My friend’s parents came from China and ran a Chinese food restaurant in Canada. He taught his daughter how to cook Chinese food. It’s unbelievable! Ribs are my favourite with her dad’s Chinese bbq sauce. Yum The story of his survival is remarkable. Orphaned at 7 and raised himself on the streets of rural 50’s China. He was a survivor for sure. ❤
i make shredded chicken from bbq in store broccli and can make egg fu yund w brown gravy i buy chinese from store most ly like egg drop soup no salt spens some more whats thebig deal i use duck sauce from a big jar
Sesame oil is really a finishing oil because a lot of The Taste gets cooked out when you cook with it use a cheaper oil to cook with and season with the sesame oil. That's coming from a 4 cook 50 years in the making
In addition, stores will sell either 100% sesame oil or a blend of vegetable and sesame oil, the latter being about 50/50. 100% pure sesame is very strong and can overpower and ruin a dish if you use too much. When following recipes that call for sesame oil, often times it doesn’t clearly state if it’s 100% pure or a blend. Therefore, I always suggest going a bit light on the sesame oil at first, then adding more to taste.
I’m a 70 yr old senior who cooked for 45 years for her family of 5, 3 growing hungry boys! I have to applaud you girl… I enjoyed watching your video & didnt know what to expect, but I was honestly impressed with your knowledge of using all the flavorings… putting them together! You’ve done your homework & lucky family!
For those that may not know cold day old rice is best to use because the rice is dryer and will give your fried rice a good texture and bring out the flavors of all ingredients, most the ppl here in hawaii make fried rice , when the rice is day old from icebox aka refrigerator it’s easy to break apart so rice not sticking together
Your spread is very affordable, has many great concepts and yes, it's affordable! What excellent ideas for making your own sauces... I'll modify them for my preferences and greatly appreciate your video bc I love Asian style cooking. Refrigeration changes the carb effect of rice. Freshly cooked rice spikes blood sugar. Refrigerated rice is slower to process into carbs and therefore better on your digestion and lowers the soaring carb effect. Try buying a bulk peanut oil for this type of frying. It has a high smoke point and is healthier than *soybean* , canola, palm, cottonseed and safflower oils used in vegetable oil. They have a high smoke point but they're almost always sold when already rancid (not healthy). Most people can smell rancid oil. And it gives off a fishy smell for some. This is horrible in many ways. When oil breaks down, it begins to oxidize and release free radicals. These compounds will have negative health consequences, including causing cellular damage that leads to serious disease development. Also, oils that reach their smoke point release a substance called acrolein, which can create an unpleasant burnt flavor. Airborne acrolein is dangerous to your lungs. Soybean ingredients, including oil, are known to have harmful effects on humans. You can replace soy sauce with Amino acids which are HEALTHY! Get off everything soybean oil... it's in everything... #1 ingredient in mayonnaise. It's hidden in some flour tortillas, breads, sauces, almost all dressings sold on the shelf, etc. It has detrimental effects on the neurological pathways of the human body. I was severely ill and eliminated all soybean products and oils and had a remarkable positive turn because of that one ingredient. Much more research needs to be done on the ingredients allowed in the USA that are banned in many European and other countries.
What I do with the broccoli stems is, I cut off the small stems off stalk. Then peel the skin off and cut it up like bamboo shoots and add to Chinese chicken dishes or stir fry's
Ditto. The skin is the tough woody part. Once you remove it, nice tender and tasty broccoli stalk. I like it better than the tops. I try to buy more straight stalks to make it easier. It's work but worth it.
Absolutely - same here when it comes to the broccoli stalk 😍Takes a tiny bit more prep & time, but the taste and texture really is the best (I love lightly fried water chestnuts in my stirfry's and I think the crunchy texture resembles)
As a child of the 80s that grew up with an Italian mother that cooked all of our meals until my father passed away 45 years into their marriage, I fully applaud this! Not only are you feeding your family HEALTHY food that will not upset their stomachs or your wallet, but you are pouring so much love into that food it's gonna taste so amazing your family will ALWAYS remember. God bless you Mamma Bear 💙💚💜
Im Italian to! Cooked every day wendsday and Sunday was macaroni with sauce and meatballs! We never ate out! I was born in the 70’s and we sat down and ate as a family and we had Italian bread on the table every meal I love being Italian I don’t know how to be anything else! Does that make sense?
this came at the right time. hubby and oldest boy, wanted chinese for their birthdays. i am not spending 100. plus at the restaurant. i have a winco nearby, so i will be going there to get the ingred. for their birthday dinner. they share the same day. i always tease hubby, that i don't need to buy him a present. the oldest is his present. lol even tho, the oldest just turned 40. man i am getting old. lol
Your baby is always your baby no matter how old. I lost my mom last year suddenly. 2 weeks after my 47th birthday. I'm now 48 and she's been gone a year April 29th. How my 36 year old brother and I would love to have her back for a nice dinner. Tell them both you love them every night and make sure they tell you too because you never know❤ You're a lovely mom to make the homemade Chinese food as a gift. I'd love that. ❤
I LOVE GARLIC AND GINGER!! I buy them fresh and chuck them in the freezer, because I don't know what is going on with our local grocery store but the garlic and ginger go bad way to fast. I have seen people use a food processor to get their ginger into a paste.. I want to try that.. I just use a spoon to scrape off the skin and do a fine mince. I don't mind catching big peiced of ginger or garlic in.
Favorite? General Tso. Second? Sweet and Sour. That entire spread looked so dang good! That would have easily cost $70 for a family of five plus five drinks, so youre talkin a hundred dollar bill. Well done and happy Moms day too!
For lunch at our local Chinese Buffet is $27.01 for 2! Not sure for the dinner how much more it is. So It might have cost more than $70 for her family of 5.
Growing up, my parents let us pick a meal for our birthdays. Mine was almost always Chinese takeout. I think my birthday being December 23 had a lot to do with why I was one of the few children (out of 6 kids) to get that splurge. As an adult now, it's hard to spend the money, and I've started to cook it myself. My favorite dish is honey walnut shrimp. For the price of one serving, I can make a pound of shrimp. It's also a super easy recipe that comes together quickly with minimal ingredients. Better than take out.😋😋😍
Should try velveting your chicken first in baking soda and water. That’s what gives it that classic Chinese tenderness to the meat. Sit it in the baking soda mix for like 20 mins then rinse it gently then put your cornflour on.
Not only did you put a ton of work into dinner, but this video as well!!! Thanks for taking me along, I learned a lot of new recipes from this video alone.
$70 grocery bill for Canadians in Ontario. I calculated the cheapest Walmart brand prices. It was the chicken that broke the budget. The same amount of chicken costs $30. And the products aren’t proportionate, you have more product. I can’t remember when I saw a canned item in Canada for less than a dollar even with sale prices. Just so you are aware. The struggle is real up here.
We get the crab ragoons from sams. Its $10 for 20 of them. Also egg rolls are $9 for 16. Much better than the restaurants and not much more expensive than making homemade
I trim the exterior of the broccoli stems bc they are woody. I dice them up and freeze for broccoli rice casserole or broccoli cheddar soup. Prevents the need to buy it when the time comes.
Great tip! I use the stems to make soup too (onion, a little potato and the stems) but I never knew to freeze them! Sometimes I end up with such a small amount that I just peel and steam the stems with the florets but freezing them will give me more flexibility. Thanks for that and cheers from Oz!!
I went Chinese buffet here in Florida . For me alone the buffet was $ 20.00 . You’re serving 5 for the price of pretty much one at my buffets including the tip. Awesome. I can cook Chinese including sushi but this was an outing treat. But expensive when I could have bought all the ingreds . For many meals.
In case you weren’t sure or didn’t know, the difference between chow mein and lo mein is chow mein are like stir fried noodles versus lo mein where in lo mein you boil your noodles in sauce or water. Hope this helps! 😁
The terms are used very differently in the US and the UK. In the UK, chow mein noodles are soaked to rehydrate and then stir fried. It seems that in the US, people call all sorts of noodles lo mein and a very crispy noodle thing is chow mein. I was baffled when I first found that out 😂
I cook broccoli stems along with the broccoli florets. The stems are 100% edible. I cut them in 1/4" coins. Can also dice and use in soup. No need to peel. My dogs also love them, cooked, for treats.
Best YT video I have watched in a long time, that all looked so good, I swear I could smell all that cooking through my screen! Sub earned! I am SO going to try this. Thank you also for linking so many places where people experiencing food insecurity can get help in your description, so many folks will be able to benefit from that. 🥰
I always chopped up the broccoli stems and store in ziplock in freezer until I need them I use in broccoli soup western omlettes and stir fry just need to cook then until tender the stems are very flavorful more than florets
THIS is exactly my order! Hubs like General Tso chicken. I order his meal and mine, substituting fried pork rice instead of white, and 4 egg rolls. We eat eat half our order for dinner, then half is our lunches the next day. We certainly don’t eat it often as it is EXPENSIVE, like $45 but it’s a great every couple of months treat. We’ve never eaten IN the restaurant we order from. Just take out. I bring my insulated bag and it’s still hot, hot when I get home.
@@nancyanne1402 I can't remember the last time I have had Chinese because of the crazy prices. However, I am inspired to make my own. I am going to make like a cross between sweet and sour chicken and chopped suey. It's really good. As long as you have ginger, garlic soy sauce and green onions you can make anything taste like Chinese.
when we were small my dad used to thinly slice broccoli and cauliflower and cabbage stems for use to eat raw they are very sweet if they are home grown .
I LOVE Chinese food but it is so expensive to order. It costs us around $35-$40 to order 2 appetizers and 2 entrees and like you said, you’re hungry again in 2 hours. You fed a family of 5 a big selection of items for under what I cost me for 2, and I’m sure you had some leftovers!!! I’m definitely going to try this!
Asian dishes can be daunting to try at first... but once you acquire all the sauces and ingredients over time and have them in your pantry, then it's simply a matter of buying the main dish items. I have been getting better and better over the last decade at cooking American style Chinese buffet dishes bc I had 3 kids myself and to go out was just out of our budget most of the time. But how often do we crave especially teens, to go hit up the buffet??? So I got really good at cooking Asian dishes and met and developed some good friendships with a few Asian ppl from my local Asian grocery stores where I learned to purchase the best items! So I got all kinds of tips and tricks of the trade!! It just takes practice and like I said a few simple tricks that you can find online! But anytime you can always shop at the local Asian market! It makes a big difference and you could meet ppl who can give you lots of pointers! My experience is they love when Westerners try to enjoy and learn to cook their traditional foods. I've even eaten lunch in the back of the store with the employees who brought dishes from home, as well as been to my friend's home for dinner several times now as well. Now that my kids are gone and they come home for Christmas they only want me to make Asian food!! I also grew up on the border of Mexico so I'm a pretty authentic Mexican cook as well! So my kids don't have many memories of going out to eat sadly. However, instead they have memories of coming home with their friends for Taco Tuesdays, Always did Chinese on Saturdays, French food on Fridays....you get the picture! I always made a theme! It also made it fun and helped my kids want to try new foods and have adventurous eating habits! So I suppose I made up for it. Now that they're grown they call me for recipes or tips. My youngest still in college just wants me to send her home with meals, or come home and have me cook still. But that's OK it's my love language!! Hehehe
@@NotWokebutAwake. hubby loves my shrimp chow mien and beef with broccoli. i use part of the leftover chow mien, to make Shakshuka! the eggs taste so good with the Asian flavor!
Yea and it only took you all day to save a few bucks. Bet no one in your family is in the kitchen keeping you company. To each his own. I'd rather have the time.
What a great lesson you just gave us all. The shopping, the variety, the recipes. You ROCK! Thank you. It's not easy doing a multi-dish meal where everything needs cooking about the same time, especially by ones self. But you did it well. I learned a lot from you today and I am also a senior citizen, so kudos and God Bless!
I think you did a great job!! No constructive criticism at all, especially as another home chef!! You did a great job saving money and thoughtfully preparing all the veggies/meat!! I will only say that I have never personally had red bell pepper or pineapple in the sweet and sour chicken I have ever had. But I can see how it could work! Thanks for sharing all your hard work with us!! God bless!! Oh 1 other thing, I learned about “velveting “ the chicken. That’s how they do it to make the chicken more velvety and tender before cooking. You could maybe try that 1 day too 🥰
I wish I could post a photo, but I haven't purchased green onions for 8 months. Wash them well then cut up the dark green and then put it in a freezer bag if not keep I. Fridge. Cut up the onions how many you want and the leftover white part put I. Glass with water and sun light they will grow their dark greens stems. Just keep doing the same thing.
Carolina those dishes looked so good ! Chinese food is my favorite ! & those egg rolls made my mouth water . Happy Mothers Day weekend to you, sweet lady !
This was fabulous! Your talent in the kitchen continues to amaze, educate and inspire me! Thank you for these easy meals that look so tasty. I'm saving this video to try this week.
That's a really nice meal. Cooking is love ❤️ when it's made like this. The aroma brought the family together towards the end of your video :) Sweet to hear the kids interacting with you. Thanks for sharing your recipes 💕
I love sesame chicken with pork fried rice, egg drop soup, crab rangoon and egg rolls. Chinese restaurants want to charge $5.00 a pint for the soup and I see it didn't use $5 worth of ingredients, smh. Now that I see how easy it is to make, I'll make my own. Great job on the preparations.
@@mamabairds ...or peel and slice stems, add to your stir fry. Broc stems are kind of like okra pods, if your knife doesn't EASILY pass thru the peeled stem, keep moving up until it does. Discard the tough part.
I am known for my fried rice and Mongolian beef. I also use coleslaw instead of bean sprouts and bochchoy, it has more flavor. The kids might like wanton with a little cream cheese and strawberry jam. Some jalapeno jam for adults....yum. You overdid yourself..wish I was there.
I prefer Thai and Japanese food to Chinese but I love those crispy fried egg rolls. We ate a lot of egg fu yung in my family growing up so I like it too but haven’t learned how to make it yet.
Oh, learn. It is so easy and can be enhanced with so many add ins. Even the gravy/sauce is easy peasy, just chicken broth, cornstarch and a little low sodium soy sauce. You have to plan for it, the mu g bean sprouts have to be really fresh and they will go bad by the date on the bag. Locally Smart & Final is my best bet for fresh sprouts when u can't make it to the Asian grocery supermarket.
I don't want to be too precise, because you had some surplus ingredients, and some pantry items, but I compared what you made to the cost of these at my local Chinese restaurant. The chicken dishes would have been $10/ea, chow mein, either 10 or 12, and the eggrolls, rangoons, and donuts would have been about 8 each. Add our 7.75% tax and a 10% tip and it's nearly $78.00. Good job!
You made everything look so easy. Thank you for this video. I love Chinese but I have always been afraid to make it. You made so many things. I am excited to try some of these!!!!
One thing to be wary about, rice dishes. You have to cool the rice within a certain length of time and make sure its properly reheated or you can risk food poisoning. Reusing your plate that still has rice on it that sat out for an hour or more after you took it out of the fridge is a bad idea. Make sure you wash the plate in between uses. Also, as others have said, sesame oil is a finishing oil. It has a lower smoke point than vegetable or sunflower oil (even abocado oil is better) so it can burn and cause your food to taste sour. Use a high smoke point oil, (not olive oil, again, low smoke point) and have a very high heat under your pans. Sesame oil should be added after it's cooked and then stirred through.
If your stomach hurts eating Chinese food in the restaurant or take out just say no msg you feel better make sure you tell them to season the food just no msg.
How much do you add for the children learning, interacting with Mom while she cooks and the relaxed conversation around the dinner table? I say it's priceless!!❤
I just found your channel, and I absolutely love your sweet personality and the simplicity of the recipes included in this video. I'm now inspired to try this, along with others, and I am also subscribed. ❤❤
You need to add your time in making the dishes to the cost as well as clean up as you could be doing something else. Also, you need to add to it the cost of your pantry items. You said you are cooking for a family of five, so two adults and three children. I think you are better off just eating out for the same price.
Daaaaaaaaaaaaang girl! Thank you SO much for this! Even though i've been cooking in restaurants for 18 years, I always get flustered and overwhelmed with cooking at home and idk why, but you have inspired me to get to work and do this! I'll probably not go out this big but I'ma start practicing. Great job, everything looks fantastic and simple to make! 🙂🙃😀
I totally get that. It's easy in the restaurant when you have all the prep and equipment ready to go! Getting to that point at home is a whole different situation!
Glad to have found this, You made the steps easy to follow. Here in Md. I’ll need to calculate and make these recipes. My favorite Chinese dish is shrimp fried rice! Thank you for a thorough and easy follow for Chinese take outs!😊😊
Broccoli stems - I peel off any woody bits and put the rest in the food processor to chop it fairly fine. Then I use that mulch in spaghetti sauce or chili. You honestly can’t taste it, but it stretches your ground beef and adds some nice vitamins.
That was amazing! I want to be invited to dinner! I have to make this one at my house that I hope to have soon! So impressed with the cutting board and the silicone mats set! I hope it's in the description because I want to get that eventually! Is love to know how your family enjoyed this I think it's great that your daughter loves broccoli! Take care! And thank you! 💯👍🥰
What's your favorite Chinese dish?
Chicken chow Mien
Sesame chicken, fried rice, crab Rangoon, and pretty much anything that's not spicy hot.
Our go to order is
Mongolian beef, Chicken & Veg, Pad Siew, honey chicken and Fried rice.
Love watching you cook. My favorite go to is fried rice an crab ragoons an lomain an general tso only thing I order
Moo Goo Gai Pan
My friend’s parents came from China and ran a Chinese food restaurant in Canada. He taught his daughter how to cook Chinese food. It’s unbelievable! Ribs are my favourite with her dad’s Chinese bbq sauce. Yum The story of his survival is remarkable. Orphaned at 7 and raised himself on the streets of rural 50’s China. He was a survivor for sure. ❤
Wow!! How inspiring! I'd love to get a cooking lesson from him! Thanks for sharing that!
wow Chinese from the 50s are a tough breed. I'm a brit born chinese and both my parents are brave...not like me hahaha
Praise Jesus❤ such a Blessing❤!!!!! That's amazing! I want to try Chinese styled Ribs now
@Kathleen Chambers...Disciplined, resilient, hardworking people, their ingredients are the best
i make shredded chicken from bbq in store broccli and can make egg fu yund w brown gravy i buy chinese from store most ly like egg drop soup no salt spens some more whats thebig deal i use duck sauce from a big jar
Sesame oil is really a finishing oil because a lot of The Taste gets cooked out when you cook with it use a cheaper oil to cook with and season with the sesame oil. That's coming from a 4 cook 50 years in the making
Love sesame oil. Makes it taste so much better!
Thank you for that information!!
Wow! What a spread! I’m impressed!
Great comment, plus, you only need to add a little at the end, making the budget and flavor stretch much further.
In addition, stores will sell either 100% sesame oil or a blend of vegetable and sesame oil, the latter being about 50/50. 100% pure sesame is very strong and can overpower and ruin a dish if you use too much. When following recipes that call for sesame oil, often times it doesn’t clearly state if it’s 100% pure or a blend. Therefore, I always suggest going a bit light on the sesame oil at first, then adding more to taste.
I’m a 70 yr old senior who cooked for 45 years for her family of 5, 3 growing hungry boys! I have to applaud you girl… I enjoyed watching your video & didnt know what to expect, but I was honestly impressed with your knowledge of using all the flavorings… putting them together! You’ve done your homework & lucky family!
Aw, thank you so much!! I bet you have all kinds of tips and tricks from feeding your boys!! I look forward to getting to know you! Thanks again!
Did not wash any thing
@@rosadouglas1587and I bet they are all still alive!🤷🏻♀️
@@rosadouglas1587 how do you know for sure.
For those that may not know cold day old rice is best to use because the rice is dryer and will give your fried rice a good texture and bring out the flavors of all ingredients, most the ppl here in hawaii make fried rice , when the rice is day old from icebox aka refrigerator it’s easy to break apart so rice not sticking together
Your spread is very affordable, has many great concepts and yes, it's affordable! What excellent ideas for making your own sauces... I'll modify them for my preferences and greatly appreciate your video bc I love Asian style cooking.
Refrigeration changes the carb effect of rice. Freshly cooked rice spikes blood sugar. Refrigerated rice is slower to process into carbs and therefore better on your digestion and lowers the soaring carb effect.
Try buying a bulk peanut oil for this type of frying. It has a high smoke point and is healthier than *soybean* , canola, palm, cottonseed and safflower oils used in vegetable oil. They have a high smoke point but they're almost always sold when already rancid (not healthy). Most people can smell rancid oil. And it gives off a fishy smell for some. This is horrible in many ways.
When oil breaks down, it begins to oxidize and release free radicals. These compounds will have negative health consequences, including causing cellular damage that leads to serious disease development. Also, oils that reach their smoke point release a substance called acrolein, which can create an unpleasant burnt flavor. Airborne acrolein is dangerous to your lungs.
Soybean ingredients, including oil, are known to have harmful effects on humans. You can replace soy sauce with Amino acids which are HEALTHY! Get off everything soybean oil... it's in everything... #1 ingredient in mayonnaise. It's hidden in some flour tortillas, breads, sauces, almost all dressings sold on the shelf, etc. It has detrimental effects on the neurological pathways of the human body. I was severely ill and eliminated all soybean products and oils and had a remarkable positive turn because of that one ingredient. Much more research needs to be done on the ingredients allowed in the USA that are banned in many European and other countries.
Thank you for the advice 😊
Cool advice I'll have to try that
Indeed this is the #1 trick for making the best fried rice!!!
It's commonly done that way, but it's not 100% required, if you're good enough you can use hot fried rice. O.G. asian moms know.
What I do with the broccoli stems is, I cut off the small stems off stalk. Then peel the skin off and cut it up like bamboo shoots and add to Chinese chicken dishes or stir fry's
Thank you for sharing that!
Me too.
Ditto. The skin is the tough woody part. Once you remove it, nice tender and tasty broccoli stalk. I like it better than the tops. I try to buy more straight stalks to make it easier. It's work but worth it.
I like to do this or throw it in a big freezer bag with other veggie scraps for vegetable stock! I just wash it off first.
Absolutely - same here when it comes to the broccoli stalk 😍Takes a tiny bit more prep & time, but the taste and texture really is the best (I love lightly fried water chestnuts in my stirfry's and I think the crunchy texture resembles)
As a child of the 80s that grew up with an Italian mother that cooked all of our meals until my father passed away 45 years into their marriage, I fully applaud this! Not only are you feeding your family HEALTHY food that will not upset their stomachs or your wallet, but you are pouring so much love into that food it's gonna taste so amazing your family will ALWAYS remember. God bless you Mamma Bear 💙💚💜
Aw, thank you so much!! What an honor!
Im Italian to! Cooked every day wendsday and Sunday was macaroni with sauce and meatballs! We never ate out! I was born in the 70’s and we sat down and ate as a family and we had Italian bread on the table every meal I love being Italian I don’t know how to be anything else! Does that make sense?
It's not healthy food..it's healthier food then normal Chinese buffet but still very fattening
@@belarte7063 there was veggies and meat in there, not too much sugar and just a little grease from frying 2 things. Not too shabby to me!
this came at the right time. hubby and oldest boy, wanted chinese for their birthdays. i am not spending 100. plus at the restaurant. i have a winco nearby, so i will be going there to get the ingred. for their birthday dinner. they share the same day. i always tease hubby, that i don't need to buy him a present. the oldest is his present. lol even tho, the oldest just turned 40. man i am getting old. lol
Your baby is always your baby no matter how old. I lost my mom last year suddenly. 2 weeks after my 47th birthday. I'm now 48 and she's been gone a year April 29th. How my 36 year old brother and I would love to have her back for a nice dinner. Tell them both you love them every night and make sure they tell you too because you never know❤ You're a lovely mom to make the homemade Chinese food as a gift. I'd love that. ❤
takeout isnt as much and alot of food
@@rogerrosen2323 but it's not made with love. And if you make your own you can control what goes into it.
Made with Love
😂
Garlic and ginger add a lot of flavour to Chinese cooking. Especially if you can use fresh garlic and ginger.
Great tip!
I LOVE GARLIC AND GINGER!! I buy them fresh and chuck them in the freezer, because I don't know what is going on with our local grocery store but the garlic and ginger go bad way to fast.
I have seen people use a food processor to get their ginger into a paste.. I want to try that.. I just use a spoon to scrape off the skin and do a fine mince. I don't mind catching big peiced of ginger or garlic in.
Be sure to buy garlic that has roots. Chinese garlic cannot have roots as importing their soil is illegal. Buy USA Garlic.
@@michellem4118 a plane grater for both garlic and ginger is great
I always feel like it costs a lot of money to do as many dishes as this but you make it affordable and I love that. Thank you!
Best video of Chinese buffet ever.Using coleslaw cabbage for egg roll and stir fry is genius.
Favorite? General Tso. Second? Sweet and Sour. That entire spread looked so dang good! That would have easily cost $70 for a family of five plus five drinks, so youre talkin a hundred dollar bill. Well done and happy Moms day too!
Thank you so much! I've concerned my fear of frying in the house too! That could turn out to be a mistake...haha
For lunch at our local Chinese Buffet is $27.01 for 2! Not sure for the dinner how much more it is. So It might have cost more than $70 for her family of 5.
@phyllisroadefknkrk8526
Growing up, my parents let us pick a meal for our birthdays. Mine was almost always Chinese takeout. I think my birthday being December 23 had a lot to do with why I was one of the few children (out of 6 kids) to get that splurge. As an adult now, it's hard to spend the money, and I've started to cook it myself. My favorite dish is honey walnut shrimp. For the price of one serving, I can make a pound of shrimp. It's also a super easy recipe that comes together quickly with minimal ingredients. Better than take out.😋😋😍
Never known anyone to have the same birthday as mine 23/12. I also love Chinese food & love to cook it at home as well😊
That's awesome! What a great idea to learn how to make it yourself!
please don't use veg/seed oils. They are extremely unhealthy.
Should try velveting your chicken first in baking soda and water. That’s what gives it that classic Chinese tenderness to the meat. Sit it in the baking soda mix for like 20 mins then rinse it gently then put your cornflour on.
That's great to know!! Thank you for sharing!!
I was taught to use egg whites and cornstarch. My Aunt is From china and makes Gyoza and a bunch of authentic dishes.
Not only did you put a ton of work into dinner, but this video as well!!! Thanks for taking me along, I learned a lot of new recipes from this video alone.
Thank you as well!
$70 grocery bill for Canadians in Ontario. I calculated the cheapest Walmart brand prices. It was the chicken that broke the budget. The same amount of chicken costs $30. And the products aren’t proportionate, you have more product. I can’t remember when I saw a canned item in Canada for less than a dollar even with sale prices. Just so you are aware. The struggle is real up here.
That's the same in Australia
As a fellow Canadian I can attest to rhis being true. Grocery prices are INSANE here in Canada
100% true. Can’t get anything for under a dollar. Not even at the dollar store
Canned veggies should never be more than a dollar. So sorry you all are going thru this. ❤
Go to Aldi if you have one nearby… it helps a lot
Broccoli stems have a cancer prevention vitamin thing in them. Great job.
I stopped eating vegebles altogether! They are for animals only!
@tv-21
Ummm?
Love broccoli stems the best part of the broccoli for me LOL peel them and use them in salads or just eat them raw yum!
We get the crab ragoons from sams. Its $10 for 20 of them. Also egg rolls are $9 for 16. Much better than the restaurants and not much more expensive than making homemade
I trim the exterior of the broccoli stems bc they are woody. I dice them up and freeze for broccoli rice casserole or broccoli cheddar soup. Prevents the need to buy it when the time comes.
Ditto :) So easy
Great tip! I use the stems to make soup too (onion, a little potato and the stems) but I never knew to freeze them! Sometimes I end up with such a small amount that I just peel and steam the stems with the florets but freezing them will give me more flexibility. Thanks for that and cheers from Oz!!
I went Chinese buffet here in Florida . For me alone the buffet was $ 20.00 . You’re serving 5 for the price of pretty much one at my buffets including the tip. Awesome. I can cook Chinese including sushi but this was an outing treat. But expensive when I could have bought all the ingreds . For many meals.
I understand needing an outing treat! I do so much cooking, I enjoy it when we go out to eat!
Thought sushi was Japanese.....
I peel the broccoli stems and saute them. They're really good that way, or I roast them with other vegetables. Love your show
YUUUUUM
Great idea! Thank you!
In case you weren’t sure or didn’t know, the difference between chow mein and lo mein is chow mein are like stir fried noodles versus lo mein where in lo mein you boil your noodles in sauce or water. Hope this helps! 😁
The terms are used very differently in the US and the UK. In the UK, chow mein noodles are soaked to rehydrate and then stir fried. It seems that in the US, people call all sorts of noodles lo mein and a very crispy noodle thing is chow mein. I was baffled when I first found that out 😂
I cook broccoli stems along with the broccoli florets. The stems are 100% edible. I cut them in 1/4" coins. Can also dice and use in soup. No need to peel. My dogs also love them, cooked, for treats.
Very great advice 😊
You just don't see your dogs go around the corner and spit them out....
Best YT video I have watched in a long time, that all looked so good, I swear I could smell all that cooking through my screen! Sub earned! I am SO going to try this. Thank you also for linking so many places where people experiencing food insecurity can get help in your description, so many folks will be able to benefit from that. 🥰
Man, thank you so much!! Welcome to my channel! I look forward to getting to know you!
I always chopped up the broccoli stems and store in ziplock in freezer until I need them I use in broccoli soup western omlettes and stir fry just need to cook then until tender the stems are very flavorful more than florets
I love sweet and sour chicken, pork fried rice and egg rolls.
THIS is exactly my order! Hubs like General Tso chicken. I order his meal and mine, substituting fried pork rice instead of white, and 4 egg rolls. We eat eat half our order for dinner, then half is our lunches the next day. We certainly don’t eat it often as it is EXPENSIVE, like $45 but it’s a great every couple of months treat. We’ve never eaten IN the restaurant we order from. Just take out. I bring my insulated bag and it’s still hot, hot when I get home.
@@nancyanne1402 I can't remember the last time I have had Chinese because of the crazy prices. However, I am inspired to make my own. I am going to make like a cross between sweet and sour chicken and chopped suey. It's really good. As long as you have ginger, garlic soy sauce and green onions you can make anything taste like Chinese.
Yum, me too! I also love lemon chicken, fried rice, and green beans!
when we were small my dad used to thinly slice broccoli and cauliflower and cabbage stems for use to eat raw they are very sweet if they are home grown .
I LOVE Chinese food but it is so expensive to order. It costs us around $35-$40 to order 2 appetizers and 2 entrees and like you said, you’re hungry again in 2 hours. You fed a family of 5 a big selection of items for under what I cost me for 2, and I’m sure you had some leftovers!!! I’m definitely going to try this!
Asian dishes can be daunting to try at first... but once you acquire all the sauces and ingredients over time and have them in your pantry, then it's simply a matter of buying the main dish items. I have been getting better and better over the last decade at cooking American style Chinese buffet dishes bc I had 3 kids myself and to go out was just out of our budget most of the time. But how often do we crave especially teens, to go hit up the buffet??? So I got really good at cooking Asian dishes and met and developed some good friendships with a few Asian ppl from my local Asian grocery stores where I learned to purchase the best items! So I got all kinds of tips and tricks of the trade!! It just takes practice and like I said a few simple tricks that you can find online! But anytime you can always shop at the local Asian market! It makes a big difference and you could meet ppl who can give you lots of pointers! My experience is they love when Westerners try to enjoy and learn to cook their traditional foods. I've even eaten lunch in the back of the store with the employees who brought dishes from home, as well as been to my friend's home for dinner several times now as well. Now that my kids are gone and they come home for Christmas they only want me to make Asian food!! I also grew up on the border of Mexico so I'm a pretty authentic Mexican cook as well! So my kids don't have many memories of going out to eat sadly. However, instead they have memories of coming home with their friends for Taco Tuesdays, Always did Chinese on Saturdays, French food on Fridays....you get the picture! I always made a theme! It also made it fun and helped my kids want to try new foods and have adventurous eating habits! So I suppose I made up for it. Now that they're grown they call me for recipes or tips. My youngest still in college just wants me to send her home with meals, or come home and have me cook still. But that's OK it's my love language!! Hehehe
@@NotWokebutAwake. hubby loves my shrimp chow mien and beef with broccoli. i use part of the leftover chow mien, to make Shakshuka! the eggs taste so good with the Asian flavor!
@@kamiko70 sounds yummy!!💕
Yea and it only took you all day to save a few bucks. Bet no one in your family is in the kitchen keeping you company. To each his own. I'd rather have the time.
What a great lesson you just gave us all. The shopping, the variety, the recipes. You ROCK! Thank you. It's not easy doing a multi-dish meal where everything needs cooking about the same time, especially by ones self. But you did it well. I learned a lot from you today and I am also a senior citizen, so kudos and God Bless!
Thank you so much!! It was really fun to do!
I chop the broccoli stems and add it to soup or stew or I use some for-bone broth.I keep it in a freezer bag then use it when I need it.
Great tip!
Im glad im not the only one getting the calculator out.
Me3!😂
Me 4!
When at Walmart I use the price scanner in the app. I'm sure of the price and not surprised by the total. 😁
For broccoli dish normally prepaid with beef, but either way, it’s best to blanch the broccoli first :) hope this helps
Thanks for the tip!
I think you did a great job!! No constructive criticism at all, especially as another home chef!! You did a great job saving money and thoughtfully preparing all the veggies/meat!! I will only say that I have never personally had red bell pepper or pineapple in the sweet and sour chicken I have ever had. But I can see how it could work! Thanks for sharing all your hard work with us!! God bless!!
Oh 1 other thing, I learned about “velveting “ the chicken. That’s how they do it to make the chicken more velvety and tender before cooking. You could maybe try that 1 day too 🥰
If you take the ends of the green onions and put them in dirt you will grow your own green onions. That saves money too
I wish I could post a photo, but I haven't purchased green onions for 8 months. Wash them well then cut up the dark green and then put it in a freezer bag if not keep I. Fridge. Cut up the onions how many you want and the leftover white part put I. Glass with water and sun light they will grow their dark greens stems. Just keep doing the same thing.
Carolina those dishes looked so good ! Chinese food is my favorite ! & those egg rolls made my mouth water . Happy Mothers Day weekend to you, sweet lady !
Thank you so much!! I hope you have a great weekend!
This was fabulous! Your talent in the kitchen continues to amaze, educate and inspire me! Thank you for these easy meals that look so tasty. I'm saving this video to try this week.
Aw, thank you!
That's a really nice meal. Cooking is love ❤️ when it's made like this. The aroma brought the family together towards the end of your video :) Sweet to hear the kids interacting with you. Thanks for sharing your recipes 💕
Thank you so much!
I LOVE the way you have a sing-song tone while you cook ❤. Instant mood booster! Thank you for sharing this buffet.
13:48 broccoli stems are my fav. Cream of broccoli soup. Steam them then puree. Easy
Great idea! Thank you!
I love sesame chicken with pork fried rice, egg drop soup, crab rangoon and egg rolls. Chinese restaurants want to charge $5.00 a pint for the soup and I see it didn't use $5 worth of ingredients, smh. Now that I see how easy it is to make, I'll make my own. Great job on the preparations.
Thank you so much! I was a bit surprised at how easy and basic it was to make as well! Gotta have a good stock though!
Really loving your Concept to all of this! You are so organized and make this look so easy but you have this girlie!!!!
Ali
Thank you so much!!
Thank you I love Chinese and Mexican foods. God bless you and family and all here✝️❤️🕊 Happy Mothers Day❤
Same to you!
The fact you can hold the camera, move the cart and do the calculator at the same time 👏👏 pro multi task
*takes a bow* Thank you very much!
Oh no! You forgot to invite me!!!! Looks delish. I would peel those broccoli stems and make creamy broccoli cheddar soup!
❤❤❤
Oh that's a great idea!
@@mamabairds ...or peel and slice stems, add to your stir fry. Broc stems are kind of like okra pods, if your knife doesn't EASILY pass thru the peeled stem, keep moving up until it does. Discard the tough part.
Wow- amazing how easy you made that look. And it all looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing your tips.
You are so welcome!
I'm brand new to watching you. Thank you so much for cooking Chinese food at home for cheap. I absolutely love this.
Thank you so much! Welcome!
Happy Mother's Day everyone! 💜
Thank you my friend!
You did a very good job with this video I hope you get lots of likes on it❤
Thank you!
WOW that looks so amazing YUM! Thank you so much for sharing. I'm trying this,all of it YUM!
You are so welcome!
Absolutely love your Cutting Board!
This looks like it's going to be amazing💞
Ali
I love it!
That looked delicious! My favorite was the fried rice!
I am known for my fried rice and Mongolian beef. I also use coleslaw instead of bean sprouts and bochchoy, it has more flavor. The kids might like wanton with a little cream cheese and strawberry jam. Some jalapeno jam for adults....yum. You overdid yourself..wish I was there.
Souped up recipes is an amazing young lady showing how to make amazing chinese food. Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you so much!
What a Fun Idea! All of your recipes looked delicious!
Thanks so much! 😊
Looks delicious! Those egg rolls look so simple to make!
I'm going to start putting everything in an egg roll now!
I save vegetable scraps to use when I make vegetable broths ✌️
The food looks amazing but i LOVE that cutting board!!😂The different labeled plastic sheets are so cool!
My goodness I got so hungry watching you cook!! It all looks amazing!! Good job!!❤
Thank you 😋
Thank you, thank you. 💙💙💙
I prefer Thai and Japanese food to Chinese but I love those crispy fried egg rolls. We ate a lot of egg fu yung in my family growing up so I like it too but haven’t learned how to make it yet.
Oh, learn. It is so easy and can be enhanced with so many add ins. Even the gravy/sauce is easy peasy, just chicken broth, cornstarch and a little low sodium soy sauce. You have to plan for it, the mu g bean sprouts have to be really fresh and they will go bad by the date on the bag. Locally Smart & Final is my best bet for fresh sprouts when u can't make it to the Asian grocery supermarket.
@@renel7303 good to know, thank you 🙏
yum! Thank you for sharing. God bless you and your family.
Thank you!!
Yum yum! Everything looks delicious! 😋🥡🥢
What a feast,I am on the way 😂.looks really good also not a bad amount of money for all that
❤❤
Not a bad deal at all!
I don't want to be too precise, because you had some surplus ingredients, and some pantry items, but I compared what you made to the cost of these at my local Chinese restaurant. The chicken dishes would have been $10/ea, chow mein, either 10 or 12, and the eggrolls, rangoons, and donuts would have been about 8 each. Add our 7.75% tax and a 10% tip and it's nearly $78.00. Good job!
Thanks for doing that comparison! It's amazing how much cheaper it is to do it at home!
Loved all the dishes. General chicken my fav. All dishes you made yummy 😋. You have great patience and prep skill. Thx 4 sharing carolina❤❤
My pleasure 😊
You made everything look so easy. Thank you for this video. I love Chinese but I have always been afraid to make it. You made so many things. I am excited to try some of these!!!!
You are so welcome! It's so much easier than you think!
FYI, fried rice, you should cook the rice a day in advice before using, I saw it in another channel. :)
Ok thanks! I forgot to do that, so I thought drying it out on the counter would work on the fly! Thank you for sharing that!
One thing to be wary about, rice dishes. You have to cool the rice within a certain length of time and make sure its properly reheated or you can risk food poisoning. Reusing your plate that still has rice on it that sat out for an hour or more after you took it out of the fridge is a bad idea. Make sure you wash the plate in between uses.
Also, as others have said, sesame oil is a finishing oil. It has a lower smoke point than vegetable or sunflower oil (even abocado oil is better) so it can burn and cause your food to taste sour. Use a high smoke point oil, (not olive oil, again, low smoke point) and have a very high heat under your pans. Sesame oil should be added after it's cooked and then stirred through.
really enjoyed watching your whole process! Thank you for sharing!
You are so welcome!
Everything looks so good and what a delicious buffet for under $30 Thank you for the recipe and the videos.
You are so welcome!
I chop up the broccoli stems for my chickens
Love this video, great idea. I love your cutting board
Thanks so much! 😊
Chinese is my favorite! This looks good and gave me New ideas to try.
If your stomach hurts eating Chinese food in the restaurant or take out just say no msg you feel better make sure you tell them to season the food just no msg.
Some take will give you bland Chinese food when you say no msg.
This was a lot of work. I think I'd just spend the money and get some take out, lol. The food looks fire though!
Haha! Don't blame ya. As long as you plan and prep, it really comes together pretty quickly!
How much do you add for the children learning, interacting with Mom while she cooks and the relaxed conversation around the dinner table? I say it's priceless!!❤
You slayed this girl awesome food now I want Chinese food lol God bless you and your family much love from Michigan 🙏❤️
Thank you so much!
I just found your channel, and I absolutely love your sweet personality and the simplicity of the recipes included in this video. I'm now inspired to try this, along with others, and I am also subscribed. ❤❤
Aw, thank you so much!! I'm glad you found me too!
You need to add your time in making the dishes to the cost as well as clean up as you could be doing something else. Also, you need to add to it the cost of your pantry items. You said you are cooking for a family of five, so two adults and three children. I think you are better off just eating out for the same price.
You should wash all the vegetables
I just started to watch your channel yesterday and you have great ideas . Thank you so much for showing budget friendly meal.
Thanks so much! I'm glad you are enjoying my channel!! Welcome!
Thank you so much
I LOVE that cutting board. I need something like that!
I have it listed in the description box! I love mine!
Thank you! That was fun and informative!!! We move to the mountains and town is pretty far. So this will be great for Chinese ‘take out’ night!!!!
That would be lots of fun for you!
Wow I love it. Everything looks so good.
Haven't watched it yet but excited too. I always wind up spending too much even making Chinese at home, so excited to find a better way
I absolutely adore you! I love to cook and do the same at home. You have to be a teacher because you are a natural rockstar!
Thank you so much!
This is such a fun idea! I definitely need to try this with my family!
Please do!
Everything looks so good.
Daaaaaaaaaaaaang girl! Thank you SO much for this! Even though i've been cooking in restaurants for 18 years, I always get flustered and overwhelmed with cooking at home and idk why, but you have inspired me to get to work and do this! I'll probably not go out this big but I'ma start practicing. Great job, everything looks fantastic and simple to make! 🙂🙃😀
I totally get that. It's easy in the restaurant when you have all the prep and equipment ready to go! Getting to that point at home is a whole different situation!
I am definitely at the right place 😊thank you for sharing 😊
Great job, you did extremely well. Thanks looks so tasty.
Thank you so much!! It was so fun to do!
You’re such a great cook Mama B! 🧡
Thank you!!
Girl, you did your thing!! The food looks AMAZING! I wish that I could get a plate 😊.
I'd give you one! We had so many left overs!
Glad to have found this, You made the steps easy to follow. Here in Md. I’ll need to calculate and make these recipes. My favorite Chinese dish is shrimp fried rice! Thank you for a thorough and easy follow for Chinese take outs!😊😊
Thank you as well!
Broccoli stems - I peel off any woody bits and put the rest in the food processor to chop it fairly fine. Then I use that mulch in spaghetti sauce or chili. You honestly can’t taste it, but it stretches your ground beef and adds some nice vitamins.
Good to know! Thank you!
For sure following you, already subscribed. First time seeing your videos. Wonderful job. Broccoli stems I like to peel and eat that core as a snack
I love Chinese food my favorite is broccoli and shrimp with sweet and sour sauce with little spicy too it
Flatheader here!!The first video of yours that I watched and I subscribed. Great video! Thanks for sharing. Montana is heaven on earth.!!!
Awesome! Thank you! Welcome! I'm planning on visiting Flathead in June! It's so beautiful there!
Perfection! I hope you are doing the whole bridal party. ❤
That was amazing! I want to be invited to dinner! I have to make this one at my house that I hope to have soon! So impressed with the cutting board and the silicone mats set! I hope it's in the description because I want to get that eventually! Is love to know how your family enjoyed this I think it's great that your daughter loves broccoli! Take care! And thank you! 💯👍🥰
The cutting board is in the description box! I just love it!
I just found your channel! I'm in Tennessee, this was a great video! Glad I found you!
Awesome! Thank you! Welcome!
Wow this is amazing kudos to you for your budgeting and cooking skills
Thank you!