I think your videos are so important during these really difficult financial times to be able to eat on a budget.When my son was little we got most of our food from pantrys. Trying to make something out of nothing and make it last.
Hi, this is why I keep extra rice, pasta,lentils, and canned tomatoes in the house. I'm able to stretch a little of anything into meals for all of us without shopping. It's cold in Chicago in January. Tina, Al's wife
I am East Texan and we always have a surplus of eggplant so when I was little I grew up on southern fried eggplant battered like a chicken fried steak… no peel because it tends to come off in a ring in your mouth lol
Oh and my $3 bean soup ended up yielding 10 servings. I ended up being home last week not feeling well, probably due to the winds and fires in nearby LA county. With the extras I used fancy it up like broiling 3 corn tortillas into chips and adding a little lettuce to make a taco salad or the small corn bread I made to stretch it out from 9 to 10 servings it probably cost me $4. Thank you for your fine inspiration. Cuz being home and sick I didn’t feel like cooking so having a crockpot full of soup made my sick days easier to endure
Everything looks so good, will try making the wraps & casserole - great idea on using a slice of eggplant in a wrap...budget ideas are always wonderful especially now with grocery prices so high...Thank You for your videos.
Wow, 50c cilantro, it's over $3 a bunch here. Everything looked good. The casserole looked like a nice filling meal. Always love the random few green beans you get. Have a good week Michelle
You and those in need on YT inspired me to think of eating 21 meals for $5. Seems impossible. Here are my choices: 16oz of 16 bean soup with flavoring $1.99 2lbs brown rice $1.64 Choose one: 1lb bag baby carrots 🥕, 12oz frozen spinach, 2 cans of corn or green beans or peas, or stewed/diced tomatoes. This equals $5 or less. I chose the 16 bean mix because between all the different types of beans you get complete nutrition. The beans + rice equals = protein, carbs. Add in veggies. Between the rice and beans you get 24 meals/servings. Add in the veggies and you have a more hardy portion.
Hi Michelle! You never fail to come up with amazing, delicious & and nutricious things on such a small budget. Your creativity is out of this world!Kudos to you! Another idea to try with the eggplant is vegan meatballs. I bet with the lentils & eggplant you already have would be perfect for them.
Thank you. I made your bagels recipe using Greek yogurt today, and because I put in a Tbsp of water before reading that water wasn’t necessary, I ended up making drop biscuits. They’re delicious and will keep making them that way just because it was so easy.
One pound of minced beef or lamb or chicken. One chopped onion and one can of cream of mushroom soup ,fry onion in nonstick pan add meat break up with a fork lastltly add soup and simmer on low until meat is cooked , serve with toast enjoy. Cheers from Aussie 🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘
The lentil wraps look so great. I’ve made some from chickpea flour. But never from red lentils. I love red lentils. I’m not able to eat egg plant anymore 😩 cuz my mouth loves the taste of egg plant. My stomach just gets very upset when I eat it. But I’m sure there are a million things I could put in it. A friend of mine puts a little peanut butter in his hummus instead of tahini. It’s not bad. Give it the right texture snd the flavor is not hugely different. I love the idea of your casserole
I used to go to a store that sold really good hummus and packs of pita bread. Next to the hummus was a similar item. I don’t remember the name of it, but the main ingredient in it was eggplant.
@@ArdentMichellelook up "pisto manchego". A very basic dish from Spain. Slice and salt the eggplant, let it set. Then bread it, fry slices. In same pan saute onion, garlic, and I can't remember if there are green peppers in there or not. I think it takes 5-6 tomatoes, peeled and seeded. You add those in, the fried eggplant back in, some herbs, let it all cook down (the tomatoes will break up). Pine nuts over top. Serve over rice. Manchego means it comes come La Mancha, so there are probably other types of pisto. I suspect it's one of those ditches that is sort of like a kitchen sink type of dish where you can add in pretty much anything you have on hand. For some reason, eggplant stays with you longer than other veggie dishes, you don't get so hungry right away. There's also a dressing that you can make for broiled eggplant slices. It has smoked paprika vinegar and oil and I can't remember what else. If you want me to I can go dig it out of my recipe box and let you know what's in it and the amounts.
Such amazing ideas to use such little amounts of very healthy food! One thing that helps with garbanzo beans is to cook them longer so that the sheath around outside of beans will come off when rubbed together in water.
@@ArdentMichelle When you rub the little jackets off they will rise to top of water and discard. Those little jackets mess with the texture. Marys at Mary's Nest suggested this in her video on how to make hummus and it makes a world of difference!
I’m popping in early on this video before I see what you’ve made but I kind of remember a recipe from long ago when I was growing up where the eggplant slices were flowered and fried and then became like the outside of a sandwich with a filling inside and they were quite delicious
Yes they do this all the time with Indian cooking, I make a sort of samosa with it using cooked potatoes diced small, onions, peas in a spicy curry sauce and made a yogurt based dipping sauce with a lot of garlic.
wow, you really know how to stretch a dollar :) :) but, these meals just are not cheep meals, they are delicious and satisfying, so many great ideas :)
I wonder if adding a bit of breadcrumb/oil mixture to the top of the casserole might have made for a nice satisfyingly crispy topping. Oh, I just saw you sort of got that result anyway.
I always found I disliked purple eggplant because of its bitterness even when treated with salt. When I started to grow it I found I loved green white and yellow varieties. Couldn't get enough of them never bitter and never needed a salt treatment 🤷♀️
I love eggplant parmesan, baba ganoush, and you could do a ratatouille with eggplant. Doesn't eggplant feature heavily in middle eastern cuisine too? Have you ever considered using tomato flavored chicken bullion? I use it all the time when I want that tomato flavor but maybe don't want to open tomato paste or sauce. It's not perfect but did a decent job of giving the did a little more flavor.
Good morning Michelle, I am always totally amazed by what you can do with under $5. I haven't been a fan of eggplant in the past but its been probably about 10+ years so I may have to try it again, they say your tastes changes as time goes by. That casserole looked so delicious, I am a total fan of lentils and chickpeas and your spice blend sounded amazing. Have a great week. Charlotte
My favorite way to eat eggplant is in an Asian dish with Thai basil, but it's literally the only way I've ever cooked eggplant up to this point. I think you should try it from a restaurant in the Asian dish first. 😂 then tell hubby he has to eat it if you don't like it. Make sure he orders something you want to eat!
@@ArdentMichelleI went to Google and Food Network had 48 idea recipes for eggplant, some looked pretty good. The first recipe I try I will get back to you on how it tasted. I will try your recipe too. It may take awhile.......to " be continued"
I've often wondered when the cashiers see you coming if they marvel over how little you spend on your groceries over the average customer. Do they know you present a budget-conscious UA-cam cooking show?
When I go to the Hispanic market I rarely spend more than 5 bucks but it's always like 1 lime , a couple of jalapeños usually 1 red and 1 green, a roma tomato or two, an orange, cilantro, some beans. Sometimes, they have those little Japanese eggplants. An onion and a small head of cabbage. Usually it would be either the eggplant or the cabbage if I'm trying to keep it under $5. These things are to supplement what I have at home but, yes, I do sometimes get funny looks.
@ArdentMichelle 😅 more publicity for your channel! I mentioned your channel in comments over at Jimmy K (his beans in spaghetti sauce), and other viewers found me there to back me up!
I wonder if she gets the same reaction I get when I go to the hardware store and buy one washer and 2 screws for a total of 6 cents. And then there’s the look when I ask for help in finding my 1 washer and 2 screws. 😂
I love eggplant!! I batter and fry it and it’s better than fried chicken! Lentils are so versatile and I love them made into meatballs. I hope you’re having a good weekend Michelle!! I live in VA and we’re getting ready for some nasty very cold weather. It’s supposed to be around 10 degrees during the night and 20 during the day. 😢. I despise cold weather!! I had to come back and say this… I’m weird in the way that I associate certain flavors with certain kinds of dishes such as cilantro with Mexican inspired food. I don’t know that I would like it in any other dishes. Is that weird?😂.
All of thise look really good! Today, I'm making enchiladas with some cottage cheese mixed into the filling with spinach and cheddar jack cheese. Hope you have a good week.
Trader Joe’s has a spicy red lentil wrap ready meal. My daughter loves it. It has a sauce she dips it in and I’m not sure what’s inside. She’s vegetarian so maybe more lentils with spice…not sure.
You sorta made a creative Moussaka. Lentils and tomatoes instead of meat sauce and garbanzo sauce instead of bechamel. I make traditional moussaka and it lasts two of us three days.
My family used to make eggplant parmagian and fried eggplant with white gravy, and fried tomatoes with white gravy. I can't eat that. I'm alle4gic to nightshade vegetables..
If you had a sweet potato instead of a regular potato there is a Moroccan dish my friend makes that is delicious and I think you have most of the ingredients
Michelle, WOW! That spice mis looks AMAZING! I'm not fond of eggplant but I love zucchini and I am looking forward to making this dish. It looks soooo good! And those wraps! I cannot wait to make those. I buy the Keto wraps from Sam's because they are healthy but yours looks so good and so easy to make. I always look forward to your videos because you make it look so easy to make and you use most of the ingredients that I love. Thank you!!!💖❤
This is so inspiring!
glad you think so!
I just started watching your channel. I love the fact you never have annoying background music! Your dishes are ingenious. Thank you for sharing.
I think your videos are so important during these really difficult financial times to be able to eat on a budget.When my son was little we got most of our food from pantrys. Trying to make something out of nothing and make it last.
Thanks so much 😁
Hi, this is why I keep extra rice, pasta,lentils, and canned tomatoes in the house. I'm able to stretch a little of anything into meals for all of us without shopping. It's cold
in Chicago in January. Tina, Al's wife
WOW! You alway amaze me with your creativity. I never know where you are taking us with the ingredients you start with. I always enjoy your videos.
Thanks so much 💜
Yes, I’m amazed at the chickpea crust!
Eggplant "fries." Dip in egg or water and roll in panko and bake. Comes out cripsy outside and creamy inside.
CRAAAZZY healthy AND budget friendly! 5 meals for $3.00🤯🤯 Looks delicious too❤❤❤
I am East Texan and we always have a surplus of eggplant so when I was little I grew up on southern fried eggplant battered like a chicken fried steak… no peel because it tends to come off in a ring in your mouth lol
would love to try it that way!
The prices where you live are so fantastic. Grocery prices are so high here in Mississippi.
I love your attention to detail in keeping within your parameters and showing exactly what you use from the store and your pantry!
Oh and my $3 bean soup ended up yielding 10 servings. I ended up being home last week not feeling well, probably due to the winds and fires in nearby LA county. With the extras I used fancy it up like broiling 3 corn tortillas into chips and adding a little lettuce to make a taco salad or the small corn bread I made to stretch it out from 9 to 10 servings it probably cost me $4. Thank you for your fine inspiration. Cuz being home and sick I didn’t feel like cooking so having a crockpot full of soup made my sick days easier to endure
Oh wow - how did you make your $3 bean soup!?? Can you share the recipe?
Michelle, your creativity with minimal but delicious ingredients is amazing and inspiring. Always, thank you.
The lentil wraps looks delicious 😋
A culinary wizard!
awe...thanks! 💜
I really enjoy all lentils. I'm still working on my taste for chickpeas. you always make them look so good.
Everything looks so good, will try making the wraps & casserole - great idea on using a slice of eggplant in a wrap...budget ideas are always wonderful especially now with grocery prices so high...Thank You for your videos.
Wow, 50c cilantro, it's over $3 a bunch here. Everything looked good. The casserole looked like a nice filling meal. Always love the random few green beans you get. Have a good week Michelle
You and those in need on YT inspired me to think of eating 21 meals for $5. Seems impossible. Here are my choices:
16oz of 16 bean soup with flavoring $1.99
2lbs brown rice $1.64
Choose one: 1lb bag baby carrots 🥕, 12oz frozen spinach, 2 cans of corn or green beans or peas, or stewed/diced tomatoes.
This equals $5 or less. I chose the 16 bean mix because between all the different types of beans you get complete nutrition. The beans + rice equals = protein, carbs. Add in veggies. Between the rice and beans you get 24 meals/servings. Add in the veggies and you have a more hardy portion.
I was so impressed. Eggplant is my favorite vegetable. It is so versatile. Have a good week
I'm going to start buying it more. I ran out of time on this video. I forgot to say how much I liked it just roasted. I plan to buy this more often.
I'd love more ideas.I make a delicious eggplant Parmesan but that's about it.
I am really glad you made these lentil wraps. I’ve been curious about them.
Hi Michelle! You never fail to come up with amazing, delicious & and nutricious things on such a small budget. Your creativity is out of this world!Kudos to you! Another idea to try with the eggplant is vegan meatballs. I bet with the lentils & eggplant you already have would be perfect for them.
I just got an eggplant yesterday. I was thinking eggplant parmesan again, but your recipes look tasty, Now I'll have to decide.
that sounds delicious too!
In college, I worked at a place that had crispy parmesan eggplant and green bean fries, served with a lemon garlic aioli. To die for!
Eggplant parmesan was the only dish I remember from my childhood made with eggplant.
Wonderful ideas, once again!
Thank you. I made your bagels recipe using Greek yogurt today, and because I put in a Tbsp of water before reading that water wasn’t necessary, I ended up making drop biscuits. They’re delicious and will keep making them that way just because it was so easy.
I am always amazed at how far you can stretch items. You must buy from a store that sells items that regrow what you cut off ;)
Eggplant is good with egfs for breakfast
You're a creative genius❤
One pound of minced beef or lamb or chicken. One chopped onion and one can of cream of mushroom soup ,fry onion in nonstick pan add meat break up with a fork lastltly add soup and simmer on low until meat is cooked , serve with toast enjoy. Cheers from Aussie 🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘
I can’t wait for the eggplant enchiladas😋
The lentil wraps look so great. I’ve made some from chickpea flour. But never from red lentils. I love red lentils. I’m not able to eat egg plant anymore 😩 cuz my mouth loves the taste of egg plant. My stomach just gets very upset when I eat it. But I’m sure there are a million things I could put in it. A friend of mine puts a little peanut butter in his hummus instead of tahini. It’s not bad. Give it the right texture snd the flavor is not hugely different. I love the idea of your casserole
Your creativity always amazes me! I am going to give a few of these a try-especially your casserole as I love all of those ingredients. :)
Thanks so much! I hope you love it! 😊
You are a magician !!
I used to go to a store that sold really good hummus and packs of pita bread. Next to the hummus was a similar item. I don’t remember the name of it, but the main ingredient in it was eggplant.
A great way to use eggplant is like a zucchini boat. You just use the eggplant as a boat instead of zucchini. It makes a great change up
great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Work well in Indian style curries, too.
@@ArdentMichellelook up "pisto manchego". A very basic dish from Spain.
Slice and salt the eggplant, let it set. Then bread it, fry slices. In same pan saute onion, garlic, and I can't remember if there are green peppers in there or not. I think it takes 5-6 tomatoes, peeled and seeded. You add those in, the fried eggplant back in, some herbs, let it all cook down (the tomatoes will break up). Pine nuts over top. Serve over rice.
Manchego means it comes come La Mancha, so there are probably other types of pisto. I suspect it's one of those ditches that is sort of like a kitchen sink type of dish where you can add in pretty much anything you have on hand. For some reason, eggplant stays with you longer than other veggie dishes, you don't get so hungry right away.
There's also a dressing that you can make for broiled eggplant slices. It has smoked paprika vinegar and oil and I can't remember what else. If you want me to I can go dig it out of my recipe box and let you know what's in it and the amounts.
I'm learning how to use cabbage, which I've never used before. Someone gave me some, and I'm not letting them go to waste!😂
Great video! So creative and well done with the lentil wraps! If it was my first time making them, I’m sure it would have been a giant mess. 😂
Thank you! 😂 I'm sure my next ones will look better!
@ I think they looked fantastic!
Such amazing ideas to use such little amounts of very healthy food!
One thing that helps with garbanzo beans is to cook them longer so that the sheath around outside of beans will come off when rubbed together in water.
I was thinking that I might not have cooked them long enough!
@@ArdentMichelle When you rub the little jackets off they will rise to top of water and discard. Those little jackets mess with the texture. Marys at Mary's Nest suggested this in her video on how to make hummus and it makes a world of difference!
I’m popping in early on this video before I see what you’ve made but I kind of remember a recipe from long ago when I was growing up where the eggplant slices were flowered and fried and then became like the outside of a sandwich with a filling inside and they were quite delicious
I am going to try the lentil wraps! Could work well for my mom who needs to eat gluten free and vegetarian!
l Never thought you could make wraps with just lentils will be trying this inspirational cooking
Yes they do this all the time with Indian cooking, I make a sort of samosa with it using cooked potatoes diced small, onions, peas in a spicy curry sauce and made a yogurt based dipping sauce with a lot of garlic.
The cilantro was the best bang for the price nutrition wise
I feel like some people would think I shouldn't have picked that up....but it was good and like you say, very nutritious!
Oh yes! We are totally Team Cilantro!
Eggplant with marinara is delicious! You can also sub it for any pasta. It’s especially good in Italian dishes.
Looks delicious!!
wow, you really know how to stretch a dollar :) :) but, these meals just are not cheep meals, they are delicious and satisfying, so many great ideas :)
I wonder if adding a bit of breadcrumb/oil mixture to the top of the casserole might have made for a nice satisfyingly crispy topping. Oh, I just saw you sort of got that result anyway.
I was actually thinking that also 👍 would have made it extra crispy!
I always found I disliked purple eggplant because of its bitterness even when treated with salt. When I started to grow it I found I loved green white and yellow varieties. Couldn't get enough of them never bitter and never needed a salt treatment 🤷♀️
My mom served stuffed like you do zucchini’s or slice it and coat and fry them. They’re good those ways.
I love eggplant parmesan, baba ganoush, and you could do a ratatouille with eggplant. Doesn't eggplant feature heavily in middle eastern cuisine too?
Have you ever considered using tomato flavored chicken bullion? I use it all the time when I want that tomato flavor but maybe don't want to open tomato paste or sauce. It's not perfect but did a decent job of giving the did a little more flavor.
Yes, I do have that bouillon. I'm going to make it a point to keep buying the eggplant and trying all the dishes you mentioned
Good morning Michelle, I am always totally amazed by what you can do with under $5. I haven't been a fan of eggplant in the past but its been probably about 10+ years so I may have to try it again, they say your tastes changes as time goes by. That casserole looked so delicious, I am a total fan of lentils and chickpeas and your spice blend sounded amazing. Have a great week. Charlotte
My favorite way to eat eggplant is in an Asian dish with Thai basil, but it's literally the only way I've ever cooked eggplant up to this point. I think you should try it from a restaurant in the Asian dish first. 😂 then tell hubby he has to eat it if you don't like it. Make sure he orders something you want to eat!
@@ArdentMichelleI went to Google and Food Network had 48 idea recipes for eggplant, some looked pretty good. The first recipe I try I will get back to you on how it tasted. I will try your recipe too. It may take awhile.......to " be continued"
I've often wondered when the cashiers see you coming if they marvel over how little you spend on your groceries over the average customer. Do they know you present a budget-conscious UA-cam cooking show?
😂 I have felt the need to occasionally mention it....especially during those times where they look at me strangely for buying 1 or 2 green beans 😂
When I go to the Hispanic market I rarely spend more than 5 bucks but it's always like 1 lime , a couple of jalapeños usually 1 red and 1 green, a roma tomato or two, an orange, cilantro, some beans. Sometimes, they have those little Japanese eggplants. An onion and a small head of cabbage.
Usually it would be either the eggplant or the cabbage if I'm trying to keep it under $5. These things are to supplement what I have at home but, yes, I do sometimes get funny looks.
@ArdentMichelle 😅 more publicity for your channel! I mentioned your channel in comments over at Jimmy K (his beans in spaghetti sauce), and other viewers found me there to back me up!
Ive seen your $1 challenges so you should be able to prepare a feast with $3 ❤️😁
I wonder if she gets the same reaction I get when I go to the hardware store and buy one washer and 2 screws for a total of 6 cents. And then there’s the look when I ask for help in finding my 1 washer and 2 screws. 😂
I love eggplant!! I batter and fry it and it’s better than fried chicken! Lentils are so versatile and I love them made into meatballs. I hope you’re having a good weekend Michelle!! I live in VA and we’re getting ready for some nasty very cold weather. It’s supposed to be around 10 degrees during the night and 20 during the day. 😢. I despise cold weather!! I had to come back and say this… I’m weird in the way that I associate certain flavors with certain kinds of dishes such as cilantro with Mexican inspired food. I don’t know that I would like it in any other dishes. Is that weird?😂.
a woman after my own heart, "better than fried chicken!" 😂 and brrr........it sounds cold! I don't much like the cold either.
@@ArdentMichelleI love fried veggies of any kind!! I’d much rather have them than any kind of meat!!
All of thise look really good! Today, I'm making enchiladas with some cottage cheese mixed into the filling with spinach and cheddar jack cheese.
Hope you have a good week.
I used to eat a similar dish frequently...but now I can't have cottage cheese. Sounds delicious!
@ArdentMichelle oh, I'm so sorry.
Trader Joe’s has a spicy red lentil wrap ready meal. My daughter loves it. It has a sauce she dips it in and I’m not sure what’s inside. She’s vegetarian so maybe more lentils with spice…not sure.
You sorta made a creative Moussaka. Lentils and tomatoes instead of meat sauce and garbanzo sauce instead of bechamel. I make traditional moussaka and it lasts two of us three days.
I would love to try the traditional recipe sometime.
❤
My family used to make eggplant parmagian and fried eggplant with white gravy, and fried tomatoes with white gravy. I can't eat that. I'm alle4gic to nightshade vegetables..
5 for $3! Wow!
If you had a sweet potato instead of a regular potato there is a Moroccan dish my friend makes that is delicious and I think you have most of the ingredients
have i tried the egg plant in a moussaka ? or Lasagna ? delicious if you get to try it out
Michelle, WOW! That spice mis looks AMAZING! I'm not fond of eggplant but I love zucchini and I am looking forward to making this dish. It looks soooo good! And those wraps! I cannot wait to make those. I buy the Keto wraps from Sam's because they are healthy but yours looks so good and so easy to make. I always look forward to your videos because you make it look so easy to make and you use most of the ingredients that I love. Thank you!!!💖❤
Great job Michelle 🎉🤩🥳😍
Thanks so much! 💜
What store is this?
Are food prices already being impacted your budgets since the fires?
I don't think so....because none of the agricultural areas burned, but I could be wrong.
@@ArdentMichellethat is good!
allergic**