Shared this with a child who is struggling. This is why we decided to give each child a half a pig this year instead of a bunch of stuff they don’t really need.
When my now ex husband left me and our 3 kids in 2000 I got to be a master at meal planning. I had always cooked mostly from scratch but I really doubled down on it. I made a 30 day menu based on what I had in my pantry, freezer, and things I had canned.. I shopped sales to replace what I used. Every Friday was homemade pizza and my kids friends loved to be invited to eat with us because their moms only ever ordered pizza out....one of them even had a grandpa that owed a pizza place! Anyway, I learned that when I said what do I feel like eating meant I wasn't really hungry because when I am truly hunger whatever I cooked tasted delicious! I weighed 325 pounds at 5' tall and lost 125 of it, mostly through low carb eating and walking for an hour each day. Great ideas as always Lisa!
I use to be 267 I am now 169 5’5 my garden which I grow 10 months out of the year kicks my tail but I eat healthy now cook from what I grow, can, dehydrate and once a year I raise meat chics and fish from lake down the road, yes I buy stew meat when on sale and can it up same with roast. It has made me so much more healthier. Doesn’t mean I don’t struggle to pay my lights or water because in winter I am usually cut down to 2 days a week if lucky as I work road construction which is grueling in Texas summer heat . I retire next year in June , I am oldest person on the construction crew and a woman but I hang in there then come home to work in garden because if I didn’t winter would be harsher than our Texas sun. Probably why my weight loss happens even though I still eat potato chips 😂
Put a Tupperware container in your freezer. I dump my extra leftover veggies and meat into the container. When it gets full, I make soups and stews out of it. No waste, no want. You can add beans rice or lintel. Sometimes, I add barley. Split peas are another option.
@@voodooqueen322 I do this too. Also I save the leafy ends of celery, the ends of onions and carrots and throw them in a baggie in the freezer for making roasted bone broths. I come from a family of 9 and my mother always made from scratch dinners that were delicious ❤️
I keep 2 different containers in my freezer. One is labeled for chicken and the other beef. So, I decide which vegetables would go good in either one of the containers. I usually end up with 3 or 4 containers and when I have 2 full containers for the beef or chicken, I will fix them. I call them my Hodge Podge stew. Sometimes, I may add something a little extra in, like rice or pasta.
Lentils are amazing! I cut my ground beef with green lentils 50/50 and no-one ever notices. It saves me money, stretches that meat, and adds protein and fiber!
I just recently got turned onto lentils - love them! I knew of their nutritional value but never thought to cut meat with them~ Thanks for the tip!! 🖤🦋🦇
@@oldwomanC6I didn’t even know black lentils existed. They’re now on my shopping list. Meatless tacos are my favorite, a meal made with friends growing up.
Last summer I started going to a local food pantry. Within 2 months I was volunteering there and have now been there over a year. I'm 57 and I'm usually the youngest person working. Please go volunteer! Many Blessings from Deborah in West Virginia!
@@JoyfullyOrangeDeborah i don't know about the food banks in WV but here, extras about to spoil, outdated stuff, and are tossing - tje workers and volunteers can take home: as much as they want. I knew someone who took as many bananas as she could load in her car at the end of the week; else they were going intonthe dumpster. Some weeks pretty much everything went into in-ground compost piles. Other weeks she salvaged what she could at varying stages of ripeness. And some weeks she was calling friends, family and neighbors to come take as much as they wanted; not needed, not could do with, but wanted beyond thier dreams. What she did hot ta,e was headed to the dumpster. She often took "aged" bread products. If they were rock hard she made bread crumbs; she had a lot of bread crumbs. r
When my nephew died, leaving a young wife with 4 small children, his wife started going to a food bank. Then she and the kids volunteered. She is now the director of it and 2 of the 4 kids have gone into non-profit management and also manage food banks. Of the other 2 - one is currently in college, the other still in high school.
I am also in my seventies and give my little grand-daughter children's cook books and ingredients, her own equipment for cooking and gardening, she thinks it is fun. She loves to visit Grandma and pick tomatoes for her tea. This year, I will give her seeds to start her own herb garden, and sprout seeds to grow in the kitchen.
Eat to live rather than live to eat. I save so much money on food by not snacking at all. Also I alternate days as to how many meals I eat. I always skip breakfast. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I inly eat one meal. On Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday I eat lunch and supper. All my meals are from scratch and most of them are from things I grew in my garden plus the meat I buy. I do not eat any processed food. I can, freeze and dehydrate food for my pantry. Besides saving money on food it helped me reverse my type two diabetes which I had for 20 plus years. No more meds needed and I’m half the size I was. I’m healthy now.
I learned scrap soup from my mother-in-law. If there are 3 grains of rice leftover they go into a Ziplock bag and in the freezer it goes. ANYTHING leftover goes in that bag then when the bag is full it goes into a pot and we have scrap soup. Lol It actually turns out good. Nothing goes to waste.
I discovered your channel a few weeks ago and you are so inspiring, and uplifting. I am a single Mum in the middle of no where. We milk our cow and grow our food. No job (my property and family are my job), and no government handouts. I make about $50 A MONTH from selling a few eggs to neighbours. But we have never gone hungry. Buying in bulk is key, preserving and storing. Sometimes I do feel discouraged - it is a lot of work for 1 adult, and that is what I struggle with. Especially as everyone around me (neighbors) think I'm nuts, and constantly tell me so! I would love to do a BIG shop more than once a year. But you have re invigorated my resolve. Thank you. 🙂
You can do anything if you truly want to I was on my own with 2 small children and I at 1st panicked because I literally had no money but when you are in that situation you have to sort it out for your children because you don't have a choice. The problem with some people is they don't want to try to sort it out they seem to be under the impression that they are better, and that's where the problems lie. You sound like you are doing a good job.
We are struggling ( family of 5 usually 6 but daughter been in hospital nearly all of the last 8 weeks) me and grandchildren ,very little income,even less currently as I have the 8 week old baby 7 til 7 weekdays so I've had to cut back my online work. Living on noodles,rice,beans,and our lovely fresh eggs ,,but did score a good sized chicken for the weekend, also a friend filled fridge with fresh veggies ( have used all my canned products in last 4 months and garden was a disaster last season) we had chicken dinner,then all the leftovers including the gravy and chopped up roast potatoes made an incredible gallon of soup! That one chicken will feed us all for at least 4 days,and still have a big red cabbage and 2 heads of broccoli, plus potatoes and onions..we are blessed! Hoping my daughter continues to improve and gets home late this week..so I can get back to work properly!
I used to hate meal planning, but now I love it. I have cut our monthly grocery bill by nearly 80% with meal planning, cooking from scratch, and batch cooking. We also eat much better than when we were spending so much more on groceries before. It took a long time, but I am finally totally sold on meal planning. I won't be going back to the old, expensive way of feeding my family. I learned everything from you, Leisa! Thank you so much!!
Im disabled and i meal plan eight days in advance. I just list the meals but not allocate them a ‘day’. Becuase my health is so erratic i include two very easy meals each week, that i know i can throw together quickly if im in pain or have low energy. For example tuna mayo with canned potatoes and canned green beans, takes minutes to prepare. (And rotates my preps!) I also plan that at least one meal will last two days, again for if im unwell. Doing it this way i still have some freedom to swap things around but minimise waste. If there are any meals on the list i didn’t get to cook, i move it forward to the next week
Me too. I try to make double meatloaf or casseroles to freeze when I feel good so I just have to heat it up. And, thank you Leisa for teaching me how to can meat. It’s made a world of difference for those bad days.
This is good for busy families with changing schedules, too. We never know when something will get canceled or rearranged, so flexibility within a short time frame is key.
Also disabled. Another shout out for bulk cooking! I always cook for the freezer, because I know days will come up when I can't cook and I'll have that to fall back on. And I love frozen and pre-cut foods! It's more expensive, but if it makes the difference between my cooking or getting takeout it's a great investment.
Meal planning? I cheated. Our local senior center hosts mid-day meals and posted the month's menu on the web site. I can simply follow along and substitute as needed. I watch for the best deals I can find for the substitutes. Doing it this way gives me the in-season and sale items. Reduced my food bill! Yippee. Also pull off the menu plates from restaurant web sites for great combinations of protein, veggies, and fruit. These are great start points.
@bberdan6603 I was at a restaurant with a friend a couple of years ago. We were having a hard time making up our minds because everything looked so good. So , after ordering, I pulled out paper and pen and started writing their menu items. A man across from us finally asked if I was a food critic. LOL, I told him no and said I was just writing down some meal plans. He looked at his wife and asked if she had a pen because she needed to do that, too! 🤣
I buy a larger roast and plan 3-4 meals off of that one piece of meat. The biggest chunk is a pot roast for the crock pot. The remaining chunk, I slice a couple of steaks off for chicken fried steak, and cut the remainder for stir fry or fajitas. Any leftover pot roast is turned into stroganoff. This helps to not feel like we are eating the same thing or leftovers for days. I always make double batches of chili or spaghetti sauce. The extra is frozen in meal sized portions for the nights I forget to defrost something. It saves us from ordering out on a regular basis. I also love the day old bread rack at Walmart. I buy several loaves and turn them into garlic bread for the freezer. I can make 6 loaves of garlic bread for about $5, and it is a quick side to round out meals.
I do that with a rotisserie chicken. My husband and I will eat the chicken legs with 2 sides and then I use the rest to make a chicken casserole or chicken enchiladas which lasts us 3 days
One way to eat more frugally is to make recipes from areas that don't have much. Today, I made an Egyptian split pea recipe that's mostly the peas, garlic, spices, and oil. Maybe 25¢ per serving, and a full meal with some sourdough bread. I've been cooking a lot of North African vegan meals lately (went down a Google recipe rabbit hole), and they're really flavorful.
Hi LurkerSmurf! Could you give us some recipes that you have made that you have liked so far? I would love to try this too. Thank you from one Smurf to another ♥
@@KillerSmurfy The split pea one is called bissara. I made a Moroccan white bean stew called loubia, and have a lentil one planned called addis. Moroccan meat dishes are amazing, but this is a frugal eating post.
my husband is a diabetic... now first things first, even every diabetic is different!!!! get a good blood sugar monitor, and find out for yourself what foods spike your sugar and what dont. that said..... beans like pinto and so on dont usually spike blood sugar. they are high in fiber which helps level out spikes and helps digestion. my husband , however, had horrid gas pains until we learned to pre soak (almost sprout or ferment) the beans. no more issues! white rice, and some potatoes? those spike his sugar, BUT!!! if you chill them and re heat them? you just converted some of the starch to resistant starch. suddenly the same amount of white rice that blew his blood sugar up? doesnt remember that for a diabetic, IN GENERAL.... fill up on fresh vegetables and high fiber items, rather than simple starches. more protein and fats are fine. start your meal with a salad, or a "side of veggies" to help with eating a lot of starches... and do whatever you can to up the fiber and flavor in your meals
I did that one year, most looked at me like I was crazy but I added that it works well in winter when you might get snowed in and can't get to the store for greens.
It’s so satisfying to have, over time, enough food stocked that get most of our groceries on senior Wednesday. We have garden, in the winter we grow indoors during winter. We eat out occasionally- a few times a year- usually while traveling. It shows me how much better my home cooked meals are, and how much I save cooking at home.
I've never commented here before, but this is so true! I've been trying my best to get everyone in my life to understand and believe ALL of this info. The tariffs and budget cuts that are promised will crush auto, steel, IT, special needs teachers, agriculture, retail, fuel prices and all trickle down industry. When the seasonal workers are gone, and continuing disastrous and inconsistent weather will really mess with supply and balloon all prices. I spoke to my aunt and my cousin and they responded like I was an alarmist. My neighbor is already in trouble and my husband and I are preparing to, at the very least, try to feed him and his boy. Truly, don't be proud and ask for help! Pantries, neighbors and preppers always step up!❤ to you and yours!
Something that helps when working a job outside the home is to put the meat in the crockpot while gone. Then make the sides when you come home. Some young mother needs to hear that.😊
I live in the UK, where our new government are busy creating a terrifying future for people like me, older and poor, so your channel is a great boost to helping survive. God help us all.
Another Brit here (66). When the supermarkets reduced all of the Christmas veggies a few days before, I bought double what I would normally buy. Everything has been used up now apart from a bag each of carrots and potatoes but they're both looking good. Tomorrow I'm doing my first shop since Christmas so today I'm going to make mash with the potatoes then freeze in small bags and probably do the same with the carrots. I have a tiny room next to my back door and am thinking about making it into a pantry (it's just got junk in it at the moment) because I think that things are going to get worse before they get better and even though I consider myself pretty frugal I think it's a good idea to prepare for the worst. I already try and stock up on meat and canned food when they are on offer, I currently have 10 large tins of Pek in my cupboard, all bought when they were £1 so I can use them in quiches or loaded jacket potatoes (with cheese and sweetcorn). Good luck and we will get through this!
I’ve been creating a seed storage from every vegi I’ve been eating lately. From melons to tomatoes, gourds beans and peppers. I have enough seeds to grow enough food to feed my whole community! It’s a good feeling to get free food security that nobody can take away and cost me nothing!!
Be careful on hybrid seeds will not produce the same veggies. They are a cross of 2 to 3 varieties, and your seeds will take on 1 genetic and will not be what you thought it would be. Heirloom seeds produce the exact same plant and genetic.
@@michelleleko5330 yes I should invest in some true heirloom seeds! Everything I have collected has been from the food I’ve bought from the grocery store! My seeds from the store bought tomatoes and spaghetti squash have produced all last season and from one spaghetti squash I had a harvest of 115 spaghetti squash… and many hundred tomatoes. It’s sad that there’s no way of knowing what process your vegetables have been manipulated with. I guess there’s a seed library locally that I can possibly get true heirloom seeds!
I’m a 77 year old British woman. I enjoyed your home spun philosophy. Hope to learn more. It’s nice to know there is a commonality in the aging process. It’s not a given that age equates with wisdom. But home produced just makes sense from every level, whether it’s good health or helping the environment.
Yes, please, on a video on breakfast quesadillas!! What I find helpful is making meals in jars. I mostly use dehydrated vegetables from my garden. I add the Thrive Life freeze dried meat, along with everyday spices to the jar. When I want to cook it, I add the jar contents to a pot, along with water, and cook for 20-30 minutes. Boom! Dinner is done.
Thank you! Being 64 and being a tad worried about the future I find great comfort in watching your videos. They keep me motivated to stack it to the rafters. Thank you again.
When my kids were young 5-7 years old their dad got a 20% pay cut. At the time i was a pantry stocker and we had a upright freezer in the garage. Never the less, that big of pay cut was severe. I made a basic menu for the week. Sunday was pasta, ragu sauce with left over meat from the days before. Monday and Thursday was meat (hamburger, roast) Tuesday was chicken, Wednesday and Friday was pasta and Saturday was chicken or pork. I bought 5lb boxes of pasta for $3 and only shopped at Food 4 less and bought all proteins on sale. We didn't buy a $1 hamburger at Burger King, no beer or wine no ice cream etc. This lasted for 8 months until I was earning enough working new job to boost our bank account
I do a lot of shopping at the Amish bulk stores. For example - 50lbs rolled oats for $35. I'll turn this into entrees, baked goods, dog food, my breakfasts, etc.
Thanks for all the good advice. I'd like to see meals in jars in various sizes. I cook for one most times, and can for two. Any meal in a jar recipe you can share would be appreciated. I am older with a lot of pain and by evening I just don't have the energy to cook a healthy balanced meal. If all I have to do is open a jar and heat I am a happy camper. Thanks again.
I to am older with body pain issues and live on my own about 3months ago i statrted haveing my main meal somewhere between 1pm -3pm and if im hungry later on i just have something simple and light better for digestion and makes sure i get a nutritiouse meal daily.Im finding its working well for me😊
$1 per meal, per person, 3x a day is my end all be all goal. If I’m super motivated I math it out to serve $4 beef with 20cent potatoes and $1 quart of veggies bc I canned them and 10cent gravy split 8 ways or whatever combo keeps our plates $1. If I’m not motivated I trust my previous math 😂. It used to be easy, it takes a LOT more planning and canning and freezing and shopping around than it used to, but it’s still doable. And it feels GREAT to hit that goal at the end of the month.
Smart advice, sounds like my 'depression era raised' Mom! I paid attention whe she said "Your food budget can make or break you." Liez is 100% correct!🍃
Did some serious meal planning today. Actually, planned and started cooking. Made a big breakfast casserole, stir fry, meatloaf and what I am calling homemade hamburger helper. Tomorrow adding green bean casserole, pumpkin bread, cheesy cauliflower and chicken-n-rice. Half or more gets frozen. My goal is to prepare enough for at least 2 weeks so I can get some other things done and spend less time in the kitchen.
Robin Greenfield, author, never married nor had children is walking from Canada to Los Angeles California. He wrote a book FOOD FREEDOM this year. This is a must read..stay safe everyone
I like to keep breakfasts in the freezer because I don't want to have to get up and cook. I also make casseroles to keep in the freezer. I can usually split one casserole recipe into two smaller ones. It's just my bf and me 90% of the time and that's plenty for the two of us and still have enough left over for him to take for lunch the next day. Also, I LOVE having my meats canned. I can put a "good" meal on the table in less than a half an hour since I don't have to brown my ground beef or boil chicken breast right then. It's done already. Thank you soooooo much, Leisa for teaching me how to safely can meat! It has been a game changer!! ❤❤
Lately, our "food-like substances" (bargain-priced absolutely HUMONGOUS chicken breasts) have been feeding four of us for many meals. Seriously, ONE chicken breast can become THREE meals for four adults! Meat has become more of a side than a main course, and we eat a lot more veggies, grains, and fruits, especially from the garden, from swaps with friends/neighbors, and from foraging in safe locations. And, because of watching your many many great and sensible videos, I've done more research and discovered we can make good bread with just a few ingredients; we don't "need" coffee to function (the first days were headachey, though!), and my grandmother was really onto something with her "leftover mus'go" casseroles! Thank you, Leisa, for keeping us pointed in the right direction!
This morning I finished dehydrating cilantro, parsley, green onions. Kale is next. Yay! Note: kale is one of the easiest winter house plants.They are milder tasting than when grown in full sun. I have a deep pantry, my weekly shopping is refilling as soon as it goes on sale. I eat beans half the week. I disguise powdered veg in soup. Makes a rich broth. Summer is mostly stir fries from my garden. Salads.
I struggle with chronic pain and fatigue from Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia I can't always know when I will or if I will have the energy to grocery shop to cook or prep foods. My husband is in the same boat with R.A as me and its just us. With insurance changes we just lost a $200 a month for food. So it's time to change our budget
New follower here and I absolutely love your “realness”. I’m so into gardening, canning, dehydrating, all kinds of preserving. I consider my pantry my emergency bank account. Something inevitably will come up that we weren’t planning on, but being prepared will enable us to be able to eat without having to go to the store for months if need be. Love, love,love you content!
Every winter is very hard for me since 2021 I started a garden back then, doubled it in 2023 fish and raise chickens, can, dehydrate and eat fresh but do my canned when my garden fresh isn’t available, when my hours are cut I use that time to put food in pantry, make and dry my pasta, cook what I have from my pantry, today I harvested 1 of my cabbage cut it in half, dehydrating 1/2 and cooked up corned beef and cabbage hubby and I ate and I put 2 dinners into freezer to eat another night , I do this everytime I cook so when tired on days I am able to work it’s no biggie we pick out which ever meal we want. Yeah I stay busy when not working because I am filling freezer or pantry canning or dehydrating for food, I only worked 2 days last week and starting out this week being told no work Monday, if I wasn’t doing this God help us life would really really be hard. I go to several stores shopping sales when I need something and buy 2 one for now 1 for pantry it’s how I refill my empty spots. So when I only made enough to pay for insurance and gas in my car I am still ok doesn’t mean I am not stressed but at least I don’t feel beaten down by weather which determines if I work or not. Eat all left overs!! Throw nothing out eat it till it’s gone b4 making another dish. Don’t make such big casseroles unless you freeze up meals for late work days. So not getting sick of 3rd day eating same thing. It’s what I do, yeah I am going through hard times but I don’t feel it so bad as I would had I not planned ahead and stocked up when times were fairly good.
Sorry to sail against the wind here- but we shop late at our local shop, and what they have on final reduction is our meal planner for the next day or it goes in the freezer. Tonight is frozen sliced herb chicken - intended for sandwiches, but now in a cheese and broccoli bake. Also have a lentil and smoked pork hock meat stew in the slow cooker for tomorrow.
Leisa, please emphasize that diabetics CAN eat "whole food" staples like brown rice, beans, sweet potatoes, whole wheat pasta, whole oats, and barley. The fiber in those foods blunts the glycemic load in the digestive tract so blood sugar rises more slowly after a meal. Plus the diverse fiber promotes good gut health by feeding the gut microbiome that provides so many essential polyphenals that we can't make on our own but that we have evolved to need for good health. Thanks. 💚
Truly appreciate your candor in this video. Lack of funds and/or food is nothing to take lightly. Thank you for taking the time to help out others with your videos. I'm pretty good at all this but you never know what more you can learn. ❤
Have been making freezer soup all my life. I'm 61 and have cooked from scratch ( pretty much) all my life. I've even cooked in a few different places and have found sooo many ways to cut back costs and stretch resources. Cutting the meat back by a third, or half, in a casserole and bulking up the other ingredients is a great way to do this and they don't really notice the difference....just saying 😊
Canned pumpkin is abundant and cheap right now. Add canned pumpkin to your bean chili or stew. It adds so much fiber and vitamins and thickens the stew and chili. Filling and really cheap!
I’m so thankful for your helpful tips and recipes. But most of all, your MOTIVATION! I was laid off from a manufacturing job last month. So I decided to take a pay cut for stability & savings, and applied to a wholesale store. Now I have job security, a flexible schedule, a paycheck, health insurance, and a free membership (plus a few memberships to share). Between rescuing discounted food from the grocery store and the bulk items on sale from the wholesale store, I should be able to grow my pantry pretty quick and stay on budget! 🍀
I just processed free pumpkins I got from our local free site..17 -3/4 pounds are in my freezer drained and ready to use in muffins breads and soup. Very nutritious, kept it out of the land fill and will be filling bellies for the entire winter.
@@chachab9239 By the time I cooked them all down and drained them through flour sack towels, I would have loved to give you some...lol! I can't look another pumpkin in the face for a long time! It was a lot of work but it was worth it.
i love all of these and i practice them constantly. i've always been a meal planner and an eater of pretty basic foods, but over the past few weeks i've been making a small prepper pantry for myself, because who the hell knows what might happen to food prices after january 20th. there's been lots of great sales on canned veggies and beans, so i'm filling up on those and other shelf-stable foods. i happen to be doing okay on money for the moment, so i spent about $400 total in three different stores, and i have enough to get me through a good four or five months. pretty darn proud of myself, to be honest. one more to add: build up your spice rack to add great flavor to everything, especially those more bland staples like rice & beans. buy a new one every time you do your weekly shopping, and you'll have most of what you need within a couple of months for only a few dollars each trip.
PLEASE 🙏🙏🙏 show different storage solutions, racks, types of containers and some of your storage configurations. I’m trying to pull my kitchen together for whole food cooking and I’m so tired of all the bags, boxes and mismatched containers that take up so much more space than organized containers. I have some ordered, but I still need a solution for my canned goods and not a lot of room. It’s just my husband and I, so I’m lucky. Thank you so much for inspiring us.❤️
Great advice and tips! Fresh produce can go back quickly so I have several different Thrive Life freeze dried fruits/veggies that I use every week in meal prep. This has saved me money over the long term because I’m not wasting anything.
Just finished reorganizing my pantries (took a week to reorganize, inventory and discard (will be donated)). Getting ready for low spend January and February.
Work in a 5 star hotel where you are fed for free everyday. Buffet style. And are allowed to take home alot of leftovers each day. And other food items. I worked as a hotel maid for years, and saved so much money. And great exercise. No need for gym memberships. And so many bottles of wine and chocolate etc left in rooms we were allowed to take home. And near-expiry drinks and snacks/bread, etc. Also allowed to take home.
Meal planning and batch cooking is a great way to reduce stress. Knowing what you're making for dinner because you took it out to thaw before you left for work in the morning is WONDERFUL. I'm semi retired and still cook ahead, freezing portions to save cooking time later. If you don't have time to batch cook, try partial preps. If I'm cooking black beans for burritos, I double the recipe and freeze a couple of servings. When I'm ready to make black bean soup, I just have to thaw and throw them in the pot. In my experience, tired and hungry people ain't inspired to cook, they're inspired to drive-thru. Take the pressure off and meal plan!
I made 24 muffins 12 / blueberry and 12 apple cinnamon, also made apple fritters for the next couple of days , 25 grab and go breakfast ! My hubs loves moffins pennies compared to the cost of grabbing 4pks in grocery . Also made my gluten free son a bunch of yeast raised glazed donuts . Yum ..
I have chickens who started to lay eggs. I'm now making my own breakfast burritos in batches. I use eggs, onion, some sort of ham, ground meat, whatever, cook those up in a large batch. I put about a cup of the mix into a freezer bag and add a little cheese. Then when I need a fast burrito, I microwave the bag, pour it onto the tortilla, put a little salsa on it, wrap it up and eat!
My mom was the most frugal person in the world, she use to make home made big pots of vegetable soup all winter. I do exactly the same thing now, it's cheap, healthly and delicious!
My Mom made vegetable goulash: a bit of hamburger, a can each of crushed tomatoes, corn, peas and kidney beans (do not drain). Add whatever herbs/spices you like. Mom used oregano, Italian spices. Sometimes she would add onions. My Aunt also put carrots in her goulash. We, my siblings and all my cousins still eat this because we want to. (The only way I eat peas ).
Back in the olden days when all the kids were home, I made casseroles. One casserole would feed the Brady Bunch. All I had to do was add a veg and maybe biscuits, muffins, or some kind of bread and we had dinner. Buy those bananas in the bags. You can make muffins, bread and cakes from them. I also add 2 cups of shredded zucchini and 2 cups of apples that I canned to my steel cut oats (I make 4 servings according to the package). I end up with 6 servings of oatmeal when cooked.
This is exactly what my mother did and seeing this video brought back a lot of happy memories of fruit picking, jamming, baking and freezing Bless you and thank you so much. Xxx❤❤❤
I have ADHD so I have a really hard time meal planning because it takes time to sit down and write it down and I will actively procrastinate until it’s too late to bother with it. So a workaround I’ve found is to almost play like I’m on an episode of chopped and I have to use the leftovers creatively. So I’ll keep on hand staples to make all of my typical sauces, dressings, seasoning blends, etc and I buy in bulk when I can. So I will buy whatever is on sale and then I’ll just keep changing what I make with it until it’s gone. For example I had a turkey on sale from thanksgiving, so I took some of it and I made things with different parts of it for dinner every day of the week. I added it to a pasta cream sauce, I made a cheesy rice casserole type thing with some of it. I made a soup with some of it, and I made enchiladas another night. Then I made bone broth when the week was done. The urgency and the “okay, what am I doing with this for dinner tonight. I have x, y and z I need to use.” Is much easier for me than planning ahead. Usually if you don’t have something, there’s a good substitute for it. From scratch is the easiest way and it really doesn’t take that much time. It’s just active instead of passive but by the time you decide on a place to get food from, order, wait, then eat, it evens out
Before making the meal for evening, we see what produce needs used first, canned goods that are coming close to the expiration date, freezer check to see what needs used first, and go from there. It has saved a lot from going bad.
I didn't realize you could freeze French toast. I've never tried lentils but do have some. I'll look up a lentil soup recipe. Great video. Thank you. Glad you're able to get out to the store. Sending prayers for continued healing 🙏 ❤
When my 3 kids were growing up we went through a lot of bread. But nobody but me ate heels. So I would save heels in a bread bag in the freezer. When the bag was full, I used them to make French toast. Then I put that back in the freezer for quick breakfast or snacks.
I can't really think of anything to ask at the moment. You pretty much cover things before I think to ask! 😆 Basically I come here for the ideas and always come away with another hint, tip, suggestion to add to my prep arsenal. Just wanted to say it's appreciated. Thanks much!
Dandilion. If you are not in the inner city and have access to dandelions, eat them! I eat them once a week. Also, if you can't have a big garden and only have a balcony, grow kale and you will have a leafy green for free once a week, it is easy to grow.
People complain about the price of eggs, but a single egg is still the most cost efficient animal protein, and its packed with more vitamins that other options. Pretty much just missing vitamin C. A scoop of tang with breakfast will fix that.
Just something as simple as eating your carbs last on a plate can reduce your glucose levels by up to 30 percent. As long as you don’t shock your body with eating carbs alone and eat your veggies and proteins and fats first,your pancreas works a lot better!
I've learned I don't need to use a full pound of meat in recipes. Depending on what you're making, usually 1/2 lb. or 3/4 lbs. is enough. I freeze meat in different weight portions for this reason.
My daughter smoked a turkey for Thanksgiving so I took the carcass home and cooked it inmy chicken broth. The meals are great add veggies make soup or pot pies so good for little or nothing.
We cooked a carcas too. Poured it in ice cube trays and used it in another dish later. Some will be taken out of ice cube trays and frozen in a ziploc baggie. It is so much better than store boughten, watered down broth.
Struggling with low budget & needing to keep carbs low. Carbs cause inflammation in my body. It's just me & I'm learning to can. My daughter bought me presto 17qt (I think) stovepipe canner for bday this month. Looking forward to canuary & getting lots of ideas of stockpiling my pantry.
As a child, I remember having hamburger gravy over bread. It was so good and filling. A quarter of a pound of hamburger, made with a small amount of milk. So good and filling. I'm having it tonight for dinner. Mmm...
Ikr!! $20 for a box of eggs is crazy!! Eggs just went on sale this week at my Kroger's for $10 for the 60ct/5dz box. Yay!! Idk how to preserve eggs very well, but I think I will buy one at the beginning of the sale today Wednesday, and then another before the sale ends Tuesday!
meal planning... for some of us it REALLY hard to do meal planning, but its the most "bang for your buck". i cannot count how many times i have had to throw out food that got 'lost in the fridge' or not used in time. Add to that the number of times you end up eating fast food because you didnt plan? meal planning is the start of a good budget
Good to see you looking so good. I love to batch cook and then freeze meals. I shop the meat sales at Walmart, H‑E‑B and Tom Thumb too, then can most of it. It feels so good to know we’re good on food!
I so love the way you think. I will not eat out unless someone else is paying for it. An invite. 😂😂 I paid good money for my preps and grocery haul deals. I cook at home. I am having a hard time making breads for one person. I really love homemade bread. I am a grocery deal freak. it pays off at the end of the month. My biggest deal this week was 2 for 1 1lb. bacon. 99c bags of veggies such as 4 green pepper, 6 Medium russet potatoes, 3 zucchini and 4 honey crisp apples. all for $4. $5 FOR 12 CHICKEN LEGS. $5 for 5 boneless pork chops. $1.99 dz for eggs up to 5 dz. Yes! I bought 5 dz. Piggly Wiggly and Kroger now have $5 pkg of meat. This is awesome for seniors. Manager discount specials on meat is awesome.
Hi Lisa I've been making a lot of Great depression meals just in case we ever have to face that and I pray to God we never do but some of that stuff when you think about it is basically what you have in your fridge and you make whatever you can out of it
When things were super tight I learned to rotate the same meals. For example. Sunday was a roast or chicken. The Monday was lunch kit meat and crock pot soup from the left over bones and meat. Tuesday was spaghetti with sauce (with usually meat balls). Wednesday was sausages and mashed potatoes . Thursday mac and cheese with cut up leftover sausages. Friday was omelette and toast ( eggs , cut up onions and sometimes pieces of ham). Saturday was grilled cheese and ham ( sometime tomato soup) and we just rotated that over and over. The side dishes varied but the kids always knew exactly what was for supper nad would be upset if I changed the schedule.
Thank you for sharing these awesome tips! One thing people can do to save money on food is to reduce the amount of meat you eat and/or learn to cook cheaper types of meat. I have had fun putting tougher meats in my crock pot and creating culinary art 😄
Shared this with a child who is struggling. This is why we decided to give each child a half a pig this year instead of a bunch of stuff they don’t really need.
Excellent gift!
Good food is always a thoughtful gift. I wish someone would give me half a pig! Lol. I'm sure they'll appreciate it. 🙂
Fantastic gift!!
@candaced6976 that's a brilliant idea I'd really appreciate that.
@@NE_Victoria_Australia me too.
When my now ex husband left me and our 3 kids in 2000 I got to be a master at meal planning. I had always cooked mostly from scratch but I really doubled down on it. I made a 30 day menu based on what I had in my pantry, freezer, and things I had canned.. I shopped sales to replace what I used. Every Friday was homemade pizza and my kids friends loved to be invited to eat with us because their moms only ever ordered pizza out....one of them even had a grandpa that owed a pizza place! Anyway, I learned that when I said what do I feel like eating meant I wasn't really hungry because when I am truly hunger whatever I cooked tasted delicious! I weighed 325 pounds at 5' tall and lost 125 of it, mostly through low carb eating and walking for an hour each day.
Great ideas as always Lisa!
I use to be 267 I am now 169 5’5 my garden which I grow 10 months out of the year kicks my tail but I eat healthy now cook from what I grow, can, dehydrate and once a year I raise meat chics and fish from lake down the road, yes I buy stew meat when on sale and can it up same with roast. It has made me so much more healthier. Doesn’t mean I don’t struggle to pay my lights or water because in winter I am usually cut down to 2 days a week if lucky as I work road construction which is grueling in Texas summer heat . I retire next year in June , I am oldest person on the construction crew and a woman but I hang in there then come home to work in garden because if I didn’t winter would be harsher than our Texas sun. Probably why my weight loss happens even though I still eat potato chips 😂
@@danielleterry2331 Wow, I live in Texas and could not work all day long in the heat that we have here.
Wow so glad you lost that weight. I am 200 and need to be 155.
Good job!
Put a Tupperware container in your freezer. I dump my extra leftover veggies and meat into the container. When it gets full, I make soups and stews out of it. No waste, no want. You can add beans rice or lintel. Sometimes, I add barley. Split peas are another option.
Great suggestion. I’ll definitely be implementing this
Learned this trick from my grandma. Somehow, no matter what goes into the container, it makes a delicious pot of soup.
@@voodooqueen322 I do this too. Also I save the leafy ends of celery, the ends of onions and carrots and throw them in a baggie in the freezer for making roasted bone broths. I come from a family of 9 and my mother always made from scratch dinners that were delicious ❤️
I keep 2 different containers in my freezer. One is labeled for chicken and the other beef. So, I decide which vegetables would go good in either one of the containers. I usually end up with 3 or 4 containers and when I have 2 full containers for the beef or chicken, I will fix them. I call them my Hodge Podge stew. Sometimes, I may add something a little extra in, like rice or pasta.
@@gayeoneill4239I have always saved those for making soup stock
Lentils are amazing! I cut my ground beef with green lentils 50/50 and no-one ever notices. It saves me money, stretches that meat, and adds protein and fiber!
I just recently got turned onto lentils - love them! I knew of their nutritional value but never thought to cut meat with them~ Thanks for the tip!! 🖤🦋🦇
I make tacos with black lentils. I use taco seasoning. Lettuce, cheese, salsa on whichever tortilla you choose. Guac if you have it.
How do you cook lentils?
@@oldwomanC6I didn’t even know black lentils existed. They’re now on my shopping list. Meatless tacos are my favorite, a meal made with friends growing up.
What method did you use?
Last summer I started going to a local food pantry. Within 2 months I was volunteering there and have now been there over a year. I'm 57 and I'm usually the youngest person working. Please go volunteer!
Many Blessings from Deborah in West Virginia!
I volunteer at the local food pantry and thrift store.
I volunteered at a food bank and they were good to the workers❤❤❤
Bless you
@@JoyfullyOrangeDeborah i don't know about the food banks in WV but here, extras about to spoil, outdated stuff, and are tossing - tje workers and volunteers can take home: as much as they want. I knew someone who took as many bananas as she could load in her car at the end of the week; else they were going intonthe dumpster. Some weeks pretty much everything went into in-ground compost piles. Other weeks she salvaged what she could at varying stages of ripeness. And some weeks she was calling friends, family and neighbors to come take as much as they wanted; not needed, not could do with, but wanted beyond thier dreams. What she did hot ta,e was headed to the dumpster. She often took "aged" bread products. If they were rock hard she made bread crumbs; she had a lot of bread crumbs.
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When my nephew died, leaving a young wife with 4 small children, his wife started going to a food bank. Then she and the kids volunteered. She is now the director of it and 2 of the 4 kids have gone into non-profit management and also manage food banks. Of the other 2 - one is currently in college, the other still in high school.
A couple of years ago I looked for depression era recipes to save money and realized it was what I was raised on! Good food!!!
Real food!
Yep, didnt realize my mothers soup recipes were from the depression.
Exactly!! It's stuff that we already know and delicious
70 years old. Been cooking since I was 9. You go girl
I am also in my seventies and give my little grand-daughter children's cook books and ingredients, her own equipment for cooking and gardening, she thinks it is fun. She loves to visit Grandma and pick tomatoes for her tea. This year, I will give her seeds to start her own herb garden, and sprout seeds to grow in the kitchen.
@@sjordan7085How wonderful! What a wise and caring grandma you are! Now THAT'S making the world a better place!
Eat to live rather than live to eat. I save so much money on food by not snacking at all. Also I alternate days as to how many meals I eat. I always skip breakfast. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I inly eat one meal. On Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday I eat lunch and supper. All my meals are from scratch and most of them are from things I grew in my garden plus the meat I buy. I do not eat any processed food. I can, freeze and dehydrate food for my pantry. Besides saving money on food it helped me reverse my type two diabetes which I had for 20 plus years. No more meds needed and I’m half the size I was. I’m healthy now.
This is truly inspiring
Very inspiring and so proud of you for taking your health so serious.❤
Congratulations on your better health journey!
That's really inspiring! Way to go!👍
Wow! No diabeties anymore and looking nice and feeling better. Way 2 go!👍🛵
I learned scrap soup from my mother-in-law. If there are 3 grains of rice leftover they go into a Ziplock bag and in the freezer it goes. ANYTHING leftover goes in that bag then when the bag is full it goes into a pot and we have scrap soup. Lol It actually turns out good. Nothing goes to waste.
I discovered your channel a few weeks ago and you are so inspiring, and uplifting. I am a single Mum in the middle of no where. We milk our cow and grow our food. No job (my property and family are my job), and no government handouts. I make about $50 A MONTH from selling a few eggs to neighbours. But we have never gone hungry. Buying in bulk is key, preserving and storing. Sometimes I do feel discouraged - it is a lot of work for 1 adult, and that is what I struggle with. Especially as everyone around me (neighbors) think I'm nuts, and constantly tell me so! I would love to do a BIG shop more than once a year. But you have re invigorated my resolve. Thank you. 🙂
My hats off to you. You're doing it!
You are a hero. Your are not nuts. You will survive when others won't . Good job keep it up.
@@debbywelchel3893 The skills you have is immeasurable. I am so proud to here of peoplw like you..
You can do anything if you truly want to I was on my own with 2 small children and I at 1st panicked because I literally had no money but when you are in that situation you have to sort it out for your children because you don't have a choice.
The problem with some people is they don't want to try to sort it out they seem to be under the impression that they are better, and that's where the problems lie.
You sound like you are doing a good job.
Your neighbors are probably just envious of what you are doing. Envious people are often very critical.
We are struggling ( family of 5 usually 6 but daughter been in hospital nearly all of the last 8 weeks) me and grandchildren ,very little income,even less currently as I have the 8 week old baby 7 til 7 weekdays so I've had to cut back my online work. Living on noodles,rice,beans,and our lovely fresh eggs ,,but did score a good sized chicken for the weekend, also a friend filled fridge with fresh veggies ( have used all my canned products in last 4 months and garden was a disaster last season) we had chicken dinner,then all the leftovers including the gravy and chopped up roast potatoes made an incredible gallon of soup! That one chicken will feed us all for at least 4 days,and still have a big red cabbage and 2 heads of broccoli, plus potatoes and onions..we are blessed! Hoping my daughter continues to improve and gets home late this week..so I can get back to work properly!
I used to hate meal planning, but now I love it. I have cut our monthly grocery bill by nearly 80% with meal planning, cooking from scratch, and batch cooking. We also eat much better than when we were spending so much more on groceries before. It took a long time, but I am finally totally sold on meal planning. I won't be going back to the old, expensive way of feeding my family. I learned everything from you, Leisa! Thank you so much!!
YOU DID IT!!!! Congrats!!!
Im disabled and i meal plan eight days in advance. I just list the meals but not allocate them a ‘day’. Becuase my health is so erratic i include two very easy meals each week, that i know i can throw together quickly if im in pain or have low energy. For example tuna mayo with canned potatoes and canned green beans, takes minutes to prepare. (And rotates my preps!) I also plan that at least one meal will last two days, again for if im unwell. Doing it this way i still have some freedom to swap things around but minimise waste. If there are any meals on the list i didn’t get to cook, i move it forward to the next week
Me too. I try to make double meatloaf or casseroles to freeze when I feel good so I just have to heat it up.
And, thank you Leisa for teaching me how to can meat. It’s made a world of difference for those bad days.
This is good for busy families with changing schedules, too. We never know when something will get canceled or rearranged, so flexibility within a short time frame is key.
Also disabled. Another shout out for bulk cooking! I always cook for the freezer, because I know days will come up when I can't cook and I'll have that to fall back on. And I love frozen and pre-cut foods! It's more expensive, but if it makes the difference between my cooking or getting takeout it's a great investment.
Never heard of your tuna combination. I put it on my list. Sounds delicious. Thank you.
My mom use to grind up leftover veggies & hide them in meatloaf.
I did the same thing with spaghetti sauce for my grand kids. Anything to mix it in. Chili is another good one.
Shredded potatoes can stretch a pound of hamburger for tacos. My kids are grown but still love it!
That's fantastic. My parents did this too, they called it "steath health" 😂
I'm going to start adding that to homemade hamburger patties. What they don't know won't hurt them right.
Or blend them in sauce.
Meal planning? I cheated. Our local senior center hosts mid-day meals and posted the month's menu on the web site. I can simply follow along and substitute as needed. I watch for the best deals I can find for the substitutes. Doing it this way gives me the in-season and sale items. Reduced my food bill! Yippee.
Also pull off the menu plates from restaurant web sites for great combinations of protein, veggies, and fruit. These are great start points.
That’s a great hack!
Brilliant!
Love it
@bberdan6603 I was at a restaurant with a friend a couple of years ago. We were having a hard time making up our minds because everything looked so good. So , after ordering, I pulled out paper and pen and started writing their menu items. A man across from us finally asked if I was a food critic. LOL, I told him no and said I was just writing down some meal plans. He looked at his wife and asked if she had a pen because she needed to do that, too! 🤣
Me too ! I get the monthly meals schedule in the mail.
I buy a larger roast and plan 3-4 meals off of that one piece of meat. The biggest chunk is a pot roast for the crock pot. The remaining chunk, I slice a couple of steaks off for chicken fried steak, and cut the remainder for stir fry or fajitas. Any leftover pot roast is turned into stroganoff. This helps to not feel like we are eating the same thing or leftovers for days.
I always make double batches of chili or spaghetti sauce. The extra is frozen in meal sized portions for the nights I forget to defrost something. It saves us from ordering out on a regular basis.
I also love the day old bread rack at Walmart. I buy several loaves and turn them into garlic bread for the freezer. I can make 6 loaves of garlic bread for about $5, and it is a quick side to round out meals.
I do that with a rotisserie chicken. My husband and I will eat the chicken legs with 2 sides and then I use the rest to make a chicken casserole or chicken enchiladas which lasts us 3 days
One way to eat more frugally is to make recipes from areas that don't have much. Today, I made an Egyptian split pea recipe that's mostly the peas, garlic, spices, and oil. Maybe 25¢ per serving, and a full meal with some sourdough bread. I've been cooking a lot of North African vegan meals lately (went down a Google recipe rabbit hole), and they're really flavorful.
Hi LurkerSmurf! Could you give us some recipes that you have made that you have liked so far? I would love to try this too. Thank you from one Smurf to another ♥
Great suggestion I will use!
@@KillerSmurfy The split pea one is called bissara. I made a Moroccan white bean stew called loubia, and have a lentil one planned called addis. Moroccan meat dishes are amazing, but this is a frugal eating post.
Very smart idea!!
@@LurkerSmurf Thank you so much!
my husband is a diabetic... now first things first, even every diabetic is different!!!! get a good blood sugar monitor, and find out for yourself what foods spike your sugar and what dont.
that said.....
beans like pinto and so on dont usually spike blood sugar. they are high in fiber which helps level out spikes and helps digestion. my husband , however, had horrid gas pains until we learned to pre soak (almost sprout or ferment) the beans. no more issues!
white rice, and some potatoes? those spike his sugar, BUT!!! if you chill them and re heat them? you just converted some of the starch to resistant starch. suddenly the same amount of white rice that blew his blood sugar up? doesnt
remember that for a diabetic, IN GENERAL....
fill up on fresh vegetables and high fiber items, rather than simple starches. more protein and fats are fine. start your meal with a salad, or a "side of veggies" to help with eating a lot of starches... and do whatever you can to up the fiber and flavor in your meals
Thank you so much. I am Diabetic and if I eat white potatoes or white rice I hurt so much especially my toes, now I can try white rice.
I am giving sprout starting kits this Christmas. Bag of lentils, mason jar, piece of cheese cloth and directions.
Perfect, I recently started Sprouting, a small amount of lentils and in a few days had 4, cups of crunchy high protein delicious beans,
I did that one year, most looked at me like I was crazy but I added that it works well in winter when you might get snowed in and can't get to the store for greens.
Mung beans are really easy too!
I looove sprouted mung beans! @robertcook9264
I was JUST thinking about what to gift a friend this Christmas, and this will be perfect for her. Thank you!!
It’s so satisfying to have, over time, enough food stocked that get most of our groceries on senior Wednesday. We have garden, in the winter we grow indoors during winter. We eat out occasionally- a few times a year- usually while traveling. It shows me how much better my home cooked meals are, and how much I save cooking at home.
I've never commented here before, but this is so true! I've been trying my best to get everyone in my life to understand and believe ALL of this info. The tariffs and budget cuts that are promised will crush auto, steel, IT, special needs teachers, agriculture, retail, fuel prices and all trickle down industry. When the seasonal workers are gone, and continuing disastrous and inconsistent weather will really mess with supply and balloon all prices. I spoke to my aunt and my cousin and they responded like I was an alarmist. My neighbor is already in trouble and my husband and I are preparing to, at the very least, try to feed him and his boy. Truly, don't be proud and ask for help! Pantries, neighbors and preppers always step up!❤ to you and yours!
Non of that is true. It will be so much better.
. Well, I surely hope you are right, but I would prepare now just in case! Seriously.
@@Artsylady2030we can hope for better but I will be prepared for the worst.
Something that helps when working a job outside the home is to put the meat in the crockpot while gone. Then make the sides when you come home. Some young mother needs to hear that.😊
Yes, crock pots are life savers!
I live in the UK, where our new government are busy creating a terrifying future for people like me, older and poor, so your channel is a great boost to helping survive. God help us all.
I completely understand, it feels that way here too. We can do this!
Another Brit here (66). When the supermarkets reduced all of the Christmas veggies a few days before, I bought double what I would normally buy. Everything has been used up now apart from a bag each of carrots and potatoes but they're both looking good. Tomorrow I'm doing my first shop since Christmas so today I'm going to make mash with the potatoes then freeze in small bags and probably do the same with the carrots. I have a tiny room next to my back door and am thinking about making it into a pantry (it's just got junk in it at the moment) because I think that things are going to get worse before they get better and even though I consider myself pretty frugal I think it's a good idea to prepare for the worst. I already try and stock up on meat and canned food when they are on offer, I currently have 10 large tins of Pek in my cupboard, all bought when they were £1 so I can use them in quiches or loaded jacket potatoes (with cheese and sweetcorn). Good luck and we will get through this!
I’ve been creating a seed storage from every vegi I’ve been eating lately. From melons to tomatoes, gourds beans and peppers. I have enough seeds to grow enough food to feed my whole community! It’s a good feeling to get free food security that nobody can take away and cost me nothing!!
Great idea.
Be careful on hybrid seeds will not produce the same veggies. They are a cross of 2 to 3 varieties, and your seeds will take on 1 genetic and will not be what you thought it would be. Heirloom seeds produce the exact same plant and genetic.
Mi gardener sells heirloom seeds at $2 a pack. Good small business and good seeds. Buy em once and you have them for life.
@@michelleleko5330 yes I should invest in some true heirloom seeds! Everything I have collected has been from the food I’ve bought from the grocery store! My seeds from the store bought tomatoes and spaghetti squash have produced all last season and from one spaghetti squash I had a harvest of 115 spaghetti squash… and many hundred tomatoes. It’s sad that there’s no way of knowing what process your vegetables have been manipulated with. I guess there’s a seed library locally that I can possibly get true heirloom seeds!
I’m a 77 year old British woman. I enjoyed your home spun philosophy. Hope to learn more. It’s nice to know there is a commonality in the aging process. It’s not a given that age equates with wisdom. But home produced just makes sense from every level, whether it’s good health or helping the environment.
Yes, please, on a video on breakfast quesadillas!! What I find helpful is making meals in jars. I mostly use dehydrated vegetables from my garden. I add the Thrive Life freeze dried meat, along with everyday spices to the jar. When I want to cook it, I add the jar contents to a pot, along with water, and cook for 20-30 minutes. Boom! Dinner is done.
Thank you! Being 64 and being a tad worried about the future I find great comfort in watching your videos. They keep me motivated to stack it to the rafters. Thank you again.
I hear you. Still working but single self supporting. I worry too. I have to take care of my cats.
When my kids were young 5-7 years old their dad got a 20% pay cut. At the time i was a pantry stocker and we had a upright freezer in the garage. Never the less, that big of pay cut was severe. I made a basic menu for the week. Sunday was pasta, ragu sauce with left over meat from the days before. Monday and Thursday was meat (hamburger, roast) Tuesday was chicken, Wednesday and Friday was pasta and Saturday was chicken or pork. I bought 5lb boxes of pasta for $3 and only shopped at Food 4 less and bought all proteins on sale. We didn't buy a $1 hamburger at Burger King, no beer or wine no ice cream etc. This lasted for 8 months until I was earning enough working new job to boost our bank account
I do a lot of shopping at the Amish bulk stores. For example - 50lbs rolled oats for $35. I'll turn this into entrees, baked goods, dog food, my breakfasts, etc.
Thanks for all the good advice. I'd like to see meals in jars in various sizes. I cook for one most times, and can for two. Any meal in a jar recipe you can share would be appreciated. I am older with a lot of pain and by evening I just don't have the energy to cook a healthy balanced meal. If all I have to do is open a jar and heat I am a happy camper. Thanks again.
I to am older with body pain issues and live on my own about 3months ago i statrted haveing my main meal somewhere between 1pm -3pm and if im hungry later on i just have something simple and light better for digestion and makes sure i get a nutritiouse meal daily.Im finding its working well for me😊
Diabetics can eat high fiber foods, like beans. The high fiber does not spike sugar like processed carbs do. Just eat proper portion sizes.
portion sizes are my downfall.
@ I understand that for sure!
@@itsjustme7487 Me too and I'm working on that. Being single, I can stretch that food if I don't eat too much of it.
$1 per meal, per person, 3x a day is my end all be all goal. If I’m super motivated I math it out to serve $4 beef with 20cent potatoes and $1 quart of veggies bc I canned them and 10cent gravy split 8 ways or whatever combo keeps our plates $1. If I’m not motivated I trust my previous math 😂. It used to be easy, it takes a LOT more planning and canning and freezing and shopping around than it used to, but it’s still doable. And it feels GREAT to hit that goal at the end of the month.
I do that too! It's doesn't always pan-out to a $1 but it's rarely out of the $2 range.
@@CSheri2same! Some months I can hit $1 and some months I’m over, but it’s the goal and it keeps me focused when I’m shopping and preparing food
@@clashalley5575 It's meat and other animal products that kick the cost up. I still eat meat but in moderate amounts with my meals.
Smart advice, sounds like my 'depression era raised' Mom! I paid attention whe she said "Your food budget can make or break you." Liez is 100% correct!🍃
Did some serious meal planning today. Actually, planned and started cooking. Made a big breakfast casserole, stir fry, meatloaf and what I am calling homemade hamburger helper.
Tomorrow adding green bean casserole, pumpkin bread, cheesy cauliflower and chicken-n-rice. Half or more gets frozen. My goal is to prepare enough for at least 2 weeks so I can get some other things done and spend less time in the kitchen.
Robin Greenfield, author, never married nor had children is walking from Canada to Los Angeles California. He wrote a book FOOD FREEDOM this year. This is a must read..stay safe everyone
What's it about?
@@ellahenry3221 food and wild foods foraging
@@ellahenry3221... food freedom ? ... lol
I like to keep breakfasts in the freezer because I don't want to have to get up and cook. I also make casseroles to keep in the freezer. I can usually split one casserole recipe into two smaller ones. It's just my bf and me 90% of the time and that's plenty for the two of us and still have enough left over for him to take for lunch the next day. Also, I LOVE having my meats canned. I can put a "good" meal on the table in less than a half an hour since I don't have to brown my ground beef or boil chicken breast right then. It's done already. Thank you soooooo much, Leisa for teaching me how to safely can meat! It has been a game changer!! ❤❤
Even the most experienced of us appreciates your videos.
I just got a turkey yesterday for .31 a pound. Very excited
My dinner tonight was turkey noodle soup with my leftovers. Put a ton of it in the freezer for later❤
@ashleynnelson2595 wow. That's so awesome!!! Way to go. Where did you get it at?? Think of all the meals you can make!!!
Lately, our "food-like substances" (bargain-priced absolutely HUMONGOUS chicken breasts) have been feeding four of us for many meals. Seriously, ONE chicken breast can become THREE meals for four adults! Meat has become more of a side than a main course, and we eat a lot more veggies, grains, and fruits, especially from the garden, from swaps with friends/neighbors, and from foraging in safe locations. And, because of watching your many many great and sensible videos, I've done more research and discovered we can make good bread with just a few ingredients; we don't "need" coffee to function (the first days were headachey, though!), and my grandmother was really onto something with her "leftover mus'go" casseroles!
Thank you, Leisa, for keeping us pointed in the right direction!
This morning I finished dehydrating cilantro, parsley, green onions. Kale is next. Yay! Note: kale is one of the easiest winter house plants.They are milder tasting than when grown in full sun.
I have a deep pantry, my weekly shopping is refilling as soon as it goes on sale. I eat beans half the week. I disguise powdered veg in soup. Makes a rich broth. Summer is mostly stir fries from my garden. Salads.
I struggle with chronic pain and fatigue from Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia
I can't always know when I will or if I will have the energy to grocery shop to cook or prep foods. My husband is in the same boat with R.A as me and its just us.
With insurance changes we just lost a $200 a month for food. So it's time to change our budget
Research moringa powder for the RA. There are countless stories on UA-cam of people reversing RA inflammation. 💕
@LoveLove-fx9hf I will look it up and I have heard of reversing RA through diet
New follower here and I absolutely love your “realness”. I’m so into gardening, canning, dehydrating, all kinds of preserving. I consider my pantry my emergency bank account. Something inevitably will come up that we weren’t planning on, but being prepared will enable us to be able to eat without having to go to the store for months if need be. Love, love,love you content!
I dehydrate some of my squashes, carrots and kale. I make powders out of them and sneak them into so many things.
Every winter is very hard for me since 2021 I started a garden back then, doubled it in 2023 fish and raise chickens, can, dehydrate and eat fresh but do my canned when my garden fresh isn’t available, when my hours are cut I use that time to put food in pantry, make and dry my pasta, cook what I have from my pantry, today I harvested 1 of my cabbage cut it in half, dehydrating 1/2 and cooked up corned beef and cabbage hubby and I ate and I put 2 dinners into freezer to eat another night , I do this everytime I cook so when tired on days I am able to work it’s no biggie we pick out which ever meal we want. Yeah I stay busy when not working because I am filling freezer or pantry canning or dehydrating for food, I only worked 2 days last week and starting out this week being told no work Monday, if I wasn’t doing this God help us life would really really be hard. I go to several stores shopping sales when I need something and buy 2 one for now 1 for pantry it’s how I refill my empty spots. So when I only made enough to pay for insurance and gas in my car I am still ok doesn’t mean I am not stressed but at least I don’t feel beaten down by weather which determines if I work or not. Eat all left overs!! Throw nothing out eat it till it’s gone b4 making another dish. Don’t make such big casseroles unless you freeze up meals for late work days. So not getting sick of 3rd day eating same thing. It’s what I do, yeah I am going through hard times but I don’t feel it so bad as I would had I not planned ahead and stocked up when times were fairly good.
I pray things continue to go well for you and all of us. So nany things to worry about it is wonderful to have a stocked pantry
Sorry to sail against the wind here- but we shop late at our local shop, and what they have on final reduction is our meal planner for the next day or it goes in the freezer. Tonight is frozen sliced herb chicken - intended for sandwiches, but now in a cheese and broccoli bake.
Also have a lentil and smoked pork hock meat stew in the slow cooker for tomorrow.
Leisa, please emphasize that diabetics CAN eat "whole food" staples like brown rice, beans, sweet potatoes, whole wheat pasta, whole oats, and barley. The fiber in those foods blunts the glycemic load in the digestive tract so blood sugar rises more slowly after a meal. Plus the diverse fiber promotes good gut health by feeding the gut microbiome that provides so many essential polyphenals that we can't make on our own but that we have evolved to need for good health. Thanks. 💚
Truly appreciate your candor in this video. Lack of funds and/or food is nothing to take lightly. Thank you for taking the time to help out others with your videos. I'm pretty good at all this but you never know what more you can learn. ❤
Have been making freezer soup all my life. I'm 61 and have cooked from scratch ( pretty much) all my life. I've even cooked in a few different places and have found sooo many ways to cut back costs and stretch resources. Cutting the meat back by a third, or half, in a casserole and bulking up the other ingredients is a great way to do this and they don't really notice the difference....just saying 😊
Canned pumpkin is abundant and cheap right now. Add canned pumpkin to your bean chili or stew. It adds so much fiber and vitamins and thickens the stew and chili. Filling and really cheap!
I’m so thankful for your helpful tips and recipes. But most of all, your MOTIVATION!
I was laid off from a manufacturing job last month. So I decided to take a pay cut for stability & savings, and applied to a wholesale store. Now I have job security, a flexible schedule, a paycheck, health insurance, and a free membership (plus a few memberships to share).
Between rescuing discounted food from the grocery store and the bulk items on sale from the wholesale store, I should be able to grow my pantry pretty quick and stay on budget!
🍀
That’s awesome! It sounds like you have a solid plan to build up your pantry! I am glad that we could be part of your journey!
Smart advice. I also like sweet potatoes and butternut squash. They can be a whole meal and so full of vitamins.
I just processed free pumpkins I got from our local free site..17 -3/4 pounds are in my freezer drained and ready to use in muffins breads and soup. Very nutritious, kept it out of the land fill and will be filling bellies for the entire winter.
Oh my, I would have loved to have a couple of those pumpkins.
@@chachab9239 By the time I cooked them all down and drained them through flour sack towels, I would have loved to give you some...lol! I can't look another pumpkin in the face for a long time! It was a lot of work but it was worth it.
i love all of these and i practice them constantly. i've always been a meal planner and an eater of pretty basic foods, but over the past few weeks i've been making a small prepper pantry for myself, because who the hell knows what might happen to food prices after january 20th. there's been lots of great sales on canned veggies and beans, so i'm filling up on those and other shelf-stable foods. i happen to be doing okay on money for the moment, so i spent about $400 total in three different stores, and i have enough to get me through a good four or five months. pretty darn proud of myself, to be honest.
one more to add: build up your spice rack to add great flavor to everything, especially those more bland staples like rice & beans. buy a new one every time you do your weekly shopping, and you'll have most of what you need within a couple of months for only a few dollars each trip.
I took your advice and planned accordingly, but live in a economy apartment with a medium sized freezer.You are truly a blessing
❤
PLEASE 🙏🙏🙏 show different storage solutions, racks, types of containers and some of your storage configurations. I’m trying to pull my kitchen together for whole food cooking and I’m so tired of all the bags, boxes and mismatched containers that take up so much more space than organized containers. I have some ordered, but I still need a solution for my canned goods and not a lot of room. It’s just my husband and I, so I’m lucky. Thank you so much for inspiring us.❤️
Great advice and tips!
Fresh produce can go back quickly so I have several different Thrive Life freeze dried fruits/veggies that I use every week in meal prep. This has saved me money over the long term because I’m not wasting anything.
Just finished reorganizing my pantries (took a week to reorganize, inventory and discard (will be donated)). Getting ready for low spend January and February.
We double batch cook. If we make soup… we double it and put it in the freezer. If I’m making pancakes… double it put the extra in the freezer.
I always double batch soup. It’s always easy to grab a bag out of the upright freezer for lunch when I’m getting in my car to go to work🤗
@katemilanowski403 for me, a regular casserole is the same as dbl batching. I love being able to pull some out of the freezer to heat and eat.
Work in a 5 star hotel where you are fed for free everyday. Buffet style. And are allowed to take home alot of leftovers each day. And other food items. I worked as a hotel maid for years, and saved so much money. And great exercise. No need for gym memberships. And so many bottles of wine and chocolate etc left in rooms we were allowed to take home. And near-expiry drinks and snacks/bread, etc. Also allowed to take home.
Meal planning and batch cooking is a great way to reduce stress. Knowing what you're making for dinner because you took it out to thaw before you left for work in the morning is WONDERFUL. I'm semi retired and still cook ahead, freezing portions to save cooking time later. If you don't have time to batch cook, try partial preps. If I'm cooking black beans for burritos, I double the recipe and freeze a couple of servings. When I'm ready to make black bean soup, I just have to thaw and throw them in the pot. In my experience, tired and hungry people ain't inspired to cook, they're inspired to drive-thru. Take the pressure off and meal plan!
Since I stopped eating processed food, it takes less food to satisfy my hunger.
Same! 🙌🏼
I made 24 muffins 12 / blueberry and 12 apple cinnamon, also made apple fritters for the next couple of days , 25 grab and go breakfast ! My hubs loves moffins pennies compared to the cost of grabbing 4pks in grocery . Also made my gluten free son a bunch of yeast raised glazed donuts . Yum ..
I have chickens who started to lay eggs. I'm now making my own breakfast burritos in batches. I use eggs, onion, some sort of ham, ground meat, whatever, cook those up in a large batch. I put about a cup of the mix into a freezer bag and add a little cheese. Then when I need a fast burrito, I microwave the bag, pour it onto the tortilla, put a little salsa on it, wrap it up and eat!
My mom was the most frugal person in the world, she use to make home made big pots of vegetable soup all winter. I do exactly the same thing now, it's cheap, healthly and delicious!
I buy gallon whole milk. When it is 1/3 empty, i fill it with water. So its like getting every 4th gallon free
I make mac and cheese with cauliflower florets cut small, and onions and peas. Then i top it with fried bacon and mushrooms
My Mom made vegetable goulash: a bit of hamburger, a can each of crushed tomatoes, corn, peas and kidney beans (do not drain). Add whatever herbs/spices you like. Mom used oregano, Italian spices. Sometimes she would add onions. My Aunt also put carrots in her goulash. We, my siblings and all my cousins still eat this because we want to. (The only way I eat peas ).
Definitely making this with a pan of cornbread. Thanks for the recipe. I had something like this a long time ago and didn’t know how it was made❤
My mom did 'irish goulash'. Brown gravy ground beef peas onion sour cream over mashed potatoes. I still make it for comfort food.
@@KimC16, leave out the peas and that sound great!
Back in the olden days when all the kids were home, I made casseroles. One casserole would feed the Brady Bunch. All I had to do was add a veg and maybe biscuits, muffins, or some kind of bread and we had dinner. Buy those bananas in the bags. You can make muffins, bread and cakes from them. I also add 2 cups of shredded zucchini and 2 cups of apples that I canned to my steel cut oats (I make 4 servings according to the package). I end up with 6 servings of oatmeal when cooked.
Great video! And yes! Would love a video on the breakfast quesadillas ! I struggle with what to cook. Always looking for healthy, easy recipes.
I agree on the quesadilla vid and also looking for healthy easy recipes
This is exactly what my mother did and seeing this video brought back a lot of happy memories of fruit picking, jamming, baking and freezing Bless you and thank you so much. Xxx❤❤❤
I have ADHD so I have a really hard time meal planning because it takes time to sit down and write it down and I will actively procrastinate until it’s too late to bother with it. So a workaround I’ve found is to almost play like I’m on an episode of chopped and I have to use the leftovers creatively. So I’ll keep on hand staples to make all of my typical sauces, dressings, seasoning blends, etc and I buy in bulk when I can. So I will buy whatever is on sale and then I’ll just keep changing what I make with it until it’s gone. For example I had a turkey on sale from thanksgiving, so I took some of it and I made things with different parts of it for dinner every day of the week. I added it to a pasta cream sauce, I made a cheesy rice casserole type thing with some of it. I made a soup with some of it, and I made enchiladas another night. Then I made bone broth when the week was done. The urgency and the “okay, what am I doing with this for dinner tonight. I have x, y and z I need to use.” Is much easier for me than planning ahead. Usually if you don’t have something, there’s a good substitute for it. From scratch is the easiest way and it really doesn’t take that much time. It’s just active instead of passive but by the time you decide on a place to get food from, order, wait, then eat, it evens out
I saved more than I spent yesterday using my grocery store app and only buying sale items 😊
Awesome, you're a pro!
"Paying for a received convenience!'
Bingo! Love it❤
I love your ideas.I do menu planning for one month.got a freezer for free!! Now I save all kinds.
Before making the meal for evening, we see what produce needs used first, canned goods that are coming close to the expiration date, freezer check to see what needs used first, and go from there. It has saved a lot from going bad.
I didn't realize you could freeze French toast. I've never tried lentils but do have some. I'll look up a lentil soup recipe. Great video. Thank you. Glad you're able to get out to the store. Sending prayers for continued healing 🙏 ❤
Yep, put in the toaster for breakfast or a snack.
When my 3 kids were growing up we went through a lot of bread. But nobody but me ate heels. So I would save heels in a bread bag in the freezer. When the bag was full, I used them to make French toast. Then I put that back in the freezer for quick breakfast or snacks.
Great message and also amazing helpful comments from your viewers.
I can't really think of anything to ask at the moment. You pretty much cover things before I think to ask! 😆
Basically I come here for the ideas and always come away with another hint, tip, suggestion to add to my prep arsenal.
Just wanted to say it's appreciated. Thanks much!
Thanks for sharing!!
I could listen to this Gold all day 💯 definitely sharing! 💗
I appreciate that
Dandilion. If you are not in the inner city and have access to dandelions, eat them! I eat them once a week. Also, if you can't have a big garden and only have a balcony, grow kale and you will have a leafy green for free once a week, it is easy to grow.
People complain about the price of eggs, but a single egg is still the most cost efficient animal protein, and its packed with more vitamins that other options. Pretty much just missing vitamin C. A scoop of tang with breakfast will fix that.
I would love to see a video on your breakfast quesadillas!
Yes PLEASE
Just something as simple as eating your carbs last on a plate can reduce your glucose levels by up to 30 percent. As long as you don’t shock your body with eating carbs alone and eat your veggies and proteins and fats first,your pancreas works a lot better!
I've learned I don't need to use a full pound of meat in recipes. Depending on what you're making, usually 1/2 lb. or 3/4 lbs. is enough. I freeze meat in different weight portions for this reason.
Menu planning was hard, but now it works quite well. And it also saves a lot of time.
My daughter smoked a turkey for Thanksgiving so I took the carcass home and cooked it inmy chicken broth. The meals are great add veggies make soup or pot pies so good for little or nothing.
We cooked a carcas too. Poured it in ice cube trays and used it in another dish later. Some will be taken out of ice cube trays and frozen in a ziploc baggie. It is so much better than store boughten, watered down broth.
The layoffs and cuts are in preparation for the tariffs.
Thank you for the info and inspiration! This is my year to get my pantry going!
You can do it!
Struggling with low budget & needing to keep carbs low. Carbs cause inflammation in my body. It's just me & I'm learning to can. My daughter bought me presto 17qt (I think) stovepipe canner for bday this month. Looking forward to canuary & getting lots of ideas of stockpiling my pantry.
Great suggestions for saving money while building your pantry . Thank you.
Happy new year, and may you have a prosperous new year.
As a child, I remember having hamburger gravy over bread. It was so good and filling. A quarter of a pound of hamburger, made with a small amount of milk. So good and filling. I'm having it tonight for dinner. Mmm...
Can put it over mashed potatoes too.
Ikr!! $20 for a box of eggs is crazy!! Eggs just went on sale this week at my Kroger's for $10 for the 60ct/5dz box. Yay!! Idk how to preserve eggs very well, but I think I will buy one at the beginning of the sale today Wednesday, and then another before the sale ends Tuesday!
meal planning... for some of us it REALLY hard to do meal planning, but its the most "bang for your buck". i cannot count how many times i have had to throw out food that got 'lost in the fridge' or not used in time. Add to that the number of times you end up eating fast food because you didnt plan? meal planning is the start of a good budget
Good to see you looking so good. I love to batch cook and then freeze meals. I shop the meat sales at Walmart, H‑E‑B and Tom Thumb too, then can most of it. It feels so good to know we’re good on food!
I so love the way you think. I will not eat out unless someone else is paying for it. An invite. 😂😂 I paid good money for my preps and grocery haul deals. I cook at home. I am having a hard time making breads for one person. I really love homemade bread. I am a grocery deal freak. it pays off at the end of the month. My biggest deal this week was 2 for 1 1lb. bacon. 99c bags of veggies such as 4 green pepper, 6 Medium russet potatoes, 3 zucchini and 4 honey crisp apples. all for $4. $5 FOR 12 CHICKEN LEGS. $5 for 5 boneless pork chops. $1.99 dz for eggs up to 5 dz. Yes! I bought 5 dz. Piggly Wiggly and Kroger now have $5 pkg of meat. This is awesome for seniors. Manager discount specials on meat is awesome.
Hi Lisa I've been making a lot of Great depression meals just in case we ever have to face that and I pray to God we never do but some of that stuff when you think about it is basically what you have in your fridge and you make whatever you can out of it
❤ Honestly....This was EXCELLENT. She's right about it All.
Thank You.
Hi Lisa, I’m so happy I found you! I love your content! I am also from northern Michigan, Antrim county
Antrim County is great! I love Northern Michigan.
When things were super tight I learned to rotate the same meals. For example. Sunday was a roast or chicken. The Monday was lunch kit meat and crock pot soup from the left over bones and meat. Tuesday was spaghetti with sauce (with usually meat balls). Wednesday was sausages and mashed potatoes . Thursday mac and cheese with cut up leftover sausages. Friday was omelette and toast ( eggs , cut up onions and sometimes pieces of ham). Saturday was grilled cheese and ham ( sometime tomato soup) and we just rotated that over and over. The side dishes varied but the kids always knew exactly what was for supper nad would be upset if I changed the schedule.
Thank you for sharing these awesome tips! One thing people can do to save money on food is to reduce the amount of meat you eat and/or learn to cook cheaper types of meat. I have had fun putting tougher meats in my crock pot and creating culinary art 😄