I would add oats to your list, they can be cooked or eaten after soaking overnight in yogurt. You can use them to make granola bars with bits of dried fruit, nuts and seeds for an energy filled treat or meal replacement. I add ground or rolled oats to ground beef when making a meatloaf. I also sneak in shredded zucchini, carrot and onion along with some chopped garlic and spinach. I mix in some tomato sauce and Italian seasonings, form it into a loaf on a sheet pan and bake. Sometimes I add a glaze made up of ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and a bit of brown sugar to the meatloaf. A favorite filling for baked potatoes is broccoli in a cheese sauce then topped with a few bacon bits. Or just cheese sauce with bacon bits. Don’t forget about pancakes, crepes and waffles for inexpensive and filling meals especially when topped with sweet or savory things. In the US we like pot pies filled with meat or poultry, chopped vegetables and a sauce or gravy all baked inside a double pie crust (top & bottom). I love to make bacon buns by combining roughly chopped raw bacon and minced onion that I put inside of bread dough. Bake them as individual rolls for a yummy treat. The bacon and onion cook inside of the roll and give it a wonderful flavor. Another favorite is some chopped cooked ham, shredded cheese and mustard mixed together and used as a filling for bread rolls or biscuit dough. After it’s baked the filling is all warm and gooey and goes well with a couple of eggs for a filling meal.
Great tips. Here in Michigan Pasties are really big. They are made by local Finnish women, they are made just as they were for the men who worked in the copper mines over 70 years ago.
I save my potatoe water when boiling potatoes for mashed potatoes. I use it for the base for gravies and in place of stock in soup. It freezes excellent for use later as well. Also, don't throw away your vegetable peelings. I put mine in a ziplock bag in the freezer and when I have enough, I make vegetable broth out of it. Of course, I save all meat bones and make chicken and beef stock with them. We burn wood to heat here in New England and go through 5 to 6 cords per heating season. I take the ash from the wood stove and spread it throughout my gardens in the winter. It's a great addition to your soil for free! Jane, I love your videos. You are such an inspiration!
Totally agree, I'm making a chicken stock and vegetable soup today, a few bits of "trim" from the freezer. Together with sour dough bread ( yellow sticker ), Emmental toasties. Super delicious, super cheap and so much volume...what's not to love..
Oh I do love rice ! Fried rice is such an easy dish . In my younger years, when I had little money, I would often make a big pot of it and eat it for breakfast , lunch and dinner if that;s all I had until pay day. I was grateful for it, and enjoyed it. I love all kinds of rice, but my current favorite is short grain. Rice, potatoes, and pasta should be pantry staples. I love a good baked potato, The skin is my favorite part. I love black beans, and enjoy black bean burgers. Yum !! Lentils are delicious . Falafels and tsziki (I'm sure I misspelled those) are amazing together. Soups and stews are always wonderful. I love making bread. Home made is so good. I love meat pie. My Mom would make a well seasoned ground meat pie , top and bottom crust, then serve it with a tomato sauce, and a salad. So good ! I agree a pie can be anything :) Egg custard is one of my favorites. Scrambled eggs on toast is one of my go to's often. I love green veggies . I love brussels sprouts, I like them cooked or shaved raw on a green salad. I agree with everything you said. tfs 🥰🌷💐🌞🌛🍀✝💗
Rice pudding is one of my comfort foods. I add nutmeg and raisins to mine. Add them when the pudding is about half cooked so the the nutmeg and raisins can be mixed in easily. A lovely dessert!
We use bread ends for a quick garlic toast to go with dinner. You can also make bread pudding with leftover bread. I grew up on rice pudding, and I always love when my mom makes some.
Tofu is very cheap and versatile, I get 3 600g blocks from a local chinese supermarket for £3. 1/4 of a block is enough per person, I air fry tofu, marinate it, stir fry it, serve with rice or veggies.
I remember my Mom drying bread 🍞 to make bread crumbs to add into a meatloaf or hamburger patties. Mom came thru the depression. I was raised with a lot of frugal measures, then we had extra money to go camping. ⛺
Frugal kitchen tip= if you can find a plastic pump dispenser put it onto your washing up liquid bottle for tiny amounts directly onto your sponge,you only need a little to do a lot of washing up or cleaning ,I also have it on the sink for washing my hands I think it's probably all the same stuff. (And I cut the sponge in half! )
Yorkshire pudding doesn't cost a lot to make and is very filling. Made into toad in the hole it can stretch a few sausages a lot further and less meat can be put on a Sunday dinner
My great aunt who was born in 1900 and lived well until sh e was 96 had two sayings that I always hear in my head, “ if you have bread and eggs, you’ve always got a meal” and “ look after your food” which I think meant to take care over what you eat, make sure you prioritise eating well and not wasting anything. Learning to cook and getting confident with a few basic meals really helps to make the most of food that is reduced or on offer. I always recommend Delia’s Frugal Food book, so many tasty and cheap recipes using the ingredients you mentioned in the video and not feeling at all hard done to. Most country’s best dishes are ‘peasant food’, having a staple and making the most of it. Great video as ever, thank you.
My favorite saying is if you have a packet of pasta/rice you never go hungry! 😸💚❤️💜So many different meals can be made with pasta and rice and very filling!
A really delicious way to make rice is to cut one inch strips of onion, sautéed in butter and olive oil (small amount), until caramelized, add garlic and rice and sauté until rice is browned not burned. Add in the amount of cooking liquid in 3/4 chicken stock, 1/4 white wine, turmeric, salt, pepper, oregano. If you have saffron, heat a bit of water and soak it and add it in to the cooking water. This makes a beautifully colored, fragrant, amazing tasting rice dish.
My parents both went through World War 2 times and had really experienced hardship growing up and one could feel this lack still engrained in them their whole life, even in their much older years. They would never waste anything and I learned a lot of helpful things from them which now for sure will be very useful. I can wholeheartedly agree with you on the suggestions you give in this video. One can make a lot of wonderful foods with very basic and cheap ingredients. My mum could create delicacies just from a potato some flour and some seasonally available veggies. Personally I even prefer these simple and home cooked meals over restaurant dine in or take out, you don’t only save money but it’s much healthier too. Also depending on where you live you can find lots of things outside that grow for free on the land. Be it mushrooms berries certain herbs for salads etc. I remember one elderberry stew from my childhood that was just so yum and cost basically nothing. Also we always made our own cordial from elderberry flowers or from blackcurrants or lemon balm. Would choose that every time over store bought sodas or Coca Cola or any of that crap. If you depend on supermarkets one common sense tip that I am using myself would be to buy fruit and veggies when they are in season and other items when they are on offer. I have done that for a while now and despite of Inflation prices my food expenses per month went down considerably and I eat wonderful fresh meals every day and definitely don’t feel deprived of anything. Wonderful video 🙏🏼
Soups and sandwiches we eat a couple of times a week, it's a satisfying meal either for lunch or dinner. I to like breakfast for dinner, you can't go wrong with pancakes and fried potatoes. Great video and thank you.
I grew up eating meals same as you described. As a diabetic now I don't eat potatoes but have discovered a little barley thickens my soups/stews/ broths. I have often ate breakfast for supper. Thank you for another excellent video.
I come from a potato loving family. I learned when I worked in a restaurant that leftover baked potatoes make the best hashbrowns. I hand grate them, skin can be included, and fry them up with butter. You can fancy them up by including some chopped onion (called lyonnaise style). Makes a great side dish or can even be added to soup. My grandmother made delicious rice pudding. If there was company, she added a homemade raspberry sauce with whipped cream. Yum!
Don't forget about oatmeal! You can do so much with oatmeal. I recently learned to grind up oatmeal in my Magic Bullet to make oat flour. What a game changer?
You have pretty much covered the budget stretchers and given very good examples. Reminds me of the WWII rationing cook books. During rationing, food was definitely stretched to go further. History almost repeating itself. Thank you!
My mother was Canadian and her mother was from an English background so we were very familiar with savory pie. Every Sunday we had a roast beef dinner and my mother would make a beef pie with the leftovers later in the week. Of course she added lots of vegetables. And she made the most amazing pie crusts from scratch. Flaky and perfect. She also made rice pudding fairly regularly. Two of my favorite things are cabbage sautéed in butter and roasted Brussels Sprouts. And I eat a raw spinach salad with lots of other veggies several times a week for lunch. It's definitely a way of "eating the rainbow." All of your suggestions are so helpful these days. Thanks!
I am a great advocate for many foods which tin nicely., Beans, for example. Having said that, I also advocate for fresh beetroot. It is amazing how delicious a fresh beetroot baked in foil in an oven can be. Thank you for the video!
I trim and save for another feast! Specially for chicken breasts and steaks that we get reduced or on special deals. I freeze the trimings for stir fries using up vegetables too. Just a tablespoon of your sausage meat saved can make a nice addition to anything you want to liven up!
Great blog! If I may just add. I make Humus with all beans, regardless of colour. I thicken my soups with a good dollop of home-made Humus. I thicken soups with a handful of oats aswell.
Thank you Jane for the good ideas with stretching the food budget. When our children were little, I always sneaked the veggies in by blending them into a sauce to pour over potatoes or meat. now as empty nesters we always use up every bit of left over food.
Don't forget to use the veg peelings. Washed carrot and potato peels plus onion skins and herb stalks boiled up in water or with a stock cube makes a tasty clear soup when strained. Add a splash of port or wine and you have consomme. This got me out of many a fix when my husband would surprise me with business clients coming for a 3 course meal.
@Suzanne Gagne Yes after washing them and all the goodness is just under the skin. This was from an old book on frugal living from the 80s and was called Paupers Pottage. Any veg can be used but I was not keen on cabbage in the mix.
@Suzanne Gagne when I'm making making mashed potatoes, I put my peels in water an add salt. I fry the potatoes skin the next time I make eggs. I use drained water and the use paper towel to get the rest of the water out before frying then up.
I have almost a whole pot if tomato sauce with meatballs leftover from spaghetti Wednesday. Tonight, I will cook a pot of brown rice and add my tomato sauce. A bowl of salad greens and another veggie to go along with it will make a good Thursday night supper.
Hi Jane I absolutely love this food video and I had to come and watch it twice!my neighbor has a few moringa trees and she's letting me take as much as as I want - and the thing is that I love moringa and I can eat it every day. It's one of the most nutritious plant foods ever
Jane your videos make me hungry 😁 I'm putting pastry on my to do list. We call the meat pies, pot pies. My grandmother loved pot pies. She actually called anything with meat, gravy and pastry, pot pie. She'd make chicken, gravy and vegetables. Roll out the pastry thin and cut in small squares. She'd drop the pastry into the simmering chicken. Some peoole call that chicken and dumplings but to her it was pie because of the thin pastry. I make it a lot :)
I use the broccoli stalks with potatoes and onions to make soup Pearl barley is a great tasty and frugal meal cooked in the slow cooker with stock, onions, carrots, potatoes then topped with gravy ( add meat if its in the budget)great as a side dish to sausages
Winter veg pie, with carrots, onion, parsnips and turnips, par-cooked and then simmered in a sauce of water, corn starch and soy sauce, then baked inside a pie crust - love it! Saute cabbage in oil with onions and some bacon fat for flavor. When tender, add a splash of vinegar, along with salt and pepper. Brightens up the flavor in what can be a boring dish. Save bacon fat whenever you cook it. Cool and pour out of the pan into a jar to keep in the fridge. Use it to boost flavor in many dishes. I make a nutty sweet potato soup. The base is chicken broth (can use bouillon cubes) with sweet potatoes, onions, red pepper, carrots, tomatoes and peanut butter. It's flavored with garlic, a little cayenne pepper, ginger and honey. May sound strange, but it's absolutely delicious. I cook my pumpkins after Halloween, just pull the seeds out, cut into large pieces and bake until tender. Peel and freeze. Can be used in soups, baked goods, pancakes, shakes - you name it. Also, roast the seeds with just a tiny bit of olive oil and salt. Healthy and yummy.
Lots of great hints. I am trying to cook for 2 after years of cooking for 9. Neither of us eat big portions anymore. Live in the US. I started making large pots of soups and pressure canning in pints the extra for later meals so I am not wasting leftovers. You could freeze many soups, too. I heard canning is not common in Europe. Thanks for all the helpful information!
Yes all around the world we are stretching our dollars. Thanks for your tips. I'll try to remember to make a pie....maybe with a bunch of leftovers!!! 😀. OMG your doggies are so cute!! Ciao for now.
I've been watching your videos for about 3 weeks now and truly enjoy all of your content. My husband and I are debt free and he is retiring in a couple of months, so your videos have given me many ideas of making our retirement budget stretch. I am slowly watching your older videos too. Thanks Jane and Mike for all you do to help others.
Absolutely love this Left over greens with some strips of ham quickly warm in a pan on a crusty roll is lovely Great vlog Jane and Michael Nothing like a hearty meal with the simplest of ingredients x
Plenty of excellent ideas . I’ve decided to eat more potatoes . They are so versatile . Hundreds of recipes available .Today my daughter came for lunch and I cooked a mushroom bolognaise ( no meat ) with spaghetti and a hard boiled egg . Delicious.. she took seconds
Thank you for another fantastic video! I have been having lots of luck in my local co-op supermarket in the mornings after the school run. At that time they reduce the previous day's reduced fruit and veg to 10p. So I've been getting bags of apples/potatoes/sprouts etc and making the day's meals based around what I find! I hope that continues!
Excellent video, Jane and Michael. If it weren't so late, I'd be in the kitchen making a batch of pasties. Listening to you describe all that delicious food has made me hungry!!
Jane, thank you so much for this video. I learn so much from you. This was a great teaching video. It's real food prepared in a simple, delicious, frugal way. It puts food, grocery shopping and frugality all in perspective. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 🤗
Great ideas!!! I like to use Quinoa as a carbohydrate whenever possible. It is gluten free and contains protein. The protein contains all 9 essential amino acids. If it isn't prewashed, be sure it is thoroughly washed before cooking. Thanks again for this video!❤
Fantastic video Jane! This has brought creative thought to my meal planning! I have been enjoying all your videos that I have viewed. Always looking forward to what is coming next. Thank you for all you share. I'm pretty frugal, but I'm striving for more ways to stretch food, dollars and to recycle furniture as well as clothes. Blessings!
When my rice is cooking i'll add lots of lemon zest, butter, once its cooked i'll add a can of tuna and some lemon juice, salt. It's our 'cheap' meal and everyone loves it. pure comfort food! Funny how a lot of our comfort dishes are really inexpensive to make. Great video you too!
Lots of great ideas there Jane, I totally agree with you comments on soup. I put whatever is left in the fridge into my soup maker with some herbs and seasonings and it always tastes yummy. Served with some crusty bread or as you said a sandwich and you have a whole meal. Nothing better on a cold winter day.
I shop at the Mexican markets here in California. 75% less than conventional mkts. I get loads of healthy things. I use foid techniques from around the globe. Traveling taught me so much. Live luxury on so little. Can even get more money back for buying some essentials
We are having our pancake dinner a day late, since son had oral surgery yesterday morning. Rain and melting snow this week, but cold will be returning for a bit after. Making a little peach pie for tomorrow. Stuffed potato skins are a popular food here in the US. We personal love using lentils and garbanzo beans. Hummus is very easy to make. Good to hear from you!
Hi Jane great selection of foods! Eggy bread or French Toast is v filling! I make a great nut roast have you covered that yet as I am a new subscriber. I carrot.1 onion. Stock cube , 2oz cheese, stock cube ,mixed herbs , some breadcrumbs or rolled oats and 8oz nuts.delicious nutritious and great hot or cold!
You loving son gave me a small counter oven with an air fryer option within. This has changed the ways I prepare my potatoes with little or no oil. Potatoes are one of my favorite foods. Also, you don't need expensive tahini to make hummus, use olive oil instead. I found a recipe for hummus using olive oil and I can't wait to try it.
Carrots are still affordable and makes a good variety of side dishes. Simple salads are filling, and I try to add that to most dinners. Vegetable dinners once or twice a week really helps to stretch the budget.
Added pulses and dried beans to my shopping list. My favourite use of bread is either bread and butter pudding or bread pudding. Inspired by you Im determined to crack pastry.
Great video again, lots of great ideas to try which I have written down to remember: thanks so much! I also second oats: I add these to soups and stews, for making woolton pie, for thickening spag bol. Also dried soy mince is great for stretching meat and is virtually undetectable. It's great to keep on hand for when I add too much liquid to anything with mince (cottage pie, bolognese, chilli con carne, meatloaf etc) I get 6 portions instead of 4 and freeze the spares to go on baked potatoes or for emergency ready meals. Can't wait to try some of your ideas 😋
I love your Show. I like to add old try bred you can suck up in eggmilk. In south Germany we make sweet or salty casserole with that. For sweet with aples or plums, salty with layer or meat leftovers leek.... and (old) chees.
For those in the UK who have a Home Bargains shop near them, they have packs of part baked bread at a good price. There's a particular pack that's excellent value and as they have a very long shelf life so great as a store cupboard standby.
Slice the stalks from broccoli, and use in stir fry. First discovered thuis "exotic" veg in the Vaults and Gardens in Oxford. Thought it was something oriental, turns out to be part of their zero waste policy 🤣 Now if not doing a stir fry I just bung then in with the carrots.
Jane and Micheal another brilliant video well done. I loved it. You are making frugal living normal, great ideas. It brings me back to the 1960s and 1970s and all ways that meals were stretched thank you. I have started using the beans as you recommended in all various meals and love them. They make soups a meal and I also add barely. Thanks 👍 😊 for all your inspiration Anna.
I really enjoyed watching this Jane, there were ways of using/combining food that hadn't occurred to me so thank you 😊 I'd add eggy, cous cous, bread pudding and bread and butter pudding to the list.
Peanut butter can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes to add protein, and the humble fruit jam, whilst not a staple, is useful in so many ways other than just spread on toast too.
My go-to leftovers pie is chicken and bacon or chicken and ham. I cut all the leftover cooked chicken from the roast carcass, add lightly fried bacon lardons, or cubed ham, mix in some home-made white sauce and put between two layers of shortcrust pastry in a pie dish. I usually serve it with baked beans and a veg. Feels great to stretch one chicken for two meals. It probably won't work for a big family, though, as there might not be any leftover roast chicken!
Ironically, I'm watching this while eating my dinner...which is a baked potato with beans and broccoli. So good! And you gave us so many good ideas in here...all of which I agree with. I'd also add oats (which I see someone else mentioned) and onions. Onions are terrific raw, sauteed, or even pickled, and they lend a ton of flavor to dishes which can be helpful if you can't afford a lot of herbs and spices.
I also love your enthusiasm. This video is like listening to my weekly meal plan! This morning I am making some bread - time to watch your video while it's proving - and have started dinner, which is a tomato pasta sauce with added peppers, some chunks of sweet potato and squash which I had frozen a while ago, smoked paprika and some red lentils. Makes a thick smoky sauce with pasta which helps feed the 15yo 6ft 1" teen boy! I made another school canteen cake earlier in the week and soup yesterday using some turning squash and carrots (19p bag of carrots as on date), then added red lentils and also some coconut milk - a treat, but I buy the 200ml tins and then add same again of water, cheaper than buying a 400ml tin. We had a small roast chicken last Sunday and I stripped the last bits of meat and made paella on Monday and stock in slow cooker. Potatoes and beans used lots here as well!
When my kids were small, we would “dine” by candlelight… it makes any humble meal a fancy occasion.
Mine use to like doing that too xx
I would add oats to your list, they can be cooked or eaten after soaking overnight in yogurt. You can use them to make granola bars with bits of dried fruit, nuts and seeds for an energy filled treat or meal replacement.
I add ground or rolled oats to ground beef when making a meatloaf. I also sneak in shredded zucchini, carrot and onion along with some chopped garlic and spinach. I mix in some tomato sauce and Italian seasonings, form it into a loaf on a sheet pan and bake. Sometimes I add a glaze made up of ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and a bit of brown sugar to the meatloaf.
A favorite filling for baked potatoes is broccoli in a cheese sauce then topped with a few bacon bits. Or just cheese sauce with bacon bits.
Don’t forget about pancakes, crepes and waffles for inexpensive and filling meals especially when topped with sweet or savory things.
In the US we like pot pies filled with meat or poultry, chopped vegetables and a sauce or gravy all baked inside a double pie crust (top & bottom).
I love to make bacon buns by combining roughly chopped raw bacon and minced onion that I put inside of bread dough. Bake them as individual rolls for a yummy treat. The bacon and onion cook inside of the roll and give it a wonderful flavor.
Another favorite is some chopped cooked ham, shredded cheese and mustard mixed together and used as a filling for bread rolls or biscuit dough. After it’s baked the filling is all warm and gooey and goes well with a couple of eggs for a filling meal.
What wonderful ideas; it all sounds delicious!
As a younger home maker my meals were on a 4 day rotation beans rice pasta & potato
Great tips. Here in Michigan Pasties are really big. They are made by local Finnish women, they are made just as they were for the men who worked in the copper mines over 70 years ago.
I save my potatoe water when boiling potatoes for mashed potatoes. I use it for the base for gravies and in place of stock in soup. It freezes excellent for use later as well. Also, don't throw away your vegetable peelings. I put mine in a ziplock bag in the freezer and when I have enough, I make vegetable broth out of it. Of course, I save all meat bones and make chicken and beef stock with them. We burn wood to heat here in New England and go through 5 to 6 cords per heating season. I take the ash from the wood stove and spread it throughout my gardens in the winter. It's a great addition to your soil for free! Jane, I love your videos. You are such an inspiration!
Totally agree, I'm making a chicken stock and vegetable soup today, a few bits of "trim" from the freezer. Together with sour dough bread ( yellow sticker ), Emmental toasties. Super delicious, super cheap and so much volume...what's not to love..
Homity pie, cheese potato and onion pie, corned beef and tatie pie, corned beef hash. Yum yum.
Delicious
Kedgeree is another meal we have regularly. A small piece of fish and hard boiled eggs curried with rice is delicious.
Egg with homemade chips and bread and butter is a fantastic cheap tea.
I enjoyed the whole video, but the sleep dog child at the end was perfect. Love on four paws.
Oh I do love rice ! Fried rice is such an easy dish . In my younger years, when I had little money, I would often make a big pot of it and eat it for breakfast , lunch and dinner if that;s all I had until pay day. I was grateful for it, and enjoyed it. I love all kinds of rice, but my current favorite is short grain. Rice, potatoes, and pasta should be pantry staples. I love a good baked potato, The skin is my favorite part. I love black beans, and enjoy black bean burgers. Yum !! Lentils are delicious . Falafels and tsziki (I'm sure I misspelled those) are amazing together. Soups and stews are always wonderful. I love making bread. Home made is so good. I love meat pie. My Mom would make a well seasoned ground meat pie , top and bottom crust, then serve it with a tomato sauce, and a salad. So good ! I agree a pie can be anything :) Egg custard is one of my favorites. Scrambled eggs on toast is one of my go to's often. I love green veggies . I love brussels sprouts, I like them cooked or shaved raw on a green salad. I agree with everything you said. tfs 🥰🌷💐🌞🌛🍀✝💗
Rice pudding is one of my comfort foods. I add nutmeg and raisins to mine. Add them when the pudding is about half cooked so the the nutmeg and raisins can be mixed in easily. A lovely dessert!
This is one of the few places I do read the comments still - extra tips to yours! Great ideas. Thanks :)
We use bread ends for a quick garlic toast to go with dinner. You can also make bread pudding with leftover bread. I grew up on rice pudding, and I always love when my mom makes some.
Tofu is very cheap and versatile, I get 3 600g blocks from a local chinese supermarket for £3. 1/4 of a block is enough per person, I air fry tofu, marinate it, stir fry it, serve with rice or veggies.
I remember my Mom drying bread 🍞 to make bread crumbs to add into a meatloaf or hamburger patties. Mom came thru the depression. I was raised with a lot of frugal measures, then we had extra money to go camping. ⛺
Frugal kitchen tip= if you can find a plastic pump dispenser put it onto your washing up liquid bottle for tiny amounts directly onto your sponge,you only need a little to do a lot of washing up or cleaning ,I also have it on the sink for washing my hands I think it's probably all the same stuff. (And I cut the sponge in half! )
Yorkshire pudding doesn't cost a lot to make and is very filling. Made into toad in the hole it can stretch a few sausages a lot further and less meat can be put on a Sunday dinner
My great aunt who was born in 1900 and lived well until sh e was 96 had two sayings that I always hear in my head, “ if you have bread and eggs, you’ve always got a meal” and “ look after your food” which I think meant to take care over what you eat, make sure you prioritise eating well and not wasting anything. Learning to cook and getting confident with a few basic meals really helps to make the most of food that is reduced or on offer. I always recommend Delia’s Frugal Food book, so many tasty and cheap recipes using the ingredients you mentioned in the video and not feeling at all hard done to. Most country’s best dishes are ‘peasant food’, having a staple and making the most of it. Great video as ever, thank you.
My favorite saying is if you have a packet of pasta/rice you never go hungry! 😸💚❤️💜So many different meals can be made with pasta and rice and very filling!
@@juttadestiny6810 so true!! 😊
I bought that book second hand. The recipes are really good!
A really delicious way to make rice is to cut one inch strips of onion, sautéed in butter and olive oil (small amount), until caramelized, add garlic and rice and sauté until rice is browned not burned. Add in the amount of cooking liquid in 3/4 chicken stock, 1/4 white wine, turmeric, salt, pepper, oregano. If you have saffron, heat a bit of water and soak it and add it in to the cooking water. This makes a beautifully colored, fragrant, amazing tasting rice dish.
Love the video playing catch up with your videos x
Thanks very much
Most of what you mention, I grew up eating. Time to go back to the comfort food. Thanks for reminder!
Yes! Proper sensible advice using proper basic food ingredients👏
My parents both went through World War 2 times and had really experienced hardship growing up and one could feel this lack still engrained in them their whole life, even in their much older years. They would never waste anything and I learned a lot of helpful things from them which now for sure will be very useful.
I can wholeheartedly agree with you on the suggestions you give in this video. One can make a lot of wonderful foods with very basic and cheap ingredients. My mum could create delicacies just from a potato some flour and some seasonally available veggies. Personally I even prefer these simple and home cooked meals over restaurant dine in or take out, you don’t only save money but it’s much healthier too. Also depending on where you live you can find lots of things outside that grow for free on the land. Be it mushrooms berries certain herbs for salads etc. I remember one elderberry stew from my childhood that was just so yum and cost basically nothing. Also we always made our own cordial from elderberry flowers or from blackcurrants or lemon balm. Would choose that every time over store bought sodas or Coca Cola or any of that crap.
If you depend on supermarkets one common sense tip that I am using myself would be to buy fruit and veggies when they are in season and other items when they are on offer. I have done that for a while now and despite of Inflation prices my food expenses per month went down considerably and I eat wonderful fresh meals every day and definitely don’t feel deprived of anything. Wonderful video 🙏🏼
I must make an egg custard tart…. Fab video as always Jane & Mike👍🏴
Thanks very much
Much, much love and deep appreciation from Long Island, New York!!!!
Soups and sandwiches we eat a couple of times a week, it's a satisfying meal either for lunch or dinner. I to like breakfast for dinner, you can't go wrong with pancakes and fried potatoes. Great video and thank you.
We certainly have to make our food go a lot further these days and never waste a thing! Leftovers are a creative challenge for us all!
We do indeed
I grew up eating meals same as you described. As a diabetic now I don't eat potatoes but have discovered a little barley thickens my soups/stews/ broths. I have often ate breakfast for supper. Thank you for another excellent video.
Type 2?
Yes I've just discovered barley 👍
I make a lot of cheese and onion omlette .and gypsy toast .and pasta with just bit of sauce with bit of cheese grated x
A virtual encyclopedia, thank you ever so much Jane & Mike! 🙏🏽♥️💯
I come from a potato loving family. I learned when I worked in a restaurant that leftover baked potatoes make the best hashbrowns. I hand grate them, skin can be included, and fry them up with butter. You can fancy them up by including some chopped onion (called lyonnaise style). Makes a great side dish or can even be added to soup. My grandmother made delicious rice pudding. If there was company, she added a homemade raspberry sauce with whipped cream. Yum!
brilliant, midweek foodie day! don't forget those vegetable skins and peelings oven roasted make lovely crisps....nothing gets wasted in our house.
Don't forget about oatmeal! You can do so much with oatmeal. I recently learned to grind up oatmeal in my Magic Bullet to make oat flour. What a game changer?
You have pretty much covered the budget stretchers and given very good examples. Reminds me of the WWII rationing cook books. During rationing, food was definitely stretched to go further. History almost repeating itself. Thank you!
My mother was Canadian and her mother was from an English background so we were very familiar with savory pie. Every Sunday we had a roast beef dinner and my mother would make a beef pie with the leftovers later in the week. Of course she added lots of vegetables. And she made the most amazing pie crusts from scratch. Flaky and perfect. She also made rice pudding fairly regularly.
Two of my favorite things are cabbage sautéed in butter and roasted Brussels Sprouts. And I eat a raw spinach salad with lots of other veggies several times a week for lunch. It's definitely a way of "eating the rainbow."
All of your suggestions are so helpful these days. Thanks!
I recently "discovered" sauteed cabbage, very good with sliced carrots & a bit of soy sauce. Thanks to you, Jane, I'm trying new things!
I am a great advocate for many foods which tin nicely., Beans, for example. Having said that, I also advocate for fresh beetroot. It is amazing how delicious a fresh beetroot baked in foil in an oven can be.
Thank you for the video!
I trim and save for another feast! Specially for chicken breasts and steaks that we get reduced or on special deals. I freeze the trimings for stir fries using up vegetables too. Just a tablespoon of your sausage meat saved can make a nice addition to anything you want to liven up!
Great share, Jane. We love recipes that stretch like many that you mentioned. 👍
Great blog! If I may just add. I make Humus with all beans, regardless of colour. I thicken my soups with a good dollop of home-made Humus. I thicken soups with a handful of oats aswell.
Thank you Jane for the good ideas with stretching the food budget. When our children were little, I always sneaked the veggies in by blending them into a sauce to pour over potatoes or meat.
now as empty nesters we always use up every bit of left over food.
Don't forget to use the veg peelings. Washed carrot and potato peels plus onion skins and herb stalks boiled up in water or with a stock cube makes a tasty clear soup when strained. Add a splash of port or wine and you have consomme. This got me out of many a fix when my husband would surprise me with business clients coming for a 3 course meal.
@Suzanne Gagne Yes after washing them and all the goodness is just under the skin. This was from an old book on frugal living from the 80s and was called Paupers Pottage. Any veg can be used but I was not keen on cabbage in the mix.
@Suzanne Gagne when I'm making making mashed potatoes, I put my peels in water an add salt. I fry the potatoes skin the next time I make eggs. I use drained water and the use paper towel to get the rest of the water out before frying then up.
My late dad loved a custard tart from Gregg's. You have reminded me of so many dishes I've forgotten about for dinner lol thanks
I have almost a whole pot if tomato sauce with meatballs leftover from spaghetti Wednesday. Tonight, I will cook a pot of brown rice and add my tomato sauce. A bowl of salad greens and another veggie to go along with it will make a good Thursday night supper.
Hi Jane I absolutely love this food video and I had to come and watch it twice!my neighbor has a few moringa trees and she's letting me take as much as as I want - and the thing is that I love moringa and I can eat it every day. It's one of the most nutritious plant foods ever
Great list! My cheap meals are generally Mexican because you can stretch it! I bought masa to make tamales this week!
Yes, love rice, especially Basmati 🍚
I'm making a 2lbs beef stew w/yams over riced cauliflower today.
Jane your videos make me hungry 😁 I'm putting pastry on my to do list. We call the meat pies, pot pies. My grandmother loved pot pies. She actually called anything with meat, gravy and pastry, pot pie. She'd make chicken, gravy and vegetables. Roll out the pastry thin and cut in small squares. She'd drop the pastry into the simmering chicken. Some peoole call that chicken and dumplings but to her it was pie because of the thin pastry. I make it a lot :)
I use the broccoli stalks with potatoes and onions to make soup
Pearl barley is a great tasty and frugal meal cooked in the slow cooker with stock, onions, carrots, potatoes then topped with gravy ( add meat if its in the budget)great as a side dish to sausages
Lets not forget our fave cheese pitato pie very tasty but filling x
Winter veg pie, with carrots, onion, parsnips and turnips, par-cooked and then simmered in a sauce of water, corn starch and soy sauce, then baked inside a pie crust - love it!
Saute cabbage in oil with onions and some bacon fat for flavor. When tender, add a splash of vinegar, along with salt and pepper. Brightens up the flavor in what can be a boring dish.
Save bacon fat whenever you cook it. Cool and pour out of the pan into a jar to keep in the fridge. Use it to boost flavor in many dishes.
I make a nutty sweet potato soup. The base is chicken broth (can use bouillon cubes) with sweet potatoes, onions, red pepper, carrots, tomatoes and peanut butter. It's flavored with garlic, a little cayenne pepper, ginger and honey. May sound strange, but it's absolutely delicious.
I cook my pumpkins after Halloween, just pull the seeds out, cut into large pieces and bake until tender. Peel and freeze. Can be used in soups, baked goods, pancakes, shakes - you name it. Also, roast the seeds with just a tiny bit of olive oil and salt. Healthy and yummy.
Lots of great hints. I am trying to cook for 2 after years of cooking for 9. Neither of us eat big portions anymore. Live in the US. I started making large pots of soups and pressure canning in pints the extra for later meals so I am not wasting leftovers. You could freeze many soups, too. I heard canning is not common in Europe. Thanks for all the helpful information!
Great Video Jane. From breadcrumbs we make german Knödel and from leftover potatoes we make gnocchi.
Hello from Vancouver Canada. A strata ..made with day old bread , eggs and whatever else you want. Bake in the oven ...yummy
Yes all around the world we are stretching our dollars. Thanks for your tips. I'll try to remember to make a pie....maybe with a bunch of leftovers!!! 😀. OMG your doggies are so cute!! Ciao for now.
Cereals and pasta. Oatmeal, cream of wheat, cornmeal mush. Pasta of all shapes and sizes layered, stuffed and sauces, pasta salads!
I've been watching your videos for about 3 weeks now and truly enjoy all of your content. My husband and I are debt free and he is retiring in a couple of months, so your videos have given me many ideas of making our retirement budget stretch. I am slowly watching your older videos too. Thanks Jane and Mike for all you do to help others.
Thanks so much
Absolutely love this
Left over greens with some strips of ham quickly warm in a pan on a crusty roll is lovely
Great vlog Jane and Michael
Nothing like a hearty meal with the simplest of ingredients x
My lot love my chilli pasties i make
Cheesy potato …old school dinner favourite! Also potato cakes are good for using up left over potatoes .
Delicious
Plenty of excellent ideas . I’ve decided to eat more potatoes . They are so versatile . Hundreds of recipes available .Today my daughter came for lunch and I cooked a mushroom bolognaise ( no meat ) with spaghetti and a hard boiled egg . Delicious.. she took seconds
Thank you for another fantastic video! I have been having lots of luck in my local co-op supermarket in the mornings after the school run. At that time they reduce the previous day's reduced fruit and veg to 10p. So I've been getting bags of apples/potatoes/sprouts etc and making the day's meals based around what I find! I hope that continues!
Excellent video, Jane and Michael. If it weren't so late, I'd be in the kitchen making a batch of pasties. Listening to you describe all that delicious food has made me hungry!!
Love your kitchen tiles!! 😊
Jane, thank you so much for this video. I learn so much from you. This was a great teaching video. It's real food prepared in a simple, delicious, frugal way. It puts food, grocery shopping and frugality all in perspective. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 🤗
Thanks so much
Simple ingredients are a great basis for budget meals, lots of good ideas Jane. I think lots of us are revisiting our frugal 1970s cookbooks!
I never stopped using mine
Great ideas!!! I like to use Quinoa as a carbohydrate whenever possible. It is gluten free and contains protein. The protein contains all 9 essential amino acids. If it isn't prewashed, be sure it is thoroughly washed before cooking. Thanks again for this video!❤
We eat that too
Fantastic video Jane! This has brought creative thought to my meal planning! I have been enjoying all your videos that I have viewed. Always looking forward to what is coming next. Thank you for all you share. I'm pretty frugal, but I'm striving for more ways to stretch food, dollars and to recycle furniture as well as clothes. Blessings!
Rice pudding- yum.
When my rice is cooking i'll add lots of lemon zest, butter, once its cooked i'll add a can of tuna and some lemon juice, salt. It's our 'cheap' meal and everyone loves it. pure comfort food! Funny how a lot of our comfort dishes are really inexpensive to make. Great video you too!
Lots of great ideas there Jane, I totally agree with you comments on soup. I put whatever is left in the fridge into my soup maker with some herbs and seasonings and it always tastes yummy. Served with some crusty bread or as you said a sandwich and you have a whole meal. Nothing better on a cold winter day.
Great video! Thank you. I’d add oats and pasta xx 🇫🇷🇫🇷
I shop at the Mexican markets here in California. 75% less than conventional mkts. I get loads of healthy things. I use foid techniques from around the globe. Traveling taught me so much. Live luxury on so little. Can even get more money back for buying some essentials
We are having our pancake dinner a day late, since son had oral surgery yesterday morning. Rain and melting snow this week, but cold will be returning for a bit after. Making a little peach pie for tomorrow. Stuffed potato skins are a popular food here in the US. We personal love using lentils and garbanzo beans. Hummus is very easy to make. Good to hear from you!
Hi Jane great selection of foods! Eggy bread or French Toast is v filling! I make a great nut roast have you covered that yet as I am a new subscriber. I carrot.1 onion. Stock cube , 2oz cheese, stock cube ,mixed herbs , some breadcrumbs or rolled oats and 8oz nuts.delicious nutritious and great hot or cold!
You loving son gave me a small counter oven with an air fryer option within. This has changed the ways I prepare my potatoes with little or no oil. Potatoes are one of my favorite foods. Also, you don't need expensive tahini to make hummus, use olive oil instead. I found a recipe for hummus using olive oil and I can't wait to try it.
Carrots are still affordable and makes a good variety of side dishes. Simple salads are filling, and I try to add that to most dinners. Vegetable dinners once or twice a week really helps to stretch the budget.
They’re a super veggie
I make a Mediterranean lentil soup and an Eggplant/Chickpea type of stew that we just love. Both freeze very well.
Sounds great!
Added pulses and dried beans to my shopping list. My favourite use of bread is either bread and butter pudding or bread pudding. Inspired by you Im determined to crack pastry.
Great video again, lots of great ideas to try which I have written down to remember: thanks so much! I also second oats: I add these to soups and stews, for making woolton pie, for thickening spag bol. Also dried soy mince is great for stretching meat and is virtually undetectable. It's great to keep on hand for when I add too much liquid to anything with mince (cottage pie, bolognese, chilli con carne, meatloaf etc) I get 6 portions instead of 4 and freeze the spares to go on baked potatoes or for emergency ready meals. Can't wait to try some of your ideas 😋
I love your Show. I like to add old try bred you can suck up in eggmilk. In south Germany we make sweet or salty casserole with that. For sweet with aples or plums, salty with layer or meat leftovers leek.... and (old) chees.
Excellent ideas!
Hello from Torrington, Connecticut USA. Came in late for the Livestream, watching the replay ❤.
For those in the UK who have a Home Bargains shop near them, they have packs of part baked bread at a good price. There's a particular pack that's excellent value and as they have a very long shelf life so great as a store cupboard standby.
That’s a great shop
I made lentils sometimes add quinoa or farro for my lunches
Slice the stalks from broccoli, and use in stir fry. First discovered thuis "exotic" veg in the Vaults and Gardens in Oxford. Thought it was something oriental, turns out to be part of their zero waste policy 🤣
Now if not doing a stir fry I just bung then in with the carrots.
I also add the broccoli stalks into cook with potatoes for a lovely mash. Yum!
Jane and Micheal another brilliant video well done. I loved it. You are making frugal living normal, great ideas. It brings me back to the 1960s and 1970s and all ways that meals were stretched thank you. I have started using the beans as you recommended in all various meals and love them. They make soups a meal and I also add barely. Thanks 👍 😊 for all your inspiration Anna.
Thanks for the feedback
Jane I am itching to do all you suggested in this video today Anna.
I love your enthusiasm for simple foods. Great job! I’d add oats to the list as they can be made a lot of different ways or added to other foods.
Thanks so much
Loved this video! As usual lots of love from Sweden! Please pray for Ukraine🙏
Thanks
In my island in Puerto Rico we make chick a peas with pigs feet & white rice.
I really enjoyed watching this Jane, there were ways of using/combining food that hadn't occurred to me so thank you 😊 I'd add eggy, cous cous, bread pudding and bread and butter pudding to the list.
Great ideas!
Good, sound advice, as always!
Peanut butter can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes to add protein, and the humble fruit jam, whilst not a staple, is useful in so many ways other than just spread on toast too.
Very very informative 👏
Thank you 😊
My go-to leftovers pie is chicken and bacon or chicken and ham. I cut all the leftover cooked chicken from the roast carcass, add lightly fried bacon lardons, or cubed ham, mix in some home-made white sauce and put between two layers of shortcrust pastry in a pie dish. I usually serve it with baked beans and a veg. Feels great to stretch one chicken for two meals. It probably won't work for a big family, though, as there might not be any leftover roast chicken!
Sounds great
Ironically, I'm watching this while eating my dinner...which is a baked potato with beans and broccoli. So good! And you gave us so many good ideas in here...all of which I agree with. I'd also add oats (which I see someone else mentioned) and onions. Onions are terrific raw, sauteed, or even pickled, and they lend a ton of flavor to dishes which can be helpful if you can't afford a lot of herbs and spices.
I made some yummy soup, and it fed us for almost a week. Thank you. for your ideas.
Great, what kind of soup? Thanks for watching
We love you, Money Mom!!
I also love your enthusiasm. This video is like listening to my weekly meal plan! This morning I am making some bread - time to watch your video while it's proving - and have started dinner, which is a tomato pasta sauce with added peppers, some chunks of sweet potato and squash which I had frozen a while ago, smoked paprika and some red lentils. Makes a thick smoky sauce with pasta which helps feed the 15yo 6ft 1" teen boy! I made another school canteen cake earlier in the week and soup yesterday using some turning squash and carrots (19p bag of carrots as on date), then added red lentils and also some coconut milk - a treat, but I buy the 200ml tins and then add same again of water, cheaper than buying a 400ml tin. We had a small roast chicken last Sunday and I stripped the last bits of meat and made paella on Monday and stock in slow cooker. Potatoes and beans used lots here as well!
Oh yes, and I know you said you were slow to the risotto party, but I have only recently discovered part-baked bread, so useful!