You are just the best! I remember feeding my kids on a very low budget, you’re recipes are actually frugal! I see some of these so called ‘Frugal’ recipes on other channels and I just roll my eyes. They obviously have never been on a dirt poor budget! You are the real deal! ❤️
Brooke my preacher once told me God allows us to go through something so that we can be a blessing to someone else who is going through it. Perhaps He allowed you to so that you could do this. This channel is His calling for you. I love your videos. 😊
You have no idea how much help you are adding to the community today. There are so many young mothers out there that have no idea how to cook number one nor do they know how to shop. Thank you for helping all these young ladies that are desperately in need. You're such a doll!
Both young and OLD mammas 😂 I'm 38....a single mum of 2 teenage girls... Who are very picky 😔 But I'm still getting tips from this lady Brooke every time I watch her ❤ I have the same mindset....use what U have to make it work 😊 We are fed and it seems the simplest 'meals' go down the best 😊
I like going to Dollar Tree and buy smoked sausage and the pepper & onion stir fry vegetables and rice to make a meal !!!! I cut up the sausage and the vegetables together until they are a tender and a little crusty, and serve it over rice .
'The cure for high prices, are high prices'. I don't pay full price for anything because I refuse to prop up the corporate profits creating high prices. Buy on sale (bogo if I can), buy generic, substitute something else. Prices will come down if no one will pay them.
Very good ideas! Ideas you can take and run with! I honestly hope our country never goes into a depression like the thirties. I am old enough to remember my grandmother and aunts and uncles talking about surviving the dust bowl. They did not have what people now refer to as food stuffs they had in their pantry. Mine had flour, potatoes and corn if they were able to grow them. My grandmother was part Cherokee; she would shuck the corn then lay it on the roof on material to dry. There were thirteen children, so life as extremely hard. One story that sticks in my mind was my grandfather worked on the WPA and asked my grandmother to send an extra biscuit in his lunch. A man he worked with only had potato peelings for lunch. He had his wife send the potatoes with his children for their lunch. I'm not trying to bring anyone down, but sometimes I don't think we understand the way it was then. I wouldn't have if I hadn't heard the stories first hand.
Amazing story . You are so right people now have no idea what the Great Depression was like. My parents were children in the 30’s and my mom said only one child in her grade school had a bicycle and another girl in my mother’s class only had one dress to wear to school. My parents were both fortunate as their respective fathers had jobs during the depression. They certainly weren’t rich but they weren’t dirt poor either. My mother always recycled buttons and zippers from clothes when they wore out … something she did from growing up in the 30’s. Waste not, want not.
Another great video!! The leftovers would make a great soup. Add some milk or powered coffee creamer, and thicken it a little with potato flakes. Chives if you have them. Even add a cut-up baked potato. (I make soup a lot. Uses leftovers, it's filling and cheap, and it's comfort food to the max. Brooke, I know you aren't wonderfully fond of soup. I'm not fond of tomato-based ones either, but chicken, beef, or cream-based soups are so good!)
Yes, and that's why it is so very important to hand down all those stories. My parents did that and it made all of us kids appreciate what we did get even though my father says we were very poor. With love 💕 children can succeed.❤❤
It's great seeing all your ideas . I was so poor when my son was little. Living in a travel trailer in a campground. I worked overtime when they'd let me . But $3.75 an hour wasn't much. I'd make earrings and sell them at work . $3 a pair . When I sold a few pairs I'd go get us some foods . NOW I still pride myself on making good frugal meals . I shop clearances and sales .
I grew up eating homemade macaroni-n-cheese with cut up hot dogs in it. I never knew we didn't have a lot of money until recently. Our bellies were always full and we were happy
Alexa, you are in my prayers as you struggle to put your life in order during this time. Don't forget to speak out specific needs to people, who will want to help but may not know how to do so specifically.
Thank you Brook, I am a single mom and we live paycheck to paycheck. I get so stressed when I have to go grocery shopping. Brook I am so grateful for all your videos
Since I don't eat hot dogs, I think I could substitute a can of drained chickpeas. I would roast the sweet potatoes until they are half done, add the drained veggies and chickpeas, season and roast until done. The mac and cheese would just be the other half of the meal. To save money, I would think I might just use some of the cooking water instead of milk and butter. Good job, Brooke!
I have been building up my food pantry for quite a while since getting the extra food stamps. Buying items that I couldn't usually afford. I was so proud of myself because I knew the extra stamps wouldn't last forever. I became ill and had to spend months off & on in the hospital. I have several little yorkie and yorkie mix dogs. My sister got this guy to take care of them. He robbed all my extra groceries didn't touch my generic food bank stuff just my stuff I bought extra. Now extra food stamps are over. Where I was getting $250 a month now I get $23 and that keeps me in milk and bread. But I found you and your $5 meals. What a life saver you are❤ Since finding you I have made lemonade out of lemons. Your outlook on life is so refreshing and I am forever grateful for finding you ❤❤❤
My kids (5) loved it when I made hot dogs and baked bean casserole with a side of Mac and Cheese. Fed 7 back in the day for $4. I did use milk and butter salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder. That was when store brand mac & cheese was 3 for $1 and store brand pork and beans were 3/$1.
I ate a ton of it in college! I made mac and cheese without milk or butter but I just thought it was funny so I’d laugh it off. I was so poor then that I’d eat a spoon of peanut butter for lunch. When I look back on those pics I look at thin and not healthy. I’m 5’3” and weighed 98 pounds
Re writing my previous comment since someone decided to put their 2 cents in without understanding my comment haha, my husband works for brookedale senior living(not a low income or assisted living facility)as a cook in their kitchen, he often brings home food that was leftover at the end of the day that otherwise would have been thrown away, it’s helped with our grocery budget at home(we do not live in the senior community,we are not senior citizens)
Here's one to try that I KNOW you will love... I don't know if you have them where you are, but here in Canada, whistle dogs are a treat! The secret to yummy on this is to heat up a pan and add bacon, leave the grease when it's done, add a bit of butter, then add shredded cheese to the pan (roughly as long as the bun and round) and be generous!, until it melts and crisps up brown on the bottom (on medium) ... when the cheese is ready, add the bacon back on top, add your cooked wiener (however you like to cook them),then remove from the pan by folding the cheese up around the wiener and bacon like a taco, and lift it onto your hot dog bun (toasted)... add whatever toppings you like!
No recession yet-- but companies are still price gouging. This content is so important especially for middle class which is getting a rude awakening. Those if us that have been poor just shrug and keep going. Thanks for all you do!
The whole time you were talking about the high prices I wanted to yell “stir the food Brooke”!!!😂😂😂. I saw on another channel where the lady stored her pasta water in the fridge during a budget challenge week @ used it to thicken all kinds of dishes during the week. It worked
The cost of food is dramatically higher than even 6 months ago. So very hard on families and those on a fixed income. Thanks for sharing this information ❤
That looked really good! I was definitely needing me a visit with you and your family today too. You don't know what your channel means to someone who looks forward to an upbeat and positive person with a family that loves and supports her. We don't all have that but your channel proves that it is possible. So thank you for that too! I can't wait for the next one. God bless all of you.
Brooke! (And all the people reading these comments!) I have a suggestion for an easy cheap meal to feed a family: Vigo red beans and rice! It comes in a red bag, usually in the foreign foods aisle of the grocery store, and it is DELICIOUS. All you need is water, you can make it on the stove OR in the microwave in abt 25 minutes! I don't have a stove at the moment, so I make it in the microwave and add whatever leftover cooked meat or veggies I have in the last 5 minutes. There are endless possibilities if you do have a stove, you could sautee any veggies and meat you like in the pot then add the beans and rice. Adding diced potatoes bulks it up a lot, I've done it with canned potatoes and with frozen hashbrowns. My local store often has them on sale 2/$4 and I get a couple to stock up because it is our FAVORITE way to use up leftover chicken, shrimp, sausage--WHATEVER!
I also find it easy to just put squash (any kind--including acorn or pumpkin) and/or sweet potatoes in the slow cooker--skins still on--and a small amount of water (for steam and to keep from sticking to the pot) and put on high for 4 hours--after cooking, the skins (for both potatoes and squash) will literally come off in your hands--you don't even have to skin them or cut them up before cooking--easy peasy...then after the skins are off, season up and eat...dts/usa
I got Kraft Mac and cheese 10 packs of boxes for $1.50!!! At my meijers last month. I bought like 16, 10 packs. So we have Mac and cheese for days. Whenever someone comes over I’m like here, take a box of Mac and cheese home with you.
This was a great meal,pick. You used lots of veggies and those sweet potatoes, which have great nutrition. Brooke, you’re doing a fantastic job with these $5 meals. Debi in Vicksburg, MS. 🥰🥰
Your $5.00 dinner looked great Brooke ! I’ll bet you could use 2-3 pks of ramen noodles ( i love ramen noodles in dishes and use them often ) with the seasoning packets snd powdered Parmesan and some of the water you cooked ramen in and frozen stir fry veggie mix and have a totally different taste that would be delicious also and still use the sautéed hot dogs ! God bless ❤️🙏🙋🏻🌈🌈
Mac n cheese and hot dogs was the first meal I figured out how to cook (at eleven) for my sister and dad after mom moved out. My hints - garlic powder in the noodle water adds something and makes the house smell yummy. Then add the pasta water (milk and butter on a good day) and the powder to the hot dog pot before the noodles and bring it to just the barest boil, it will thicken up a lot more and be extra creamy. Keep extra pasta water handy to add as it boils and thickens. THEN put in the noodles once you have a nice thick sauce.
Always a pleasure to watch your videos! You are a light in a dark world. Let your light shine. I love how you point out your mistakes then immediately say " it's ok". "It's still going to be good". Love you, love your family.
Our Kroger carries smoked hotdogs called Smokies. Smoked sausage flavor at a hotdog price. I am eating a dinner of Smokies, roasted veg, and baked rice while I am watching this.😁
Brooke you really are a blessing to so many….im a household of 1 now that my hubby has gone home so I’ve been cutting my packs of hotdogs into two dogs per package and making my meals like that. I can make a pack of hotdogs last 4-5 meals and do this with everything possible. You have showed me so much Thank you
Love that you have that memory of your Mam-maw and raw sweet potatoes! One of my favorite memories with my Mam-maw is helping her snap fresh green beans on her porch swing. I miss those days! 🥰❤
Snapping beans is a memory of mine too, both hearing the family stories and feelings heard and listening to what was on each person's mind was so special.
Your emergency meal videos have been so inspiring to me! I started making them for my food storage and have been amazed that most of them can be made for $5 or less. One night I didn't have time to make dinner, so I had my 7 year old daughter to go pick a bag and start making it. I thought she'd need a lot of help, but she did almost all of it by herself! I was so excited 😂 thanks for inspiring me!!
I always love how you share recipes that we can adjust to our own dietary preferences and budget. ♥♥♥ I can't get enough of you proving your husband wrong. 😂😂😂
You are so awesome ❤ I grew up eating in poverty also,my grandparents on both sides grew up in the depression and so I try to remember all that they taught me growing up, you help remind me of things from long ago,and I am greatful for your tips,because of the past few years and the the economy, thank you, I'm a huge fan of yours for a few years now, and I will continue to be, till the end!! Peace and God Bless Always to you and your beautiful family ❤
Instead of hotdogs you could use tuna, or chicken, ground beef. Vegetables could be peas, carrots, or peppers. Bake a loaf of bread. Apple wedges, fried with butter, sugar and cinnamon for dessert.
That's a great idea. It's just my husband and me now so one box of mac & cheese and we'd probably get one of those cheap rope sausages and probably use half of it. I remember when my kids were little and we were trying to feed them we would go to the store and buy one big can of chili and a box of macaroni and cheese and mix it together and make a chili Mac for them. They actually liked it.
3 packets of knorr chicken fried rice 2 of those dollar 🌲 morel polish sausage and soy sauce my boys and family of 6 love it ❤ cut up fry the sausages place to side make the rice put the sausage back in and let them at their own soy to their own it’s delicious 👍$6 stir fry fills the whole family 😊could do more or less depending on family size add broccoli or veg in or on side very filling and cheap
That’s a great one! On the weeks is just two of us…split in half, that’s crazy cheap! I always tell people about the family depression meal we love that was passed down from my great grandmother. We fry the hot dogs the same way but make a tomato gravy and eat it over rice.
Hi Brooke! A bit of info that might interest someone. Costco in Australia sell the pre-ground beef they use in a box of 2 x 10kg, 90 to 10% vacuumed packs for the same cost as the ground beef. You get the versatility of cutting it how you would like, slow roasts, stew chunks, grinding it, canning, freezing it etc. I know its expensive up front, and you would need to do the math. I'm sure they would sell 1 x 10kg single pack? You need to ask the butcher for it. From what I have seen it looks like lovely meat and big pieces. Im pretty sure they could open a pack before they make their ground beef to let you see. Obviously this is an Aussie price, and may not be worth it up your way. Not sure what the weights they sell it are there. Its just a a thought, as I said, and may help/ interest someone.
My favorite stove burner is the front right. The burner on the left is powered differently and I have a hard time adjusting the heat. It is designed to heat a large pot quickly and just says simmer, low, medium and high while the other burners have numbered settings.
😮😮 I never thought to eat a sweet potato raw! I grew up eating regular ol russet potatoes raw lol my grandma would be chopping them up and I’d sneak up and take some 😂 sometimes I’d add a sprinkle of salt in my hand and eat it like that. People think I’m crazy 💁🏼♀️
Brooke I made your breakfast sandwiches! You had done frozen waffles with sausages and eggs! I did pancakes,spam,and eggs and my guy's went wild for it!! Thanks and going to make the spam rice seaweed wrapped around it my grown kids love so gotta make them!! I'm Janell from Calif and Thank you for the encouragement and telling people to be kind!! We're all In this together!! See ya next video!!
Brooke, I'm loving the grey hair! It is a multi-colored grey, and it looks wonderful on you. I'm going grey on my sides (better grey than gone), and I love it as well. Confidence helps, and you have it for days! Be well.
Thank you Brooke for cheering us on and showing us that it’s possible to eat good in this horrible economy!!! You are amazing and inspirational! The boys are all getting so big!!!! Love to you and your beautiful family!!! 💕🙏🏻🌸☀️💕
I loved the smoked sausage you suggested a while back it was the cheap one I think you got it at the dollar tree but at Walmart it was about the same price and it was so good ! I fixed it with fried Brussel sprouts , peppers, onions and fried potatoes it was awesome!
Try looking up recipes from Forks Over Knives online. I don’t have any affiliation with them, but I used their recipes for a few years for my own health. The recipes are vegan and low-sugar, and I believe most are gluten free as well. They should fit all of your criteria and are pretty affordable because there is no meat, dairy, etc, which tend to be the most expensive items at the store.
Large Corporations own the food manufacturing plants and they are raking in huge profits while they grossly inflate prices to consumers. Hopefully, this will be revealed and will end up reducing pricing. One can hope.
Love how your family lives how you cook another good meal to fix is hotdogs and baked beans or I love making a couple of potatoes and just open a can of green beans so many ways to feed your family on a budget love you and your family and always be kind and humble love you
Baked beans and hotdogs sliced and baked in the oven with baked potatoes on the side butter the skins of the potatoes make for a delicious dinner.. 😊 we grew up on one pot homemade cooking.. my mom could make anything from hardly nothing.. then dip your crispy potato skins in ketchup 😋 yummy
I had that wouldn't rise very high I put them on a cookie sheet flatten them out cover the dough with peso Brown a pound of Italian sausage with some Italian tomatoes and threw in some Capers to put that over the top of the dough then covered with cheese looks good smells good I'm going to take it out of the oven now
Go Kylen, go Kylen! I love to open my computer and see our bestie posted. I love you, Brooke! You are fun, you are positive, a savings genius and you show love everyone. Great meal. I would love it. Thank you and be blessed always, my Southerland Squad! xoxo
Just joined your channel, I’m definitely on a budget like most of us. I’m not a creative cook, I like seeing different meals that are easy to make and budget friendly.
Beans are a great meal stretcher, and healthy, here in the Central Valley of California we still have a variety, and shelves stay stocked so far no empty shelves.
My Mom and the lady who would later become my MIL made that when my husband and I were young. They also used home canned green beans in it or mixed vegetables.
