POORMAN'S MEALS | WHAT TO EAT WHEN YOU HAVE NO MONEY | FRUGAL MEALS
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- Опубліковано 1 чер 2024
- Today I'm making a modern day version of poor man's meals. I'll be sharing 4 low cost emergency meals to help you get by when you don't have enough money for food. These frugal meals will feed a family of four and most meals are in the $2 range. These are extreme budget emergency meals. If you have a higher budget you can add on to these meals.
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• TRYING TO EAT FOR ONE ...
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Link to video with congee
• TRYING TO EAT FOR ONE ...
Ingredients and prices
BROCCOLI RICE BAKE
broccoli frozen Great Value 0.84
rice 0.44
chicken 1.39
Total 2.67
Directions - use 2 tablespoons flour with oil, when cooked at 2 cups water and chicken bouillon to taste, add 1 1/2 cups long grain rice, chopped frozen broccoli. Drain canned chicken, fry in pan and season with cajun seasoning or garlic powder, onion powder, paprika. add to mixture bake for 30 minutes at 400 or until rice is tender.
To make more casserole, use more rice.
CHICKEN AND RICE SOUP
carrot 0.24
chicken 1.39
1 1/2 cup rice 0.44
Total 1.97
CHICKEN FRIED RICE - SAME INGREDIENTS FOR CHICKEN CONGEE
rice 0.44
chicken 1.39
carrot 0.3
Total 2.13
For congee- do not use as much rice and cook low and slow, keep adding water. When almost complete add bouillon and top with chicken mixture.
VEGETARIAN PASTA WITH SAUCE
pasta 0.82
spinach 1
not chickn bouillon 0.44
Total 2.26
rice great value 5 lb 2.94
TO MAKE VEGETARIAN PASTA WITH SAUCE
I used "Not Chicken" bouillon to season the sauce but you can use whatever you like. Depending on how much sauce you need to make is how much flour you use for the roux. Start with oil in pan, then add flour (2 -3 tablespoons). Cook the mixture until almost starting to brown then add in water and whisk. Then add in bouillon until it tastes good to you. I like to add pepper also. Use this as a sauce for any pasta you have on hand. You can also add in vegetables like broccoli.
I enjoy either macaroni, or rigatoni with this light colored sauce with broccoli. In this video I used spinach to mix it up.
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Thanks!
Thank you so much Joanna 😁 I appreciate your support 🥰
my standard emergency meal is one box of Kraft macaroni and cheese or the generic mixed with one can of tuna or chicken and then I usually have some cracker crumbs to put on top if I don’t have any grated cheese that usually some bottom of the package broken up crackers or a few Ritz crackers.. potato chips….You can get three decent size servings and basically it’s two dollars… also throw in some peas, carrots, or chopped up green onions or any veggie laying aroundI made that macaroni and cheese with almost anything that I’ve got leftover in the refrigerator…. if I don’t have milk and butter…sour cream, water, I’ve used cottage cheese…. Yogurt… Tuna noodle casserole is a comfort food from my childhood so that’s my go to
Love this 👍 Thanks for sharing with us. I'm keeping this for my emergency meals videos.
@@ArdentMichelle thanks for the great 💡 ideas
If you saute a bit of onion, maybe a half or a whole small onion, and add to the finished macaroni, it makes it even better.
It's important to add the sauted onion last, if you add it before you mix in the cheese package, the sauted onion pieces will hold onto the cheese powder and make for a less delicious meal. Learn from my mistake!
An old gentleman admirer taught me to make this with tuna and onion, 40-odd years ago. (Thanks, C., wherever you are.)
The generic Mac and cheese is much cheaper!
Consuming Kraft dinners and such will add coins to your pocket at the time of ingestion.
However, the money saved in one area and 100 times more on your hospital bill.
Frozen peas (alone) usually cost the same as frozen peas and carrots. Instead of half a bag of the blend, use 1/3 of the bag of peas plus one fresh carrot. Saves a few more cents!
another great tip 👍 these small steps add up to BIG savings overall. I was looking at the frozen veggies (online) at Walmart and thinking that some of the price difference just didn't make any sense at all 😂😂
Good point. where I live carrots are cheap year round.
Whenever canned chicken is brought up as a budget friendly option I almost always see tons of complaints. I think a lot of people don't bother to do things like brown it a bit with seasoning, it almost completely transforms it compared to straight out of the can.
true 👍
i dont care for canned chicken, it is very stringy, (i have had several surgeries on my stomach/guts) and just cant eat it. (also no teeth LOL so soft foods only) i wish i could! but i am grateful to be eating anything anymore
When I’m feeding my family on a budget I like to buy those 10 pound bags of chicken quarters. They’re typically between $5-8 a bag. I trim them up, separate the leg from the thigh and if you give everyone one piece of chicken, serve it with rice or potatoes and a bag of frozen broccoli it serves 4 people for probably $3 total. The bag served this way or stretched like you did in this video can feed our family of 4 for almost a week.
There is so much you can do with it!
I have also been experimenting with no waste cooking lately. So for example with the chicken I would boil the bones for stock, and fry the skin to make chicken chiccarones which are great on things like tacos and rice bowls.
Another favorite no waste trick I do is to save all of my non starchy veggie scraps in a ziploc in the freezer. When it’s full I use it to make a huge pot of vegetable stock.
The last one I think you’d enjoy, remove the stalks from your romaine lettuce when you’re making salad. Cut them into bite size pieces and stir fry it lightly with garlic and red chili flakes. It’s really good!
Hi Victoria 😁 I love these ideas! Thanks for sharing. I haven't tried the romaine stalks that why. I'm curious to see how that is. Going to try this in the next couple days. Thank you 👩🍳
I actually did that with my chicken from Christmas. I boiled the carcass with nothing added and then removed the fat. It’s frozen now for whatever I need. So great!
@@otherworlder1 yes! I do that too! I almost never have to buy stock and it tastes so much better!
I actually had a recipe for a stir fried romaine that I used to cook all the time back in the 80's. It was delicious!
Oh I love those big bags, I stock up when they're on sale; definitely a great way to add a little meat to the meal & stretch it. Great for stews.
One of our faves is to throw about 2 cups uncooked rice in a big baking pan, put some chicken on top depending on how many servings you need (one thigh per person usually works good for us), and then a bag of frozen veggies of your choice. Add whatever season you like-- italian, cajun, Goya seasoning packs, or just salt & pepper. Add about 2-3 cups of water and toss it in 400 degree oven for about 50 minutes. The chicken drips and water combine for a nice flavor for the rice to soak up. Makes such a nice hearty well-rounded chicken dinner in one pan, then I take the bones after dinner and throw them in a pot for a quick bit of stock for the next night.
I'd like to share with you two "comidas de pobres" (poor people's food) that my Portuguese husband and I loved.
The first is "Açorda" (bread soup). Break stale bread into a bowl- hearty brown bread or corn bread works best. Pound up a raw garlic clove, a pinch of salt, fresh coriander leaves and a little olive oil and add to the bowl. Pour boiling water (or stock) over. Top with a poached egg. That's breakfast for much of working class Portugal.
The second is Sardine frittata. Not traditional Portuguses food, but using Portuguese flavours. Use a can of Portuguese sardines in chilli oil. Drain that oil into a frypan. You'll cook in that. Mash the sardines and slice up the whole chilli from the can. Stir those into some leftover cooked rice. (Brown rice is particularly tasty.) Add an egg to bind. Fry the mixture in the pan until it sets like a cake. Turn it using a plate, or use your griller (broiler) to cook the top. Serve in wedges.
Yay! Thanks for sharing these meals. I'll definitely be making the first one. Sounds right up my alley. I'm excited to try it 😁 I don't eat anything from the sea, but I'll keep the sardine frittata idea in mind to possibly share at a later time. Thanks for contributing these recipes for the low budget videos! 👩🍳
I want to try this!
Caldo verde would be cheep as well. I love Portuguese bread soup, it’s so humble and delicious!
Excelente 😍🇵🇹
Im portuguese two 🥰
What I truly enjoy is that although the ingredients that you use are super affordable you make the meals a first class experience. Everyone can enjoy an amazing meal with what you teach on your channel. Thank You Michelle.
I'm so glad you like my meals and find them helpful 😁 Thanks for letting me know. 🥰
She's awesome, isn't she.
Hispanic arroz con leche.. rice porridge for breakfast or a dessert!! So cool to see the diversity with something as simple as rice love it!! Thank u for sharing
Thanks for sharing this info 👍 I hadn't heard of it before. I feel like we are just getting started in our fun with rice! 😂
My father grew up in the country in North Carolina and they often ate sweetened rice and milk for breakfast.
@@tonette6592we eat it as a dessert 😊
Filipinos have what they call Arroz de Caldo.... which is rice porridge which chicken and bits of ginger and chopped green onions for when someone is sick... makes a good breakfast too.!
* Classical poor man's meal in Latin American countries is a serving of RICE with a FRIED EGG. 🍳
* Also RICE and BEANS. Absolutely everyone loves them. Adding a side of anything that is available. Vegetables, potato wedges, an egg or if affordable a little meat.
I like this because I don't use canned soups for casseroles. Nice to know it is so easy to make a "soup" base with a simple roux.Thanks you!
Hi Anne 😁 Glad you found this video helpful! Thanks for letting me know. 🥰
YUM!! These are dishes I'd want to eat even if money WASN'T tight these days. As for the prices of eggs skyrocketing; it must be due to the avian flu and subsequent mass cull of chickens that farmers have had to contend with lately. Less laying hens = less eggs, hence the price hike. Thanks for these videos, you're helping a lot of people get by. :)
Glad you like this video. 😁 Thanks for letting me know the reason for the spike in egg costs. I was not aware.
Do a tiny bit more research on that hypothesis. ♡ it's not true, look deeper hun
Its the cost of chicken feed.
@@patriciaingles1452 No Sweetheart, it most certainly is the reason. Millions of chickens across the country have had to be euthanized because of the avian flu. IT'S ALREADY BEEN PROVEN. I bet you're a conspiracy theorist that likes to spread your bullsht and fear to any audience you can grab. Pathetic.
I’m living in my SUV and Door Dashing. I need some recipes that you don’t need a stove.
Hi Barbara 😁 I'm working on a video right now that is budget convenience foods. Do you have a cooler for the car to keep some items cold?
Kettle and thermal cooker.
I love how you calculate all of this. Thanks for your hard work.
My pleasure! 😁
I had a blended family of six daughters and now I live alone. Somehow my meals get gigantic and out of control. I'm learning from your videos that you can do a lot with a small amount of ingredients, and and I've got to incorporate that into my cooking style. The crows in my neighborhood have been eating very well lately.
Hi Momma M 😁 This made me laugh. Those crows are lucky. 😂 I know what you mean....It's hard after you have been cooking for a big family to only cook for one. I usually only like to eat leftovers once, so those are the serving sizes I now make. It works for me. Have a great rest of your weekend.
Same. We just ate baked spaghetti for 4 days 🤦♀️ I have to learn to cook small
i have the same problem!! i waste so much food! i just cant figure out how to cook for one!! i do keep a few chickens, so they get the waste.
Absolutely love this channel. And I love your soft voice; no shouting from you. Thank you and make more videos please.
Thank you so much 🥰 I'm glad you are enjoying my content. I appreciate the complement. 😁
My family likes breakfast for dinner sometimes. I put a hand full of dried raisins or s small box from a lunchbox set of six into the water and then added rice and cooked as normal. I added a tablespoon of dried milk and a little sugar and served in bowls.
Hi Beth 😁 That sounds yummy. Just adding that single ingredient probably really elevates the dish.
Serve with banana slices, or peach slices if you have any.
Additional nutrients and flavors.
This is a throwback to my childhood 😍. I'm not that fond of raisins so I use dried cranberries. Delish!
Michelle I love you! Out of all the UA-cam low budget you are definitely my fave. Such creativity while keeping it as nutritionally dense as possible. Thank you for sharing your gift. 💖💕
YAY! I'm honored and so glad you like my channel 😁
Thanks for letting me know 🥰 and also thanks for watching my videos!
Aren't her videos wonderful? And I love her voice.
She’s my favorite hands down. I love her creativity and her soothing voice calms my anxiety on bad days which is a huge bonus.
@@lisa22150 I love her voice too!
@@lisa22150 yes, her voice is very soothing
The price of eggs is ridiculous! I went to Sam's Club Friday and got 2 dozen cage free eggs for just under $6.00. Much better than the other stores that I have found. I never knew you could break down rice like that! Everything looks so yummy! I was thinking a couple of days ago that I need to use up my canned chicken but couldn't think of any good way to use it besides an emergency sandwich. So grateful for these recipes! Thanks girl!
It's my pleasure 🥰 I went to SamsClub on Saturday morning and they were sold out of eggs 😞 I ended up purchasing a carton of 12 for $6 at Ralphs. Some of my viewers just told me that there is a bird flu going on that caused a temporary spike in eggs. Guess there are supply chain issues going on everywhere right now. Poor birds.
18 eggs at our Walmart are $8.08 on 1-9-23
I heard someone talking about 7.00$ at walmart. I'm still shocked.
I use canned chicken to make patties similar to tuna. Delicious topped with a ranch flavored mayo.
@@imjusthereforthecomments4920 That DOES sound delicious!!!
Great recipes, AM! I can easily see you making a mini-series, using four (or so) ingredients and featuring four (or so) meals!
Thanks Linda 😁 You are helping me to see this vision also 😂 Not a bad idea.👍
I love your channel and your meal ideas help alot of people. As far as eggs, millions of chickens, turkeys, ducks, and (egg layers) have been killed because of "bird flu". I understand it's almost impossible to buy/afford eggs at all in the UK and Viet Nam.
Thank you so much 😁 I'm glad you are enjoying my content. I didn't know about the bird flu until some of my viewers mentioned it in the comments.
That's so sad. ☹️
If you can afford it, oyster sauce in fried rice is an amazing addition since it adds a lot of flavor and you use a tablespoon or less of it per batch. I tried it last year and haven’t gone back
Please remember salmon cakes and tuna salad for stretching your budget.
Hi Bessie 😁 Thanks for these tips.
I didn't think of salmon cakes and tuna salad is a great idea 👍
Tuna pie is really good and cheap.
Mackerel, if you can get it, is even cheaper.
My husband's family made 'Poor Man's Cake' which was a cinnamon and raisin cake, very dense. Filled you up, and didn't cost much, but was delicious and good enough to take to a party! We have it a few times a year and everyone loves it.
Sounds delicious although I can't say I've ever heard of it. Googling now 😂
We had a really delicious, cheap but healthy dinner last night. Red lentil stew. I had it loaded with diced vegetables and flavoured it with spices, spices that flavour not heat spices. Not hard to guess that today's lunch, in an hour is leftovers.
Hi Lee 😁 I love real food, and I love lentils. I just found a bag of snack lentils at Riteaid. They are crispy with a little salt. They are so addicting, I can't stop eating them. I'm going to try to make some myself.
Your title brought me here!
Hope you decide to stay 😁
My mom used to make a rice casserole with canned veggies corn, green beans, and tomatos-- liquid and all in the pan. She used the liquid to cook the rice in. Then she would had hamburger on top. Afterwards she would sometimes add cheese.
Hi Dani 😁 Thanks for sharing this. I love one pot meals. 👩🍳
My husband did some research and found out that there has been a decrease in chickens due to some type of virus, therefore I guess there are less eggs... that is why there is such an incredible surge in pricing. We've seen this before and eventually they do go back down.
ok got it 👍 glad it's not just due to inflation.
The bird flu. I'm from Minnesota. The turkey farms by us had to euthanize all of their turkeys due to avian flu. The chicken barns had the same problem.
I appreciate the info.
People laugh at me when I tell them I buy powdered eggs for my food stockpile. You just never know.
@@andreaproell4576 so sad 😞
@@ColtraneAndRain so true 👍
I like how you transform shelf-stable foods to make tasty meals from inexpensive ingredients. Canned chicken is a great shelf-stable pantry staple. Many of my senior friends get these in commodities boxes with cans of mixed vegetables and rice or elbow macaroni. On their own, these are welcome foods for seniors who need to stretch our budgets. Together, these ingredients look like soup to me, with no waste. Even the liquid in the cans goes into the soup.
I grow scallions, celery, and kale in the kitchen (a huge savings on its own). I slice the whites of the scallions and saute them in a little olive oil, add fresh minced celery for flavor, add in just the chicken and break it up to build more flavor, then sprinkle with garlic powder and dried parsley flakes. After a few minutes, dump in the canned chicken liquid, cans of soup, a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, plus a teaspoon of granulated chicken bouillon if you have it. Add another two cups of water and your rice or elbow macaroni and simmer until done. Add chopped kale in the last few minutes for extra nutrition if you have some. If you don't have mixed vegetables, add two chopped carrots in the saute step. The green part of the scallions either goes in last or is the garnish when serving a bowlful. Anyway, I like seeing different techniques for cooking. I'm delighted to learn the rice porridge techniques that other cultures use to eat well on next to nothing. Always something new to learn here. Thank you!
Hello 😁 Wow. That's awesome that you are able to grow scallions, celery, and kale in the kitchen. I wish I had better sunlight in my home. Sounds like a delicious soup. Thanks for sharing it with us.
I grew up eating rice for breakfast we would put milk, butter, cinnamon, sugar and some times we would cook it in milk instead of water it makes a better breakfast or dessert I come from a large family of 7 kid's we still to this day eat rice for breakfast.
I come from an impoverished background and never had rice pudding. I wish my parents would have known about this delicious concoction. It's so cheap yet so good.
@@ArdentMichelle when my Mom married our Father she already had 5 kids one sister died soon after birth and her twin had a bad heart and had to get a heart transplant he lived a long time but was always sick. The Man she Married was only 19 years old and adopted us 4 and they had two of their own a girl and boy. He had his own air-conditioning business in California where we were born and grew up. My Mom's Family were not poor but not rich until she married him. Her Family had a thousand acr farm in New Mexico and had every animal on the earth our Father was a self made millionaire with no help from anyone. But I will tell you just because you have money it doesn't make you happy and we didn't know that he was a millionaire until we were much older and we were never given things just because we wanted it. He treated us like every other person and that's what matters.
@@southerncaltattooedbiker3643 Thanks for sharing your story with us. 🥰
I ordered some tvp from Amazon and hope to be playing around with it over the next month. A budget meal I make is mock chicken pot pie: One can of biscuits cooked or you could make your own. To make the topping, make a rue (as you did here) with flour, butter, and chicken flavoring and add water to consistency you desire. Add to that a small bag of peas and carrots and a can of chicken. If I have an onion and a celery stalk, I add that too, but it's very good without it. Pour over the biscuits and dinner is served. The Congee looks good. I'm wondering what the odds are that I wouldn't burn it 😀
Hello 😁 Love this idea 👍 Thanks for sharing it. You made me laugh 😂 you have to try the congee. It's so good with butternut squash too.
two other ideas: mushrooms as a meat substitute; and when using cans--never, ever throw out the liquid (or send it into the drain)--use it as an extra water/flavor source--whether it is water or oil based...dts/usa
I agree there is flavor in the liquid and it's great to keep, unless you are watching your sodium. In which case, you may need to discard it.
Another frugal dish that I like . Frying pasta ( already cooked and cooled ) with oil , butter , margarine until crispy add garlic powder or minced. In a separate pan saute cabbage until it is browned . It brings out the sweetness. Than top your crispy pasta . Very tasty. I think the cabbage is a polish dish .
Hi Rebekah 😁 I make a pasta frittata that is somewhat similar. I like the crispy part on the bottom. This sounds great. I'll try it. Thanks for the input 😁
Excellent Michelle! 😍🤩 I think I’ve seen canned chicken at the Dollar Tree for $1.25 so that’s another option 🤔💕💖
Glad you liked my video CG 😁 Thanks for letting us know about the chicken at Dollar Tree.
My emergency meal is canned beans with warmed corn tortillas and butter
I am glad you thought about people like me who live remote. I do not have even a grocery store near me for milk, bread, or eggs. I usually shop once or twice a month and try to plan fresher produce for the first week each time I shop. Then rely on frozen, canned, and shelf stable.
Hi Gibsongirl 😁 I know that living far from a store presents a lot of challenges. I'll try to incorporate more shelf stable and freezer type meals into my videos. Thanks for the comment 🥰
Enjoying your channel very much. Here’s a hack if you want to speed the cooking time of congee. Wash and then freeze the rice. Bring water to the boil. Add the frozen rice. Stir frequently. Reduces cooking time to about 20 mins. Sometimes I soak the rice for 10 mins before freezing to make cooking even quicker. If you don’t have a freezer then soak the rice overnight and that too will reduce cooking time but not as much as freezing does.
Thank you 😁 I'm glad your enjoying my channel. Thanks for this great tip 👍 I love congee so much, I could definitely see myself using this tip. It's so comforting. 👩🍳
I use canned chicken from Costco quite often. I will drain it for a casserole, but I keep the drained liquid from the can and add water to it to make the broth instead of using all bouillon. I figure the liquid in the can is essentially chicken broth. Thanks for all you do. I think you have a lot to offer to young and old alike who are facing hard times. You would make a great cooking instructor!
Hi Staci 🥰 Wow. Thanks for the nice complement. Have a great weekend.
I'm back to tell you that I made the first, canned chicken meal with a little different herbs and spices, and we LOVED it! I will be adding this to my cooking repertoire, (and I was a professional, a baker/cook/restaurateur.)
Yay! 😁 I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for letting me know. 🥰
I discovered canned chicken last year. I was shocked at how good it is! I no longer have to buy and freeze it in my tiny freezer and I can get a free can at the food pantry where I volunteer when there are no leftover veggies. The Costco Kirkland is the tastiest.
Just got a 7.9 bottle of the chicken granules at DG for $2.50! A bit more expensive ($.04/tsp) than Aldi and Sam's (I can't get there). It's been >$7.50 at the grocer!
So many great ideas here, thanks all.
Hello 😁 Yes, the canned chicken is really good. That's a good deal on chicken bouillon.👍 I'm glad you liked this video! Thanks for letting me know.
I love canned chicken honestly because raw chicken is kind of a little bit gross to me. .. In canned chicken what I consider icky parts are not there!.. Also you can do almost any of these recipes with a can of tuna or a can of salmon.. great job, my friend!
Thanks Wendie 🥰 I was wondering how it would be with tuna 🤔 Glad you pointed this out.
Casseroles are always a great idea for me when I’m on a budget! I loved this first recipe!
Thanks for letting me know 🥰
Fried rice is my go to budget meal, you can use any protein or go meatless. Vegetable fried rice is extremely cheap.
Agreed 👍 Love fried rice. I've been adding rice directly into my stir fry lately and it's really good like that also.
Pasta and cabbage recipe I use 500 g of the egg pasta cooked. 6 cups of cabbage a thick shred 1 tsp sea salt, 1 tsps sugar sautéed till it passes transparent and lightly toasted. Add fresh ground black pepper. Adults usually eat it savory. For the children sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Thanks for sharing this recipe 😁
These meals look great! You have a gift for elevating simple dishes.
Thanks so much! 😊
Frozen veggies are often higher in nutrients than fresh as they are frozen quickly after harvest, whereas fresh ones often are in shipment for days before hitting the store, losing nutrients along the way. Also, canned veggies are nutritious as well; you just have to keep an eye on sodium levels.
Finally someone who actually does budget meals, new sub here and I will be trying some of these recipies (also we can get the ingredients in NZ) thanks for posting.
Hello and welcome to my channel 😁 Thanks so much for the sub. I'm glad you are here. 🥰
Tonight I boiled 2 ham bones with my vegetable scraps that I leave in the freezer. I added a carrot, onion, tomato and navy beans to half of the broth. I'm using the other half for potato soup later this week.
I save my ham bones from big holiday dinners, but you can find them for very little money at your butcher or use ham hocks. It's a small amount of meat, but you're still getting tons of flavor and protein from the bones and beans. It would also be delicious on rice.
All together it's about $3 per meal.
But after seeing what one egg is costing you I'm not sure if this would as affordable everywhere. I honestly don't know how people are coping with these prices, but love that you're always helping and inspiring others.
You're so resourceful. 😁 These meals are in line with my next video. I'm featuring soups 👩🍳 They make such a great budget food.
We make the congee for dinner when someone is sick in the house. I add a TON of garlic to it. It's so good!
Hi Karen 😁 I so wanted to try the fried little crispy pieces of garlic on the top but it wasn't in the budget. I'll try adding the powder next time though, even if the fresh garlic isn't in the budget. Thanks for sharing. 🥰
Hi, Michelle. :) All of these meals look good and satisfying. I’d eat all of them. I love canned chicken. I always have it in the house and use it often in cooking. It makes good chicken salad for sandwiches, too. Did you ever think about putting a cookbook together for sale? Your recipes are really good, inexpensive and obviously not found anywhere else because their your own. I know I’d like to have them together in one place for easy reference. Honestly, I’d buy a copy. Have a good week! 🙂
Hi Debbie 😁 I would consider doing a cookbook in the future. I'm glad you like my meals enough that you would buy a cookbook from me. I'm honored 🥰Thank you so much 🤗 Hope you have a great week too.
What a great idea!!! I would buy one too!!! Even if she sold sheets of recipes like 10 recipes at a time and start a collection. I would put them in a binder. She could even create a binder and sell that too.
you guys are the best 🥰
Congee is a fabulous choice for really cheap rice! So comforting, so cheap and so yummy!
Can't wait to try new versions of it. 😁
Love rice recipes! Looks yummy and I am on a strict food budget. End of Feb eggs went down 50% at Walmart. I got 18 eggs for $2.66 here in Kentucky at Walmart. Thanks for video’s
.
Hi Robin 😁 Glad you liked this video. Yes I noticed that eggs went down too. I was so excited to get 24 for $5.44 at Samsclub. Looks like your prices are even better than mine at Samsclub.
My emergency meals
1. Raman noodles with some mixed veggies and a little amino acids. (1.00 for the Raman as it's vegan, 1.00 for the mixed veggies and pennies for the amino acid. It's at least 2 meals for me so 1.00 per)
2. Spaghetti with marinara. (1.00 for the Spaghetti and 1.00 for the marinara this makes 4 meals for me so .50 a meal)
3. Rice and beans. I buy rice from the Indian store so about 1.00 a lb. I use 1/2 cup so .25 for the rice. I buy canned beans for 1.00. I rinse and mix. 4 meals for 1.25 I can then add Sriracha if I want, I can add veggies if I want. I have typically some avacado in my fridge and that works well.
Hi Donna 😁 Thanks for sharing these meals with us. Great ideas 👍
Teaching people life skills of cooking. God bless you.
Thank you so much 😁🥰
Forage. Mushrooms,berries,chestnuts,wild garlic,acorns,rosehips, mixers for cheap oats , make porridge with water. Get the United Kingdom WWII ration book Recipes. Make do and Mend.
I'm so glad I found this. A childhood food I've been hungry for made even cheaper and with more nutrition than I had
Yay! Glad you liked my recipes 😁
Hey, Michelle. Awesome meals!! Ty so much for the recipes. Ok use canned chicken A Lot
Here's my tip for everyone: about once every 2 months I cook a pot full of chicken (whatever's cheapest) and save all the leftover broth....I freeze most of it. Then, use it to make mashed potatoes, rice, home made Mac n cheese etc. The flavour is off the charts. Also, I'm not using more spices to cook the current dish. And, it's great just as a broth if I'm sick.
***keep your spice bottles. Wash them out. Take them to a store with bulk bins if you have 1 (Whole Foods, etc)
It's cheaper and easier to buy in bulk and just reuse your spice shakers.
An employee can show you how to use the Tare feature on the store scales so you aren't charged for your bottle (the weight).***
Hi Angel 😁 Love these ideas 👍 Thanks for sharing them with us!
Yeah if you have the extra money the mushrooms would have been great in that dish also with maybe a Sprinkle of Swiss cheese on top
Agreed...Swiss cheese would have been nice. 👩🍳
If you are vegetarian - add a can of chickpeas to the broccoli rice casserole.
Just goes to show that even in a budget you can make tasty filling meals. These looked very good. Thank you!
You're welcome 😁 Thanks for watching!
I made some eggless pancakes ( search eggless vanilla pancakes) from scratch. They were very good and super low cost.
Tomato soup ,noodles or macaroni with cooked ground meat or just macaroni and a veg added. Roasted potatoes with your cream sauce or tomato soup and a veggie on top etc biscuit dough rolled out with tomato soup on top with afew cooked veggies with or without cheese and mushrooms. And herbs on all the recipes.
If yo have half a bag of waxed potatoes peeled and unpeeled with leftover mozzarella cheese mix with 3 or four eggs after frying potatoes off in butter until browned. Add any cooked eggs and reheat. Potato cost 1.49 4 or 5 pounds baked or boiled and dried off with moisture removed. Any leftover cheese fried off in nonstick skillets with potatoes. 3 people ate this every morning for breakfast for 7 days by sticking it in freezer half way through week. You can add any meat or veggies as they become available in other meals example onion, zucchini, sausage, ham.
Thanks for sharing this budget recipe 😁
Or Arroz con Pollo....No egg ...frozen mixed sauteed veggies ( fresh if not a budget meal) and season with garlic powder, cilantro, soy sauce...salt and pepper. A diced onion and diced green pepper sautéed before adding frozen veggies....yum! Rice cooked in chicken broth and all mixed together...so good.
I don't eat meat but think the canned chicken would work for this.
Great ideas 👍 Thanks Pat 😁
Yes, Eggs have definitely gone up in price over the last few years. I tried to buy them by the 18 pack.
It's actually now cheaper to get chickens if you can. Six to eight chickens, can keep you with eggs for a whole week and some to spare.
That would be awesome to live in the country and have chickens 😊
@@ArdentMichelle Hello, u don’t have to live n the country to have chickens, u can have chickens within city limits. N my city, I am allowed to have 4 foul, it’s been so long ago that I can’t remember who I called to find out if I could have chickens, but try the municipal, water department, I’m sure someone there will lead u to the person to find out if u can have chickens n ur yard
Whenever you are able to eat out (fast food) always grab extra packets of soy sauce, ketchup, etc...whatever is available. I've cooked many poor woman's meals spices up with hoarded packets of various ingredients.
Unfortunately, we have to prepare for lean times just in case bc so much instability in the world these days.
I agree 👍
We had fried rice last night, a little chicken, a few frozen vegetables, 3 eggs, and 2 cups of cold rice. Lentils and rice, or spaghetti with marinara (pass the parmesan)
are other favorites. We saw a 2lb hunk of cheddar reduced to $5 at the restaurant supply store. At the grocery store we watched people fill their carts with meat and
junk food. I buy chicken bouillon when I find it on sale. It lasts forever. Tina, Al's wife
Hi Tina 😁 I love lentils and rice too. That's a great price for cheddar 👍 I buy extra sharp Tillamook at Samsclub. It's still expensive but I love it so much. Have a great rest of your week.
we make our own broth/bone broth, always bone out my meats, and make the stock. i freeze in containers for later soup, and ice cube trays for adding flavor instead of the bullion powder. (too many additives for me!) i love your videos, very comforting and soothing to watch, and your lovely, calming voice!! thank you so much!
Welcome 😁
Thank You SiStar. I looked into the cheapest meal I could make and the surprising result was quite delicious... A cup of cooked rice with a teaspoon of soya sauce and a tablespoon of lard for calories. Anything added ( forage for dandelion greens, discount produce from store, a few frozen or from the garden peas, egg from backyard hen etc) is a bonus but not necessarily better tasting. Enjoy
Thanks for sharing this with us 👍 Rice is such a great low budget food. I like plain rice with a couple drops of sesame oil and then using chili garlic sauce as a condiment. It's more expensive for those ingredients....but delicious!
Tuna pie, pasta with lentil bolognese, lentil pilaf, lentil sloppy joes, pasta with beans and tomato sauce, etc.
I'll look into these recipes for low budget options. Thanks for sharing!
Lentils, brown,red, French, whatever, are the best!
yessum! three hour round trip for me to shop! i use a LOT of frozen, canned, and dehydrated foods. i am often gifted 'fresh' (day old?) produce, and i hate to waste! i invested in a dehydrator, just to save foods! it's wonderful.
That's a far distance to travel 😳
@@ArdentMichelle it is indeed! only three families live on our road, and that includes us! we have to try very hard to combine as much as possible into each trip! and often miss sales 'cause we just cant go. but i think we do pretty well anyway, and i love learning clever ways to cope from people like you!
My go to cheap meal was ramen noodles and whatever veggie I had around. I would really add more water so the broth wasn’t so salty. If I had any meat around like leftover cooked meat or even canned tuna, I’d throw it in too. Cheap and super easy! This video brought back a good memory of when my mom would make me rice porridge with maple syrup and butter. If we were out of the syrup she’d add brown sugar instead. Delicious on a cold morning!
I love ramen....more than I should 😂 The rice porridge sounds so good right now! Yum 😋
* LENTIL SOUP, AND ANY SOUP MADE FROM SCRAPS WITH WHATSOEVER IS AVAILABLE TO YOU. Always delicious. There is a reason SOUP kitchens hand out soup with a piece of bread. It goes much further, and if you only have a little of this or that, we all get some.
* Same with STIR FRIED FOOD, making much with little bits and extending it with rice, or noodles. The Chinese went through massive famines throughout history, they know.
* Learn what people do in diverse places to feed themselves when there isn't much.
So true which is why those items appear regularly on my channel 👍
Cooking on a budget for 30 years I have picked up a few things. One is that for frozen broccoli with fewer stems, Green Giant Tuscan Style can’t be beat. It’s practically all florets with a little “Tucson” seasoning.
Thanks for sharing this info 😁
Love your congee, or jook (as its also called in Hawaii) recipe. This is a traditional dish in Hawaii, especially after times of celebration where large quantities of (usually rich) food are served, like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Jook is especially popular using a turkey carcass (boiled down to make a flavorful broth, in which to cook and breakdown the rice). I like to aerve mine with the leftover shredded turkey, thinly sliced fresh ginger, green onions/scallions, and a drizzle of sesame oil and a dash of white pepper. So good. Love your ideas and videos! 🌸🌺
Thanks so much for sharing this with me. I'm saving this comment. Great idea for leftovers 😁
Thank you for sharing these recipes. I am fortunate enough to never have been in the situation where I had no money for food. However, I am always interested in saving money. The bonus is these recipes sound delicious as well.
Hi Jacqueline 😁 Glad you like these recipes. I have a lot of viewers that can't afford food and then others that are budgeting in order to pay off their houses.😂 I'm glad my recipes are appealing to you. Thanks for letting me know. 🥰
My understanding is bird flu went through several large chicken farms where the chickens had to be destroyed.
just heard this 🥲
Lentils are cheap and have a decent amount of protein. Highly recommend.
Agreed, I make them frequently on my channel!
I was so shocked when you said “bubur ayam” 😮 We usually only mixed our bubur with salt & chicken broth/bullion. As a topping we use a dash of soy sauce and shredded chicken and some chopped green onions. Thank you for the recepies ❤
You're welcome 😁 Yay! Thank you so much for sharing how your family made bubur ayam. I love hearing this. Can you tell me how the chicken was made? Were there any seasonings on it?
You are next level ❤ you’ve got my brain firing on all cylinders, thinking about what I’ll come up with to cook later today. thank you for all you do
Thank you so much 😁 If you come up with something good let me know 😂 You can give me some new ideas!
Savory rice pudding yup bacon grease and bacon bits and cheese and sourcream and somtimes cabbage is a struggle meal in some eastern European homes my mom can probably remember eating it 5 times a week growing up lol we always had something like this as a kid when we were rationing till payday it also can be turned in to breakfast lol its funny how some of your discoveries are staples already lol..but I love your videos and they're definitely a help
Buy chicken on sale and can your own. Much cheaper and tastes better.
Yes it is definitely much cheaper. These are meant to be emergency meals for when someone can't afford an entire chicken.
Your voice is so soothing...a pleasure to listen to!
Thank you Maria 🥰 I'm glad you think so.
When I was a little girl we had rice porridge with sugar and butter almost every morning, that brings back memories.
It's tasty 👍
The congi with shredded carrots was beautiful
Thanks 😁
Seriously feeling grateful for the porridge setting on my rice cooker. 🙏
yes, I bet that's nice to have. 😁
Some Dollar Tree stores have that size canned chicken as well.
I'm so excited for recipes that use shelf stable ingredients. During these uncertain times it's good to have some items stashed in the pantry.
Hello 😁 Thanks for sharing that Dollar Tree has canned chicken. The last couple times I was there, they were out of rice and beans. Hoping they are not going to stop selling those items.
I'll try to do more recipes with shelf stable ingredients 😁
Yes! I just saw the same sized can at DT yesterday.
I made two loaves of bread. It took a while (2.5 hours) but it was easier than I thought. Fair un effort!!!
Look for a no knead bread recipe, mix in
Hi Sarah 😁 This is on my bucket list 👩🍳
The Chicken & Broccoli dish is surprisingly tasty. Thanks a LOT!
You're welcome 😁 I'm glad you like it. Thanks for letting me know. 🥰
Use cooked and cooled overnight in fridge rice to prevent rice from getting mushy. I add whatever bits I have on hand. $25 for 24 eggs in Alabama! I’m buying a chicken!
Wow...time to stop eating eggs for awhile.😳
Great job I feel good any time I can get under $1.00 a serving!
Amazing. Thank you
You're welcome 😁 Thanks for letting me know you liked it.
Thank you so much for the great ideas on a budget! I made the first meal but with rotisserie chicken I had left over! Sooo good. I just left it as a soup like texture instead of popping it in the oven.
You're welcome 😁 Glad you liked my video. You must have finished cooking the rice on top of the stove then? I thought it would turn out great that way as well. Thanks for letting us know.
Beans and potato soup, without added wieners optional.
In the north we will use frozen because it retains more vitamins than the fresh that has traveled half a continent and in
winter it is much cheaper than fresh.
It's definitely convenient to use frozen veggies 👍
Thanks!
Hi Klynn 😁 Thank you so much for the donation. I appreciate your support 🥰
Thank you for the valuable information
My pleasure 😁
I have been using my toaster oven a great deal to save on electric when cooking. Remember to unplug all your appliances after use for fire prevention and no electric draw charge through the appliance cords
great idea 👍
I've had congee a few times and never cared for it. But with a bit of flavored broth, bouillon & that crispy chiken? Yay. I'd eat that up! I also love canned tuna. It's a bit less expensive than the chicken and I bet it would be equally delicious. Great video!
Hi Jessica 😁 Glad I have brought you one step closer to trying congee. 😂 I feel like if I ate tuna I would use it more. I need to use my son as a taste tester for some recipes. I do think tuna is valuable for budget meals. I should have mentioned tuna as an option for that casserole. Thanks for pointing this out.
There was actually a fb post where people were comparing egg prices and some were close to $6 for a dozen which is crazy! It’s only $1.86 for a dozen here.
Wow that's so inexpensive. Where are you? I just paid $6 for a carton of eggs yesterday. I'm in Irvine, California.
I paid $6 for a dozen in Alabama last week 😢
Im making this ASAP. Thank s
Yay! 😁You're welcome. Glad you liked my meals.
Thanks for letting me know. 🥰