$40 for the Week | Pantry Shopping Meals | How to Meal Plan
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- čas přidán 12. 09. 2024
- These are some of my favorite ways to save on groceries every week. Things didn’t quite go as planned but that’s why I always keep at least a few freezer meals on hand so I can avoid ordering take out!
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Homemade Taco Seasoning
4 Tbsp Chili Powder
2 Tbsp Cumin
4 tsp Sea Salt
4 tsp Black Pepper
2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Dried Oregano
Black Bean and Barley Soup
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
3 Tbsp Oil or Butter
1 cup Onion, diced
2 cups Carrots, chopped or diced
1 cup Celery, diced (Optional)
3 Roma Tomatoes, diced or chopped (or 1 15oz can Diced Tomatoes)
2 cups Cooked Black Beans, drained and rinsed (or 1 can Black Beans, drained and rinsed)
1 cup Barley, rinsed
8 cups Chicken Broth, Vegetable Broth, or Water
½ tsp Garlic Powder
8oz Fresh Spinach
Instructions
1. In a large stock pot, heat oil or butter over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute until soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes, black beans, barley, broth, and garlic powder. Stir, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover. Simmer covered for 45 minutes or until barley is cooked through and tender.
3. Add spinach and stir. Continue to cook for about 2-3 minutes or until spinach is wilted.
4. Serve and enjoy!
As always, I truly appreciate you being here! Thank you so much for watching!
With Love,
Laura
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Thank you so much for joining me today!
With love,
Laura
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I so appreciate you, as someone young and apparently healthy, mentioning that you are often tired after grocery shopping. Those of us with chronic health issues sometimes forget that it isn't just us who get tired out by normal household activities. Freezer meals or take out on the way home from the store can be a lifesaver on those days. Our favorite Chinese restaurant is in the same little center as Aldi so we hit Dollar Tree, Sprouts and while I'm in Aldi he gets our takeout. Not every week though. Then when I have my standing doctor's appointments we're next door to Harbor Freight , a big Dollar Tree and just up the street from Smart & Final which has the best roast chicken. 😊 So we do those stores if needed, grab a chicken and off we go.
I just love that! Take out and freezer meals really help on days when I’m just so exhausted from the day. I don’t have energy to cook more often than I’d like to admit so I really have to plan ahead with lots of freezer meals 😅 I love to do takeout at least once a week too!
We do our own spice mixes, and we don't add salt either. We buy the herbs and spices in 500g or 1 kilo bags from the middle eastern grocer or the Asian grocer. I have a neighbour who has the coriander soap gene, and her partner can't eat onions, so I started making spice mixes for them, they were so grateful! It's impossible to buy spice mixes without dried onion.
@@angelawossname I don't always have the energy anymore but I've been making a lot of my own spice mixes and pantry mixes since the 70's. Now that I eat low sodium and gluten-free it's even more useful. People have no idea how easy it is to make your own spice blends or salad dressing. Easy peasy, delicious and usually economical.
@renel7303 I'm so sorry, I thought I was making just a regular comment on the video, not replying to you, but thankyou for being kind and replying! I also suffer with chronic health issues, including uveitis so I'm going blind and things aren't always clear! I use a LOT of freezer meals. We do a freezer meal day once a fortnight and I'll take some extra medication to help me through it. I live with my son and dil, who are both Autistic. They are both super happy to help but they can't multitask and need really, really clear, specific instructions. I have a support worker who takes me shopping, I'm sure I drive her nuts asking her to read out the prices of everything and then calculate price per gram or price per kilo! She told me she has changed the way she buys groceries now.
@@angelawossname Thats so wonderful! I bet they were so happy to have homemade spices!
Tip for the red lentils. Purée them with some of the hot water until smooth like your peanut butter. Then you just add that to the marinara. Delish
Oh my gosh, why didn’t I think of that?! Absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much for the tip. I’m going to try that for sure. The texture just wasn’t right the way I did it 😅
I personally prefer the brown lentils in dishes like this.
I can’t really afford to experiment in the kitchen, so I appreciate channels like yours that do it for me. Thank you!
I completely understand! We eat all of my “experiments” and sometimes they don’t turn out great 😅 I’m so glad I’m able to share my results with y’all so you can avoid making the mistakes I make haha 😂
I lean toward the cookbooks by Twara Kellam and her mom, Jill Cooper - Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 of Dining on a Dime. Vol. 1 has over 600 hundred recipes for food, along with menu plans, making your own spice blends, making your own salad dressings, BBQ sauce, etc. Vol. 2 is more of the same. Tawara has also written a gluten free/dairy free cookbook based on Vol. 1. While I don't have those issues, I am diabetic and use the "Eat What You Love" series by Marlene Koch, which includes one book dedicated to restaurant copy cat meals. It has the added benefits of listing Weight Watcher points, carbs, calories, etc. I highly recommend these.
Thank you so much for the recommendations!! I’ll definitely look into those books!
Love their books too. Not just food. They have organizing and cleaning info too.
This is amazing! I'm trying to cut down my grocery budget without feeling like I'm bored with food or uninspired in the kitchen, and am finding it more difficult than anticipated. I'm single and get bored with eating the same 2-3 things every week, so this helped tremendously. Thank you for sharing your creativity with us, and for being so pleasant to watch, too. Happy Mother's Day to you!!
Thank you so much for all your kind words! I’m so glad it was helpful! ☺️ I know how difficult it can be to think of new things to eat all the time. I lean a lot on searching the web for inspiration!
I take a black marker and put the expiration date on the front of the box or the lid of a jar just in case it gets pushed to the back of the pantry and it makes it easier to keep track of what's what.
Oh my gosh, that’s brilliant! I’m going to do that! Thank you for sharing
I do that, too.
Edit, misspelling.
Another idea for veggies that are turning, IE, cucumbers that are getting soft, but not moldy, brownish salad greens, slightly bruised tomatoes, etc, are good for making homemade vegetable stock.
Boiling the veggies and some seasonings, and adding more water by cupfuls as it boils down, for about an hour, makes excellent, rich, vegetable stock!
A way to save on buying bouillon cubes, is get some very small square or round reusable food storage containers, and pour the cooled stock inside.
Cover with the lid, and place in your freezer, to freeze until needed.
I think homemade stock is always better than store bought!
Great video with so many awesome ideas!
Bright Blessings!
😊🦋💖💯😊
What a wonderful idea! I absolutely love it!Thank you for sharing. I’ll have to get myself some reusable molds to pour my stock into. That’s such a great idea!
Can use ice cube trays with covers too.
I really like reading the comment section on your vids-some really good tips
Yay! I’m so glad! I love it too. Everyone is so helpful
I love your ideas! Also you seem like a very nice person, it’s a pleasure to watch you,thanks!
Oh my goodness, thank you very much! ☺️ I appreciate you saying that.
THANK YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR RECIPES AND NOT USING SOUR CREAM, CREAM CHEESE, COTTAGE CHEESE. I CAN'T HAVE THOSE BUT I CAN HAVE THE YOGURT. LOVE, LOVE,, LOVE YOUR VIDEOS. PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING. ❤
Thank you so much! I definitely will ☺️
Greens, like your spinach, are better for you cooked. I often find spinach, kale or mustard greens on manager specials...I always buy them and toss them in the freezer. Last Sunday we had omelets with some sauteed kale from the freezer. Last week I made spinach pie with thawed spinach (squeeze out liquid).
I did a quick clean out the fridge soup recently. Bits of those leftovers that aren't, individually, enough for another meal but must be used. We are a use-what-you-have and no food waste household.
One container had a small amount of chopped salad left ... cucumbers, olives, cabbage, romaine, tomatoes, grated carrots. Another was a yogurt herb, balsamic salad dressing I had made, small amount of oven roasted green beans, leftover man $ cheese ... Would it all work in the soup with a few other ingredients? Yep ... perfectly. The cucumber cooked just like zucchini, romaine was like any other greens ... italian flavored veg soup with oven baked grilled cheese sandwiches was delish!
@@tamaraliscia3408 wow! I love that! I had no idea salad could be used in soup. I’ll have to try that next time I have some leftover! Thank you for the tips and suggestions 😄
Thanks Laura, your ideas are very helpful
@@janehunt8421 you’re welcome! I’m so glad to hear that ☺️
Tostada shells are my new favorite instead of using tortillas or hard shells because they’re thinner and don’t crack and fall apart! I can also break them apart to use instead of chips. I too make my own seasoning blends for tacos, chili, steak seasoning, and an all purpose seasoning. I already have the individual seasonings and those packets are a waste of money!
I completely agree with you! The packets can easily be made at home for much less I think
I’m loving the tostada lately too. They’re just so versatile and delicious.
I love America's Test Kitchen books. They also do Cook's Country. What i like about them is when they have tried different things for a recipe- ingredients, cooking method, etc - and then why some work better than others.
Yes!! I love that too!
Good morning, been making your chili recipe and making it weekly it help . When my high schooler comes home that he go to meal ❤. Thank you .
I’m so glad to hear that!! ☺️
What a nice big pantry you have for storage. Laughed out loud with the Aldi pasta just the other day I found some Halloween pasta shapes. Thanks for the homemade taco seasoning!
Thank you so much! That’s hilarious that you found Halloween pasta at this time of year 😂 I hope you love the taco seasoning!
I know I do so much better when I write things out. I guess I’m old 🙄
@@allyrooh3628 I always do so much better when I write things out too! 😄
Great Job 👏
Thank you so much ☺️
I save condiments they r great for picnics or if u staying in hotel and get a takeaway
@@kellywoskett7211 that’s so true!
Replace some of the meat in your meatballs with tofu, we do this all the time. You know how to make sure most of the moisture is removed. Also, you can freeze tofu, and when you do it has a tougher, more meat-like texture. Great for freezer meals. I'm gonna try pasta with red lentils!
Wow!! Those are great tips! I have tofu in the freezer that I was looking to use in a recipe! Thank you so much for sharing your suggestions!
Hi laura.. I am ur new subscriber from India. Try Indian lentil dishes they are really delicious and healthy.
Hi! Welcome to my channel! Thank you so much for the suggestion. Do you have any specific favorites using lentils? I would LOVE to try some different dishes!
Hello can you post a basic starter pantry stock up for someone just staring out little by little.. many on low incomes need this right now.. thanks..
Ok! Thats a wonderful idea! Thank you for the suggestion. I’ll work on that right away
@@LauraLegge I’m on a ss income and with food prices I need to build a pantry.. I usually try to keep a few extra meats
I have never had an enchilada or tostadas in my life and that raised an eyebrow..
@@donnamcclenton7340 oh wow! Interesting!
the daring kitchen has a very good lentl meatball recipe that you will love.
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for the suggestion! I’ll give that one a try ☺️
Terrific video! Lots of tips! I like your previous video about freezer meals a great time saver! And I gree with another comment about starting a pantry from scratch! ❤
Thank you so much!! I truly appreciate that! I’ll definitely work on a pantry starter video soon ☺️ I love the idea and I think it’s super important to know how to start
I love homemade granola! I mix all the ingredients together and pop it in the oven 300* for 10 to 12 minutes. Stir it, then bake until it is golden brown.(about 10 more minutes)
Oooh I love that! I’m going to try it that way! Thank you for sharing!
Those tostadas look so good! Also love the wedge salad idea!
Thank you so much!! The wedge would have been perfect with some blue cheese 😋
I don't put any meat on my tostadas. I just do seasoned refried beans, cheese lettuce and tomatoes. Yummy. It's one of my fast go to meals.
Yes!! I absolutely love that! So easy and budget friendly!
Love your channel Laura! You give great advice, suggestions and points to ponder. Try buying your iceberg lettuce by how heavy it feels rather than by shape or size. You want tight leaves, not too much air - that way you get more for your $
Ooooh great tip! Thank you for mentioning it! I never used to buy iceberg so it’s somewhat new to me so I’ll judge it by its weight next time for sure ☺️
Thank you so much for the food made from scratch and seasoning too. I usually use 1/2 pound of meat for my tostadas. I add that meat to one can of pinto beans draining and one can of refried beans with a little milk, butter and seasonings. Very delicious!
Yum!! Sounds delicious!
Thank
Yes mam, those condiment packages we pay for when we purchase the food. I keep what I know I can use for sure.😊
Absolutely!! They always come in handy!
Yum on the granola! I sent you a message via IG about a recipe I’ve used for years and love. I’m really curious about the vegan baked feta. I’ve seen that recipe too, but have been hesitant to try it. My hubby did some grilling for himself and marinated his chicken in Greek dressing, the juice of an orange and some onion, so I had him grill up some tofu for me marinaded the same way. We marinated our proteins for half the day and it turned out delicious! I added a little extra salt free Greek seasoning to mine and Incould actually taste the flavor all the way through.
Yum! That sounds amazing! I’ll have to try tofu like that. I’ll check my messages! Thank you so much!
I have a half a bag of kale that i froze before it went bad. I do that with a bag of spinach also. They will work well for soups, casseroles or stir fry dishes.
Yes!! Great tip! I just love that! So much better than having to throw it out 😄
ATK is my favorite resource.
Yes! They’re amazing!!
I recognize that ketchup-chic-fil-a!
Haha yes!! It’s the best! I always love to keep the extras 😆
Laura i do the same thing if I go out to eat bring home bring home the left over condiments I don't use at the time lol.
Haha yes!! Gotta save them! 😆
I always have a baggie of taco bell sauce packets in my fridge lol
Hahaha same!! 😆
I do too and Panda Express. But I think we all do 😂
Loved all the tips tricks and ideas
Thank you so much! I’m so glad to hear that! ☺️
@@LauraLegge 😊
The viral feta recipe is so good with the Aldi feta! I don’t think the tofu version will be good. Lol! I do love tofu though… especially tofu scramble and tofu ricotta. The feta just gives the pasta all the flavor!
I’m on the fence about it but the tofu one seems to get good reviews so I’m hoping it works out 😅 I actually don’t love feta but I’ve made that viral recipe with Boursin cheese instead and it was AMAZING!!
I love lentil loaf
Yes!! So tasty!!
Hi - Thank you for this clip; you provided lots of great ideas. What sort of oil would you use if you needed to thin out your peanut butter? Thanks again!
I would use peanut oil if you have it! If not, any neutral oil would work well. Any oil that doesn’t have a strong taste 😄
I use coconut oil just because it tends to not separate out as much as more liquidy oils.
Why not digitalize the food notebook, would make it so much easier
I’m working on including individual printable sheets for what’s in my notebook but I can also work on just making the entire notebook digital as well, if y’all would like that 😄
Pasta doesn’t really expire anyway. Whole wheat will go rancid but otherwise you’re good.
That’s true! You’re right about that
iceberg was 3.79 today 😢 🇨🇦 exchange rate has our dollar at .73 to your 1.00 - plus our groceries have always been higher than yours on top of exchange difference
Oh my 😰
Can you share the granola recipe? Thanks
1 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp table salt (I changed this to ¼ tsp)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used avocado oil)
½ cup pecans, chopped coarse (I used crushed candied pecans)
1½ cups (4½ ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats
I just mixed up the sauce in a small bowl (maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, salt), then toasted the nuts in oil in a large sauté pan for a few minutes. Then I just added the oats and continued to cook while stirring until they were toasty and brown. Then I added the sauce mixture and cooked for a couple minutes more and then poured it onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
The full recipe came from The Modern Pantry Cookbook but I just changed it a bit based on what I had. I think almonds would be so good too. And I think it could be done in the oven instead too
@@LauraLegge Thank you!
@@shawnbyars3618 you’re welcome ☺️
I think I'm going to get a machine to make spaghetti out of zucchini.
Ooooh what a great idea! I have a little handheld spiralizer that I found at ALDI for $2.49 but I haven’t used it yet 😅
😀😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
Those prices are in California?! Wow. So why is everyone saying milk is like $9 etc! PS my husband thinks that organic dha milk tastes like fish oil. He said it's awful. Did you taste it
Oh wow! We love that milk so I wonder if it’s specific to the brand? ALDI is our cheapest store - other stores are definitely way more expensive
@@LauraLegge that's the exact milk we bought and he said it tasted fishy I tried it and it did.!!
@@crystaldon4995 oh wow! I wonder if it varies based on location 🤔 ours tastes delicious!
@@LauraLegge maybe we got a bad one!
@@crystaldon4995 oh maybe! 😰
I only buy things on sale also
Yes!! It’s saved us a TON to just wait until things go on sale
I just found your channel and like that you are cooking veg meals on a budget, but you put affiliate links on the screen that are very annoying. I can't see what is in the bottom left corner when you do that. Why not flash it for a few seconds in the upper right corner, then take it off. If people really want to buy an appliance, they can pause the video and back it up to click, or just look in the description to find the link.
Oh interesting! Thank you for telling me! It’s a new CZcams feature that I’m trying out and it doesn’t appear that I can edit the length of time it’s shown. I’ll work on that and see if I can maybe move it or make it smaller if I can’t change how long it’s shown
Ok, I just double checked my video to see where it was on screen and I noticed that you can press the “x” button to get it to go away. I’m on my mobile device so hopefully you can just close it on any device you’re watching. I hope that helps ☺️ Edited to add: you can click the 3 dots on it if it’s a product in the middle of the video and click “dismiss”. I’ll keep looking into how I can make it less noticeable
Opps I thought that I saw Jiff peanutbutter. Sorry
No worries at all! ☺️
Peanutbutter with PALM oil..nit good..please delete boxed and preserved food
This is homemade peanut butter that I made with just peanuts 😄
It’s her channel. She can post what she wants. If you don’t like it just move on.