I am a grandma my meal planing looks different. Every three to four days I check what we have and make 4 to 6 meals in big portions so there is enough for 3 or 4 meals each. Then everyone just warms up what they want. We have a grown son and a family friend that was facing homelessness living with us. I write everything I made including sides, dessert, salads on a whipe off board, as they use it up it gets erased. When the board gets empty it is time to cook again. This works good with adults with different schedules.
When I started my family my grandmother gave me a great piece of advice about what she did with the husband and raising six kids herself. She said each night of the week at a certain theme. Like Mondays would be pasta Tuesday would be chicken Wednesday would be soup Thursday would be Mexican Friday would maybe be Chinese or something. She said the specific meal would vary so people wouldn't get bored but by doing it this way she was mostly using the same ingredients each week so things didn't go bad and she pretty much knew off the top of her head wet in the pantry needed to be restocked.
LOL My teenage son was standing in front of the pantry and said in frustration, "Mom, you don't buy food. You just buy ingredients!" I took it as a compliment.
For those of us that had grandparents and great grandparents that lived through the great depression, lean on their wisdom. Simple food doesn't have to be boring and if you plan things right you can get more than 1 meal - say you fix a chuck roast on Sunday, that leftover roast can become vegetable beef soup, beef and barley soup or beef and noodles or saute some onions and peppers or broccoli throw the sliced roast in the pan, add some beef gravy and a few shakes of soy sauce and put it over rice or egg noodles. Great way to have a really good meal on a busy night.
I have a husband who is a picky and spoiled eater, which is so discouraging on so many levels. Meal planning would have made my life so much easier while my kids were in school, and would certainly help now with how tight our budget is right now. These are all such great ideas! Thank you!
17:02 If you were to look only at my refrigerator, you’d think my family was on the brink of starving. Some dairy, some eggs, leftovers, and condiments. But our pantry shelves and our freezers are full of food we can easily rely on for quick meals or even more complicated recipes. Rice, beans, canned goods both from the store and home-canning, pastas, flour, sauces, soup ingredients and so on… and we spend very little on food overall. A few cheap ingredients go such a long way with some planning, a few extra skills, and a little creativity. Even though food prices are skyrocketing, we always have delicious, healthy food and plenty of it without breaking our budget.
I am kind of the opposite, if you look at my refrigerator you would think why do you have so much food… Well, it takes planning… I cook a batch of chili, a batch of ragu (Genovese for instance), some stakes, some chicken, etc. every week… Both chili, and a ragu, take hours; but, the dish tastes so good… That, and as I tend to shop early in the morning, which means I can find great discounts (like rib eye for under $5 per pound), I stock up on meats - and sometimes veggies!
I make certain dishes that are cook once then freeze to reinvent. Cook one 9-11lb pork shoulder. We eat it that night, shred it and freeze it in portions. Sandwiches, tacos, burritos or a rice, bean and pork bowl. Thaws fast for those "Doh! The intended meat didn't thaw!"
Ditto! Personally, I cook a batch of chili, or ragu alla genovese, which lasts the week… I bake my own baguettes and hoagie rolls once a week, etc… Frankly, I am surprised as to why these younger people (my wife and I are in our 50’s) are just now talking about budgeting and planning; seems like a ton of knowledge and common sense has been lost in just a generation!
I meal plan a week at a time typically. I usually ask my kids if there are meals they want and go from there. I allow myself some flexibility too. One night our meat didn't thaw and it was getting close to supper time, the next night I had planned on home canned soup. I just switched meals.
I keep a lot of fermented or pickled foods in my fridge, pickled onions, carrots, garlic, eggs, buttermilk, sauerkrat, half sour pickles, gundru. I'm only feeding 2 people, and most things feed four, so all the little extras end up in small batches of longer term storage. I freeze the liquid from my cans to make flavored meats and rice later.
I have meal planned for years - still listened to and enjoyed this 😊 Not sure if they mentioned this but I also found that having a list of the meals that my family have loved in my planner (20 or so meals) So those weeks when I haven’t felt like meal planning and my brain isn’t in it I just pull meals from this list.
Great tips. Thank you for the idea of minimizing what is in the frig so there is no waste...and the cilantro or whatever gets either dried, frozen or used and not wait until it is unidentifiable. Thank you both.
Made a big pot of chili, ate it the first night, used for spaghetti sauce the next night, baked the spaghetti adding pepperoni and cheese the next two nights. We didn’t feel like we were eating the same thing for 4 nights. Not the most nutritious but felt like I wasted nothing.
Oh wow, I love Don’t Waste the Crumbs! Such a cool collaboration. Thank you so much for this conversation as what was a good life skill planning meals is becoming absolutely essential with the current financial climate. And with all the stress we need the healing influence of the family table. Thanks to you all for sharing your resources for making that real food for our families. God Bless you all!
Just yesterday! I went through things just yesterday and calculated estimated costs for 2023...and I'm happy to say they came out the same as 2022, which was about the same as 2021...mostly because I started gardening in 2021, and keep expanding, so as prices go up I'm buying less & less. I get raw dairy from a farmer who lives far enough away that I don't want to drive there in winter, so I stocked up on milk last fall & froze it. The other day I checked what I have left and realized I may run out before spring, spent 2-3 weeks trying to figure out how I could get more without having to drive rural roads in my very old car with not so great tires, then realized that in a pinch I could buy organic from the store! Not raw, but better than nothing...I'll limit my usage because it's not raw, and because it's more expensive. But I was so pleased to see the shift in my mindset...that it took weeks to think of getting it from a STORE!
Looking forward to great advice about fiscal trimming as everything multiples in price. As a disabled vet, can't walk, on a fixed budget. Valuable information when having to be ready for my local Emergencies in North Dakota,,, blizzard, subzero weather, ice storms, power outages, rain storms (water litigation), river flooding, droughts, hail storms, tornados.
My mother used to have what she called “ refrigerator soup” on Saturday. Whatever was in the fridge became soup. Sometimes she made Hash from leftovers which was also pretty good.
I’m so excited that you interviewed Tiffany! She is a wealth of knowledge! Over the years, I have signed up for a few of her classes, including Grocery Budget Bootcamp, meal plans and recipes. Her classes are very thorough and organized. She does her research and stays current. Due to my schedule, I am still working through Grocery Budget Bootcamp. Whenever I need to tighten the reins with our budget, she is one who I have always gone back to. Hoping to finish GBB this year, so I can stay on top if it, especially since the prices of groceries are up. This was a great interview! I appreciate both of you! May the Lord bless both of you and your families.❤
Meal planning is one of the things I struggle with the most! I am a homesteader and grow or raise a lot of our own food, but I just get in a rut and have never been great at planning AND sticking to a meal plan. Thank you for the great tips and motivation to keep trying!
I homestead and homeschool with 3 kids, while my husband works outside of the homestead. I do not classically mealplan, but keep a well stocked pantry and this way I can cook whatever I want. I can cook pretty well, and I have certain "go for" meals for buisy days but otherwise I force myself to always use up what I have in the garden and what comes in from the farm (milk, eggs, meat for example).
Now that my husband and I are aging, we love to cook together. Planned meals and making sure I have the ingredients available makes it easy for him to learn how to help or even creating his own ideas.
My daughterinlaw is the best budgeter. She uses a piece of paper writes out her meal plan. Each child list a meal they want and they must help prepare that meal. Breakfast is a hot breakfast. They live on 1 income and homeschool.
Oh what wonderful tips. The fridge being too full has me overwhelmed. I can cut down without fear after hearing you two talk about it all. Victory! Haha! Thanks!!
My local grocery store sells minimally processed chicken quarters in 10 lb bags for close to $5 a bag (fresh not frozen) they're kept right beside the pkgs of chicken feet. Skin on bone in but very meaty. Large legs suitable for baking not frying size. Some of the bones have been cut through and have sharp ends, but it smells and tastes fine and is cheaper per pound than rice or potatoes. And I keep a roll of scotch tape and a permanent maker in my silverware drawer next to my fridge to quickly label date and contents on any container before it goes in the fridge. Plus a pencil and paper clipped to the side of my fridge to write down on a shopping list anything we use up before I grab from the backup pantry. I rotate my pantry very well.
@@argeliaanchondo9907 Heb it's a texas store. Mexican grocery stores will usually carry chicken feet, and cheaper cuts of meat are nearby. Plus if I call the meat department the day before they'll save me beef fat trimmings for $.99 a pound. We like the cracklins that come from rendering tallow for cooking and soap making.
This is so good! I have always tried to meal plan but it never holds for more than a day or two, and could never figure out why- ususally I overplan and get so overwhelmed and it falls apart and didn’t realize there were beginner’s levels and expert levels of meal planning! I felt I needed to be doing all the things and had no idea that it is a skill to learn. This is encouraging, maybe I can do this! Btw my mom taught me that buying whole food ingredients is much cheaper than buying processed.
We’ve found the easiest way to start is with basic, simple ingredients that can be processed for multiple uses. We cook down 10lb of chicken drumsticks (because they’re usually very cheap, usually around $1/lb) in the crock pot with some stock for 5ish hours until all the meat just falls off the bones and we shred it and bag it into 3-cup portions. Those bags of chicken can be used for soups, tacos, mixed with pasta, eaten by itself or with gravy, and the bones broth that cooks out in the process makes amazing soup base. We buy 10 or so pounds of carrots and celery and can the carrots, freeze the celery, and a cup of rice mixed with the chicken, veggies, and stock feeds us for several days. It makes a small amount of money stretch in so many directions and for several nights
@@SteadySehnsucht you could cook the bone broth for another 5 hours to extract all the good stuff. And you may add 1 tbs of vinegar to help the process. Jaja just saying! I like your suggestions!
@@galeriadesol948 Thanks! I wouldn’t mind cooking the bones longer except for time constraints and needing the counter space for other projects right after. Maybe I’ll try ten hours next time :D
My grandchildren (now aged 22-26 and most married with children) have mostly shopped with the intent of being able to pull together a meal at the last minute so they have to buy a ton of prepackaged, instant foods to have a selection. Alternatively, if they can't pull it together, they resort to fast food either eating out or instacarting in. Huge expense. They are starting to see the benefit of pre planning, but have a long way to go, as many don't enjoy the cooking from scratch process. And now, my great grandson has been diagnosed with celiac disease so they have to add those costs (of prepackaged gluten free food) to their budget, rather than figure out how to cook gluten free from scratch. I'm trying to educate them but education does not equate to the work that has to go into the process which I cannot do for them.
I am not defending their cooking habits, but there are typically 2 working parents now, and the young adults parents' may not have prioritized their cooking education. They can achieve it, we did, but there's more of an uphill battle now. Please continue to support them.
If there’s a will there’s a way. I’ve always worked a full time job, gardened and cooked everything from scratch. Its all In planning and shopping for what is on sale.
I was an avid couponer until I realized most of them were for food like products and not actual food. I cook mainly WFPB, Gluten-free. I also make gluten free baking like bread and sourdough. I made my own starter. I relate completly with this post😁
I have tried making gf starter and muffins. My starter acts and looks great but my muffins were dry. What sources did you find was the most helpful in gf sourdough baking? Thanks so much!
@@leannglasman7147One of the best things I have found to keep it being dry is using the liquid from soaked chia seeds. The other thing I do occasionally is add mayonnaise or a little bit of avocado for the muffins and sweet breads.
Ocean State Job Lot's eat for free table often has a lot of Bob's Red Mill on it, at least in my area. It gives you back a gift card in the total of what you purchased.
I used to get great coupons but now, they are for convenience and junk food. I rarely have real leftovers, I try to cook enough for two meals. Great video, thank you
I would disagree… I have the apps for Kroger, Safeway, and others… I get digital coupons for lots of meats, dairy, and veggies, for instance a thirty-two ounce bag of romaine for less than a normal fourteen to sixteen ounce of the same, or tri-tip for under $5 per pound on say a Friday (if one payed attention), and blueberries for $1 per eight ounces (versus the usual $3+ where I live), or thirty-two ounces of grapes for $2 (versus $5+)… Granted, I basically have to shop at five different places to maximize my budget each week, which I am sure many people do not do (and the grocery stores count on that so they can charge twice as much for many smaller items than some competitors)… Point is, the coupons are still out there, they just vary by store and require some time to compare/review/research for each grocery store prior to shopping!
Game changer for me is putting a data label on food containers. I hated wondering when something was cooked and if it was still good, or throwing it out when we could have eaten it for dinner.
I always thought "healthy eating" was expensive growing up.. but I gave up meat at 13 and started cooking things. Canned beans, $1.50, two pounds of dried beans is $2 and you get about a gallon worth of beans. Fruit is”expensive” if you don’t buy it in season .. but it doesn’t matter some fruits. For example, a $2 bunch of bananas is 5-6 servings. Apples bought individually are priced high but a bag is cheap! It pays way off to make muffins and other snack at home. A homemade egg McMuffin (no ham) is about $1, takes about the same amount of time a. Drive thru would, and you know what happened to your food!
Yes! To the too much food in the fridge! This is what we do. Helps soooo much. And its funny when family comes over and sees "empty" shelves lol. They think we are in need. This isn't true. Helps totally with food waste
Great Video! Thank you for sharing. After 1 1/2 yrs of slowly stocking pantry & cellar. So i am able to finally shop more in my own pantry. I do can garden produce, have chickens, and we buy our beef from local farmer each year, which helps allot on the grocery bill.
I noticed quite quickly that the leftovers in my house don’t always get eaten so I meal plan for less portions total and try to not have any leftovers unless they can be made into a second meal like lunch. We also buy two weeks worth of our meats at a time (if not more) based on sales that rotate through different local stores. Learning some new preservation techniques to stretch some fruits and vegetables farther.
My meal planning started very differently. For the first 10 ½ years of our marriage we only got paid once per month, and boy, were we poor! I would plan for an entire month, snacks (after we had kids) included. I prepared most meals over a couple of days, and pulled meals out of the freezer to thaw about 3-4 days ahead. As our family grew, and the new job gave us paychecks every 2 weeks, my planning changed. One thing that stayed the same was that I saved my menus on the computer, so often I just printed out a previously used menu. Once the kids were older and in sports, scouts, etc, my crock pot became my best friend and snacks were packed for car time. I also developed a shopping list that lists ALL of the items we use, with space for special purchases. Lines allow me to list how many I need, and which store has the best price. I have used the same shopping list for over 20 years. We raised 6 children (5 of whom still live at home as young adults). We still have a grocery budget of about $450 per month, including pet food and personal care items. I do enjoy canning and preserving foods, but can't do enough to feed us for the year. When I CAN get something out of the pantry, its SO satisfying ❤. Meal planning allowed me to stay home and homeschool our kids.
Great Collab from a big fam & smaller fam perspective. Also from farmer & grocery food perspectives, really fits a lot of different folks situations. Best help from the start was so a week at a time, not a month. Second most used trick for us is focusing on what we eat most often quantity-wise instead of daily whimsical habits. The whimsy fits more logically in a pre-planned meal when you think, "Ooh! I'll add this item we have on hand too to zing it up!" And coupons, what a joke! Now stores make you download an app, then click on each item you may want, specific to the brand, which gives no insight into best price value. And you have to do it every time to save not very much at all - or maybe spend more for what they pump (most pre-packaged items are owned by a monopoly, grown and made abroad, shipped from far, degraded in quality and taste, and have added ingredients nobody would intentionally choose to ingest if aware.) Real food rarely goes on sale.
When my husband retired a few years ago, he thought he was going to have bacon, sausage and meat of some sort every meal, every breakfast especially. I had to put a stop to that notion. He now eats oats, cereal, or pancakes. Thank God! He’s a carnivore.
Carolyn I didn’t hear you mention “egg bake” as a breakfast bake idea 💡 maybe for you uses lots of eggs up, cooked breakfast meat sausage,bacon with potatoes and onions peppers perhaps greens when in season,cheese, cover filling ingredients with scrambled eggs. make in a 13x9 (cover for first half of baking)bake 375 for maybe 45 min until eggs are done. Sometimes I end up stirring so it goes faster
Hi Josh & Carolyn! My husband and I have a 3 month old baby (our first) and it has been the hardest adjustment of our lives, and we're so thankful for every day we have with him. It has me in awe at how you guys are able to do all that you have while having so many children. My husband and I want a big family and want to homestead and homeschool, but I'm just so confused at how you get it all done when I can barely juggle one baby 😓 Do you guys have any advice for us?
Six children 10 and under, with 7th baby on the way! Im still figuring out all the homesteading things, but I do have to say the first 3 or four years with littles was the hardest. Once the children are older and don't need the constant supervision, and can actually help, things have gotten easier!
We have 9 and have to say 1st is learning curve 2nd was ok 3 Rd was a change after that adding more children was not bad. There will always be tweaking. I would say work on a good schedule don't be afraid to change if if need be and homestead start small and grow as you can.
Instead of couponing, we utilize an app on our phones that has all the flyers in it and we can build a shopping list straight from the flyers.....and our flyers do have a lot of "real food" on sale as well as the highly processed. Our family will also track what the base price is as well as what a "good" sale price is, because sometimes the sale price at one location isn't better than the regular price at another store and with prices increasing now we can easily assess what a new good sale price is. We also have some stores that will price match so if you have the flyer evidence you can buy it at one store but get the sale price from a different store without having to go to the other store.
Got to agree with you on coupons. Seldom do I find coupons for the "real" foods I'm looking for. I do find do find shampoo, soaps and other things but the products are still more costly then if you buy generic.
Hello, fly lady with meal planning and cozi calendar was a saving grace. I homeschooled, worked full time, volunteer alot, and learned to cook for a month with friends. It's possible. Find like minded people and share the load!
Love this collab! Thanks so much! I'm already subscribed here, but I went to her page to also subscribe, and noticed her last video was almost a year ago. Do you know if there's somewhere else I can look to find new content from don't waste the crumbs?
I don't really "meal plan", instead I set out various meats in a plastic tub in my fridge to thaw with ideas of what we'll have based on the ingredients I keep on hand. If I plan on chicken on Wednesday but Tuesday I decide I want chicken, then it's thawed and ready to go. I usually plan for 4-5 dinners then we have leftovers or if we get invited or decide to eat out I haven't wasted anything. Also, having canned protein or convenience meals like chili, stew, soup, sloppy joes, etc. makes those last minute, crazy day dinners so much easier! I'm an ingredient shopper/canner/freezer so I can throw together something to fill our bellies pretty easy. We ALWAYS shop the fridge first. What's leftover or what needs to be eaten before it goes bad. Then some nights it's cereal. Haha!
My problem with meal planning or cooking large amounts is my husband is diabetic and we don't eat a lot of breads, rice, pasta, or potatoes. Most of our meals aree a meat 🍖 and veggies. My husband loves sweets and buys many of those processed keto snacks and I'm trying to get away from eating processed foods. We also eat out a lot which we have cut back a bunch recently.
I have been trying to reduce my food waste and use up my left overs. A big struggle as some health issues making food choices a challenge. Just hubby and me so a challenge to cut back after feeding 9.
I have a vacuum sealer for left overs to freeze. I'm only a two person household and 'disabled' but people who hate food waste as much as I do drop off ingredients to me in exchange for meals in return. I got twenty turkey carcasses after Thanksgiving and froze all the leftover shreds of meat.
Great content, but what about Low Carb? For many people, high carb whole foods, incl. whole wheat, rice, flour, potatoes are mega inflamatory. Some of us are borderline diabetics and have just figured out how to manage our health. More or less Keto, Carnivore and/or Omnivore. Meat, cheese, organic veggies can get pricey. Luckily I’ve started OMAD (1 meal a day). Just an idea for future videos, Low Carb: How to save money on food
I love that yall made this video. The last few years, as we've created our homestead, I've really cut back what I will buy for our multigenerational household. I buy limited items now and buy them in bulk. I struggle with creating different meals to rotate through though, and I'd like to cut out the last of our convience items like lunchmeat and cake mix. I have yet to find a good, simple dairy free cake recipe for birthdays.
Mamabear, try "wackycake," a chocolate cake made with pantry basics like flour, sugar, oil, vinegar, cocoa powder, baking soda and vanilla. And water. No dairy. I add a little coffee in the water to amp up the chocolate flavor. No mixer needed. So simple to mix together. The recipe often has you mix it in the pan. I mix it in a bowl and make cakes and cupcakes with it.
My daughter is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, and dairy. We cant use boxed cake mixes. We found this this super yummy recipe recipe on pinterest. It is so simple that at 8yrs old she makes it herself. It has a perfect balance of sweetness so we almost never put frosting on it. She does like to add sprinkles to the top though for some "pretty jazz" 😀 Easiest Vanilla Cake ( no eggs, no milk, no butter) 1 1/2 c all purpose flour( can use gluten free if needed) 1c sugar ( white, or white/brown mix, or sugar substitute) {avoid using all brown sugar as it will darken the cake and give it a slight molasses flavor} 1t baking soda 1/2t salt 1 t white vinegar 5T canola oil (Any oil works, vegetable, sunflower, coconut, safflower, etc) 1 1/2 t vanilla extract 1 c water Preheat oven to 350° line a 8" square pan w parchment paper for easy removal. In a large mixing bowl, add your dry ingredients and mix well. Form 3 caves (depression) in the dry mixture. In one add the vinegar. In the 2nd, add the vanilla, in the final one the oil. Pour the water over the top and using a whisk or wooden spoon, mix together until fully combined. Transfer your vanilla cake batter into the lined pan. Bake for 25-30min or until a skewer comes out just clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10min, before transferring to wire rack to cool completely. We always double the vanilla. And we use avocado oil. We also use Bobs Red Mill 1:1 all purpose flour. This cake comes out moist and sweet. Store left overs in an air tight container to avoid them drying out. We have found it cooks best in an 8-9" pan or as cup cakes. In a larger pan sometimes it is hard to get the center to cook before the edges dry out. But that may be an elevation issue as we live in the mountains. I hope this helps! 😀
We have celiac disease and multiple other food sensitivities (dairy, egg, soy, peanuts) in our family. The grocery budget is a huge challenge considering we need certified gluten free products even though we base our meals around whole foods. I bake fresh gf bread every day for my kids but gf bread flour doesn’t substitute well for other non-bread gf baking recipes. It’s just tough, I’m not sure there’s any tips or tricks that could even help me. And is that advice at a price that’s reasonable considering I already am paying so much for food?
Look at buying GF and other specialty foods online through Vitacost or other stores including the ones you normally shop in as they have better prices online at times on sizes they don't carry in the store. I use Google to find recipes that fit our food issues and then build my pantry around those foods & recipes. We have GF, shellfish & fish, eggs, potatoes, no sugar in any form, low carb diabetic friendly and limited dairy to work around. When I find something that works too sub out in recipes, that's what I go online to buy in bulk such as chia seeds, flax for egg substitute, nut flours, etc. We went from using "bread", cereals, pastas daily at most meals to once a week or so. We have lots of veggies (that I grow in our garden or buy in bulk wherever I can find a deal). I dehydrate and powder all my extra summer/zucchini squash and use the squash flour to make bread or muffins, swapping out 1/4-1/3 of whatever flour the GF recipe calls for. I watch sales at all the stores, and know my prices and buy several months worth when prices drop on those items. We can do peanuts, and local stores here are running a sale on peanut butter for .99 for the large size and all the Libby's canned vegetables are .50 a can and frozen vegetables were $1.50. So I go in and buy 4+ jars of peanut butter and at least a flat of each of the canned vegetables we eat and 2+ bags or more of the frozen veggies we eat. As she started in the video, I am OCD at keeping the pantry and freezer organized. On Sunday, I pull 5 dinner meats from the freezer and the go in a bucket in the fridge to slowly thaw to be used. I use a dry erase in the fridge door that I list out the meats I pulled. I have in shelf in my fridge freezer that I put all the frozen veggies I need to use up that week on. Those also get listed on my dry erase board. Then I write out a list of what I want to make for the week with the ingredients I have in the meat and veggies lists. As I cook those, I erase them from the lists. We do eat leftovers. 1 night a week is "encore night" where only leftovers are served and lunches are always leftovers. I pull from the canned goods to round out/add to the leftover meals as needed. Hope that gives you some ideas that help. Food issues are definitely challenging.
@@jdp6ofus wow, thank you so much for responding. That’s very helpful! I’m going to look into vitacost and other places for my bulk ingredients. Those other sales you mentioned are spectacular, I never see anything that low around here. I like your system for organizing the freezer & fridge though. I’m going to try that. Thank you again. It’s always nice to find someone else who “gets it” when it comes to restrictive diets. 🙏💜 Margo in Colorado
My husband has Crohn's and we have six kids. One of our best helps had been to make a huge pot of beans each week (different varieties in rotation, such as black beans one week, pintos the next, red beans the third, etc). I learned from an MD to sprout the beans, therefore no discomfort for my husband (or the rest of us). We eat a bowl of rice and beans for lunch, sometimes also supper, each day, and we absolutely love it! My husband's favorite version is a fried egg and salsa on top, and sometimes we do a Chipotle-style burrito bowl or other variation. Usually it's just plain rice and beans. Easy on the body, budget, and schedule.
It does have a way of sabotaging the budget. My best advice in that is to transition away from bread and baked goods to alternates like oats, potatoes and rice.
Affordable meal planning is difficult when you're riddled with food sensitivities, including those cheaper and pantry items like flours, rice, pasta, dairy, etc etc. Life becomes expensive and it's unfortunate also that you're at the whim of the grocery store because you NEED fresh produce to survive. How to go about this affordably...hmm. It's hard.
I have a much more restricted diet now than before and I haven't got into meal planning yet. I mean I kinda have an idea and I have a go to breakfast. My life is so much better with a prepare breakfast. And it egg based so I fallow her 80/20 rule I get the best price on pastured eggs. Even if not everything is the very best price there the big ticket items are my focus. Thankfully egg prices haven't exploded here they have went up but marginally compared to other places. I probably should have an actual price book but I learned many years ago about having a running knowledge of the base price of the most frequently bought item
I went on a vacation with my mother in law. She wanted to meal plan for the week. I was like on vacation I dont cook.you go out to eat or do cereal or sandwich.
I used to feel the same way. Our hotel offered free breakfast at local restaurant, lunch were some of those Lance crackers and bottled water, dinner we always had seafood and used coupons. I don't go on vacations anymore but you can do both.
Years ago I knew a girl that wouldn't drink fresh milk or eat fresh eggs. Actually she would not eat anything that didn't come from a regular grocery store. Her mother would buy the groceries and the replace it with fresh food in the grocery containers. Later the girl married a rancher and had to learn how to use real food and even fresh meat. It was rough for awhile but I guess true love won in the long run 😂
I have a question, I have birds 3 years plus. They are free ranged, lay year around. It will be time to either hatch new chickens or buy them this spring. My oldest birds are 5 and 6 years, are these birds too old to eat. Will there meat be like leather. I want to can them, but I know if it is tough my family won't eat it. Please give me advice
Hi, Susan Lance. You can use the oldest birds for broth, slow cook for a day or two, then take the birds and pick the chicken meat off their bones. Put the bones back in the broth. Take the meat and put it in containers and freeze. Use in soups. Tough meat softens in soups.
What is your plan for later in life? As you age I assume that homesteading would be less doable from a physical labor perspective. I know a lot of homesteaders have large families and might leave that land to be worked and tended to by their children. Is that an intention that you have or are you maybe saving for more of a "retirement" from this lifestyle or maybe something else all together? I have always been interested in the longevity of homesteading and what the next steps would be once it is no longer managable for say an elderly couple.
Joy you can prepare for decreased labor. An example I am retired with many physical limitations. I was accustomed to raising dairy goats for 30 years. I can no longer do that but I can do other things. An example having containers set out to raise garden ( can no longer bend down) have rabbits very easy to raise especially with supplements from property. Chickens throw feed and water and collect eggs everyday. Make things simple. I had to downsize but I can supplement my food sources. I know your comment was not addressed to me but felt led to give you ideas.
Is this difficult trying to keep up on cooking, videos, starting the school, tending to chores and still having time to homeschool? I am trying to figure out how you handle so many tasks without neglect to anything! I seem to struggle terribly with what half of what you are able to accomplish. How are you able to handle so much? I could use some advice....
I'm embarrassed to ask at 36, but could you give us a good rice and beans recipe? I have soooo much of both and every time I make the beans they don't turn out very good. But I've had wonderful beans so I know it can be done! I do well at rice. It works be so nice to have a good go to though!
Adding an onion ad garlic, fresh or dried is the basis of good seasoning for beans. A simple recipe is add 1/2 to 1 tsp of cumin, salt, pepper and juice of a half a lime to a large can or two of black beans. Refried beans is very easy as well. Pinto beans mashed with water and olive oil. Same onion, garlic, salt and pepper, add a little cumin and chili powder and lime if you want that. It’s good as a side or as a filling for bean burritos.
@lori west. Me too. I had a wonderful planned over meal tonight. Looked forward to it all day LOL. Chili Size (kinda), made with a frozen hamburger on bun from earlier, caramelized onions from freezer (would rather have had fresh, but I had these), chili I had frozen in cubes in an ice cube tray first, then packaged in a Food Saver bag. slice of cheese. Confetti Corn with roasted red pepper I had frozen, store bought WK corn. I had an apple for snack several hours earlier so I had plenty. So good. Planning and keeping up with freezer inventory help me do this. I only have me to answer to now, but I did the same kind of thing while my husband was alive. I was very young when he died. When it was just me I began eating out all the time. In time I found that I have to plan and pre-prep if I'm going to stay healthy.
Go to Southern States get 1 ton of OATS for $31 grind it then grind again at a finer cut. This gives u same as any oats you'd buy in grocery store. Thats 60000 big servings or 164 years breakfasts. After you've stored what you want share with others. Plan your meals around oats . Tremendous savings. DO NOT DO NOT GET OATS WITH BLUE ADDITIVE THATS FOR HORSES GOOD FOR THEM BUT WILL KILL HUMANS.
Sometimes it comes down to cooking less so you don't have leftovers. Or cooking extra 'ingredients' for future meals, like cooking twice the rice or beans or potatoes or chicken and keeping the extra out for another meal or freezing it. Or plan a similar meal where you can reuse the extra taco meat you made. Or a soup that uses leftovers.
Use by dates are guide lines only. For example milk is usually fine for about a week past the date on the carton. Canned food can be fine for months even years past the dates. You're more likely to create waste recanning food than you are using your eyes, nose and taste buds to see if something is still good to eat. If it looks unusual, smells bad, or tastes bad or wrong toss it. If it looks, smells and tastes fine it's good to eat.
This lady is talking a lot of bs. I know what is in my homemade ketchup and I know what is in my homemade bread. You can't compare it with storebought stuff what you make at home especially these days. We don't know what they put in there.
Anyone got recommendations on back to the basic type meals that use basic ingredients? Getting away from recipes that require 2384203984 ingredients but that are still wholesome? I'm also not a morning person or a breakfast person. 100% Agree on the prepping in advance for breakfast. I struggle with sides the most... I can choose a meat or main thing, but sides kick my behind.
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I am a grandma my meal planing looks different. Every three to four days I check what we have and make 4 to 6 meals in big portions so there is enough for 3 or 4 meals each. Then everyone just warms up what they want. We have a grown son and a family friend that was facing homelessness living with us. I write everything I made including sides, dessert, salads on a whipe off board, as they use it up it gets erased. When the board gets empty it is time to cook again. This works good with adults with different schedules.
I love the idea of making a dry erase menu board. I'm going to borrow this, thanks!
Great ideas!
When I started my family my grandmother gave me a great piece of advice about what she did with the husband and raising six kids herself. She said each night of the week at a certain theme. Like Mondays would be pasta Tuesday would be chicken Wednesday would be soup Thursday would be Mexican Friday would maybe be Chinese or something. She said the specific meal would vary so people wouldn't get bored but by doing it this way she was mostly using the same ingredients each week so things didn't go bad and she pretty much knew off the top of her head wet in the pantry needed to be restocked.
LOL My teenage son was standing in front of the pantry and said in frustration, "Mom, you don't buy food. You just buy ingredients!" I took it as a compliment.
Oh, have I heard that one! LOL!
For those of us that had grandparents and great grandparents that lived through the great depression, lean on their wisdom. Simple food doesn't have to be boring and if you plan things right you can get more than 1 meal - say you fix a chuck roast on Sunday, that leftover roast can become vegetable beef soup, beef and barley soup or beef and noodles or saute some onions and peppers or broccoli throw the sliced roast in the pan, add some beef gravy and a few shakes of soy sauce and put it over rice or egg noodles. Great way to have a really good meal on a busy night.
I have a husband who is a picky and spoiled eater, which is so discouraging on so many levels. Meal planning would have made my life so much easier while my kids were in school, and would certainly help now with how tight our budget is right now. These are all such great ideas! Thank you!
17:02 If you were to look only at my refrigerator, you’d think my family was on the brink of starving. Some dairy, some eggs, leftovers, and condiments. But our pantry shelves and our freezers are full of food we can easily rely on for quick meals or even more complicated recipes. Rice, beans, canned goods both from the store and home-canning, pastas, flour, sauces, soup ingredients and so on… and we spend very little on food overall. A few cheap ingredients go such a long way with some planning, a few extra skills, and a little creativity. Even though food prices are skyrocketing, we always have delicious, healthy food and plenty of it without breaking our budget.
I am kind of the opposite, if you look at my refrigerator you would think why do you have so much food… Well, it takes planning… I cook a batch of chili, a batch of ragu (Genovese for instance), some stakes, some chicken, etc. every week… Both chili, and a ragu, take hours; but, the dish tastes so good… That, and as I tend to shop early in the morning, which means I can find great discounts (like rib eye for under $5 per pound), I stock up on meats - and sometimes veggies!
I used to go to the store everyday just to get dinner. Now I shop on 1 day for the whole week and it is wonderful!
I make certain dishes that are cook once then freeze to reinvent. Cook one 9-11lb pork shoulder. We eat it that night, shred it and freeze it in portions. Sandwiches, tacos, burritos or a rice, bean and pork bowl. Thaws fast for those "Doh! The intended meat didn't thaw!"
Great ideas!
Ditto! Personally, I cook a batch of chili, or ragu alla genovese, which lasts the week… I bake my own baguettes and hoagie rolls once a week, etc… Frankly, I am surprised as to why these younger people (my wife and I are in our 50’s) are just now talking about budgeting and planning; seems like a ton of knowledge and common sense has been lost in just a generation!
@@EarlHayward we had to take Home Economics in school. It was a life skill we may not have taken seriously at the time but the lessons stuck
I meal plan a week at a time typically. I usually ask my kids if there are meals they want and go from there. I allow myself some flexibility too. One night our meat didn't thaw and it was getting close to supper time, the next night I had planned on home canned soup. I just switched meals.
I love the statement "decision fatigue" how real amd true that is.
I keep a lot of fermented or pickled foods in my fridge, pickled onions, carrots, garlic, eggs, buttermilk, sauerkrat, half sour pickles, gundru. I'm only feeding 2 people, and most things feed four, so all the little extras end up in small batches of longer term storage. I freeze the liquid from my cans to make flavored meats and rice later.
I have meal planned for years - still listened to and enjoyed this 😊
Not sure if they mentioned this but I also found that having a list of the meals that my family have loved in my planner (20 or so meals) So those weeks when I haven’t felt like meal planning and my brain isn’t in it I just pull meals from this list.
Great tips. Thank you for the idea of minimizing what is in the frig so there is no waste...and the cilantro or whatever gets either dried, frozen or used and not wait until it is unidentifiable. Thank you both.
Made a big pot of chili, ate it the first night, used for spaghetti sauce the next night, baked the spaghetti adding pepperoni and cheese the next two nights. We didn’t feel like we were eating the same thing for 4 nights. Not the most nutritious but felt like I wasted nothing.
Oh wow, I love Don’t Waste the Crumbs! Such a cool collaboration. Thank you so much for this conversation as what was a good life skill planning meals is becoming absolutely essential with the current financial climate. And with all the stress we need the healing influence of the family table. Thanks to you all for sharing your resources for making that real food for our families. God Bless you all!
I created a write-on wipe off board to list everything in the freezer and produce in the fridge.
@Liza McRae
I'm doing that on paper. But I want a better system. More of a better visual.
Just yesterday! I went through things just yesterday and calculated estimated costs for 2023...and I'm happy to say they came out the same as 2022, which was about the same as 2021...mostly because I started gardening in 2021, and keep expanding, so as prices go up I'm buying less & less. I get raw dairy from a farmer who lives far enough away that I don't want to drive there in winter, so I stocked up on milk last fall & froze it. The other day I checked what I have left and realized I may run out before spring, spent 2-3 weeks trying to figure out how I could get more without having to drive rural roads in my very old car with not so great tires, then realized that in a pinch I could buy organic from the store! Not raw, but better than nothing...I'll limit my usage because it's not raw, and because it's more expensive. But I was so pleased to see the shift in my mindset...that it took weeks to think of getting it from a STORE!
Looking forward to great advice about fiscal trimming as everything multiples in price. As a disabled vet, can't walk, on a fixed budget. Valuable information when having to be ready for my local Emergencies in North Dakota,,, blizzard, subzero weather, ice storms, power outages, rain storms (water litigation), river flooding, droughts, hail storms, tornados.
My mother used to have what she called “ refrigerator soup” on Saturday. Whatever was in the fridge became soup. Sometimes she made Hash from leftovers which was also pretty good.
Re-inventing the leftovers is a good way to make the food stretch more also.
Absolutely!!
Love it ..most meals it's just me. Lunch is with 2 Grandkids but summers I have 5. I'm also teaching and learning foraging with the Grands
I’m so excited that you interviewed Tiffany! She is a wealth of knowledge! Over the years, I have signed up for a few of her classes, including Grocery Budget Bootcamp,
meal plans and recipes. Her classes are very thorough and organized. She does her research and stays current. Due to my schedule, I am still working through Grocery Budget Bootcamp. Whenever I need to tighten the reins with our budget, she is one who I have always gone back to. Hoping to finish GBB this year, so I can stay on top if it, especially since the prices of groceries are up. This was a great interview! I appreciate both of you! May the Lord bless both of you and your families.❤
Left over bread becomes french toast or bread pudding or bread crumbs etc.
Meal planning is one of the things I struggle with the most! I am a homesteader and grow or raise a lot of our own food, but I just get in a rut and have never been great at planning AND sticking to a meal plan. Thank you for the great tips and motivation to keep trying!
I homestead and homeschool with 3 kids, while my husband works outside of the homestead. I do not classically mealplan, but keep a well stocked pantry and this way I can cook whatever I want. I can cook pretty well, and I have certain "go for" meals for buisy days but otherwise I force myself to always use up what I have in the garden and what comes in from the farm (milk, eggs, meat for example).
Now that my husband and I are aging, we love to cook together. Planned meals and making sure I have the ingredients available makes it easy for him to learn how to help or even creating his own ideas.
My husband and I do the same thing 👍
My daughterinlaw is the best budgeter. She uses a piece of paper writes out her meal plan. Each child list a meal they want and they must help prepare that meal. Breakfast is a hot breakfast. They live on 1 income and homeschool.
You talked about crackers being stale, I like to bake them or like corn chips to bring back the crispness
This year a strict budget is needed for sure! Thanks for the great video!
Oh what wonderful tips. The fridge being too full has me overwhelmed. I can cut down without fear after hearing you two talk about it all. Victory! Haha! Thanks!!
My local grocery store sells minimally processed chicken quarters in 10 lb bags for close to $5 a bag (fresh not frozen) they're kept right beside the pkgs of chicken feet. Skin on bone in but very meaty. Large legs suitable for baking not frying size. Some of the bones have been cut through and have sharp ends, but it smells and tastes fine and is cheaper per pound than rice or potatoes.
And I keep a roll of scotch tape and a permanent maker in my silverware drawer next to my fridge to quickly label date and contents on any container before it goes in the fridge.
Plus a pencil and paper clipped to the side of my fridge to write down on a shopping list anything we use up before I grab from the backup pantry. I rotate my pantry very well.
What store is this?
@@argeliaanchondo9907 Heb it's a texas store. Mexican grocery stores will usually carry chicken feet, and cheaper cuts of meat are nearby. Plus if I call the meat department the day before they'll save me beef fat trimmings for $.99 a pound. We like the cracklins that come from rendering tallow for cooking and soap making.
This is so good! I have always tried to meal plan but it never holds for more than a day or two, and could never figure out why- ususally I overplan and get so overwhelmed and it falls apart and didn’t realize there were beginner’s levels and expert levels of meal planning! I felt I needed to be doing all the things and had no idea that it is a skill to learn. This is encouraging, maybe I can do this!
Btw my mom taught me that buying whole food ingredients is much cheaper than buying processed.
We’ve found the easiest way to start is with basic, simple ingredients that can be processed for multiple uses. We cook down 10lb of chicken drumsticks (because they’re usually very cheap, usually around $1/lb) in the crock pot with some stock for 5ish hours until all the meat just falls off the bones and we shred it and bag it into 3-cup portions. Those bags of chicken can be used for soups, tacos, mixed with pasta, eaten by itself or with gravy, and the bones broth that cooks out in the process makes amazing soup base. We buy 10 or so pounds of carrots and celery and can the carrots, freeze the celery, and a cup of rice mixed with the chicken, veggies, and stock feeds us for several days. It makes a small amount of money stretch in so many directions and for several nights
@@SteadySehnsucht you could cook the bone broth for another 5 hours to extract all the good stuff. And you may add 1 tbs of vinegar to help the process. Jaja just saying! I like your suggestions!
@@galeriadesol948 Thanks! I wouldn’t mind cooking the bones longer except for time constraints and needing the counter space for other projects right after. Maybe I’ll try ten hours next time :D
My grandchildren (now aged 22-26 and most married with children) have mostly shopped with the intent of being able to pull together a meal at the last minute so they have to buy a ton of prepackaged, instant foods to have a selection. Alternatively, if they can't pull it together, they resort to fast food either eating out or instacarting in. Huge expense. They are starting to see the benefit of pre planning, but have a long way to go, as many don't enjoy the cooking from scratch process. And now, my great grandson has been diagnosed with celiac disease so they have to add those costs (of prepackaged gluten free food) to their budget, rather than figure out how to cook gluten free from scratch. I'm trying to educate them but education does not equate to the work that has to go into the process which I cannot do for them.
I am not defending their cooking habits, but there are typically 2 working parents now, and the young adults parents' may not have prioritized their cooking education. They can achieve it, we did, but there's more of an uphill battle now. Please continue to support them.
If there’s a will there’s a way. I’ve always worked a full time job, gardened and cooked everything from scratch. Its all In planning and shopping for what is on sale.
I was an avid couponer until I realized most of them were for food like products and not actual food. I cook mainly WFPB, Gluten-free. I also make gluten free baking like bread and sourdough. I made my own starter. I relate completly with this post😁
Same here. I still coupon for some things that aren’t food related but in the long run it’s better.
I have tried making gf starter and muffins. My starter acts and looks great but my muffins were dry. What sources did you find was the most helpful in gf sourdough baking? Thanks so much!
@@leannglasman7147One of the best things I have found to keep it being dry is using the liquid from soaked chia seeds. The other thing I do occasionally is add mayonnaise or a little bit of avocado for the muffins and sweet breads.
Ocean State Job Lot's eat for free table often has a lot of Bob's Red Mill on it, at least in my area. It gives you back a gift card in the total of what you purchased.
I like keeping a list of meals my family likes so I can reach from that list instead of trying to remember what they like.
I used to get great coupons but now, they are for convenience and junk food. I rarely have real leftovers, I try to cook enough for two meals. Great video, thank you
Covid killed coupons.
I would disagree… I have the apps for Kroger, Safeway, and others… I get digital coupons for lots of meats, dairy, and veggies, for instance a thirty-two ounce bag of romaine for less than a normal fourteen to sixteen ounce of the same, or tri-tip for under $5 per pound on say a Friday (if one payed attention), and blueberries for $1 per eight ounces (versus the usual $3+ where I live), or thirty-two ounces of grapes for $2 (versus $5+)… Granted, I basically have to shop at five different places to maximize my budget each week, which I am sure many people do not do (and the grocery stores count on that so they can charge twice as much for many smaller items than some competitors)… Point is, the coupons are still out there, they just vary by store and require some time to compare/review/research for each grocery store prior to shopping!
Game changer for me is putting a data label on food containers. I hated wondering when something was cooked and if it was still good, or throwing it out when we could have eaten it for dinner.
I always thought "healthy eating" was expensive growing up.. but I gave up meat at 13 and started cooking things. Canned beans, $1.50, two pounds of dried beans is $2 and you get about a gallon worth of beans.
Fruit is”expensive” if you don’t buy it in season .. but it doesn’t matter some fruits. For example, a $2 bunch of bananas is 5-6 servings. Apples bought individually are priced high but a bag is cheap!
It pays way off to make muffins and other snack at home.
A homemade egg McMuffin (no ham) is about $1, takes about the same amount of time a. Drive thru would, and you know what happened to your food!
Really good point about how real food takes a lot of planning. As long as you are thinking ahead, it actually isn't that hard to do.
Yes! To the too much food in the fridge! This is what we do. Helps soooo much. And its funny when family comes over and sees "empty" shelves lol. They think we are in need. This isn't true. Helps totally with food waste
Great Video! Thank you for sharing. After 1 1/2 yrs of slowly stocking pantry & cellar. So i am able to finally shop more in my own pantry. I do can garden produce, have chickens, and we buy our beef from local farmer each year, which helps allot on the grocery bill.
I noticed quite quickly that the leftovers in my house don’t always get eaten so I meal plan for less portions total and try to not have any leftovers unless they can be made into a second meal like lunch. We also buy two weeks worth of our meats at a time (if not more) based on sales that rotate through different local stores. Learning some new preservation techniques to stretch some fruits and vegetables farther.
I meal plan and I use numbers 1-6 instead of mon Tues etc so I can decide to have meal 2 on Thurs and meal 4 on Tues if I chose.
My husband works a mile from home so he comes home for lunch usually leftovers and we usually have a leftover dinner once a week.
My meal planning started very differently. For the first 10 ½ years of our marriage we only got paid once per month, and boy, were we poor! I would plan for an entire month, snacks (after we had kids) included. I prepared most meals over a couple of days, and pulled meals out of the freezer to thaw about 3-4 days ahead. As our family grew, and the new job gave us paychecks every 2 weeks, my planning changed. One thing that stayed the same was that I saved my menus on the computer, so often I just printed out a previously used menu. Once the kids were older and in sports, scouts, etc, my crock pot became my best friend and snacks were packed for car time. I also developed a shopping list that lists ALL of the items we use, with space for special purchases. Lines allow me to list how many I need, and which store has the best price. I have used the same shopping list for over 20 years. We raised 6 children (5 of whom still live at home as young adults). We still have a grocery budget of about $450 per month, including pet food and personal care items. I do enjoy canning and preserving foods, but can't do enough to feed us for the year. When I CAN get something out of the pantry, its SO satisfying ❤. Meal planning allowed me to stay home and homeschool our kids.
Great Collab from a big fam & smaller fam perspective. Also from farmer & grocery food perspectives, really fits a lot of different folks situations. Best help from the start was so a week at a time, not a month. Second most used trick for us is focusing on what we eat most often quantity-wise instead of daily whimsical habits. The whimsy fits more logically in a pre-planned meal when you think, "Ooh! I'll add this item we have on hand too to zing it up!" And coupons, what a joke! Now stores make you download an app, then click on each item you may want, specific to the brand, which gives no insight into best price value. And you have to do it every time to save not very much at all - or maybe spend more for what they pump (most pre-packaged items are owned by a monopoly, grown and made abroad, shipped from far, degraded in quality and taste, and have added ingredients nobody would intentionally choose to ingest if aware.) Real food rarely goes on sale.
When my husband retired a few years ago, he thought he was going to have bacon, sausage and meat of some sort every meal, every breakfast especially. I had to put a stop to that notion. He now eats oats, cereal, or pancakes. Thank God! He’s a carnivore.
Thanks ladies, Great Chat! ❤
Carolyn I didn’t hear you mention “egg bake” as a breakfast bake idea 💡 maybe for you uses lots of eggs up, cooked breakfast meat sausage,bacon with potatoes and onions peppers perhaps greens when in season,cheese, cover filling ingredients with scrambled eggs. make in a 13x9 (cover for first half of baking)bake 375 for maybe 45 min until eggs are done. Sometimes I end up stirring so it goes faster
Hi Josh & Carolyn! My husband and I have a 3 month old baby (our first) and it has been the hardest adjustment of our lives, and we're so thankful for every day we have with him. It has me in awe at how you guys are able to do all that you have while having so many children. My husband and I want a big family and want to homestead and homeschool, but I'm just so confused at how you get it all done when I can barely juggle one baby 😓 Do you guys have any advice for us?
P.S. My baby doesn’t like babywearing unfortunately, we’ve tried multiple different types of carriers and he’s really not interested
Six children 10 and under, with 7th baby on the way! Im still figuring out all the homesteading things, but I do have to say the first 3 or four years with littles was the hardest. Once the children are older and don't need the constant supervision, and can actually help, things have gotten easier!
We have 9 and have to say 1st is learning curve 2nd was ok 3 Rd was a change after that adding more children was not bad. There will always be tweaking. I would say work on a good schedule don't be afraid to change if if need be and homestead start small and grow as you can.
Instead of couponing, we utilize an app on our phones that has all the flyers in it and we can build a shopping list straight from the flyers.....and our flyers do have a lot of "real food" on sale as well as the highly processed. Our family will also track what the base price is as well as what a "good" sale price is, because sometimes the sale price at one location isn't better than the regular price at another store and with prices increasing now we can easily assess what a new good sale price is. We also have some stores that will price match so if you have the flyer evidence you can buy it at one store but get the sale price from a different store without having to go to the other store.
Good morning Tiff.. Everything looks absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Got to agree with you on coupons. Seldom do I find coupons for the "real" foods I'm looking for. I do find do find shampoo, soaps and other things but the products are still more costly then if you buy generic.
Hello, fly lady with meal planning and cozi calendar was a saving grace. I homeschooled, worked full time, volunteer alot, and learned to cook for a month with friends. It's possible. Find like minded people and share the load!
Great conversation; thanks for sharing!
Do you make smoothies (fruit, veggies, protein powders, sprouted grains, etc),ever? They are my breakfast for us and the grandkids
Love this collab! Thanks so much!
I'm already subscribed here, but I went to her page to also subscribe, and noticed her last video was almost a year ago. Do you know if there's somewhere else I can look to find new content from don't waste the crumbs?
This will be helpful to beginners. I eat only real food, have for years.
I don't really "meal plan", instead I set out various meats in a plastic tub in my fridge to thaw with ideas of what we'll have based on the ingredients I keep on hand. If I plan on chicken on Wednesday but Tuesday I decide I want chicken, then it's thawed and ready to go. I usually plan for 4-5 dinners then we have leftovers or if we get invited or decide to eat out I haven't wasted anything. Also, having canned protein or convenience meals like chili, stew, soup, sloppy joes, etc. makes those last minute, crazy day dinners so much easier! I'm an ingredient shopper/canner/freezer so I can throw together something to fill our bellies pretty easy. We ALWAYS shop the fridge first. What's leftover or what needs to be eaten before it goes bad. Then some nights it's cereal. Haha!
My problem with meal planning or cooking large amounts is my husband is diabetic and we don't eat a lot of breads, rice, pasta, or potatoes. Most of our meals aree a meat 🍖 and veggies. My husband loves sweets and buys many of those processed keto snacks and I'm trying to get away from eating processed foods. We also eat out a lot which we have cut back a bunch recently.
I have been trying to reduce my food waste and use up my left overs. A big struggle as some health issues making food choices a challenge. Just hubby and me so a challenge to cut back after feeding 9.
I have a vacuum sealer for left overs to freeze. I'm only a two person household and 'disabled' but people who hate food waste as much as I do drop off ingredients to me in exchange for meals in return. I got twenty turkey carcasses after Thanksgiving and froze all the leftover shreds of meat.
Great content, but what about Low Carb? For many people, high carb whole foods, incl. whole wheat, rice, flour, potatoes are mega inflamatory. Some of us are borderline diabetics and have just figured out how to manage our health. More or less Keto, Carnivore and/or Omnivore. Meat, cheese, organic veggies can get pricey. Luckily I’ve started OMAD (1 meal a day). Just an idea for future videos, Low Carb: How to save money on food
I cook the same 30 meals over and over.
Enjoyed! Great program! Hope you invite Tiffany again!
I hesitate to make bone broth as bones are hard to source economically. Any suggestions?
There's a podcast called just ingredients.
we really want to be at your homestead when joel salatin is at your homestead, please tell us how much it cost and when he'll be there.
I love that yall made this video. The last few years, as we've created our homestead, I've really cut back what I will buy for our multigenerational household. I buy limited items now and buy them in bulk. I struggle with creating different meals to rotate through though, and I'd like to cut out the last of our convience items like lunchmeat and cake mix. I have yet to find a good, simple dairy free cake recipe for birthdays.
Mamabear, try "wackycake," a chocolate cake made with pantry basics like flour, sugar, oil, vinegar, cocoa powder, baking soda and vanilla. And water. No dairy. I add a little coffee in the water to amp up the chocolate flavor. No mixer needed. So simple to mix together. The recipe often has you mix it in the pan. I mix it in a bowl and make cakes and cupcakes with it.
My daughter is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, and dairy. We cant use boxed cake mixes. We found this this super yummy recipe recipe on pinterest. It is so simple that at 8yrs old she makes it herself. It has a perfect balance of sweetness so we almost never put frosting on it. She does like to add sprinkles to the top though for some "pretty jazz" 😀
Easiest Vanilla Cake ( no eggs, no milk, no butter)
1 1/2 c all purpose flour( can use gluten free if needed)
1c sugar ( white, or white/brown mix, or sugar substitute) {avoid using all brown sugar as it will darken the cake and give it a slight molasses flavor}
1t baking soda
1/2t salt
1 t white vinegar
5T canola oil (Any oil works, vegetable, sunflower, coconut, safflower, etc)
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1 c water
Preheat oven to 350° line a 8" square pan w parchment paper for easy removal.
In a large mixing bowl, add your dry ingredients and mix well. Form 3 caves (depression) in the dry mixture. In one add the vinegar. In the 2nd, add the vanilla, in the final one the oil. Pour the water over the top and using a whisk or wooden spoon, mix together until fully combined.
Transfer your vanilla cake batter into the lined pan. Bake for 25-30min or until a skewer comes out just clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10min, before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
We always double the vanilla. And we use avocado oil. We also use Bobs Red Mill 1:1 all purpose flour. This cake comes out moist and sweet. Store left overs in an air tight container to avoid them drying out. We have found it cooks best in an 8-9" pan or as cup cakes. In a larger pan sometimes it is hard to get the center to cook before the edges dry out. But that may be an elevation issue as we live in the mountains.
I hope this helps! 😀
This is SO helpful!!!
We have celiac disease and multiple other food sensitivities (dairy, egg, soy, peanuts) in our family. The grocery budget is a huge challenge considering we need certified gluten free products even though we base our meals around whole foods. I bake fresh gf bread every day for my kids but gf bread flour doesn’t substitute well for other non-bread gf baking recipes. It’s just tough, I’m not sure there’s any tips or tricks that could even help me. And is that advice at a price that’s reasonable considering I already am paying so much for food?
Look at buying GF and other specialty foods online through Vitacost or other stores including the ones you normally shop in as they have better prices online at times on sizes they don't carry in the store. I use Google to find recipes that fit our food issues and then build my pantry around those foods & recipes. We have GF, shellfish & fish, eggs, potatoes, no sugar in any form, low carb diabetic friendly and limited dairy to work around. When I find something that works too sub out in recipes, that's what I go online to buy in bulk such as chia seeds, flax for egg substitute, nut flours, etc. We went from using "bread", cereals, pastas daily at most meals to once a week or so. We have lots of veggies (that I grow in our garden or buy in bulk wherever I can find a deal). I dehydrate and powder all my extra summer/zucchini squash and use the squash flour to make bread or muffins, swapping out 1/4-1/3 of whatever flour the GF recipe calls for. I watch sales at all the stores, and know my prices and buy several months worth when prices drop on those items. We can do peanuts, and local stores here are running a sale on peanut butter for .99 for the large size and all the Libby's canned vegetables are .50 a can and frozen vegetables were $1.50. So I go in and buy 4+ jars of peanut butter and at least a flat of each of the canned vegetables we eat and 2+ bags or more of the frozen veggies we eat. As she started in the video, I am OCD at keeping the pantry and freezer organized. On Sunday, I pull 5 dinner meats from the freezer and the go in a bucket in the fridge to slowly thaw to be used. I use a dry erase in the fridge door that I list out the meats I pulled. I have in shelf in my fridge freezer that I put all the frozen veggies I need to use up that week on. Those also get listed on my dry erase board. Then I write out a list of what I want to make for the week with the ingredients I have in the meat and veggies lists. As I cook those, I erase them from the lists. We do eat leftovers. 1 night a week is "encore night" where only leftovers are served and lunches are always leftovers. I pull from the canned goods to round out/add to the leftover meals as needed. Hope that gives you some ideas that help. Food issues are definitely challenging.
@@jdp6ofus wow, thank you so much for responding. That’s very helpful! I’m going to look into vitacost and other places for my bulk ingredients. Those other sales you mentioned are spectacular, I never see anything that low around here. I like your system for organizing the freezer & fridge though. I’m going to try that. Thank you again. It’s always nice to find someone else who “gets it” when it comes to restrictive diets. 🙏💜
Margo in Colorado
My husband has Crohn's and we have six kids. One of our best helps had been to make a huge pot of beans each week (different varieties in rotation, such as black beans one week, pintos the next, red beans the third, etc). I learned from an MD to sprout the beans, therefore no discomfort for my husband (or the rest of us). We eat a bowl of rice and beans for lunch, sometimes also supper, each day, and we absolutely love it! My husband's favorite version is a fried egg and salsa on top, and sometimes we do a Chipotle-style burrito bowl or other variation. Usually it's just plain rice and beans. Easy on the body, budget, and schedule.
It does have a way of sabotaging the budget. My best advice in that is to transition away from bread and baked goods to alternates like oats, potatoes and rice.
Loved this chat, very helpful.
This was a great video! Thank you.
When we do something "slow food" every day, we can make fast meals most days.
Affordable meal planning is difficult when you're riddled with food sensitivities, including those cheaper and pantry items like flours, rice, pasta, dairy, etc etc. Life becomes expensive and it's unfortunate also that you're at the whim of the grocery store because you NEED fresh produce to survive. How to go about this affordably...hmm. It's hard.
This poor girl needs to find out about Azure and plant a big old garden
I have a much more restricted diet now than before and I haven't got into meal planning yet. I mean I kinda have an idea and I have a go to breakfast. My life is so much better with a prepare breakfast. And it egg based so I fallow her 80/20 rule I get the best price on pastured eggs. Even if not everything is the very best price there the big ticket items are my focus. Thankfully egg prices haven't exploded here they have went up but marginally compared to other places. I probably should have an actual price book but I learned many years ago about having a running knowledge of the base price of the most frequently bought item
I wish I could find a price for the grocery store boot camp.
Thank you
I went on a vacation with my mother in law. She wanted to meal plan for the week. I was like on vacation I dont cook.you go out to eat or do cereal or sandwich.
I used to feel the same way. Our hotel offered free breakfast at local restaurant, lunch were some of those Lance crackers and bottled water, dinner we always had seafood and used coupons. I don't go on vacations anymore but you can do both.
I feel like I was back in jr high home ec class. Weren’t you raised with moms who do what you do now?
A lot of moms were working and not teaching cooking techniques.
If no money I will bake a can of chicken broth thicken it with cornstarch and throw over rice. Good. Cheap
Years ago I knew a girl that wouldn't drink fresh milk or eat fresh eggs. Actually she would not eat anything that didn't come from a regular grocery store. Her mother would buy the groceries and the replace it with fresh food in the grocery containers. Later the girl married a rancher and had to learn how to use real food and even fresh meat. It was rough for awhile but I guess true love won in the long run 😂
Love this episode 🙌🏾
I have a question, I have birds 3 years plus. They are free ranged, lay year around. It will be time to either hatch new chickens or buy them this spring. My oldest birds are 5 and 6 years, are these birds too old to eat. Will there meat be like leather. I want to can them, but I know if it is tough my family won't eat it. Please give me advice
Hi, Susan Lance. You can use the oldest birds for broth, slow cook for a day or two, then take the birds and pick the chicken meat off their bones. Put the bones back in the broth. Take the meat and put it in containers and freeze. Use in soups. Tough meat softens in soups.
Thanks for question and reply!
What is your plan for later in life? As you age I assume that homesteading would be less doable from a physical labor perspective. I know a lot of homesteaders have large families and might leave that land to be worked and tended to by their children. Is that an intention that you have or are you maybe saving for more of a "retirement" from this lifestyle or maybe something else all together? I have always been interested in the longevity of homesteading and what the next steps would be once it is no longer managable for say an elderly couple.
Joy you can prepare for decreased labor. An example I am retired with many physical limitations. I was accustomed to raising dairy goats for 30 years. I can no longer do that but I can do other things. An example having containers set out to raise garden ( can no longer bend down) have rabbits very easy to raise especially with supplements from property. Chickens throw feed and water and collect eggs everyday. Make things simple. I had to downsize but I can supplement my food sources. I know your comment was not addressed to me but felt led to give you ideas.
Is this difficult trying to keep up on cooking, videos, starting the school, tending to chores and still having time to homeschool? I am trying to figure out how you handle so many tasks without neglect to anything! I seem to struggle terribly with what half of what you are able to accomplish. How are you able to handle so much? I could use some advice....
I'm embarrassed to ask at 36, but could you give us a good rice and beans recipe? I have soooo much of both and every time I make the beans they don't turn out very good. But I've had wonderful beans so I know it can be done! I do well at rice. It works be so nice to have a good go to though!
Don’t be embarrassed. Sadly, we have a few generations that haven’t been brought up with these skills, mine included.
Adding an onion ad garlic, fresh or dried is the basis of good seasoning for beans. A simple recipe is add 1/2 to 1 tsp of cumin, salt, pepper and juice of a half a lime to a large can or two of black beans. Refried beans is very easy as well. Pinto beans mashed with water and olive oil. Same onion, garlic, salt and pepper, add a little cumin and chili powder and lime if you want that. It’s good as a side or as a filling for bean burritos.
My mother called leftovers..”Planovers”
@lori west. Me too. I had a wonderful planned over meal tonight. Looked forward to it all day LOL. Chili Size (kinda), made with a frozen hamburger on bun from earlier, caramelized onions from freezer (would rather have had fresh, but I had these), chili I had frozen in cubes in an ice cube tray first, then packaged in a Food Saver bag. slice of cheese. Confetti Corn with roasted red pepper I had frozen, store bought WK corn. I had an apple for snack several hours earlier so I had plenty. So good. Planning and keeping up with freezer inventory help me do this. I only have me to answer to now, but I did the same kind of thing while my husband was alive. I was very young when he died. When it was just me I began eating out all the time. In time I found that I have to plan and pre-prep if I'm going to stay healthy.
Highly processed instant food from box.
Thanks gals… good info
Processed foods have sickened us…
Go to Southern States get 1 ton of OATS for $31 grind it then grind again at a finer cut. This gives u same as any oats you'd buy in grocery store. Thats 60000 big servings or 164 years breakfasts. After you've stored what you want share with others. Plan your meals around oats . Tremendous savings. DO NOT DO NOT GET OATS WITH BLUE ADDITIVE THATS FOR HORSES GOOD FOR THEM BUT WILL KILL HUMANS.
It's also hard when you're cutting out carbs and all sugars from your diet. Our American diet is killing us.
I haven't bought butter in a couple of years.,. It is so expensive now. Please learn to can
You can freeze butter, but unfortunately it is not safe to can.
@@HomesteadingFamily why? I have done it for years.
How do you get people to eat leftovers?? I have a hubby that don't like leftovers really...
Repurpose them and call them something else. There are menu plans called "cook once..." that explain how to do this.
Who doesn't
Sometimes it comes down to cooking less so you don't have leftovers. Or cooking extra 'ingredients' for future meals, like cooking twice the rice or beans or potatoes or chicken and keeping the extra out for another meal or freezing it. Or plan a similar meal where you can reuse the extra taco meat you made. Or a soup that uses leftovers.
Label everything in the fridge and the pantry. Easier to see what you have and the kids wont open all the containers to see what is in it 😊😊
I am such a promo shopper on a shoestring…
With that said it is 99% meat, veggies, I do buy canned veggies, beans, fruit…
If you have commercially canned foods with “use by dates”, can they be canned in jars to last longer? Hate throwing out food!
It isn't recommended to re-can already canned foods. They would turn to mush.
Use by dates are guide lines only. For example milk is usually fine for about a week past the date on the carton. Canned food can be fine for months even years past the dates. You're more likely to create waste recanning food than you are using your eyes, nose and taste buds to see if something is still good to eat. If it looks unusual, smells bad, or tastes bad or wrong toss it. If it looks, smells and tastes fine it's good to eat.
This sounds really similar to Jordan Paige
Gezzzz, this woman invites a guest speaker, and hardly lets her speak……
This lady is talking a lot of bs. I know what is in my homemade ketchup and I know what is in my homemade bread. You can't compare it with storebought stuff what you make at home especially these days. We don't know what they put in there.
Anyone got recommendations on back to the basic type meals that use basic ingredients? Getting away from recipes that require 2384203984 ingredients but that are still wholesome? I'm also not a morning person or a breakfast person. 100% Agree on the prepping in advance for breakfast. I struggle with sides the most... I can choose a meat or main thing, but sides kick my behind.
Try thinking of it as a protein a starch and a veggie. For example chicken with steamed carrots and steamed potatoes