got new pots and pans for Christmas. That’s what she asked my brother-in-law for. lol. Her old pots were better than mine. I gave mine away to someone who didn’t have any. So it was a win/win.

Love these cheap meal ideas 👍

Ive been really frugal since i was a teenager in Philippines now 35 after i paid off my car and little house, i kinda relax a bit from restricting myself especially food. I treat myself with travel, clothes, eating out. Now back to being frugal again watching your videos. I remember I watched your videos when you only got 25k subs.

I'm single and work 50 hr a week as a nurse. No pets. I splurge on the rotisserie chicken and pair it with plain baked potatoes and veg. No butter. Just salt and pepper.

REAL mashed potatoes = yummy! Not made from instant flakes, and I do "not" mean that to be an insult to anybody that does prefer / does use instant potatoes. Your cooking / food preparation videos are always calming, though I realize that's not actually your intention. I always enjoy them. Thank you for sharing your time with us. I spent my morning helping somebody make (meat) jerky using your recipe. It turned out great; they are super pleased about the results. It was a lot of meat. And I'm always certain to credit you for the recipe, Prepper Princess.

Where are your 2 helpers? Waiting for you to drop something? Sweet pets. Enjoy your conversations a lot. Thanks.

I just love you. You have changed my life. So many things we dont even think about cost us big money. You have changed the way I think!

I've been watching your video's for years now. I enjoy your updates. Please be careful with metal scraping up against Teflon pots like that. It scrapes off into your food and can cause all kinds of weird things to happen in your body over time, including cancer. But other than that, I appreciate your advice PP!

Thanks for this video. I cannot agree with you more. Many restaurants are soooo overpriced. The recipes are so easy though.

If that was a Teflon pot with potatoes in it well then u destroyed the pot by using a blender / mixer in it.

I really enjoy your videos. So much common sense. I look forward to seeing your pups at the end. So cute!!!

More videos like this one please!!

I love your videos, you get right to the point, not blabbing away like some cooking shows, I make chicken soup with my bones too. Easy and yummy.

Love your frugal cooking and sharing tips! These are my favorite. Would love to see gardening or even cleaning tips. Plus video of you doing those things. Or of your going to the grocery store. Thanks!

Great vid ! I made chicken supper yesterday ❤🙂 I've never seen chicken in an oven pan without putting water and herbs and spices with a bit of melted butter in the water ... if you bake chicken in approx 4- 6 cups of water in that pan, it will make a lovely gravy when you thicken it. ✌️

These are my favorite videos. Please do more!

Isn't it amazing just how much you can save by learning to cook? Just learning basic cooking techniques will do, and your meals are so much healthier, too!

Outstanding Thank You!!! Patricia

PP, we need these videos so much, thank you!!!

Your food videos are my favorite. Everything looks delicious and affordable advice. Thanks again.

You can also use the potato water for the soup or add powdered milk/creamer for the mashed potatoes. This saves some extra vitamins in the potato water.

Ha-ha! As a kid I was always my Grandmothers gravy tester at holiday dinners!

I do this all the time with whole chickens or like last week turkey as it was 99 cents/lb. These are easy Sunday night roasted dinners and we rotate through a whole chicken, beef roast, whole chicken, pork loin roast and sometimes we'll throw a ham in there somewhere when it's on sale for 99 cents/lb. For the two of us we make 4 baked potatoes on the same roasting pan and frozen veggies. That's 2 dinners and we slice the rest of the meat thin for lunches for the week. My chicken soup carcass is simmered for 6 hours along with the aromatic scraps from the veggies that will be in the final soup. The other awesome thing to make with the leftover chicken is chicken salad which we can never get enough of, the trick is to add just barely enough mayo so it's not drowning in it. Cheers!

Thank you for posting....i love the cooking videos and the grocery hauls. I learn how to save money and stretch food❤

I love your cooking segments! I always get inspired to copy off of them and it makes me so mindful of how we used to cook back in the midwest back in the seventies when things really really were tight. Do as many of these as you want!❤❤❤❤

Thank you for sharing your meals and the description very important having fun watching you cook. Great idea PP! Love chicken and Potatoes 🥔😋

Rocky is a very smart boy!💜

Not sure if you care about health but scratching no stick pans can cause the coating on the pan not to be safe. You can use silicone lined whisks to prevent that.

Iffen you don't have enough broth to make gravy, you can always use it to make your mashed potatoes in lieu of milk. I have done this a handful of times (I always end up adding a scant bit of bullion granules as well), and it is a hit in my house.

You should have put foil over your chicken while baking. That would have given you more juices

Corn starch makes easy gravy

I think a lot of people are cooking cheap and boring these days. I’ve been doing that for over 20 years. Would love to see what you make for ideas. I’m relying more on my home canned stuff and enhanced my garden for this year. Food prices and quality suck these days. I’ve stopped buying certain things. Moist? Really? People have issues with moist? Ya gotta let us in on the nervous breakdown people are gonna have giving the dogs the beaters! Chicken looked good!

Potato water is a plus for soups gravy stews etc 😊

Cabbage is my other staple vegetable in addition to the others mentioned. Cabbage is cheap and can be used in so many ways. Love your channel.....I have been binge watching.

Super mild garlic powder means they've used lots of rice flour filler in it.

When you are out of milk (or anytime) you can use some of the potato water. Until you get use to how much you want to add just reserve a couple cups of it and add a little at a time with the butter until it’s the consistency you like.

THAT was fabulous! Love the ending too omg those precious pups.. hahhah

I love these videos. Gives me ideas..very helpful!❤

Love the videos you are inspiring and a great source for ideas. I guess you would agree that staying healthy is probably the best way to save thousands of dollars. On that note I couldn't but notice your cooking pans are peeling off the non stick coating. You've probably heard it before and is not of my business but since I like you a lot, just in case you haven't heard that is really bad for a person's health. In my kitchen I only use Stainless steel, glass, ceramic and some wood utensils. I believe a new stainless steel pan set would be a great and wise investment. Keep the videos coming and stay healthy and also consider this as not Hate but love 😘❤

This is great, and making me hungry. It's exactly how I ate growing up. I eat real food and cook it myself but I could do better with my budget. I need to get even more so back to basics and this gave me some great ideas. My mama added mayo to mashed potatoes. It makes them really tasty. Just wanted to share. I love how you shared with the puppies. 😂 They're adorable.

I'm surprised you're not cooking something else in the oven along with that chicken, to utilize the electric

Love it when you cook ! Thank you so much love all ur videos

Thanks for your videos. Love them! You’re awesome.

Can you please do a 10.00 a week grocery haul and meal plan? I am 76 years old and do not drive anymore and have no one to take me to food pantries. I have walmart deliver my groceries but sometimes a neighbor will take me id I pay for their gas which I always offer some money. I called several churches to see if they will deliver me a box of food but they said they could not do that because then everyone would want them to deliver to them also and I understand that Thank you for your time

I prefer home cooked meals and love to use the herbs from my garden which is 100% organic. I love your pots. Great video 🧚🏾😊

Yippy, another cooking video! Love them!!!!

I love your food videos. They inspire me to never waste anything. Thanks.

If you're growing herbs fresh parsley is great mixed with potatoes. Or dried works too.

🌹Im enjoying ur tecioes so much cause u fo them gresh from start to finish u show it all on video great job ur doing gir all if us ty so much ...Other utubers regularly dnt do fresh n finish ur doing homemade ty for this !!! Much appreciated here 🌻

I have the same dilemma with my cat, I can’t move once she’s on my lap.

Thank you for showing us how you do it! ❤