As someone that grew up in poverty, with a single mom of three kids paying for absolutely everything as a diner waitress.... You've nailed it. I now know how to prepare MOST foods I could ever want, from scratch, and better still I know how to make substitutions for when I don't have something... like if I don't have milk for a box of stroganoff mix, I can thicken and fake it with a little extra butter/margarine and flour by way of a roux. I can make homemade biscuits and gravy without a lick of milk, bc when you're poor milk is too expensive or hard to come by. I can make 7 different kinds of stir fry, and then some. Sometimes not being handed absolutely everything, IS A GOOD THING. Not to mention come this pandemic I have been vastly more prepared for how to feed myself and my family when the stores have little to nothing, or when I am unable to safely get TO the store. Having "bad" food sometimes means you will be prepared to make-do ALWAYS when you need it.
I figured out that you can get a small container of carnation powered milk for like 2 bucks at Walmart. You can mix up milk on demand for recipes when you need it. I'm living that poor life right now, paying medical debt and credit card debt. Good thing I grew up dirt poor as well and know how to make somethin' out of nothin'! We have to do what we have to do to survive.
This is the BEST comment on this video and so true. Everyone has become so judgmental and proud that they have a knee jerk reaction when someone feeds their kids perfectly nutritious and delicious food that’s not the “right kind” of food. Kids deserve to be fed and fed well, but there are SO many ways to do that!
It's sad that people actually complain about what you are sending your kids to school with! So many people struggle financially and so you do the best you can with what you have. I think it's great to have people like you make videos to show how to feed a family on a tight budget. Thank you!!!
People can be ridiculous. When you are just grateful to eat, you get the best you can within your means. If the haters wanna help, they put up or shut up. I mean, if they want to provide free groceries to someone struggling to just buy food for themselves or their family... who are we to not let them just hand over part of their budget for food. Do what you can with what you have... (prepper princess 👸 👍🏼)
Complain about you not feeding your children well enough and at the same time bitch about families utilizing food stamps. Some people are so up on their high horse that they've completely disconnected from reality.
Absolutely! I’ve always worked with disadvantaged families and often thought about inexpensive meal ideas for them. I’m hopeless so (even though I’m no longer working) I’m hoping to learn some tips in case someone needs some advice?
You are so kind to thank her so profusely!! I love it! You’re right, these look great! She is a very inventive, cost cutting cook. We could all learn something from this video. (Okay, I could, I can’t speak for others). 😉
@@CowboyBike06 thank you so much. This video and others of hers has been a real true life and money saver for me. My pantry and refrigerator are still full and I did this a few days after watching this video. I could not and still can’t believe it. She doesn’t know how she helped me.
I’d really love for the ones that complain, on budget, and show their way of doing this!! You truly have your families best health in mind! You have protein! The best to help with staying healthy!! This is how my mom, & me made food last, she always told me it’s the proteins that also help, and can go far, beans, antitoxin foods, onions, garlic!
Big facts!!! I went to school without food sometimes...it was torture watching other kids eat. If your kids are eating based on your budget be grateful. There are kids out there that don’t have a pack of ramen.
I wanted to re-visit this budget challenge from last year, to see, in my area, what the price difference is now . Last year, this meal budget would of cost me $49.27 for my area ( Oregon). I just re-ran these products on my WM shopping app, and this budget challenge would currently cost me ........ $64.96. A $15.96 increase. I anticipate this increase may grow higher given the crazy inflation. I think I will try to re-run these items every 6months to see the price difference. Have a good weekend everyone~
Even a year ago in my area that haul would have been at least 70.00. Our Walmart has never been very cheap. If we would drive 25 minutes away prices would be nearly half of our hometown one.
As an educator I see that most kids are sent to school with WAY too much food. A lot of prepackaged stuff they want all open. They may end up taking one bite of a cheese stick, $1 Greek yogurt, fruit stick, applesauce cup etc. For my kids I use the same containers as you and they get an entree (including a protein and carb), fruit, and veg in the small compartments. Perfect. Simple and they eat most of it. In the kids schedule there is not a lot of time to eat at lunch.
Thank you, I feel the same way! I see a lot of waste when I am in the lunchroom. One of the good things about having them pack their lunches, too: they pack what and how much they will actually eat.
@@Michelle-pn9xt she's actually correct as I see it firsthand as well from working as a substitute teacher. It never fails on how much food kids throw away. A lot of kids barely eat the school lunches or what's packed from home. Some of the schools have have started to do "give" tables. Instead of kids throwing away packages food like milk, cheese sticks, fruit, or crackers, they will put it on the table and whomever else wants it can go and take from the table.
@@laquandahall6108 Parents have to teach their kids about healthy eating too. Schools can't do everything. If kids are eating healthy food at home, they will eat healthy food at school.
@شيرى يحيى im in the us... and there are zero stores that sell a dollar dozen eggs near me... they avg 2 to 3 dollars a dozen minimum... 5 or 6 if you want organic or cage free etc ..
I love the additionn of the brownies. It makes sense to me to find a way to work something fun into your budget. It may not be what your ideal treat would be...but that shows how much you love your kids and want to make this realistic. Bottom line: you got a subscriber outta me!
I agree. I add $5 to our weekly grocery budget that is JUST for treats. That might be honey buns or eggnog but being on a budget doesn’t mean you have to do without all the time.
As a European it always fascinated me to see what Americans eat and how they package their food, it’s really interesting to see the difference in names too!
This is the most realistic grocery budget video I’ve watched! It’s something i would actually try to do for my family! Love the groceries and the recipes! Just subscribed! Thanks!
I feel the same way some of the meals I look up are too much! I really appreciate your video and with quarantine and the kids home this definitely helps! Thank you! I’m gonna try it.
@@katielynnm1 Yeah, here in the USA, the conventionally raised meat/eggs/dairy products are subsidized by the government, so we pay the real cost through our taxes and very little at the grocery store. But this is an insanely low price for eggs even within our system!
I'm in college and i Budget down to the Penny. There's this app I Found called PICKL and It pays you $5 to take pictures of products in grocery store shelves. For me that $5 goes along way, cause i can buy like some bananas for 72 cents each
I pay $10 for a gallon of milk in my tiny town 😅 but after adding all this up and my nearest Walmart the total came out to $54 not including tax! Which isn’t bad at all!
I live by the motto “fed is best” with my picky 8 year old! Thank you for sharing! This is helping me come up with a lot more possible options for the two of us!
I am in AWE!!! I've been struggling to get my grocery budget down because it is out of control. This just blew my mind!! Bless your heart, sharing this with non creative folks such as myself.
I grew up eating homemade corn tortillas. My mom always bought the corn flour (in the Hispanic section in Walmart) and all you have to do is add water. So easy and delicious. This is my first video of yours and it was so entertaining, love your vibe and unrelated but you are gorgeous!
There is nothing wrong with the kids lunches at all. The school system takes kids lunches away from them, here in Arkansas, if the parents are behind paying for their kids lunch and are served either a plain cheese sandwich and milk or peanut butter sandwich and milk. So the Karen's need to go after the school system lunch and leave this lady alone.
@@tylerdifranco9828 That’s terrible! I make a really good pbj with homemade bread and that’s what I was imagining. I didn’t know it was possible to ruin a pbj!
@@emilywilson7308 I used to take a PBJ sandwich, a fruit and a cookie and money for milk. Day after day after day, year after year. I survived. 65 now and still alive. Never had bags of chips or pre-made containers of things as they weren't even available, nor had anyone heard of a PB allergy either!
I pre make sandwiches, cut them in half and put them in ziplock bags in the fridge. Every morning, the kids get to pick what they want with a fruit, a bag of chips or pretzels, and I treat. I fill they thermos with water and boom, lunch is done. quick and easy.
Mindy, here's the cooking award you didn't think you would win! 🏆 I love the snack type lunches you prepared & those noodles you made for your last meal were beautuful! We're not on a budget, but I'm cheap! 🙃 Thanks for sharing your tips & happy holidays! ❄🎄🦌⛄
"sometimes variety is a luxury" yeah.. me and my fiance learned that when we moved in together and started grocery shopping with each other 😆 these videos are helping me so much with making a grocery list. We're trying to save to get our own place so the less we spend on groceries, the more we can save.
I think this is really good to show a realistic on a budget meal prep. I love the fact that she actually makes home cooked meals for her family and doesn't just give them mcdonald's or pizza bites. Of course feeding your child period is better than not feeding them but I'm just impressed that she actually takes the time to cook for her family (as it's so much better for the budget and everyone's health) and do her best within their super tight budget to give her family substantial meals. Good for her!
my fiancé and i are vegan and love your budget meals!!! they make great inspo and really show how many things are luxuries to have. keep up the great work👍🏽
I love the lunch ideas for myself too. The portions look healthy and you made alot of meals for $50. The coverage of food was perfect, and realistic. You had good variety and your family never went without. Not sure what the naysayers were grumping about. This is my first video of yours and I'm subscribing. You have great ideas.
I don’t see anything negative about trying to budget even if you’re used to spending hundreds a week on groceries. Videos like these teach me how much money I’m wasting and could be saving for important things and also teach me a lesson. I actually feel better eating 🍽 these foods than fast food which is a win in my book. I’m lucky to be able to afford more and name brand products, but even buying those and sticking to home cooking I will save. Plenty of us have the knowledge to cook, but saving money is a valuable skill-one I’m willing to admit I’m bad at achieving. Today I watched another of Mindy’s videos and already made two of her meals one for lunch, one for dinner. I had no clue what I was going to do with some of my groceries. I had everything she bought so it was perfect. I’m a vegetarian so I will likely leave out meat or use Impossible products. I’m used to baking so making bread (I made very tasty naan last night) is easy for me to accomplish. I just want to say budget aside, these videos give me practical ideas for my family’s meals which I can build upon. Thank you for doing this, because you are doing many people a real favor no matter what socioeconomic background or family size we have.
Unfortunately this is a recipe handed down over generations with no measurements. But I'll try. 2 c self rising flour 1/2 c solid crisco About 1 c milk. Cut crisco into flour until it resembles small pea shaped. Most of the flour should be incorporated. Then gradually add milk until soft dough is formed. Do not over work, lest dumplings turn out tough. Drop by soup spoon or roll out and cut into 1 1/2" squares and drop into boiling broth. (I cook my chicken in seasoned broth, remove chicken from bones and return to broth. You can add any vegetables you like. A leftover chicken carcass works great if it has a little meat left on it. Just like you would prepare forchicken soup.) Dumplings will rise as they cook. Use spoon to create a well to drop in the next. Try not to put all the Dumplings in the same area so they dont all stick together. Add any left over flour from the bowl or counter to help thicken the broth. Reduce heat to medium and cover. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Test to see if they are done in the middle. So super easy and economical. You can feed people a lot of food for pennies. Of course you can increase the servings just start off with more flour and crisco. Note: for a while I used butter instead of crisco, but they didn't turn out as well, so I keep some in the fridge now.
I can’t understand why anyone had something to say about what you feed your kids. Your school lunches look very similar to what I send to school. If I send too much, they don’t eat all of it and it goes bad just to be thrown away when they get home. I think your meals are realistic, affordable, and very family friendly. So glad I stumbled onto your channel yesterday!
I love these challenges - they give me incentive to lower my meal costs. Thanks to keeping items on hand, my grocery shopping has changed Last time I went was for ice cream, and squash which was on sale. I found two great deals in the frozen section 100% Beef Patties 16 1/4 pound patties regularly $17.99 reduced to $8.99. $.50/ serving ! ! I bought two boxes Then, Organic Turkey Patties with veggies mixed into each Patty. Regularly $9.99/4 patties reduced to $4.99 or $1.25/serving ! * If, I had been doing " traditional" grocery shopping there would be no way I could have afforded these bargains
Hi there! Yes, these challenges can help us "get ahead" in my house on the grocery budget, which leaves me more money in another week to stock up on items that are on sale or heavily discounted. :)
I use to teach Preschool and trust me what you made for your children’s school lunches for your young children are great. Most kids only eat the snack things in their lunch and leave the so called healthy things alone. What you pack was basically healthy and most likely your kids eat all their lunch. You give some great ideas for meals on a budget and now days families with children need these ideas. Hey, I’m retired on a budget and you gave me some good meal ideas. Thank you for sharing!
Thats what i do for my kid. Homemade lunchable. He loves it because he honestly gets more and he can get it the way he wants it. We will do pepperoni, or just cut up deli meat. Ham , chicken, or turkey. I always buy cheese in a block because its more expensive sliced or shredded. So i just slice it up or shred it as needed. He likes it cause he can have more cheese, less meat, or more meat,less cheese, or just however he wants it. And he likes the veggie style off brand ritz. It just makes way more sense to make the lunchable.
I watch these videos all the time, and I usually click off of them within the first 10 minutes. This is the FIRST TIME I have ever seen someone make meals that I would actually eat and not get sick of. I love your videos and you feed your kids more and better than my dad did. You're doing great.
@@niktarinalife9708 Food cost like she said are regional. I don't know where she is but I ran her shopping trip through Walmart Delivery for my area and my total would have been 46.32 for all of the items she purchased.
You can tell how much effort and work you put into this and all your videos. Love that. Personally, I have two heart patients at home, work from home and homeschool. Doing some prep in exchange for saving some money is good. Like shredding your own cheese. But I don't have enough energy to bake bread or make homemade pasta or biscuits. Those things are usually really cheap, especially from Walmart. I would probably just spend the dollar for bread or pasta instead of the money and time on the flour and bread making. That's just me :) I love your videos! They make me want to get to meal planning!
I think the way you cook is fabulous and for this week is very frugal,well thought out and tasty looking! I think the meals for the kids is like what I called smorgasbord for my kids when they were growing up! They were fine and never had any health problems or weight issues! I always appreciate watching your videos because although my kids are grown and gone I love to get ideas for my own meals and when they visit I can make good tasty food for little money and I always get compliments and my kids always watch and then they know how to cook on the cheap when things are lean! This is good for anyone to know. Thanks again Mindy! You’re the best!
As a soon to be college student, I’m panic watching these types of videos so I can physically, mentally and emotionally prepare myself for the fact that I may not always be able to afford my food, and that I can’t depend on my parents to pay for it either. Also, I just got to the part where you said that you didn’t know how you were going to cook the tortillas since you didn’t own the other machine but as a Hispanic, we literally just put them on a griddle and if the griddle is dirty, then we just put it directly over the flame on the stove 😩 there is no right way to cook it as long as it gets done
I shopped from the cheap grocery store for staples. Some of my kids' friends turned up their noses at this, but we could eat very well for much less! Now my adult kids know how to shop and cook for cost-effective meals.
I know this was a while ago and you’re probably in college now, but a lot of schools have food banks for students that are living in dorms. It’s something to check out.
I thought this would be unattainable in Australia, $50 US is about $65 Aud. I looked up prices for my main supermarket and it came to $71 US or $92 AUD, which isn't too bad. I'm impressed. These are really great ideas. doing a good job :)
Are used to go to the markets on a Sunday and pick up a huge box of vegetables for $10 :-) I also used to do the rest of my groceries online at Coles $50 each week which added up to roughly $95 a fortnight. It can absolutely be done
So rude that ppl have stuff to say about what your feeding your kids. They didn’t birth them, you did. What you and your husband do for y’all’s kids doesn’t concern anyone else. Love your videos and your a kick ass mom who’s killing it! ❤️❤️❤️
Hey there:) your recipes look really good! As a tip for rolling out these noodles; roll them, then leave the dough for a couple of minutes (cover with a towel so they don't dry out) and roll again. Repeat until you have reached the desired thickness. (This has to do with the gluten relaxing which makes it easier to roll)
Your videos are so cute and full of love and compassion. I felt my heart drop when you apologized for somebody hating on you in the comments? I really don’t understand why would a person be negative watching a lovely person like yourself. I’m sorry for their behavior please don’t acknowledge them or apologize for anything.
Homemade noodles are a favorite in my house. Growing up, they were a must have at Thanksgiving. We cook them in the drippings from the turkey. I couldn't even begin to give measurements but we only use flour, salt, and eggs and I just add what is needed to get the correct consistency. We have also never let it rest before rolling it out. When I was younger and my kids were younger we would use fun cookie cutters to cut out some of the noodles.
As a mother of 6 (oldest is 21 baby is 3 and all ages in between) those lunches not only looked yummy they looked just fine , plenty of food for a little one. Whenever I packed more than that it almost always went to waste
i like how you utilize everything with no waste.. also when i was a kid i ate like literally nothing..i still dont eat much so theres no harm with their lunch portions
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! My family of 6 have just moved out of our little crowed house ( one restroom ) into my beautiful dream home. With that, of course, comes a big beautiful mortgage!! Your videos are helping me sooo much!! Thank you!!
😀Lots of great budget ideas! 👍and your kid's lunches look fine, kids definitely don't eat that much at school & there is a time limit for lunch time there isn't that much time to eat more.
Great ideas! I like to stick to free range eggs & some other ‘ethical’ things- But …I know opinions are a luxury sometimes too. Either way it really shows how you can throw together some decent meals for very little. Grocery prices are astonishing lately these are skills we should all be practicing . Thank you for sharing these ideas.
While I realize that this takes away from the purpose of your video. I’m of Irish heritage, and grew up eating soda bread. Personally, I prefer it dressed up a little. It’s absolutely delicious with just adding a few basic household ingredients, and still so easy to make! Add 1/4 cup raisins, 1 TBLS honey (brown or white sugar will work), 1/2 tsp orange jest (juice). Everything else is the same. Buttermilk or yogurt can be substituted in place of the other. (Sometimes I add just a pinch of nutmeg to this recipe too!)
This is a real budget video! This is how I shop and cook. Real budget videos are not trying to find a billion sales that others may not have in their town but buying stuff at it's actual cheap price. Great video!!!
I know this video is four yrs old - but my potty mouth has got the best of me and you weren’t even half way through your grocery purchases - food prices here 🇨🇦 are obscene - good thing that I have always budget cooked for myself cause late in life I have developed food intolerances which drastically impact my grocery costs - also so glad there are folks like Mindy with great meal ideas that are budget friendly and flexible with what ingredients can be used 🇨🇦🙏
I’ve had people argue that school lunch is cheaper than homemade. If your kid isn’t eating the lunch then it’s a waste! My daughter took peanut butter on saltine crackers, fruit and bought one or two milks! Had a teacher jump on her about her lunch. I straightened her out pretty quickly! A carb is a carb!
Subscribed! As a single mom I’m always budgeting but my food expense always seems to get out of hand. I want to keep it at $50 weekly. Your video was the most realistic and great meal ideas!!
My suggestion for the tortillas is to kneed your dough, and not use a mixer, eventually you will get the hang of it, it just takes practice, if you stick to it, eventually you will also find, that tortillas are the easiest bread to make. I generally make 20-30 tortillas(depending on how thick I want my bread)in 25-30 minutes, I've been making tortillas since I was 6 years old, Btw, your tortillas look good.
@@SeeMindyMom Oh one more thing, if you start making your own tortillas, you will notice, there is no preservative smell, when you buy the store bought tortillas, you will notice when you open the package, some tortillas really smell. Also, I noticed people commenting about what you feed your children. I really wouldn't pay too much mind to those comments. I grew up on the Navajo and Apache reservation, and sometimes all we had was homemade tortillas and commodity cheese or commodity peanut butter to eat, and my siblings and I turnout fine. The meals you make are reality, making your own noodles is great, as I do this too, and they taste so much better. I really enjoy your channel.
Next time you make your noodles, divide your dough in half then roll out. I also roll those rounds as if you are making cinnamon rolls. Then I slice them thin and leave on the counter to dry. If not cooking for that meal, I bag them up into freezer bags and freeze after drying all night. Also add a good pinch of salt and a T of vinegar. When I make noodles, I usually go thru 3 dozen eggs (at least), have enough to share and to last me about a year. Great video. The chicken chili looked really good, will be trying soon.
This is a stupendous video! The execution, the recipes… Even the “treat“ of a brownie! Currently unmarried without children, but I’ve been looking for ways to stretch my grocery dollars due to the rising cost of things that, honestly I took for granted last year. Eggs in my area have tripled in price! So now I’m looking for ways to make my pennies stretch as far as possible! My favorite part of this video was the lunches that you made for the kids. They’re small humans who do not need for growing a human meals. I love that you personalize this based on the needs of your family and your family alone, and I look forward to doing the same thing when the opportunity comes! Until then… You have a brand new subscriber!
Gotta love the internet where everyone is an expert on your kids, their appetites, and their nutrition. Sigh. Thank you for all the inspiring meal ideas!
I dont see anything wrong with your Lunches for the Kids. Typically younger kids like a Snacky lunch. I think the Judgemental parents should lighten up. Your lunches look reasonable Healrh. Some kids don't have lunch. Kudos to You. Actually that look sort of like some of the lunches I sent mine when they were in school 38 years ago.
Great ideas! It’s funny because I had someone tell me the same thing about my kids lunch. Which is a pack of crackers. A granola bar, a fruit cup, and a yogurt!!! Simple and filling
I feel like u should work with ur local food pantry to create recipe cards with the items available! Or even putting a UA-cam link because this is so helpful!
With the current economy and food prices going up consistently, along with utilities, etc., thank you for sharing your tips and ideas! I'm definitely one of those that shops and cooks on a budget! And ignore those that want to criticize you for what you feed your children! Looks to me like you cook and bake everything with alot of love! Good job! 👍😊🤗
hey Mindy, if you do stop doing WW videos, budget grocery hauls & crock pot meals would be the ones I would like to see! Thanks for all of the useful information!!! :-)
This is my 1st visit to your channel and let me tell you, you ARE FABULOUS!! Your vid is full of great cooking ideas and tips, information, and really showed me how to deal when on a really strict budget. You taking the time to make these vids to share with us, with 3 kids is sooo GREATLY APPRECIATED!! I'm honestly in awe of all you did with $50 and fed an entire family for 5 full days. Lastly, my family (7 kids) literally barely got by, but we grew up humbled, happy & grateful, so folks need to simply mind their business on how you feed your children & concern themselves with their own. Or, better yet, make vids and show us how it's done, if they're so perfect. I've said enough. NEW SUBBIE FOR SURE!! Thanks you LOADS! Arlene 😁😁
Love these videos. NZ prices are sooo much more expensive but I love how you take us through how to make the bread and noodles etc. Still a huge moneysaving idea 😊
You were able to buy quite a lot with your $50 spend so well done, and excellent that it contained a good amount of fruit and veg as well, plus healthy grains like the brown rice. I think your meal ideas were very good and balanced with a bit of work for some but easy prep for others, so a bit of effort put into the tortillas and bread and egg noodles was evened out with everything else. You gave me a lot of inspiration to create some similar things for myself with meals that could be adapted to a vegetarian/vegan option without too much overthinking so I appreciate the effort and thought that went into this video, thank you! :)
I'm so glad, thank you! If you are looking for inexpensive Vegan meals, my friend MiRanda over @runningonplants has lots of good content along those lines. :)
@@SeeMindyMom Yeah she’s awesome!!! In fact, I just watched one of her videos before coming over here! 😂😂Lol I love watching grocery hauls & tutorials for meals/recipes & especially yours!!! I love getting inspiration & trying new things!!!
@@SeeMindyMom Thank you, I do watch Miranda regularly as well and I think she's great. She likes to cook simple food as well which is so much more approachable for me, so I really like her meal ideas, she's such a sweet girl too! :)
As someone that grew up in poverty, with a single mom of three kids paying for absolutely everything as a diner waitress.... You've nailed it. I now know how to prepare MOST foods I could ever want, from scratch, and better still I know how to make substitutions for when I don't have something... like if I don't have milk for a box of stroganoff mix, I can thicken and fake it with a little extra butter/margarine and flour by way of a roux. I can make homemade biscuits and gravy without a lick of milk, bc when you're poor milk is too expensive or hard to come by. I can make 7 different kinds of stir fry, and then some. Sometimes not being handed absolutely everything, IS A GOOD THING. Not to mention come this pandemic I have been vastly more prepared for how to feed myself and my family when the stores have little to nothing, or when I am unable to safely get TO the store. Having "bad" food sometimes means you will be prepared to make-do ALWAYS when you need it.
That is so true, and I agree! I think it is a good skill to be resourceful, and sometimes we have to practice that! Thanks for watching!
U r the best ! 🙌👍🏻👍🏻😁
I figured out that you can get a small container of carnation powered milk for like 2 bucks at Walmart. You can mix up milk on demand for recipes when you need it. I'm living that poor life right now, paying medical debt and credit card debt. Good thing I grew up dirt poor as well and know how to make somethin' out of nothin'! We have to do what we have to do to survive.
I grew up in poverty too! I’m more well off as an adult but I still budget cook. ☺️
This is the BEST comment on this video and so true. Everyone has become so judgmental and proud that they have a knee jerk reaction when someone feeds their kids perfectly nutritious and delicious food that’s not the “right kind” of food. Kids deserve to be fed and fed well, but there are SO many ways to do that!
It's sad that people actually complain about what you are sending your kids to school with! So many people struggle financially and so you do the best you can with what you have. I think it's great to have people like you make videos to show how to feed a family on a tight budget. Thank you!!!
Thank you, Cat. I appreciate the encouragement and the kind comment. 😊
People can be ridiculous. When you are just grateful to eat, you get the best you can within your means. If the haters wanna help, they put up or shut up. I mean, if they want to provide free groceries to someone struggling to just buy food for themselves or their family... who are we to not let them just hand over part of their budget for food. Do what you can with what you have... (prepper princess 👸 👍🏼)
I agree! Thank you for sharing with us!
Complain about you not feeding your children well enough and at the same time bitch about families utilizing food stamps. Some people are so up on their high horse that they've completely disconnected from reality.
Absolutely! I’ve always worked with disadvantaged families and often thought about inexpensive meal ideas for them. I’m hopeless so (even though I’m no longer working) I’m hoping to learn some tips in case someone needs some advice?
I don’t care that I’m 16 and childless, I’m obsessed.
I’m just watching because I cook dinner every week 😂
Always best to learn young😁
I’m 21 and childless. I cook every single meal except 1 dinner a week and I like these videos for meal ideas
I'm 32 and childless and I am obsessed
im 15 but these are so fun to watch 😭
Omg!! As a 40 year old single man who doesn’t cook, this is awesome for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.
You are so kind to thank her so profusely!! I love it! You’re right, these look great! She is a very inventive, cost cutting cook. We could all learn something from this video. (Okay, I could, I can’t speak for others). 😉
@@CowboyBike06 thank you so much. This video and others of hers has been a real true life and money saver for me. My pantry and refrigerator are still full and I did this a few days after watching this video. I could not and still can’t believe it. She doesn’t know how she helped me.
@@CeeJai_K ♥️
@@CeeJai_K 38 over here and agree bro
People: Complaining about how you freed your kids
Me: -who went to school with a bologna sandwich and a capri sun- You are doing FINE, hun.
I’d really love for the ones that complain, on budget, and show their way of doing this!! You truly have your families best health in mind! You have protein! The best to help with staying healthy!! This is how my mom, & me made food last, she always told me it’s the proteins that also help, and can go far, beans, antitoxin foods, onions, garlic!
Big facts!!! I went to school without food sometimes...it was torture watching other kids eat. If your kids are eating based on your budget be grateful. There are kids out there that don’t have a pack of ramen.
Egg salad and milk from the cafe carrots
@@qt6137 same... sometimes we had nothing. Any food is better than nothing. As long as the kids are being fed. I love her videos so much!
Haha exactly!
I wanted to re-visit this budget challenge from last year, to see, in my area, what the price difference is now . Last year, this meal budget would of cost me $49.27 for my area ( Oregon). I just re-ran these products on my WM shopping app, and this budget challenge would currently cost me ........ $64.96. A $15.96 increase. I anticipate this increase may grow higher given the crazy inflation. I think I will try to re-run these items every 6months to see the price difference. Have a good weekend everyone~
Even a year ago in my area that haul would have been at least 70.00. Our Walmart has never been very cheap. If we would drive 25 minutes away prices would be nearly half of our hometown one.
Whooh one more month u should also track the petrol it takes to get there lmao haha
That’s crazy. What is it now? My budget would be doubled if I dn start doing budget meal plans like this now.
What about 2024?
@@GritandGrace33just thought that also! I'm going back and watching older videos.
As an educator I see that most kids are sent to school with WAY too much food. A lot of prepackaged stuff they want all open. They may end up taking one bite of a cheese stick, $1 Greek yogurt, fruit stick, applesauce cup etc. For my kids I use the same containers as you and they get an entree (including a protein and carb), fruit, and veg in the small compartments. Perfect. Simple and they eat most of it. In the kids schedule there is not a lot of time to eat at lunch.
Thank you, I feel the same way! I see a lot of waste when I am in the lunchroom. One of the good things about having them pack their lunches, too: they pack what and how much they will actually eat.
What do you teach?? Stuff they want all open???? Most kids do not have too much food. What the heck is a fruit stick???
That’s so true, now that my kids have virtual learning from home, I see first hand how much little lunch food they actually consume or need.
@@Michelle-pn9xt she's actually correct as I see it firsthand as well from working as a substitute teacher. It never fails on how much food kids throw away. A lot of kids barely eat the school lunches or what's packed from home. Some of the schools have have started to do "give" tables. Instead of kids throwing away packages food like milk, cheese sticks, fruit, or crackers, they will put it on the table and whomever else wants it can go and take from the table.
@@laquandahall6108 Parents have to teach their kids about healthy eating too. Schools can't do everything. If kids are eating healthy food at home, they will eat healthy food at school.
Did this queen just casually teach me how to make tortillas? 😮
Do not. Lol I'm just kidding. The Mexican in me is screaming "Why did you do them like that?"
@@andreslimon5053 😂
Definitely not! 😂😂 that’s NOT how you make tortillas but she’s right it’s a labor of love especially your first few tries.
$2 for 3dozen eggs.... *Flips table* that's a bargain 👍
I am in Canada and all that looks so cheap! I pay $3 a dozen for eggs
@@judyjohnson9610 I'm in Australia we pay about $4+ for a dozen eggs if they are caged but $5+ if they are free range
South Texas 6 dollars for 60 eggs
Right!? In San Diego I pay $3 and change for 18 pack eggs 🍳😒
@شيرى يحيى im in the us... and there are zero stores that sell a dollar dozen eggs near me... they avg 2 to 3 dollars a dozen minimum... 5 or 6 if you want organic or cage free etc ..
Dealing with debt right now, I really appreciate these videos while trying to recover 😊
You can do it, and it feels sooooo good on the other side.
I love the additionn of the brownies. It makes sense to me to find a way to work something fun into your budget. It may not be what your ideal treat would be...but that shows how much you love your kids and want to make this realistic.
Bottom line: you got a subscriber outta me!
Thanks, Rachel!
And who doesn't love pancakes! Always a lovely treat.
@@jeannehunter5344 Breakfast food is THE Best!!
I agree. I add $5 to our weekly grocery budget that is JUST for treats. That might be honey buns or eggnog but being on a budget doesn’t mean you have to do without all the time.
As a European it always fascinated me to see what Americans eat and how they package their food, it’s really interesting to see the difference in names too!
When you know how to cook you save a lot of money. I appreciated people like her teaching people how to cook on a budget :)
This is the most realistic grocery budget video I’ve watched! It’s something i would actually try to do for my family! Love the groceries and the recipes! Just subscribed! Thanks!
Thanks, Jacquellyn
I feel the same way some of the meals I look up are too much! I really appreciate your video and with quarantine and the kids home this definitely helps! Thank you! I’m gonna try it.
Watching this from Canada, I WISH this was a realistic budget! My mom looked It up, that many eggs would cost us over $10 alone.
@@katielynnm1 oh wow! I know a lot of Canada is more expensive.
@@katielynnm1 Yeah, here in the USA, the conventionally raised meat/eggs/dairy products are subsidized by the government, so we pay the real cost through our taxes and very little at the grocery store. But this is an insanely low price for eggs even within our system!
Ok those lunches look really good. I’m in grad school I’m going to copy this next semester!
Congratulations on grad school! That is so exciting! 😊
Right its a deluxe lunchable made with love!
I'm in college and i Budget down to the Penny. There's this app I Found called PICKL and It pays you $5 to take pictures of products in grocery store shelves. For me that $5 goes along way, cause i can buy like some bananas for 72 cents each
Zachary Katsouleas
I’ve never heard of this, I’ll have to look into it!
Those on the Dave Ramsey rice and beans beans and rice need to follow your channel!!!
I pay $10 for a gallon of milk in my tiny town 😅 but after adding all this up and my nearest Walmart the total came out to $54 not including tax! Which isn’t bad at all!
No gallon of milk is worth $10, drink water
I live by the motto “fed is best” with my picky 8 year old! Thank you for sharing! This is helping me come up with a lot more possible options for the two of us!
We always say "better fed than dead" 😂
I am in AWE!!! I've been struggling to get my grocery budget down because it is out of control. This just blew my mind!! Bless your heart, sharing this with non creative folks such as myself.
Your school lunches look like enough for an adult and im actually kind of jealous of how yummy your kids lunches are😍
They would eat that kind of meal every day if they could!
Really? School lunches looks like it’s for a pet. Nothing is cooked at all. Just all threw together.
*silently taking notes on how to make my 39y/o self and my 40 y/o spouse lunchables (that we will call charcuterie boxes)* I LOVE THIS CHANNEL!
I grew up eating homemade corn tortillas. My mom always bought the corn flour (in the Hispanic section in Walmart) and all you have to do is add water. So easy and delicious. This is my first video of yours and it was so entertaining, love your vibe and unrelated but you are gorgeous!
There is nothing wrong with the kids lunches at all.
The school system takes kids lunches away from them, here in Arkansas, if the parents are behind paying for their kids lunch and are served either a plain cheese sandwich and milk or peanut butter sandwich and milk. So the Karen's need to go after the school system lunch and leave this lady alone.
I would love a pbj and milk for lunch.😀
@@emilywilson7308 Have fun eating a stale pb&j with milk that’s about to expire. 😁👍🏼
@@tylerdifranco9828 That’s terrible! I make a really good pbj with homemade bread and that’s what I was imagining. I didn’t know it was possible to ruin a pbj!
@Jay That’s horrible! Kids need healthy food and there’s no excuse for feeding kids crap! Something’s gotta change!
@@emilywilson7308 I used to take a PBJ sandwich, a fruit and a cookie and money for milk. Day after day after day, year after year. I survived. 65 now and still alive. Never had bags of chips or pre-made containers of things as they weren't even available, nor had anyone heard of a PB allergy either!
I pre make sandwiches, cut them in half and put them in ziplock bags in the fridge. Every morning, the kids get to pick what they want with a fruit, a bag of chips or pretzels, and I treat. I fill they thermos with water and boom, lunch is done. quick and easy.
You're so good at this. I like that the meals have fruit and/or vegetables too. Simple quick meals. Love it.
Thanks, Susan!
Mindy, here's the cooking award you didn't think you would win! 🏆 I love the snack type lunches you prepared & those noodles you made for your last meal were beautuful! We're not on a budget, but I'm cheap! 🙃 Thanks for sharing your tips & happy holidays! ❄🎄🦌⛄
Thank you so much 🤗
I think the school lunches look fine.
Me too!!!!!
Right! Some people just send a cheap lunchable.
Yes perfect I don’t have kids but I will take heed and not over pack their lunches
Yes perfect I don’t have kids but I will take heed and not over pack their lunches
"sometimes variety is a luxury" yeah.. me and my fiance learned that when we moved in together and started grocery shopping with each other 😆 these videos are helping me so much with making a grocery list. We're trying to save to get our own place so the less we spend on groceries, the more we can save.
I think this is really good to show a realistic on a budget meal prep. I love the fact that she actually makes home cooked meals for her family and doesn't just give them mcdonald's or pizza bites. Of course feeding your child period is better than not feeding them but I'm just impressed that she actually takes the time to cook for her family (as it's so much better for the budget and everyone's health) and do her best within their super tight budget to give her family substantial meals. Good for her!
my fiancé and i are vegan and love your budget meals!!! they make great inspo and really show how many things are luxuries to have. keep up the great work👍🏽
Those look similar to what I pack for my kids lunch. We always have a fruit or veg, a protein, a dairy and sometimes a treat.
My kids eat those kinds of lunches and their pediatrician says they are healthy and on weight so i dont know why people were complaining
I love the lunch ideas for myself too. The portions look healthy and you made alot of meals for $50. The coverage of food was perfect, and realistic. You had good variety and your family never went without. Not sure what the naysayers were grumping about. This is my first video of yours and I'm subscribing. You have great ideas.
Thanks, Dawn!
You're so good at making budget-friendly meals! I'm impressed. Thank you for the good recipe ideas!
Thanks so much! 😊
I have a kiddo who is gluten-free and I still get so many great ideas from you. It's how you think outside the box.
Honey I LOVE IT we are in a pandemic and that is a lot more than what some children are getting🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗 BELLIES ARE FULL
Pretty
I don’t see anything negative about trying to budget even if you’re used to spending hundreds a week on groceries. Videos like these teach me how much money I’m wasting and could be saving for important things and also teach me a lesson. I actually feel better eating 🍽 these foods than fast food which is a win in my book. I’m lucky to be able to afford more and name brand products, but even buying those and sticking to home cooking I will save. Plenty of us have the knowledge to cook, but saving money is a valuable skill-one I’m willing to admit I’m bad at achieving.
Today I watched another of Mindy’s videos and already made two of her meals one for lunch, one for dinner. I had no clue what I was going to do with some of my groceries. I had everything she bought so it was perfect. I’m a vegetarian so I will likely leave out meat or use Impossible products. I’m used to baking so making bread (I made very tasty naan last night) is easy for me to accomplish. I just want to say budget aside, these videos give me practical ideas for my family’s meals which I can build upon. Thank you for doing this, because you are doing many people a real favor no matter what socioeconomic background or family size we have.
You rock!! You'd have made my Depression era grandmother and mother totally proud!! Don't let naysayers bother you.
Thank you for being authentic for all us moms out here trying to save our coins. New subbie
Welcome, Christina! Glad I could be encouraging. :)
I use my griddle all the time for tortillas. Turns out great every time. My girls love to be my flipper!
This is so cute😊😊❤️
Instead of egg noodles make chicken and dumplings. Drop dough into boiling soup. DONE
Practically same dough as biscuit dough. So delicious
Unfortunately this is a recipe handed down over generations with no measurements. But I'll try.
2 c self rising flour
1/2 c solid crisco
About 1 c milk.
Cut crisco into flour until it resembles small pea shaped. Most of the flour should be incorporated. Then gradually add milk until soft dough is formed. Do not over work, lest dumplings turn out tough. Drop by soup spoon or roll out and cut into 1 1/2" squares and drop into boiling broth. (I cook my chicken in seasoned broth, remove chicken from bones and return to broth. You can add any vegetables you like. A leftover chicken carcass works great if it has a little meat left on it. Just like you would prepare forchicken soup.) Dumplings will rise as they cook. Use spoon to create a well to drop in the next. Try not to put all the Dumplings in the same area so they dont all stick together. Add any left over flour from the bowl or counter to help thicken the broth. Reduce heat to medium and cover. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Test to see if they are done in the middle. So super easy and economical. You can feed people a lot of food for pennies. Of course you can increase the servings just start off with more flour and crisco. Note: for a while I used butter instead of crisco, but they didn't turn out as well, so I keep some in the fridge now.
I can’t understand why anyone had something to say about what you feed your kids. Your school lunches look very similar to what I send to school. If I send too much, they don’t eat all of it and it goes bad just to be thrown away when they get home. I think your meals are realistic, affordable, and very family friendly. So glad I stumbled onto your channel yesterday!
Thank you, Leisa, I appreciate that!
I love these challenges - they give me incentive to lower my meal costs. Thanks to keeping items on hand, my grocery shopping has changed
Last time I went was for ice cream, and squash which was on sale. I found two great deals in the frozen section
100% Beef Patties 16 1/4 pound patties regularly $17.99 reduced to $8.99. $.50/ serving ! ! I bought two boxes
Then, Organic Turkey Patties with veggies mixed into each Patty. Regularly $9.99/4 patties reduced to $4.99 or $1.25/serving !
* If, I had been doing " traditional" grocery shopping there would be no way I could have afforded these bargains
Hi there! Yes, these challenges can help us "get ahead" in my house on the grocery budget, which leaves me more money in another week to stock up on items that are on sale or heavily discounted. :)
I use to teach Preschool and trust me what you made for your children’s school lunches for your young children are great. Most kids only eat the snack things in their lunch and leave the so called healthy things alone. What you pack was basically healthy and most likely your kids eat all their lunch. You give some great ideas for meals on a budget and now days families with children need these ideas. Hey, I’m retired on a budget and you gave me some good meal ideas. Thank you for sharing!
Cheese crackers and pepperoni are my kids' fave lunch! We call it "lunchable style" and it's a lot more food & cheaper than buying lunchables.
And way less plastic.
Thats what i do for my kid. Homemade lunchable. He loves it because he honestly gets more and he can get it the way he wants it. We will do pepperoni, or just cut up deli meat. Ham , chicken, or turkey. I always buy cheese in a block because its more expensive sliced or shredded. So i just slice it up or shred it as needed. He likes it cause he can have more cheese, less meat, or more meat,less cheese, or just however he wants it. And he likes the veggie style off brand ritz. It just makes way more sense to make the lunchable.
I watch these videos all the time, and I usually click off of them within the first 10 minutes. This is the FIRST TIME I have ever seen someone make meals that I would actually eat and not get sick of. I love your videos and you feed your kids more and better than my dad did. You're doing great.
I know this video is old, but I just wanted to say thank you for sharing. I hope to implement some of your tips and recipes this year.
Wow that is a lot of food for 50 bucks!
I counted what everything would be here... I stopped at 80 dollars.
@@niktarinalife9708 Food cost like she said are regional. I don't know where she is but I ran her shopping trip through Walmart Delivery for my area and my total would have been 46.32 for all of the items she purchased.
I think your kids' lunches look great, and healthy, too. I would eat those lunches and be happy.
You can tell how much effort and work you put into this and all your videos. Love that. Personally, I have two heart patients at home, work from home and homeschool. Doing some prep in exchange for saving some money is good. Like shredding your own cheese. But I don't have enough energy to bake bread or make homemade pasta or biscuits. Those things are usually really cheap, especially from Walmart. I would probably just spend the dollar for bread or pasta instead of the money and time on the flour and bread making. That's just me :) I love your videos! They make me want to get to meal planning!
I think the way you cook is fabulous and for this week is very frugal,well thought out and tasty looking! I think the meals for the kids is like what I called smorgasbord for my kids when they were growing up! They were fine and never had any health problems or weight issues! I always appreciate watching your videos because although my kids are grown and gone I love to get ideas for my own meals and when they visit I can make good tasty food for little money and I always get compliments and my kids always watch and then they know how to cook on the cheap when things are lean! This is good for anyone to know. Thanks again Mindy! You’re the best!
As a soon to be college student, I’m panic watching these types of videos so I can physically, mentally and emotionally prepare myself for the fact that I may not always be able to afford my food, and that I can’t depend on my parents to pay for it either.
Also, I just got to the part where you said that you didn’t know how you were going to cook the tortillas since you didn’t own the other machine but as a Hispanic, we literally just put them on a griddle and if the griddle is dirty, then we just put it directly over the flame on the stove 😩 there is no right way to cook it as long as it gets done
I shopped from the cheap grocery store for staples. Some of my kids' friends turned up their noses at this, but we could eat very well for much less! Now my adult kids know how to shop and cook for cost-effective meals.
I know this was a while ago and you’re probably in college now, but a lot of schools have food banks for students that are living in dorms. It’s something to check out.
I thought this would be unattainable in Australia, $50 US is about $65 Aud. I looked up prices for my main supermarket and it came to $71 US or $92 AUD, which isn't too bad. I'm impressed. These are really great ideas. doing a good job :)
What state? I could do this for $50 AUD for sure.
@@ReeRAWR victoria, Melbourne
Are used to go to the markets on a Sunday and pick up a huge box of vegetables for $10 :-) I also used to do the rest of my groceries online at Coles $50 each week which added up to roughly $95 a fortnight. It can absolutely be done
So rude that ppl have stuff to say about what your feeding your kids. They didn’t birth them, you did. What you and your husband do for y’all’s kids doesn’t concern anyone else. Love your videos and your a kick ass mom who’s killing it! ❤️❤️❤️
Hey there:) your recipes look really good!
As a tip for rolling out these noodles; roll them, then leave the dough for a couple of minutes (cover with a towel so they don't dry out) and roll again. Repeat until you have reached the desired thickness. (This has to do with the gluten relaxing which makes it easier to roll)
Your videos are so cute and full of love and compassion. I felt my heart drop when you apologized for somebody hating on you in the comments? I really don’t understand why would a person be negative watching a lovely person like yourself. I’m sorry for their behavior please don’t acknowledge them or apologize for anything.
I love Walmart’s grocery pick up. I rarely shop anywhere else because of this convenience. And the prices are very reasonable.
You're my kind of genius!! As a full-time nurse and single mom of three growing boys, I appreciate all of these tips!
Wow, thank you!
Homemade noodles are a favorite in my house. Growing up, they were a must have at Thanksgiving. We cook them in the drippings from the turkey. I couldn't even begin to give measurements but we only use flour, salt, and eggs and I just add what is needed to get the correct consistency. We have also never let it rest before rolling it out. When I was younger and my kids were younger we would use fun cookie cutters to cut out some of the noodles.
My grandmother used to make them and cook them in the gravy for her pot roast...then serve it over mashed potatoes...😋
Glad I found your channel! Thank you for being real! Showing realistic meals on a budget and not a "fluffed" piece.
As a mother of 6 (oldest is 21 baby is 3 and all ages in between) those lunches not only looked yummy they looked just fine , plenty of food for a little one. Whenever I packed more than that it almost always went to waste
i like how you utilize everything with no waste.. also when i was a kid i ate like literally nothing..i still dont eat much so theres no harm with their lunch portions
A great meal also would have been just the beans, meat and rice mixed together with a little cheese if you want.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! My family of 6 have just moved out of our little crowed house ( one restroom ) into my beautiful dream home. With that, of course, comes a big beautiful mortgage!! Your videos are helping me sooo much!! Thank you!!
😀Lots of great budget ideas! 👍and your kid's lunches look fine, kids definitely don't eat that much at school & there is a time limit for lunch time there isn't that much time to eat more.
So true!
You don’t need to defend yourself on how you feed YOUR kids. You’re doing amazing mama!
Great ideas! I like to stick to free range eggs & some other ‘ethical’ things-
But …I know opinions are a luxury sometimes too. Either way it really shows how you can throw together some decent meals for very little. Grocery prices are astonishing lately these are skills we should all be practicing . Thank you for sharing these ideas.
While I realize that this takes away from the purpose of your video. I’m of Irish heritage, and grew up eating soda bread. Personally, I prefer it dressed up a little. It’s absolutely delicious with just adding a few basic household ingredients, and still so easy to make!
Add 1/4 cup raisins, 1 TBLS honey (brown or white sugar will work), 1/2 tsp orange jest (juice). Everything else is the same. Buttermilk or yogurt can be substituted in place of the other. (Sometimes I add just a pinch of nutmeg to this recipe too!)
You are a budget meal ninja! This was fantastic😍
Thank you!
This is a real budget video! This is how I shop and cook. Real budget videos are not trying to find a billion sales that others may not have in their town but buying stuff at it's actual cheap price. Great video!!!
Fantastic video! I’m a college student and my roommate and I are both trying to lose weight and meal prep. Your vids are an awesome resource!
Thanks, Madelynn! Glad I can be helpful!
I know this video is four yrs old - but my potty mouth has got the best of me and you weren’t even half way through your grocery purchases - food prices here 🇨🇦 are obscene - good thing that I have always budget cooked for myself cause late in life I have developed food intolerances which drastically impact my grocery costs - also so glad there are folks like Mindy with great meal ideas that are budget friendly and flexible with what ingredients can be used 🇨🇦🙏
This is probably one of the tastiest looking extreme budget videos I’ve seen, great job!
Wow, thanks! I appreciate that! I try to put a lot of thought into these videos!
@@SeeMindyMom I see and recognize your hard work! My fiance and I steal your ideas all the time. Have a great week! ❤️
Those lunches look wonderful and better than school lunches
I’ve had people argue that school lunch is cheaper than homemade. If your kid isn’t eating the lunch then it’s a waste! My daughter took peanut butter on saltine crackers, fruit and bought one or two milks! Had a teacher jump on her about her lunch. I straightened her out pretty quickly! A carb is a carb!
Subscribed! As a single mom I’m always budgeting but my food expense always seems to get out of hand. I want to keep it at $50 weekly. Your video was the most realistic and great meal ideas!!
I was fascinated by your goal and your execution. You're a whiz with food and numbers as well as a joy to watch!
Thanks, Monica!
My suggestion for the tortillas is to kneed your dough, and not use a mixer, eventually you will get the hang of it, it just takes practice, if you stick to it, eventually you will also find, that tortillas are the easiest bread to make. I generally make 20-30 tortillas(depending on how thick I want my bread)in 25-30 minutes, I've been making tortillas since I was 6 years old, Btw, your tortillas look good.
Thank you so much for the tips! Good to know it may get easier because the homemade ones taste so much better! I will try it by hand next time. 😊
Yes knead the dough and also roll them thinner! They will come out great
@@SeeMindyMom Oh one more thing, if you start making your own tortillas, you will notice, there is no preservative smell, when you buy the store bought tortillas, you will notice when you open the package, some tortillas really smell. Also, I noticed people commenting about what you feed your children. I really wouldn't pay too much mind to those comments. I grew up on the Navajo and Apache reservation, and sometimes all we had was homemade tortillas and commodity cheese or commodity peanut butter to eat, and my siblings and I turnout fine. The meals you make are reality, making your own noodles is great, as I do this too, and they taste so much better. I really enjoy your channel.
Next time you make your noodles, divide your dough in half then roll out. I also roll those rounds as if you are making cinnamon rolls. Then I slice them thin and leave on the counter to dry. If not cooking for that meal, I bag them up into freezer bags and freeze after drying all night. Also add a good pinch of salt and a T of vinegar. When I make noodles, I usually go thru 3 dozen eggs (at least), have enough to share and to last me about a year. Great video. The chicken chili looked really good, will be trying soon.
This is a stupendous video! The execution, the recipes… Even the “treat“ of a brownie! Currently unmarried without children, but I’ve been looking for ways to stretch my grocery dollars due to the rising cost of things that, honestly I took for granted last year. Eggs in my area have tripled in price! So now I’m looking for ways to make my pennies stretch as far as possible! My favorite part of this video was the lunches that you made for the kids. They’re small humans who do not need for growing a human meals. I love that you personalize this based on the needs of your family and your family alone, and I look forward to doing the same thing when the opportunity comes! Until then… You have a brand new subscriber!
Thank you so much for the kind feedback! I'm so glad this was helpful!
Gotta love the internet where everyone is an expert on your kids, their appetites, and their nutrition. Sigh.
Thank you for all the inspiring meal ideas!
Tortious are cheap, why would you bother? To much time on hand, to cheap is rediciclous and family suffers needless.
@@wandatonkin2065 What are tortious??
@@KaraChapman sorry, stuck buttons, tortillas
I dont see anything wrong with your Lunches for the Kids. Typically younger kids like a Snacky lunch. I think the Judgemental parents should lighten up. Your lunches look reasonable Healrh. Some kids don't have lunch. Kudos to You. Actually that look sort of like some of the lunches I sent mine when they were in school 38 years ago.
Thanks, Theresa! I appreciate the kind comment. 😊
I'm going through your budget videos because I love this kind of thing. It's my favorite math.
Same. It is also my favorite math
Personally I think your kids' lunches look awesome! Forget the judge-y moms!
Thanks, Christy! They do like a good snack-lunch. Or dinner. Or really any meal. LOL!
Making your own granola is much less $ and tastes so good! I really admire you!
I’m not sure why but she reminds me of Teddy from Greys Anatomy! Lol. But her voice is so nice and calming!
She reminds me of Patricia Heaton from Everybody Loves Raymond. And I agree with you on the soothing/calming voice.
Great ideas! It’s funny because I had someone tell me the same thing about my kids lunch. Which is a pack of crackers. A granola bar, a fruit cup, and a yogurt!!! Simple and filling
I love your videos! So well thought out and all the ingredients are used so creatively.
Thanks, Rebekah! I appreciate that. This type of video is a little work, so I love hearing that it’s enjoyable or helpful!
@@SeeMindyMom absolutely! We appreciate your hard work!
I feel like u should work with ur local food pantry to create recipe cards with the items available! Or even putting a UA-cam link because this is so helpful!
I just bought my first house. This will definitely come in handy for shopping on a budget!!
Congrats on buying your first home!
With the current economy and food prices going up consistently, along with utilities, etc., thank you for sharing your tips and ideas! I'm definitely one of those that shops and cooks on a budget! And ignore those that want to criticize you for what you feed your children! Looks to me like you cook and bake everything with alot of love! Good job! 👍😊🤗
hey Mindy, if you do stop doing WW videos, budget grocery hauls & crock pot meals would be the ones I would like to see! Thanks for all of the useful information!!! :-)
Thanks, Pam! I appreciate that.
This is my 1st visit to your channel and let me tell you, you ARE FABULOUS!! Your vid is full of great cooking ideas and tips, information, and really showed me how to deal when on a really strict budget. You taking the time to make these vids to share with us, with 3 kids is sooo GREATLY APPRECIATED!! I'm honestly in awe of all you did with $50 and fed an entire family for 5 full days. Lastly, my family (7 kids) literally barely got by, but we grew up humbled, happy & grateful, so folks need to simply mind their business on how you feed your children & concern themselves with their own. Or, better yet, make vids and show us how it's done, if they're so perfect. I've said enough. NEW SUBBIE FOR SURE!! Thanks you LOADS! Arlene 😁😁
This is so inspiring! I've been thinking of ways to save money to pay off debt and this will really help! Thank you!!!
I love your idea for build your own Lunchables. I will make your soda bread this week!
A few years ago when we only had ramen to eat i wish i would have seen that recipe then.
I'm gonna have to put it in our dinner rotation because everybody in my house really liked it!
I love watching videos like these! I get so many ideas for inexpensive meals to help keep me in my budget. Thank you!!
People are insane if they say you aren’t feeding kids enough! Those are healthy meals and plenty for small children!
Love these videos. NZ prices are sooo much more expensive but I love how you take us through how to make the bread and noodles etc. Still a huge moneysaving idea 😊
You were able to buy quite a lot with your $50 spend so well done, and excellent that it contained a good amount of fruit and veg as well, plus healthy grains like the brown rice.
I think your meal ideas were very good and balanced with a bit of work for some but easy prep for others, so a bit of effort put into the tortillas and bread and egg noodles was evened out with everything else.
You gave me a lot of inspiration to create some similar things for myself with meals that could be adapted to a vegetarian/vegan option without too much overthinking so I appreciate the effort and thought that went into this video, thank you! :)
I'm so glad, thank you! If you are looking for inexpensive Vegan meals, my friend MiRanda over @runningonplants has lots of good content along those lines. :)
@@SeeMindyMom Yeah she’s awesome!!! In fact, I just watched one of her videos before coming over here! 😂😂Lol I love watching grocery hauls & tutorials for meals/recipes & especially yours!!! I love getting inspiration & trying new things!!!
@@SeeMindyMom Thank you, I do watch Miranda regularly as well and I think she's great. She likes to cook simple food as well which is so much more approachable for me, so I really like her meal ideas, she's such a sweet girl too! :)