Planning is the only way we can live within our budget but what it REALLY helped with was my diet. 1 year ago my doctor looked at me and said I had to lose half my body weight (150 pounds to lose). Planning helps so much when it comes to staying on the diet and eating healthy. 90 pounds gone in 1 year. 60 to go. I think I might just make it. :)
I agree with you "Marilyn Causey," the fact that they took so Much time to create their monthly menu WITH us is beyond kind and so helpful!! Thank you so MUCH "Big Family Homestead" for caring enough about all of us to take time out of your day to create a menu for those of us who don't have the Wonderful ability to grow/raise our own food. Ya'll are a PRECIOUS couple and I can tell you have such a Godly Spirit. It's VERY Uplifting when people aren't ashamed of the Gospel or the Mighty name of Jesus🙌🏻❤🙌🏻 (I said No way we are Not ashamed, of the Gospel or His name, Holy hands are lifted high to the name of Jesus Christ!)🤗 I love that song and it just came to mind so I thought I'd share it. Moving on, I'm one of 8 children with the same Mama and Daddy and we were raised in Church every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday. We are all grown, married and have Children of our own now and we are SO Grateful for our Christian upbringing💖 Ya'll remind me so much of my parents. I've subscribed to your channel and am going to see if I can find out where to buy your cookbook. Looking forward to watching your other videos....Have a Jesus Filled Week and a Blessed Day, XOXOXO🙏🏻💋💋 PS.. I hope your Chicken and Dumpling recipe is in the cookbook because that's the kind of dumplings that my Grandmother made and I haven't been able to duplicate them until NOW🙌🏻 Your description and ingredients sound just like my Grandmother's. Also, Loving that you said the recipes are simple! My kind of cooking, taste like you slaved over a hot stove all day, but you really only spent 30-45 minutes cooking👍🏻 Off to find your cookbook....😘💋
There were 8 of us growing up and one dish my mom made weekly, and I still make today, is Spanish Rice. She would use a lb of ground beef and make it stretch to feed all 8 and just served with a simple salad. It was amazing.
Brad, when you pair any 2 of beans/rice/corn the partial proteins in the foods pair to create a complete protein. So red beans and rice need no meat to feed your family nutritious proteins. A quarter lb of sausage gives great seasoning for minimal cost and will feed your family plus guests. Make plenty cornbread for a side and have honey or molasses hand to turn the second piece into dessert.
You both are looking so good since you moved. There was so much stress before. I'm glad you didn't stay and fight the corrupt officials in the old place. This is such a healthy life.
Here is a nother way to stretch out your meat and beans black beans garbanzo beans white beans Update I am going to try to grow a lot of my grow my own food can't do the anamals but going to try to do fruit and vegetables but this is going to be a long process because I am going to do one thing one a year
Some yummy sounding recipes! Great food plan for those with no health issues. Unfortunately, this wouldn't work for us. If you're fighting any diseases such as cancer, you need to add less meat, eliminate pork, and lower the carbs, increase the fresh organic fruits and veggies.....and add more fresh healing herbs!
People who spend £800 to £1000 are usually buying convenience foods, sodas, shop bought biscuits and cakes. Basically all pre made food. There are so many people now who do not know how to cook from scratch. I taught all my boys how to cook from scratch and their wives are very thankful. And yes they all use leftovers.
I think you two are amazing people...very kind and thoughtful🙏 I live up in Northern California in a beach community and unfortunately the food prices are OUTRAGEOUS! I’m now a single mom of 2 so in order to afford to feed my kids I’ve started making my own bread, tortillas and I’m also purchasing rice and dried beans in bulk. Our city will not allow a Walmart to be built!🙄 so thankfully I can order many non perishable items on Walmart.com.I do believe that meal planning will help my family...hopefully! I also plan to pick up your 2 cookbooks. Thanks for making these wonderful videos...God Bless You & your family✝️💜
If everyone would watch the whole video most of your questions would be answered. Yes, they have feed cost and they talk about that at the end. Grocery haul for the month $160-something Animal feed $80/mo on average over the 12 months. Some months are lower (only dairy cow and laying chickens) and some months are higher depending on if they are finishing pigs or have meat birds. I have to say while this isn’t practical for some people. This is how they are able to do it this way. This couple did do an excellent job of showing how to menu plan (which will automatically bring the bill down) and they had really great tips on cutting the costs on most meals. Great job!
Love watching you plan your meals out for a month in advance! I agree making stuff from scratch is the way to go to save money. I don't meal plan so much as to keep all the basic ingredients in my pantry and freezer ( we also butcher a cow and pig to fill the freezer) to make most any meal in my rotation. When I grocery shop its mostly for perishables and items on sale. We also do leftovers for lunch and oatmeal, pancakes, homemade granola instead of boughten cereal for breakfasts. I will make pancake batter and keep in the fridge, then they (I have 5 boys at home) can fry up what they want for breakfast. I also do quick breads out of home canned fruit or over ripe bananas for breakfasts as well. Once you get into the groove of doing it and find some thrifty, easy recipes that work for you it just becomes routine.
For the people asking about the cost for feeding the livestock... a LOT of people who own farms grow their own hay, oats, corn, potatoes, etc., and sell some of their crops which in turn pays for more seeds. I don’t know if this family does or not but that would be way too complicated to include for the family’s food budget. The huge upside of growing your own food is that you know EXACTLY where it comes from and what it might or might not have in it. Buying organic at the store is ridiculously overpriced so yes, you’re saving money by growing your own. Good for this family and thank you for sharing.
I loved watching this... can't do a lot of the foods, but the idea of planning ahead has become imperative for my health. Not only am I diabetic but I have stage 4 kidney disease. Knowing what I'm going to eat helps.
This is how my mother did it, but we sat down for all three meals a day. A snack was popcorn popped in bacon grease. Rarely did we snack on cookies or desserts between meals. No chips. No peanut butter (too expensive). It just didn’t happen. We were poor, but we were healthy, and we were not overweight.
Sounds real great, but what I miss are fruits. I live in the Netherlands and fruits are really expensive especially in winter. Meat, chicken and pork are normal priced. In our family we eat a lot of vegetarian food, like chickpeas and white beans. When the sause and the spices are good, it is a very nutricious meal.
Love your recipes, but our family has gone low carb for health reasons. We’re pre-diabetic. No pasta, bread, rice, potatoes, sugars, etc. The beef and cabbage would work. Watch out for diabetes slipping up on you. We used to eat like you guys. Blessings!
Ok I'm only 5 mins into it but what I think they mean is, their meals are not just cheap junk, but hearty meals, also I'm assuming that they wouldn't include "snacks" in a budget plan. This is probably just an educational video on how to save money on a meal plan.
I can't figure out why all the "dislikes"... Gee! You would think people are anti-saving, anti-hard-working. I love this channel, and especially the kind, helpful way that y'all are trying to mentor (or at least) share what you know. Keep being you! 👍
Lots of carb heavy meals to stretch the budget. High carb meals are not healthy. High carbs equal obesity, high blood glucose and high triglycerides. Some people don't want to eat like that. Just a possible reason for the dislikes other than trolls.
@@coffeetime1 Okay, I can see that as a reason. It would be better to address the subject in a comment, rather than outright dislike... but that's my opinion. Dislike covers a lot of ground without a hint. I'm a carb-heavy eater, myself. High protein doesn't agree with me. I try to keep the carbs nutritious, like beans and whole grains. And limit dairy a lot. So, while low-carb and high protein may be trending, I'm not convinced it isn't just that... a trend. Vegans and plant-based people have been healthier than a lot of high-proteiners for a long time...
@@lego65100 Yes, I agree about the dislikes but maybe they don't want to comment or be rude. IDK. Lower carb doesn't have to be high protein. I can't eat high protein either but I am better off eating lower carb. I can't eat pasta, bread, potatoes or sugar. They raise my glucose levels way too high and cause me to gain weight. I enjoy watching large family menu planning though and can understand the concept of saving money through budget meals.
@@coffeetime1 That's true... maybe they watched all the way through, and just felt they had wasted their time. I get that. RE: low carb / low-sugar... I agree with you that we could all cut back (and be better off) on the sugars. Especially if it affects a person's blood sugars. It doesn't seem to hurt mine. But I'm a big fan of this channel for all the non-food ideas, and the farming aspects. I'm a farm kid. The laid-back personalities, and keeping it real... that appeals to me. :-)
Thank you for sharing how you put your meal plan together. I have always struggled and then given up quickly with meal plans in the past, but this way seems much easier. Will be giving it a go tomorrow for the rest of the month.
For those of us that don't have the land or livestock, grocery stores have days they mark meat down . Ours is Wednesday's, so don't be afraid to ask. Also, for casseroles , lunch meat can be cheaper ( depending on sales etc) and just as good in a casserole.
Canning beans you buy as dry is super easy and they cook and soften as you can them. All kinds of dry beans I do pintos, limas, red beans, navy beans and chick peas. then I always have jars in the pantry to grab to cook something for pennies on what commercially canned beans cost.
I make chicken grape salad, tuna salad and shrimp salad with round pasta during the summer. it is so easy to through together and serve latter. Serves alot.
Sharon, thank you for having our backs. Hay in the barn , this year, is far more valuable than tomatoes. The garden had to take a back seat, and everyone thinks that they have a better idea on what we should do. We'll do what God tells us... THANKS AGAIN!
@@Bigfamilyhomestead your welcome my dears, I have a no tolerance button for negative nasty people... And a little bit of weeds never hurt a garden none, As a matter of fact there are a lot of plants out there people call weeds are perfectly good to eat.. I just wanted to say thank you for talking about the moringa, I actually got a one pound bag of organic at TJ Maxx Then I but some capsules to fill at my local organic store, So I'm starting it I'm hoping it will help I have ruptured and herniated disks and have tore out both the ACL's in my knees so I have quite nasty osteoarthritis now.. I'm hoping the moringa gives me some relief...Blessed be.
We eat grilled cheese and tomato soup too, it’s so good. Hardest thing for me is to make the menus and stick to it, ugh! I love how you guys work together.
Lettuce here is 1.79 and potatoes are 4.99 for 10lbs and most of the potatoes are rotten in the middle if they are on sale they r usually rotten like 60%of them
My friends and I ate so much beans and lentils in grad school. We bought dried beans/lentils in bulk, which were approx. $3-$7 per quart and you just soak them overnight on the counter or 3 days in the fridge if there are deadlines and life is hectic. And they TRIPLE IN SIZE! So filling. Also, rice & beans are a complete protein so it’s cheap and nutritious.
Christa , you can take totillas and cut them into wedges and bake or fry them , even put whatever seasonings on them and you have chips . Only takes a few minutes to never be out of chips for salsa ! Did you know that SOS was a military meal ? They Army served it in mess halls because it was cheap , easy , and hardy . Love you guys!
Christa, craving fish but you said you like light fish flavor, not strong flavors. I got my fish hating family hooked on a fish called Basa, it is the lightest fish flavor I’ve ever encountered even lighter than tilapia. It tends to take on the flavors of whatever you spice it with. It is easy to find but they also call it SWAI! Try it with a lemon pepper and I believe you will be happy!
@@olliefields2922 I had to look it up online about these fish awhile ago because my granddaughter swore she did not like swai or tilapia. She only liked basa. I never told her until after I cooked it that it was swai. She could not stop eating it. Lol.
L Blake ya I had to look it up to tilapia is a stronger flavor but basa and swai are the same fish, you’re probably right about the same family of fish I didn’t look that up. No doubt they’re all good. My family don’t like tilapia so much though.
Cheap trick for buttermilk!! One cup milk and add 2 tablespoon of white vinegar let sit for 5 mins!! Works exactly like buttermilk and a fraction of the cost!.
Christa, you guys talked about something different with your spaghetti day. I often do a bruschetta with our spaghetti. Our family and guests have often commented on it! I start with a tougher bread like Italian or, French, but any bread will do just be careful not to get too much juice in it, grill both sides on a lightly oiled skillet. Top each with a shredded cheese, then tomato, sprinkle with some fresh sweet basil and finally top with grated Parmesan or, Romano. Put in oven to melt cheese and warm tomatoes. It’s yummy and easy! I don’t know if you knew this one, just thought I’d throw it at you.
Thanks for keeping me company in the kitchen tonight - meal prepping, laundry, picking up the day. Almost midnight, my day is surely over now. Love hearing your meal plans, tfs 👍👏🏻🤗
I really enjoyed this! We are a family of 9 and menu planning is a huge struggle for me! I might have to make the trip to Aldi. 10lb bag of potatoes at Kroger is $5 here in the Cincinnati area.
I would give anything to only have to spend $300 a month on groceries. For our family of three, we have to spend double that in Alaska. I nearly choked when you said corn on the cob was 4 for $1 was expensive! Try $1 each. Cucumbers are $1 or more each. That $8 ham? More like $15. We do have several great farmers markets that help out in the summer. We even have our own dairy farms and a gallon of milk is still nearly $4-5 a gallon. $10 out in the bush. I live in Anchorage, so I’m lucky we have Costco. Living out in the villages is like O_O;; scary. Some people have made videos about shopping in Barrow and some of the villages. Yikes.
I am going to buy the new cookbook. I own the original first one and just love love love it. Mistakes and all. My question is respectfully this ... why charge for the corrections? Shouldn't it just be available for those that purchased the cookbook? I know, it's only $5, it's the point. It's not going to stop me from buying the new cookbook, and I've also purchased the soap in the past (love it, too). This was posted respectfully and not being mean or critical.
Just found a recipe and it's a hit here, of jumbo taco shells. Fix the taco meat, blend in the refried beans, cook the shells, fill them with the beef and bean mixture, cover with a cheese sauce, either jarred or make your own. Bake covered 15 min, take out, put more shredded cheese on, recover, bake 15 more min. Cut all the stuff up and have on the side. We make pico for this. It's a great taco like dinner.
The buzzer on the dryer is to let you know that it's done. And it will keep going off until you stop the dryer or the extended cycle ends. I hate the buzzer so I never use it...besides, it scares my dog! LOL
I shop at aldi, for a family of 7 sometimes 8 as the 20 year old just won't leave lol. But it's hard because we tried the healthy route fruits veggies etc. It wasted, it was pointless. We both work full time and dont have time or energy to plan, so it's about $600 -$700 a month. But we add a lot of foods that are quick. But I love the cheap meals we do eat. Tuna, canned veggies, mayonnaise, sour cream added to tostadas. It's super cheap easy and good. My husband is from Mexico so we eat a lot of flavorful meals but cheap. We go through 2-4 gallons of milk a week. So we do shop weekly but every 2 weeks we spend about $300-$350. We bake desserts a lot too, I actually think I have a chef (12) in the home, that's a plus. We use a lot of rice, beans, hot dogs, eggs.
We have a grocery store near us that has a sale once a month where a case of packaged chicken thighs or legs is $10. That's 22 pounds of thighs for $10 or 19 pounds of legs for $10. The chicken is already packaged with four thighs per pack or six legs per pack, so their ready for the freezer!
Have you CANNED your fish? Being in WI take advantage of your lakes - you'd be surprised at how much you can catch in just one season. The only issue is you have to clean them
this is a cool video for where you live, pricing is so different all over the cheapest I can get corn is 5 for $2 but I completely get the point planning ahead helps so much with overall budget
My Mom used to make SOS with the chipped (buddig) beef. My MIL, however, made it with ham and called it “ham on toast”. I much prefer the ham version because it makes a bit of leftover ham stretch into another meal.
Brad your comment about sticks and twigs in the bread reminds me of the first time my father in law saw chex party mix. He asked his wife who swept the floor and put it in a bowl on the table!!!!
A tip for those of us who have to buy meat at the store, I stock up when meat is on sale. Ex. is whole chicken for 69 cents a pound. I get 2 dinners, a lunch and make my own stock from the bones. I save the ends of vegetables in the freezer for the stock too.
There are some really great ideas in here that I will be using next month! Thank you so much for taking the time to share and put prices to them. I just found your channel and love your little homestead. I'm excited to watch more!
This is great but it's only dinners so those families still have to buy breakfast, lunch and snack food which will double or triple their cost. But yes, the meal planning aspect does cut down on a lot of waste.
Feeding your chicken is easy if you move them around. You also can grow sorgum to feed them, you can even eat it. You can put your rabbits in rabbit tractors also.
I love Bragg's!!!♡♡♡ and pico. In everything:). I'm jumping the gun because the video is NOT over ha . My husband likes to buy in bulk and it always messes with my head because it's more money down up front, and honestly it doesn't seem budget friendly. I agree meal planning is key , and this is inspiring me to get back to it with a strict commitment . A staple in our house is soft tacos , its amazing, literally anything can be thrown in a tortilla shell !eft over bbq , left over veggie stir fry . First time finding you guys on RUclips ♡ great topic. We also, love spaghetti squash for pasta dishes ; casseroles etc.
You know what's amazing? What you feed your family on in a month is what the USDA (or some other agency) says is for a thrifty plan for one person. If I go by what was on that site my husband and I would be considered starving lol. We shop quarterly and spend about $600 including in between trips for produce.
@@eileenlester4342 Yeah that's what I said. I purchase quality food on a budget. A few snax but not processed stuff because of diabetes. I miss potato chips and Doritos..lol
I canned three older hens (3 years old, no longer laying) last fall. I cut it up and canned the meaty parts and stewed the rest for soup. Those jars of chicken were easy to debone and then make chicken and gravy or any other recipe that used cooked chicken. Canning tenderized the meat and boy did it taste good. Didn’t want to feed older birds that didn’t lay eggs anymore. Waste nothing!
you can also do a pound of pasta cooked and the "sauce" is olive oil, butter and garlic with little italian seasoning and either just that or my mom would add in cooked veggies like broccoli etc and maybe some chicken.. and if you like cheese some sprinkles of parm cheese. very cheap and yummy!
Thank you for the great information to stay on budget. It was interesting you said potatoes with chicken paprikash. I grew up with dumplings in mine. Thank you again 😊👍!
I’ve been craving Salmon. And Catfish. I haven’t wanted to eat catfish in years because we literally had to fish for meals many times while growing up. (If we didn’t fish, we actually did not eat that day) but now that I’ve been an adult and married nearly 27 years, I get to craving it! Crazy, right!
You can save money on shredded cheese by shredding your own, lay it in a cookie sheet, freeze it. Keep the shredded cheese in the freezer until needed. Saves money and it tastes better.
I tried it before but then my husband would eat the brick of cheese before I could even shred it! I had to go back. It's hard to sometimes to find the time when you work 2 jobs and 2 active kids and a husband that eats cheese whenever he sees it. LOL.
While I can appreciate the planning and effort that goes into meal planning,shopping and sticking to a list - in absolutely no way are these healthy. So many meals that are just pasta, or "over noodles" with heavy sauce, fatty meats etc.
I live in California and we are a family of 6 and spend about $560 a month. It’s hard but I make it work. But I totally agree California prices are high!
I plan our meals for everyday... we have 4 adults and 3 children ( my husband and I, our daughter and her family_) I appreciate the concept... I keep it as low as possible but in California the prices you were naming are not to be found... but I keep it around 600... we dropped it from 1000 ...
Okay I just have to comment! I’m mostly vegetarian and to be totally honest I find many people who raise their own animals to be very meat focused... as in it’s not a meal without meat. I’m okay with that not everybody needs to agree with me, but WOW how refreshing to hear someone say “you don’t need a lot of meat.” You don’t! I have become even more in love with you guys just from that comment
@Joni Allen That is my question too. I really wonder if you save on groceries when you factor in the cost of feed for the animals and then the cost of butchering. If you buy all your meat and dairy on sale, maybe there is not much of a savings. The pro's is you know what your animals have been feed on. I would think hunting and butchering the animal yourself would be much cheaper.
I really enjoy your first cookbook so I'm excited for the second one. Everything has turned out really delish. My biggest thumbs up are for the bread recipes! I was so intimidated by making bread but your wheat loaf gets used for other loaves too. And it's worked every time. it's my go to when I don't want to have to think too hard but need some bread. I use the stand mixer and it's easy as can be. And I'm humbled by how organized you are. I'm doing good when I can get a weeks meal plan done, and there are only three of us. That's ridiculous. I need to do better. BUY THAT HOUSE! Aloha.
As a kid I worked in a deli. The spaghetti we sold was sauced with one part ketchup to one part spicy ketchup (I don't remember the brand) and a little water to swish out the bottles. We sold a ton of it.Go figure. No, it was not an Italian neighborhood.
Love the ideas, thanks! Brad, my husband's grandmother made the bacon tomato spaghetti. Rather than tomato soup she used a can of stewed tomatoes or diced tomatoes. We still love it.
Four for a dollar for corn! Cheap corn for us from the farm up the road is $6.00 for a dozen. In town or the nearest city they pay $5.99 for four cobs!
WHAT?!? Most summers we get $1 for 10 ears of corn! (I do live in a giant metropolitan area but really close to corn country.) This year was a bust because there’s been so much cold, snowy, rainy days until late May.
Put some alfredo sauce over some white fish (but not tilapia...you don't want to know what they feed tilapia) with some rice and a veggie. Almost like a casserole :)
4 for a $1 (expensive in America for corn). I bought corn two days ago and it was AUD$2.50 (USD$1.80) each. I will take some of these tips and tricks. Thanks.
Planning is the only way we can live within our budget but what it REALLY helped with was my diet. 1 year ago my doctor looked at me and said I had to lose half my body weight (150 pounds to lose). Planning helps so much when it comes to staying on the diet and eating healthy. 90 pounds gone in 1 year. 60 to go. I think I might just make it. :)
Cheering you up, Myrany!
@@f.-j.j.5738 Aww how sweet Thank You!
Myrany how did you do that. I need help. I need to lose a lot.
@@Raedaun Weight Watchers, Eating fresh wholesome foods and a LOT of walking.
Congratulations!! You are an inspiration! Keep up the great work!! 😀
I feel like you guys are really underestimating the cost of your meals.
I actually appreciate the length of this video and the fact that you two talked through the planning process in real time. God bless
I agree with you "Marilyn Causey," the fact that they took so Much time to create their monthly menu WITH us is beyond kind and so helpful!! Thank you so MUCH "Big Family Homestead" for caring enough about all of us to take time out of your day to create a menu for those of us who don't have the Wonderful ability to grow/raise our own food. Ya'll are a PRECIOUS couple and I can tell you have such a Godly Spirit. It's VERY Uplifting when people aren't ashamed of the Gospel or the Mighty name of Jesus🙌🏻❤🙌🏻 (I said No way we are Not ashamed, of the Gospel or His name, Holy hands are lifted high to the name of Jesus Christ!)🤗 I love that song and it just came to mind so I thought I'd share it. Moving on, I'm one of 8 children with the same Mama and Daddy and we were raised in Church every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday. We are all grown, married and have Children of our own now and we are SO Grateful for our Christian upbringing💖 Ya'll remind me so much of my parents. I've subscribed to your channel and am going to see if I can find out where to buy your cookbook. Looking forward to watching your other videos....Have a Jesus Filled Week and a Blessed Day, XOXOXO🙏🏻💋💋 PS.. I hope your Chicken and Dumpling recipe is in the cookbook because that's the kind of dumplings that my Grandmother made and I haven't been able to duplicate them until NOW🙌🏻 Your description and ingredients sound just like my Grandmother's. Also, Loving that you said the recipes are simple! My kind of cooking, taste like you slaved over a hot stove all day, but you really only spent 30-45 minutes cooking👍🏻 Off to find your cookbook....😘💋
There were 8 of us growing up and one dish my mom made weekly, and I still make today, is Spanish Rice. She would use a lb of ground beef and make it stretch to feed all 8 and just served with a simple salad. It was amazing.
It's also good if you stuff green peppers with it and bake.
I need a Spanish rice recipe desperately!! Please share, I would be SO grateful!!
Yes add a Spanish rice recipe. My husband tried, too much ketchup taste, lol, at least he tried
Brenda Calderon I can’t seem to get mine right either it’s never dry enough, it like too much tomato sauce .. I need an expert !! Lol
Dirty rice aka Cajun rice is easy too same thing meat and rice but with Cajun seasoning :)
Brad, when you pair any 2 of beans/rice/corn the partial proteins in the foods pair to create a complete protein. So red beans and rice need no meat to feed your family nutritious proteins. A quarter lb of sausage gives great seasoning for minimal cost and will feed your family plus guests. Make plenty cornbread for a side and have honey or molasses hand to turn the second piece into dessert.
You both are looking so good since you moved. There was so much stress before. I'm glad you didn't stay and fight the corrupt officials in the old place. This is such a healthy life.
I miss these style of videos you used to do. Do you have a playlist of just these style videos?
Wow! That is amazing, 150-200 per month. I need to learn how to do this. I am spending 200 a week for 4 people.
Here is a nother way to stretch out your meat and beans black beans garbanzo beans white beans
Update I am going to try to grow a lot of my grow my own food can't do the anamals but going to try to do fruit and vegetables but this is going to be a long process because I am going to do one thing one a year
Some yummy sounding recipes!
Great food plan for those with no health issues. Unfortunately, this wouldn't work for us. If you're fighting any diseases such as cancer, you need to add less meat, eliminate pork, and lower the carbs, increase the fresh organic fruits and veggies.....and add more fresh healing herbs!
People who spend £800 to £1000 are usually buying convenience foods, sodas, shop bought biscuits and cakes. Basically all pre made food. There are so many people now who do not know how to cook from scratch. I taught all my boys how to cook from scratch and their wives are very thankful. And yes they all use leftovers.
I cook from scratch and pay 1400 a month for a fam of 7. But we also keep up a huge pantry in case of food shortage.
I think you two are amazing people...very kind and thoughtful🙏 I live up in Northern California in a beach community and unfortunately the food prices are OUTRAGEOUS! I’m now a single mom of 2 so in order to afford to feed my kids I’ve started making my own bread, tortillas and I’m also purchasing rice and dried beans in bulk. Our city will not allow a Walmart to be built!🙄 so thankfully I can order many non perishable items on Walmart.com.I do believe that meal planning will help my family...hopefully! I also plan to pick up your 2 cookbooks.
Thanks for making these wonderful videos...God Bless You & your family✝️💜
If everyone would watch the whole video most of your questions would be answered.
Yes, they have feed cost and they talk about that at the end.
Grocery haul for the month $160-something
Animal feed $80/mo on average over the 12 months. Some months are lower (only dairy cow and laying chickens) and some months are higher depending on if they are finishing pigs or have meat birds.
I have to say while this isn’t practical for some people. This is how they are able to do it this way. This couple did do an excellent job of showing how to menu plan (which will automatically bring the bill down) and they had really great tips on cutting the costs on most meals.
Great job!
Love watching you plan your meals out for a month in advance! I agree making stuff from scratch is the way to go to save money. I don't meal plan so much as to keep all the basic ingredients in my pantry and freezer ( we also butcher a cow and pig to fill the freezer) to make most any meal in my rotation. When I grocery shop its mostly for perishables and items on sale. We also do leftovers for lunch and oatmeal, pancakes, homemade granola instead of boughten cereal for breakfasts. I will make pancake batter and keep in the fridge, then they (I have 5 boys at home) can fry up what they want for breakfast. I also do quick breads out of home canned fruit or over ripe bananas for breakfasts as well. Once you get into the groove of doing it and find some thrifty, easy recipes that work for you it just becomes routine.
For the people asking about the cost for feeding the livestock... a LOT of people who own farms grow their own hay, oats, corn, potatoes, etc., and sell some of their crops which in turn pays for more seeds. I don’t know if this family does or not but that would be way too complicated to include for the family’s food budget. The huge upside of growing your own food is that you know EXACTLY where it comes from and what it might or might not have in it. Buying organic at the store is ridiculously overpriced so yes, you’re saving money by growing your own. Good for this family and thank you for sharing.
I loved watching this... can't do a lot of the foods, but the idea of planning ahead has become imperative for my health. Not only am I diabetic but I have stage 4 kidney disease. Knowing what I'm going to eat helps.
This is how my mother did it, but we sat down for all three meals a day. A snack was popcorn popped in bacon grease. Rarely did we snack on cookies or desserts between meals. No chips. No peanut butter (too expensive). It just didn’t happen. We were poor, but we were healthy, and we were not overweight.
Sounds real great, but what I miss are fruits. I live in the Netherlands and fruits are really expensive especially in winter. Meat, chicken and pork are normal priced.
In our family we eat a lot of vegetarian food, like chickpeas and white beans. When the sause and the spices are good, it is a very nutricious meal.
Love your recipes, but our family has gone low carb for health reasons. We’re pre-diabetic. No pasta, bread, rice, potatoes, sugars, etc. The beef and cabbage would work. Watch out for diabetes slipping up on you. We used to eat like you guys. Blessings!
I thought there were a lot of chips and snacks in your video with the pantry redo? Anyway, good video. Does your thrive food count in the budget?
Ok I'm only 5 mins into it but what I think they mean is, their meals are not just cheap junk, but hearty meals, also I'm assuming that they wouldn't include "snacks" in a budget plan.
This is probably just an educational video on how to save money on a meal plan.
I can't figure out why all the "dislikes"... Gee! You would think people are anti-saving, anti-hard-working. I love this channel, and especially the kind, helpful way that y'all are trying to mentor (or at least) share what you know. Keep being you! 👍
trolls..i agree they are good people
Lots of carb heavy meals to stretch the budget. High carb meals are not healthy. High carbs equal obesity, high blood glucose and high triglycerides. Some people don't want to eat like that. Just a possible reason for the dislikes other than trolls.
@@coffeetime1 Okay, I can see that as a reason. It would be better to address the subject in a comment, rather than outright dislike... but that's my opinion. Dislike covers a lot of ground without a hint. I'm a carb-heavy eater, myself. High protein doesn't agree with me. I try to keep the carbs nutritious, like beans and whole grains. And limit dairy a lot. So, while low-carb and high protein may be trending, I'm not convinced it isn't just that... a trend. Vegans and plant-based people have been healthier than a lot of high-proteiners for a long time...
@@lego65100 Yes, I agree about the dislikes but maybe they don't want to comment or be rude. IDK. Lower carb doesn't have to be high protein. I can't eat high protein either but I am better off eating lower carb. I can't eat pasta, bread, potatoes or sugar. They raise my glucose levels way too high and cause me to gain weight. I enjoy watching large family menu planning though and can understand the concept of saving money through budget meals.
@@coffeetime1 That's true... maybe they watched all the way through, and just felt they had wasted their time. I get that. RE: low carb / low-sugar... I agree with you that we could all cut back (and be better off) on the sugars. Especially if it affects a person's blood sugars. It doesn't seem to hurt mine. But I'm a big fan of this channel for all the non-food ideas, and the farming aspects. I'm a farm kid. The laid-back personalities, and keeping it real... that appeals to me. :-)
Thank you for sharing how you put your meal plan together. I have always struggled and then given up quickly with meal plans in the past, but this way seems much easier. Will be giving it a go tomorrow for the rest of the month.
For those of us that don't have the land or livestock, grocery stores have days they mark meat down . Ours is Wednesday's, so don't be afraid to ask. Also, for casseroles , lunch meat can be cheaper ( depending on sales etc) and just as good in a casserole.
Haha and they just mentioned mark downs on meat ♡♡♡♡ awesome
Some great ideas! Buying dry beans is way more economical and you can always freeze the ones you don't use.
Canning beans you buy as dry is super easy and they cook and soften as you can them. All kinds of dry beans I do pintos, limas, red beans, navy beans and chick peas. then I always have jars in the pantry to grab to cook something for pennies on what commercially canned beans cost.
I make chicken grape salad, tuna salad and shrimp salad with round pasta during the summer. it is so easy to through together and serve latter. Serves alot.
@Sandy bo Would you share your chicken grape salad recipe?
I would like to see an update on your garden. Y’all rarely show it.
@@leaannatkinson7586 You're just a negative nasty troll Why do you even watch the videos if you're just gonna spew your negativity
Krunkee Beans have you been there?? That’s awesome
Sharon, thank you for having our backs. Hay in the barn , this year, is far more valuable than tomatoes. The garden had to take a back seat, and everyone thinks that they have a better idea on what we should do. We'll do what God tells us... THANKS AGAIN!
@@Bigfamilyhomestead your welcome my dears, I have a no tolerance button for negative nasty people... And a little bit of weeds never hurt a garden none, As a matter of fact there are a lot of plants out there people call weeds are perfectly good to eat.. I just wanted to say thank you for talking about the moringa, I actually got a one pound bag of organic at TJ Maxx Then I but some capsules to fill at my local organic store, So I'm starting it I'm hoping it will help I have ruptured and herniated disks and have tore out both the ACL's in my knees so I have quite nasty osteoarthritis now.. I'm hoping the moringa gives me some
relief...Blessed be.
We eat grilled cheese and tomato soup too, it’s so good. Hardest thing for me is to make the menus and stick to it, ugh! I love how you guys work together.
Make the bread! Even cheaper
SOS! My Grandpa was a cook on the army and taught us that! It is so good easy and cheap.
My Dad, too! First dish he ever taught me to cook was Wieners and Potato Stew.
Love the comments for all the extra meal ideas. I will say I shop cheaply, but every price you quoted is almost double in my area.
Lettuce here is 1.79 and potatoes are 4.99 for 10lbs and most of the potatoes are rotten in the middle if they are on sale they r usually rotten like 60%of them
I find that romaine lettuce keeps better than iceberg.
Gerry Marmee I concur!
Cooking your own beans is cheaper and taste a lot better.
My friends and I ate so much beans and lentils in grad school. We bought dried beans/lentils in bulk, which were approx. $3-$7 per quart and you just soak them overnight on the counter or 3 days in the fridge if there are deadlines and life is hectic. And they TRIPLE IN SIZE! So filling.
Also, rice & beans are a complete protein so it’s cheap and nutritious.
Christa , you can take totillas and cut them into wedges and bake or fry them , even put whatever seasonings on them and you have chips . Only takes a few minutes to never be out of chips for salsa ! Did you know that SOS was a military meal ? They Army served it in mess halls because it was cheap , easy , and hardy . Love you guys!
It's cheaper to just get a bag of tortilla chips .
@@tsmk4262 not if you make the tortillas , not if you live a good distance from a store ! Tortillas are very easy to make !
Christa, craving fish but you said you like light fish flavor, not strong flavors. I got my fish hating family hooked on a fish called Basa, it is the lightest fish flavor I’ve ever encountered even lighter than tilapia. It tends to take on the flavors of whatever you spice it with. It is easy to find but they also call it SWAI! Try it with a lemon pepper and I believe you will be happy!
Basa, Swai and tilapia are all in the same family but just have slightly different taste and reputation. I eat them all.
L Blake I eat them all as well but basa and swai are the same fish just different names for same fish. But the flavor is even less fishy than tilapia.
@@olliefields2922 I had to look it up online about these fish awhile ago because my granddaughter swore she did not like swai or tilapia. She only liked basa. I never told her until after I cooked it that it was swai. She could not stop eating it. Lol.
L Blake ya I had to look it up to tilapia is a stronger flavor but basa and swai are the same fish, you’re probably right about the same family of fish I didn’t look that up. No doubt they’re all good. My family don’t like tilapia so much though.
Cheap trick for buttermilk!! One cup milk and add 2 tablespoon of white vinegar let sit for 5 mins!! Works exactly like buttermilk and a fraction of the cost!.
Christa, you guys talked about something different with your spaghetti day. I often do a bruschetta with our spaghetti. Our family and guests have often commented on it! I start with a tougher bread like Italian or, French, but any bread will do just be careful not to get too much juice in it, grill both sides on a lightly oiled skillet. Top each with a shredded cheese, then tomato, sprinkle with some fresh sweet basil and finally top with grated Parmesan or, Romano. Put in oven to melt cheese and warm tomatoes. It’s yummy and easy! I don’t know if you knew this one, just thought I’d throw it at you.
Thanks for keeping me company in the kitchen tonight - meal prepping, laundry, picking up the day. Almost midnight, my day is surely over now. Love hearing your meal plans, tfs 👍👏🏻🤗
Mamofone Teen same! 💕
I’m the father in a family of three and I can’t believe how much I spend! This was an eye opener! Thank you so much
I LOVED this vlog. I could watch this every month when you organize your menu plan. Oh how loved this. Thank you so much🦋💜
I really enjoyed this! We are a family of 9 and menu planning is a huge struggle for me!
I might have to make the trip to Aldi. 10lb bag of potatoes at Kroger is $5 here in the Cincinnati area.
Kroger produce isn't the best deal here in AZ either. But we dont have an Aldi. I wish!!!
I would give anything to only have to spend $300 a month on groceries. For our family of three, we have to spend double that in Alaska. I nearly choked when you said corn on the cob was 4 for $1 was expensive! Try $1 each. Cucumbers are $1 or more each. That $8 ham? More like $15. We do have several great farmers markets that help out in the summer. We even have our own dairy farms and a gallon of milk is still nearly $4-5 a gallon. $10 out in the bush. I live in Anchorage, so I’m lucky we have Costco. Living out in the villages is like O_O;; scary. Some people have made videos about shopping in Barrow and some of the villages. Yikes.
I am in Texas and a half of ham at Walmart is $17. This is for boneless. I would love to find ham for $8!!!!
I am going to buy the new cookbook. I own the original first one and just love love love it. Mistakes and all. My question is respectfully this ... why charge for the corrections? Shouldn't it just be available for those that purchased the cookbook? I know, it's only $5, it's the point. It's not going to stop me from buying the new cookbook, and I've also purchased the soap in the past (love it, too). This was posted respectfully and not being mean or critical.
With our current struggles, I don’t think we will ever get to homestead but it is always inspiring to watch your channel
Just found a recipe and it's a hit here, of jumbo taco shells. Fix the taco meat, blend in the refried beans, cook the shells, fill them with the beef and bean mixture, cover with a cheese sauce, either jarred or make your own. Bake covered 15 min, take out, put more shredded cheese on, recover, bake 15 more min. Cut all the stuff up and have on the side. We make pico for this. It's a great taco like dinner.
The buzzer on the dryer is to let you know that it's done. And it will keep going off until you stop the dryer or the extended cycle ends. I hate the buzzer so I never use it...besides, it scares my dog! LOL
Eileen Lester I have the same problem but can't seem to turn the buzzer off
@@tinahengen3168 Yikes! Maybe an electrical issue. Is it under warranty?
I shop at aldi, for a family of 7 sometimes 8 as the 20 year old just won't leave lol.
But it's hard because we tried the healthy route fruits veggies etc. It wasted, it was pointless. We both work full time and dont have time or energy to plan, so it's about $600 -$700 a month. But we add a lot of foods that are quick. But I love the cheap meals we do eat. Tuna, canned veggies, mayonnaise, sour cream added to tostadas. It's super cheap easy and good. My husband is from Mexico so we eat a lot of flavorful meals but cheap. We go through 2-4 gallons of milk a week. So we do shop weekly but every 2 weeks we spend about $300-$350. We bake desserts a lot too, I actually think I have a chef (12) in the home, that's a plus. We use a lot of rice, beans, hot dogs, eggs.
Just here as a girl who went through the chips and dip stage! It passes and now I still do it once in a while
We have a grocery store near us that has a sale once a month where a case of packaged chicken thighs or legs is $10. That's 22 pounds of thighs for $10 or 19 pounds of legs for $10. The chicken is already packaged with four thighs per pack or six legs per pack, so their ready for the freezer!
what grocery store is this ? where do you live? here in Houston we have a store called Aldi and a 10lb bag of chicken is $5
@@DesignerNerida It's the Hill's Grocery Store in Loris, SC.
Have you CANNED your fish? Being in WI take advantage of your lakes - you'd be surprised at how much you can catch in just one season. The only issue is you have to clean them
this is a cool video for where you live, pricing is so different all over the cheapest I can get corn is 5 for $2 but I completely get the point planning ahead helps so much with overall budget
My Mom used to make SOS with the chipped (buddig) beef. My MIL, however, made it with ham and called it “ham on toast”. I much prefer the ham version because it makes a bit of leftover ham stretch into another meal.
Brad your comment about sticks and twigs in the bread reminds me of the first time my father in law saw chex party mix. He asked his wife who swept the floor and put it in a bowl on the table!!!!
LOL
😂
No junk, but some nutritional lapses. But, you are achieving what you stipulated per budget. Well done.
I absolutely love when you guys do these types of videos, always something to learn from BFH❤️
A tip for those of us who have to buy meat at the store, I stock up when meat is on sale. Ex. is whole chicken for 69 cents a pound. I get 2 dinners, a lunch and make my own stock from the bones. I save the ends of vegetables in the freezer for the stock too.
I love all the dinner ideas, and how well you plan together
Here's a tip to stop the buzzing dryer - turn it off and hang your washing out to dry! FREE and kinder on the environment :)
when my Mom was still with us she loved Ruben sandwiches with tomatoes soup her Sunday fav.
Pizza tip! Get pepperoni sliced at the deli counter! Way cheaper and you can buy exactly how many slices you need
There are some really great ideas in here that I will be using next month! Thank you so much for taking the time to share and put prices to them. I just found your channel and love your little homestead. I'm excited to watch more!
This is great but it's only dinners so those families still have to buy breakfast, lunch and snack food which will double or triple their cost. But yes, the meal planning aspect does cut down on a lot of waste.
BubblesLuvsYa81 pancakes, eggs, toast, French toast and oatmeal or cereal doesn’t really add up to much. You can really make that stretch out.
Cut it down even more by starting with dry beans!
i live alone and I spend about 200 a month on food. thats when I eat everything I want. sometimes I cut back here and there.
Love this channel! I feel like I'm getting advice from my fav aunt and uncle XD keep up the good work and positivity!
My uncle was in the Navy ,Evidently he had SOS a lot. Love you Guys.
Feeding your chicken is easy if you move them around. You also can grow sorgum to feed them, you can even eat it. You can put your rabbits in rabbit tractors also.
I love Bragg's!!!♡♡♡ and pico. In everything:). I'm jumping the gun because the video is NOT over ha . My husband likes to buy in bulk and it always messes with my head because it's more money down up front, and honestly it doesn't seem budget friendly. I agree meal planning is key , and this is inspiring me to get back to it with a strict commitment . A staple in our house is soft tacos , its amazing, literally anything can be thrown in a tortilla shell !eft over bbq , left over veggie stir fry .
First time finding you guys on RUclips ♡ great topic. We also, love spaghetti squash for pasta dishes ; casseroles etc.
I must be really tired. I read I love Brad...in my head I was like ummmm he got a wife sitting right there...yeah...time to go to bed.
@@lblake5653 hahaha hilarious ♡
Hi, so glad you updated this and have a new cookbook. Thank you. Best wishes
You know what's amazing? What you feed your family on in a month is what the USDA (or some other agency) says is for a thrifty plan for one person. If I go by what was on that site my husband and I would be considered starving lol. We shop quarterly and spend about $600 including in between trips for produce.
Yikes!
@@eileenlester4342 Yeah that's what I said. I purchase quality food on a budget. A few snax but not processed stuff because of diabetes. I miss potato chips and Doritos..lol
I canned three older hens (3 years old, no longer laying) last fall. I cut it up and canned the meaty parts and stewed the rest for soup. Those jars of chicken were easy to debone and then make chicken and gravy or any other recipe that used cooked chicken. Canning tenderized the meat and boy did it taste good. Didn’t want to feed older birds that didn’t lay eggs anymore. Waste nothing!
you can also do a pound of pasta cooked and the "sauce" is olive oil, butter and garlic with little italian seasoning and either just that or my mom would add in cooked veggies like broccoli etc and maybe some chicken.. and if you like cheese some sprinkles of parm cheese. very cheap and yummy!
4 ears for $1.00? Here in Ohio it's 2 ears for $1.00 and I thought that was cheap. It's from a local farmer and it's so good.
Angie D it’s 10 for $1.00 right now in Florida
I just bought ears for 15 cents here in Canada today. It's amazing what some prices are. Lots of corn this week on the menu. :)
Angie D ...10 for a buckat Walmart
Michigan is 7-10 for $1. Winter 4 for $1
Thank you for the great information to stay on budget. It was interesting you said potatoes with chicken paprikash. I grew up with dumplings in mine. Thank you again 😊👍!
My problem is, not everyone can eat the same things and some outright refuse to eat it. No animals to eat or have a garden.
I’ve been craving Salmon. And Catfish. I haven’t wanted to eat catfish in years because we literally had to fish for meals many times while growing up. (If we didn’t fish, we actually did not eat that day) but now that I’ve been an adult and married nearly 27 years, I get to craving it! Crazy, right!
You can save money on shredded cheese by shredding your own, lay it in a cookie sheet, freeze it. Keep the shredded cheese in the freezer until needed. Saves money and it tastes better.
That's a good tip, I have only shredded in blocks because I didn't think you could freeze shredded cheese. Thank you
I tried it before but then my husband would eat the brick of cheese before I could even shred it! I had to go back. It's hard to sometimes to find the time when you work 2 jobs and 2 active kids and a husband that eats cheese whenever he sees it. LOL.
While I can appreciate the planning and effort that goes into meal planning,shopping and sticking to a list - in absolutely no way are these healthy. So many meals that are just pasta, or "over noodles" with heavy sauce, fatty meats etc.
It's so hard to budget for food when living I California. Our prices for food can be outrageous. Your recipes sound so delicious.
Arlene Mock same, we hardly buy a lot of meat and we still spend over 1k/mo for 5 people
I live in California and we are a family of 6 and spend about $560 a month. It’s hard but I make it work. But I totally agree California prices are high!
Are you all shopping at Whole Foods or other places like that?
L Blake I don’t, I primarily shop at winco it’s a discount super market.
@@SomethingAboutVintage I do t live near a winco but I am aware of them. They are a good deal from what I have read from Prepper princess.
Love your channel I've learned so much and I just wanted to Thank you for all you do for us. Have a blessed day
Your dryer setting must be,on wrinkle shield with the buzzer on. It keeps tumbling and periodically stops and buzzes to remind you to take it out.☺
We love blackened chicken with our fettuccine alfredo. And I make the same style dumplings with split pea soup. Yummy!
You should make a small ebook with six to twelve months of menu plans. I bet it would sell. Base it off the cookbooks.
I plan our meals for everyday... we have 4 adults and 3 children ( my husband and I, our daughter and her family_) I appreciate the concept... I keep it as low as possible but in California the prices you were naming are not to be found... but I keep it around 600... we dropped it from 1000 ...
Okay I just have to comment! I’m mostly vegetarian and to be totally honest I find many people who raise their own animals to be very meat focused... as in it’s not a meal without meat. I’m okay with that not everybody needs to agree with me, but WOW how refreshing to hear someone say “you don’t need a lot of meat.” You don’t! I have become even more in love with you guys just from that comment
These are my favorite videos you do! I wish I could get my grocery budget this low
Use ground breakfast sausage in your spaghetti. It is a lot cheaper and taste better than beef.
How much do you spend in the month for feed for the animals? Is is comparable to what you save on groceries?
@Joni Allen That is my question too. I really wonder if you save on groceries when you factor in the cost of feed for the animals and then the cost of butchering. If you buy all your meat and dairy on sale, maybe there is not much of a savings. The pro's is you know what your animals have been feed on. I would think hunting and butchering the animal yourself would be much cheaper.
I really enjoy your first cookbook so I'm excited for the second one. Everything has turned out really delish. My biggest thumbs up are for the bread recipes! I was so intimidated by making bread but your wheat loaf gets used for other loaves too. And it's worked every time. it's my go to when I don't want to have to think too hard but need some bread. I use the stand mixer and it's easy as can be. And I'm humbled by how organized you are. I'm doing good when I can get a weeks meal plan done, and there are only three of us. That's ridiculous. I need to do better. BUY THAT HOUSE! Aloha.
Can you do a homeschool school supplies haul?
As a kid I worked in a deli. The spaghetti we sold was sauced with one part ketchup to one part spicy ketchup (I don't remember the brand) and a little water to swish out the bottles. We sold a ton of it.Go figure. No, it was not an Italian neighborhood.
Wow, wow and wow, new subscribers thank you
In grade school, we also had brown hamburger gravy over potatoes. It was called Gravy Train. Yummy memories
I need to get back on your plan. I've done so much better when I follow your advice.
Lots of great ideas. If more people ate at home, the money they would save and also healthier
Love the ideas, thanks! Brad, my husband's grandmother made the bacon tomato spaghetti. Rather than tomato soup she used a can of stewed tomatoes or diced tomatoes. We still love it.
My dad used to make bacon macaroni and tomatoes.
Four for a dollar for corn! Cheap corn for us from the farm up the road is $6.00 for a dozen. In town or the nearest city they pay $5.99 for four cobs!
WHAT?!? Most summers we get $1 for 10 ears of corn! (I do live in a giant metropolitan area but really close to corn country.) This year was a bust because there’s been so much cold, snowy, rainy days until late May.
What about the cost of animal feed, bedding, ect that goes into raise food for the family?
Amber Ravis I added a comment above that might help. Also, most bedding can be grown on the farm as well, no need to buy.
Put some alfredo sauce over some white fish (but not tilapia...you don't want to know what they feed tilapia) with some rice and a veggie. Almost like a casserole :)
Semi Country Living I agree! Tilapia is a no go in our house. 🤢
Garlic Chicken will go well with the Alfredo sauce, also a paprika seasoning goes well. :)
4 for a $1 (expensive in America for corn). I bought corn two days ago and it was AUD$2.50 (USD$1.80) each. I will take some of these tips and tricks. Thanks.