DINNER FOR A MONTH ON JUST $45! | ULTRA BUDGET MEALS | EMERGENCY GROCERY SAVINGS PLAN! DIRT CHEAP HEALTHY MEALS!
Welcome back, my cooking friends! 💚 In this video, im showing you how I made a month of dinners for under $50! I've challenged myself to create a month's worth of dinners using simple, budget-friendly ingredients—all for just about $45. These sixteen recipes are easy to prepare, require no fancy techniques, and will give you approximately 112 healthy meal servings. They feature filling, nutrient-dense staples like beans, lentils, and rice, ensuring each meal is not only affordable but also delicious and satisfying.
Managing a tight budget can be tough, but I'm here to show you how to make nutritious meals that won't break the bank. Whether you follow my weekly plan or choose specific recipes to try, I hope they inspire you to create tasty, wallet-friendly meals. Prices vary by location, but here in Utah, I grabbed all my groceries for around $45.
Here's what you'll need! The full printable recipes and write-up from today's video→ https://www.juliapacheco.com/dinner-for-a-month-on-just-45-ultra-budget-meals-grocery-savings-plan/
For even more budget-saving ideas, check out the links below:
Cheap Family Meals Under $10 https://www.juliapacheco.com/cheap-family-meals-under-10/
Dirt Cheap Easy Family Dinner Ideas https://www.juliapacheco.com/dirt-cheap-easy-family-dinner-ideas/
Extreme Grocery Budget Recipes https://www.juliapacheco.com/extreme-grocery-budget-recipes/
https://youtu.be/4Vxm5gIKDSQ
https://youtu.be/h0KLCHkTooY
https://youtu.be/0hN6tSCQlNY
https://youtu.be/FGXZHn7l_M8
Happy cooking— I love you all and thank you for your support! 🌼💙
MY COOKBOOK
Get a copy of my cookbook here→ https://www.juliapachecocooking.com/cookbook
FOLLOW ME FOR BEHIND-THE-SCENES & MORE RECIPES
NEW TIKTOK 🥳 https://www.tiktok.com/@juliapacheco.official
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/julia.pacheco.cooking/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/JuliaPachecoYouTube/
MY FOOD BLOG: https://www.juliapacheco.com
NEWSLETTER (Get a FREE budget meal plan!): https://mailchi.mp/juliapacheco/freebudgetmealplan
📍SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE EASY FAMILY RECIPES
Never miss a new video 🌼 https://www.youtube.com/c/juliapacheco?sub_confirmation=1
TIMESTAMPS + full written recipes: https://www.juliapacheco.com/dinner-for-a-month-on-just-45-ultra-budget-meals-grocery-savings-plan/
0:00 Dirt Cheap Family Meals
0:54 Shop with me at Walmart
4:40 Full Shopping Cart Haul
5:51 SEASONED CHICKEN AND RICE
8:32 TORTILLA PIZZAS
10:07 RAMEN NOODLE STIR FRY
11:35 PIZZA PASTA
13:47 CORNDON CORN MUFFINS
15:05 PINTO BEANS
16:22 RICE AND BEAN SKILLET
18:13 CHICKEN VEGETABLE PASTA
21:00 SPANISH RICE SOUP
22:25 VEGETABLE POT PIE
24:38 LENTIL POTATO SOUP
26:55 CLASSIC SPAGHETTI
28:09 SPAGHETTI BEAN SOUP
30:10 SAUSAGE VEGGIE STIR FRY
31:13 SAUSAGE MAC AND CHEESE
32:49 LENTIL CARROT POTATO SOUP
35:02 LOADED VEGGIE AND CHICKEN BURRITOS
MORE EASY & TASTY COOKIN VIDEOS
https://youtu.be/4X2_3yWOC
Welcome back, my cooking friends! 💚 In this video, im showing you how I made a month of dinners for under $50! I've challenged myself to create a month's worth of dinners using simple, budget-friendly ingredients—all for just about $45. These sixteen recipes are easy to prepare, require no fancy techniques, and will give you approximately 112 healthy meal servings. They feature filling, nutrient-dense staples like beans, lentils, and rice, ensuring each meal is not only affordable but also delicious and satisfying.
Managing a tight budget can be tough, but I'm here to show you how to make nutritious meals that won't break the bank. Whether you follow my weekly plan or choose specific recipes to try, I hope they inspire you to create tasty, wallet-friendly meals. Prices vary by location, but here in Utah, I grabbed all my groceries for around $45.
Here's what you'll need! The full printable recipes and write-up from today's video→ https://www.juliapacheco.com/dinner-for-a-month-on-just-45-ultra-budget-meals-grocery-savings-plan/
For even more budget-saving ideas, check out the links below:
Cheap Family Meals Under $10 https://www.juliapacheco.com/cheap-family-meals-under-10/
Dirt Cheap Easy Family Dinner Ideas https://www.juliapacheco.com/dirt-cheap-easy-family-dinner-ideas/
Extreme Grocery Budget Recipes https://www.juliapacheco.com/extreme-grocery-budget-recipes/
https://youtu.be/4Vxm5gIKDSQ
https://youtu.be/h0KLCHkTooY
https://youtu.be/0hN6tSCQlNY
https://youtu.be/FGXZHn7l_M8
Happy cooking— I love you all and thank you for your support! 🌼💙
MY COOKBOOK
Get a copy of my cookbook here→ https://www.juliapachecocooking.com/cookbook
FOLLOW ME FOR BEHIND-THE-SCENES & MORE RECIPES
NEW TIKTOK 🥳 https://www.tiktok.com/@juliapacheco.official
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/julia.pacheco.cooking/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/JuliaPachecoYouTube/
MY FOOD BLOG: https://www.juliapacheco.com
NEWSLETTER (Get a FREE budget meal plan!): https://mailchi.mp/juliapacheco/freebudgetmealplan
📍SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE EASY FAMILY RECIPES
Never miss a new video 🌼 https://www.youtube.com/c/juliapacheco?sub_confirmation=1
TIMESTAMPS + full written recipes: https://www.juliapacheco.com/dinner-for-a-month-on-just-45-ultra-budget-meals-grocery-savings-plan/
0:00 Dirt Cheap Family Meals
0:54 Shop with me at Walmart
4:40 Full Shopping Cart Haul
5:51 SEASONED CHICKEN AND RICE
8:32 TORTILLA PIZZAS
10:07 RAMEN NOODLE STIR FRY
11:35 PIZZA PASTA
13:47 CORNDON CORN MUFFINS
15:05 PINTO BEANS
16:22 RICE AND BEAN SKILLET
18:13 CHICKEN VEGETABLE PASTA
21:00 SPANISH RICE SOUP
22:25 VEGETABLE POT PIE
24:38 LENTIL POTATO SOUP
26:55 CLASSIC SPAGHETTI
28:09 SPAGHETTI BEAN SOUP
30:10 SAUSAGE VEGGIE STIR FRY
31:13 SAUSAGE MAC AND CHEESE
32:49 LENTIL CARROT POTATO SOUP
35:02 LOADED VEGGIE AND CHICKEN BURRITOS
MORE EASY & TASTY COOKIN VIDEOS
https://youtu.be/4X2_3yWOC
Categoría
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CelebridadesTranscripción
00:00I have never ever done anything like this on my channel in the past to this
00:10extent and to be quite honest with you I'm a little bit nervous but what we
00:15are doing is we're doing a full month's worth of extreme grocery budget meals. I
00:19got a request a couple months ago to do a video like this and I have been
00:23planning for this non-stop since. So we're going to head over to Walmart
00:27today. It's just the cheapest grocery store in my area and I'm going to be
00:30filling up my cart with only $45 worth of grocery items. I'm going to be
00:35strategic about what I place in my cart and I'm really going to be trying to buy
00:39items that stretch far. I'm also going to be trying to make these meals this month
00:44as nutrient-rich, healthy, and as delicious as possible. It's definitely
00:49going to be a challenge but let's go ahead to the store now. I'm bringing you
00:52along with me. While we are at the store I'm going to be really careful about
00:56what I place in my cart to get us through this month. First I'm headed to
01:01the meat area and I'm going to price out the different meats to kind of see what
01:04will fit in my budget for this month. First I would really like to have a
01:08pound of sausage. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this sausage yet but it
01:13will fit in my budget so I'm going to toss it in my cart. And while I'm in the
01:17meat area I would also love to have some chicken. I priced out all of the chicken
01:22and I noticed this huge bag of chicken drumsticks. It's a five pound bag. It
01:27comes out to only being a dollar and eighteen cents a pound. That is just an
01:31unbeatable price so I'm going to place this big bag in my cart. I'm really
01:36excited about this find. Next I would love to have some canned tomato products
01:40this month. I was going to get this normal can of diced tomatoes but I did
01:45notice the petite diced tomatoes are the same price. I just love cooking with
01:49petite diced tomatoes a little bit more than like the normal diced tomatoes. I
01:53just like the size better. I also need a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies.
01:58The can of Rotel was way out of my budget being over a dollar. I am so glad
02:03I looked above because I found this hot off-brand can for only 88 cents. All the
02:08other off-brand cans for like the mild and the medium were 96 cents so I'm
02:13going with the hot. I don't think it will be too hot at all. I also need a can of
02:17tomato paste so I'll toss that in my cart. I would also like some peas this
02:22month and I decided to price out the frozen peas versus like the can of peas
02:26and I'm so glad that I priced them out because I am going to be saving about
02:3134 cents going with a can of peas and it's definitely worth the money savings
02:35for this month. Next I'm going to toss a couple boxes of pasta into my cart. Now
02:41I'm off to the mac and cheese area. Always look at the price per ounce when
02:45buying anything. It's normally in smaller font right next to the regular
02:49price. As you see the spiral macaroni and cheese is 10.5 cents per ounce but the
02:55regular elbows are only 7.9 cents per ounce and then if you look at the big
03:00name brand mac and cheese it's 17.1 cents per ounce. So the money savings is
03:05just crazy there and then this might seem a little odd but I am grabbing
03:10three bags of ramen noodles. I kind of have a creative idea to use these ramen
03:14noodles up for this month. Normally I always think to grab my bouillon cubes
03:19down the soup aisle. I was looking at the prices and I noticed this Knorr brand of
03:24bouillon cubes for six cubes is about a dollar and forty seven cents. That's out
03:29of my budget today but I am so glad that I remembered down the Hispanic Foods
03:33aisle they sell the same brand of bouillon cubes with eight cubes instead
03:37of six and it's only a dollar and eight cents. That's a really big money savings
03:42and I do find that they are super flavorful still. Next I would love to
03:46grab a bag of Spanish rice and a lot of stores they've been making the identical
03:51products to like the big name brands just for a smaller price. It's like the
03:55same ounces in each of the bags but just a better price like I said. You're
04:00totally going to get a kick out of this one but normally I always grab a block
04:04of cheese over like the pre-shredded cheese because with the pre-shredded
04:08cheese you almost always pay significantly more money because you're
04:12paying for them to shred it but for today I saw the pre-shredded cheese was
04:1627 cents cheaper and so I'm going with the pre-shredded cheese today so I just
04:21thought that was a little bit funny but next I'm grabbing a bag of stir-fry
04:24veggies. I looked around at the different prices and I noticed the deluxe bag was
04:29cheaper so I'm going with the deluxe bag. There's a great variety of different
04:32veggies in that and then you can't go wrong with a bag of carrots so I'm
04:36throwing the carrots into my cart. Before I check out here's a little rundown of
04:40everything that I'm picking up today to hopefully stay in my budget for this
04:45month. First a five-pound bag of russet potatoes, my bag of Spanish rice and then
04:50a frozen seasoning blend of veggies. I love the seasoning blend and then my
04:54frozen peas and then a can of corn I also grabbed. Smaller can of diced
04:58tomatoes, cream of mushroom soup, larger can of diced tomatoes, diced tomatoes
05:03with green chilies and tomato paste. Then I have my biscuits, ramen noodles, sausage
05:07and then I also grabbed my carrots of course. Then a bag of lentils. I'm excited
05:12about those lentils and rice. Then I have my spaghetti and my chicken drumsticks.
05:17Then I picked up a package of hot dogs and frozen spinach. I also have my
05:21bouillon cubes and some shell pasta and then I have my box of macaroni and
05:26cheese and pepperoni along with an onion, two cans of pasta sauce, my mozzarella
05:32cheese, tortillas and then I have my garlic, pinto beans, jiffy corn muffin
05:37mix and then my stir-fry veggie mix. I am so excited. Let's get home and let's get
05:42to cooking this month.
05:50The first dinner we're getting started on this month is this seasoned chicken
05:54and rice casserole. I have two cups of hot water right here. Add one of our
05:59bouillon cubes right into that water. Kind of stir it around for a minute and
06:03let that bouillon cube get dissolved. So now we kind of have like broth. You'll
06:08need about one cup of white rice for this recipe. Make sure it's uncooked rice
06:12and then this is totally optional. Some people like to do it, some people don't
06:16but I'm just going to rinse my rice off just in a strainer over the sink right
06:21now. Now grab a 9 by 13 baking dish. Spray it with nonstick spray then add
06:25your broth right in there. Next you're going to add your rice in and then
06:30you're going to add the seasonings in. For the seasonings I'm using salt, pepper,
06:33onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and Italian seasoning. I am using seasonings
06:39in all of these meals for this month. They're kind of like pantry staple
06:43seasonings but besides seasonings and oil I am using everything that we grabbed
06:47from the store. After you add all of your seasonings in, give this a really good
06:52whisk to kind of combine the ingredients all together.
07:00Now I'm going to sort my chicken. I have my big bag of chicken drumsticks right
07:05here. I'm going to place some of the drumsticks right into my casserole and
07:09then I'm going to place some in a bag and then some in a smaller bag. I'm not
07:14sure what I'm going to do with the rest of the drumsticks but like I said I'm
07:17placing some into the casserole and then I'm going to store some in my fridge or
07:21my freezer for later use throughout this month. And then over the top of the
07:26chicken casserole I am going to season the chicken with a little bit more salt,
07:30pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika. You could
07:34always use different seasonings if you'd like but these seasonings are really
07:38good in this casserole. Cover this tightly with foil and bake this in a
07:42preheated oven to 350 degrees for about 60 minutes. After the baking time is up
07:47remove the foil and bake it for about five more minutes. Here's what this
07:52casserole looks like out of the oven and here's what it looks like plated up.
07:56That chicken is fall apart tender and that seasoned rice is just seasoned so
08:01well. I did serve my little ones plates with some peas on the side. I just steamed
08:05those peas up. I used about a quarter of the can of peas and then this chicken
08:10casserole made so much we actually had it for leftovers for the next day. So
08:16this was kind of like a cook once, eat twice meal. There was plenty leftover. We
08:21used about half the first day and then half the second day and then to store
08:25the peas I just saved them in a little glass container like this in my fridge.
08:30The same with a casserole. For dinner on day three this month we are having a fun
08:35pizza night so grab a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or foil. I'm adding
08:40four of our tortillas down and then I'm going to kind of arrange them then over
08:44the top of the tortillas I am spraying them with a little bit of oil spray. Then
08:48I'll flip the tortillas over. This is just going to help soak the backside of
08:52the tortillas get nice and crispy while they're baking. Now I have one of our
08:55cans of pasta sauce. I'm only using about 3 quarters cup of the pasta sauce. I'll
09:01save the rest in a glass container in my fridge for a future recipe but just
09:06brush the sauce all over the top of the tortilla. Now sprinkle the top of your
09:10tortilla pizzas with a little bit of the cheese and then I do want to let you
09:14know this is kind of like a spinoff of the French bread pizza recipe in my
09:18cookbook. My cookbook is full of delicious easy affordable recipes if you
09:23don't have one yet but over the top of the cheese I'm adding some of our
09:27pepperonis and then over the top of the pepperonis I'll add a little bit more
09:31cheese and Italian seasoning just for added flavor. This will bake in a
09:35preheated oven to 425 degrees for about 10 minutes. Once the baking time is up
09:41you can enjoy your pizzas. Don't they just look so beautiful? Dinner on day
09:46three was a complete hit in my house. Everybody loved it. I served my little
09:50one's pizza alongside of one of the carrots that I cut up into smaller
09:54pieces from the bag of carrots. I also served it with a little bit of ranch to
09:58dip the pizza in. This one didn't cross over to day four's dinners. This was just
10:03day three's dinners. There wasn't enough for leftovers at all. We loved it. For our
10:08dinner tonight on day four I'm deciding to make this ramen stir-fry. It really
10:12sounds good. To a pot of boiling water add in all three packets of the ramen. Do
10:17not add in the seasoning packets. Go ahead and save those seasoning packets
10:21to the side but just cook that ramen until those noodles are tender. Now over
10:26to this pan I'm adding in half of our bag of the stir-fry veggies. I'm also
10:31adding in a tablespoon of olive oil. Just cook those veggies until they are
10:35tender but now that my ramen is tender I am going to strain the ramen and I am
10:41going to set our ramen to the side. Now back over to those stir-fry veggies. Now
10:46that the stir-fry veggies are tender I'm adding in one of our packets of the
10:50chicken flavor ramen. Do not add in all three just add in one of those seasoning
10:55packets. You could use the other seasoning packets for different recipes.
10:59I'm also adding in 1 4th a cup of low-sodium soy sauce and then this
11:03drained ramen. Give this a stir. Let it cook together for a couple of minutes
11:08then you could serve this quick and easy dinner up. Here's what dinner looks
11:12like. This dinner was absolutely delicious. It's packed full of so many
11:16different nutrient-rich veggies. My husband said I need to make it more
11:20often. This also made for dinners for days 4 and 5 so we had leftovers for
11:25the next day's dinners which was amazing. So this one was a cook once eat twice
11:29meal. We absolutely loved it. It was so so good. Now for day 6 this week we are
11:37making this pizza pasta. So to a pot of boiling water on the stove add in a
11:41half a pound of our shell pasta. Just cook that pasta according to the package
11:46instructions and while I do have our pasta cooking away I am going to get
11:50started on the pepperoni. I'm using the remaining pepperoni that we didn't use
11:54from the pizza night. I'm cutting the pepperoni into smaller kind of like
11:58bite-sized pieces. This is going to get the pepperoni to kind of like go further
12:02and then it's just going to be a lot easier to eat when it is in smaller
12:06pieces just like this.
12:18Now that my shell pasta is tender I am just going to strain it just over the
12:23sink like this and then I am going to add in about 2 cloves of our garlic. I'm
12:28mincing the garlic in. I'll stir the garlic around for about 15 seconds. This
12:33will make the pasta extra flavorful. It is just going to add a lot of added
12:38flavor for such a minimal cost. It really is going to taste a lot more elegant and
12:43kind of high-end. Adding that garlic in there just fresh like that. Now I added
12:48our cut up pepperoni along with a half a teaspoon of salt pepper and Italian
12:52seasoning. I am going to give this a stir so those pepperoni pieces kind of
12:56separate. Next I'm going to add in the remaining pasta sauce from our pizza
13:01night so add that right in there. I am going to give this a stir. I'll also
13:05cover it with a lid and let it simmer for about 5 minutes stirring it
13:09occasionally.
13:15Now that the cooking time is up I'm going to add in the remaining mozzarella
13:19cheese from our pizza night. Give this a stir, let the cheese melt down and then
13:24you could serve this easy dinner up. This dinner comes together in minutes. It is so
13:29quick and easy to throw together. You have the protein in there from all of
13:33that pepperoni. There's so much pepperoni in it. We actually had this for dinner on
13:37day 6 and 7. So we had it for two nights dinners just because it really did
13:42make so much food. We loved it and we enjoyed eating it. I am so thrilled right
13:48now. We made it to week 2 dinner. So this is week 2 dinners dinner day 1. We are
13:53making corn dog muffins. I have my hot dogs I cut into smaller pieces. Now grab
13:58a bowl add your jiffy corn muffin mix right into that bowl. Since I don't have
14:03any milk on hand since I didn't buy it with my groceries I'm adding in 1 3rd
14:07a cup of water instead of milk for my corn muffins. I do have some eggs on hand
14:12so I added in an egg but if you don't have eggs on hand I have made these
14:16corn muffins without eggs and they turn out quite well without an egg but whisk
14:19this well. Now grab a muffin pan and spray your muffin pan with nonstick
14:24spray. Add a scoop or two of your muffin mix into each of your corn muffins and
14:28then you're going to place about three hot dog pieces into each of your corn
14:33muffins. This makes for a ton of food. Bake this in your preheated oven to 400
14:38degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes. I also did sprinkle a little bit of
14:43paprika over the top for added flavor and color.
14:51These corn dog muffins make for a great quick easy dinner. We had about three of
14:57them left over so not quite enough for like a full leftover dinner but I'm sure
15:01we will eat them up on a random leftover night this week. Whenever I make pinto
15:06beans I really like to batch make them so I like to make a larger amount all at
15:10once and then use them throughout recipes so that is what we are doing now.
15:14I'm just sorting through the beans. Sometimes you'll find like a little rock
15:19in your beans but that is very unlikely especially in these bags from the store
15:23but now I'm just rinsing the beans super well to make sure they are clean. Another
15:28thing you could do is you could soak your beans overnight. I totally didn't
15:31remember to do that though but now to this large pot I'm adding my beans in
15:35there then I'm adding in nine cups of water or you could use broth if you'd
15:39like and then I'm going to add in my seasonings. You could use any seasonings
15:44that you like or have on hand. I'm just using two teaspoons of pepper, garlic
15:48powder, onion powder, chili powder, cumin and oregano but give this a stir and
15:53you're going to let this simmer on your stove for about three to four hours. I
15:57like to let it simmer for closer to four hours just so those beans are super
16:02tender. I just turn it on a low heat and I kind of forget about them and then
16:06after the cooking time you'll find your beans like super tender, super soft and
16:10so easy to cook with. I love batch making beans like this. This whole one pound bag
16:15of beans made cups and cups of beans. I could use these beans in so many
16:20different recipes. Now we're getting started on dinner day two this week and
16:24we are using up some of our pinto beans so to a pan on the stove add a
16:28tablespoon of olive oil then add a small amount of our onion. Let the onion cook
16:32for a couple minutes. We are making this rice and bean skillet right now but
16:36after the onions are through cooking add in a couple cloves of minced garlic. This
16:41is how much garlic we have left, a ton left, but just let that garlic cook
16:45together for about 15 seconds. Now I'm adding in 2 and 1 3rd cup of water. Next
16:51I'm adding in 1 cup of uncooked white rice along with 1 bouillon cube. Then I
16:56am adding in our can of diced tomatoes and green chilies. This is just like that
17:00hot can. Next I'm adding in 1 cup of cooked pinto beans. I'm just using the
17:04pinto beans that we cooked up a little bit earlier today. Just add in about a
17:08cup of those and I'll save the rest of the pinto beans, there's a ton left, in a
17:12container in my fridge. And then for the seasonings I'm using a teaspoon of salt,
17:16half a teaspoon of pepper, a teaspoon of chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder,
17:22and a little bit of cumin. I just added a dash in there because sometimes cumin is
17:27a little bit overpowering. Give this a stir, scrape the flavorful bits off the
17:31bottom of the pan if there is any. Then you're going to let this simmer covered
17:36for about 20 minutes. You do want to stir this occasionally while it's simmering
17:40and if you do notice the liquid line gets too low, add in about a fourth a cup
17:44more water at a time until your rice is fluffy, beautiful, and tender. Then you
17:49could serve your dinner up. This was so good. We topped ours with a little bit of
17:54black pepper. When my husband and I were struggling to make ends meet, we used to
17:58make this dinner all of the time because we always had some beans in the fridge
18:02that we'd cook up like earlier in the week or earlier in the month. So we made
18:06this all the time and this was another cook once, eat twice meal. So this is
18:10actually for dinners day two and three. For dinner on day four, we're making this
18:16chicken veggie pasta. So to a pot on the stove, I'm adding in three chicken legs.
18:20Next, I'm adding in about six cups of water and then I'm going to season the
18:24water just with a little bit of salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder,
18:29onion powder, and paprika. This is going to help give the chicken a lot of added
18:33flavor. Then I'm just going to let this chicken simmer on my stove for about 25
18:37minutes or until it is fall apart tender. And then once my chicken is fall apart
18:43tender, all I'm going to do is I'm going to remove my chicken to a bowl and then
18:47I'm going to shred it up separately. And then I have a bunch of chicken broth in
18:51my pot now. So instead of discarding it and wasting it, I'm going to save it in a
18:55pot in my fridge and I'm sure I could use this for a soup in the future. Now
19:00into the same pot that the chicken was just cooked in, I'm going to add in about
19:05a tablespoon of olive oil. Next, I'm adding in a small amount of our onion
19:09along with one of our carrots that I diced. I'll cook this together for about
19:14four minutes. After four minutes of cooking, I'm adding in half of our can
19:17of tomato paste and then I'll stir this together for about a minute just to get
19:22that tomato paste combined with the rest of the ingredients. Now I'm going to add
19:27in four cups of water. After that, add in the other half a pound of our shell
19:32pasta. So now I no longer have any shells left. Now to season this up so it's not
19:37bland, I'm adding in salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning,
19:42and I'm adding in the last of my oregano. I have had this little container of
19:47oregano for about five years now. I've been using it for five years so it has
19:53lasted me a while. I'll give this a stir and I'm going to bring it up to a boil
19:57Once this does start to boil, I am going to be adding in one cup of my frozen
20:01spinach. I have plenty of spinach left in my bag for future recipes. I'm going to
20:07let this simmer on my stove for about 15 minutes or until the pasta shells are
20:11tender. Once your pasta is tender and everything is cooked through, all you
20:15have to do is stir in that cooked chicken. I just shredded my chicken into
20:19smaller pieces but just add it in there. Let the chicken warm through and then
20:23you could serve this beautiful dinner up. This dinner was absolutely delicious.
20:28It's full of so many different nutrients from that spinach. It has so much iron in
20:33it. It has so much protein in it. This dinner was a wonderful dinner for dinner
20:37day four this week and I do want to let you know on dinner day five this week we
20:41had some of this for leftovers. Not quite enough for all of us to have it for
20:45leftovers but we also had the corn muffin hot dogs. So we had the corn dog
20:50muffins and this for leftovers on dinner day five and that was so
20:55scrumptious, so delicious. This is so nutrient-rich and amazing. I'm about to
21:01get started on dinner. We are on dinner day six and I can't wait to make this. We
21:05are making this amazing Spanish rice soup. To a large pot on the stove add in
21:09a tablespoon of olive oil. Then you're going to add in half of the seasoning
21:13blend bag of frozen veggies. Save the other half. We're just using half. Give it
21:18a stir. Let this cook on your stove for about seven minutes. Once the cooking
21:23time is up you're going to add in one cup of our cooked pinto beans. These are
21:27just the pinto beans I have in the fridge. Then add in half of our can of
21:31corn. Not the whole can, just half. Then a tablespoon of taco seasoning. I'm just
21:36using taco seasoning from my pantry but if you have my cookbook and you want to
21:41make like a homemade version of taco seasoning you could make the homemade
21:44version in the substitutions area in my cookbook. Next I'm adding in this
21:49package of Spanish rice. Then go ahead and add in your water or you could use
21:54broth. I'm using six and a half cups of water. Let this simmer on your stove for
21:59about 12 minutes covered and make sure you stir it occasionally so the rice
22:02doesn't stick to the bottom of your pot. Once it is through cooking your house
22:06will be smelling unbelievable. You will not believe how budget-friendly this
22:11dinner is. This actually made dinner for us for days six and seven. There is so
22:16much to this soup. It is so filling, delicious, and hearty. It was absolutely
22:21amazing way to end this week too. Now we're on week three so to kick week
22:27three off we are starting it very strong with this veggie pot pie. I'm ripping
22:31into my bag of potatoes and I'm going to be using three potatoes for this recipe.
22:35I peeled them and I diced them. I also diced one large carrot. Add your carrot
22:41and your potatoes into a pot of boiling water. We're going to cook them for about
22:45eight to nine minutes. You want them to get soft just because they're not going
22:49to completely cook in the oven and you don't want them crunchy. But now that my
22:54potatoes and my carrot is fork tender I am just going to strain them and I'm
22:58going to add them into a large bowl. Now into that same large bowl go ahead and
23:02add in the other half a can of the corn. Then add in one can of cream of mushroom
23:08soup and the remaining amount of peas that we have left. After you add your
23:12peas in there you're going to add in a small amount of onion. Onion goes a long
23:17way so a little bit really stretches. I only bought one for our entire month and
23:21it really is stretching us far. I also added in two cloves of garlic along with
23:25a half a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of pepper, and then I added in a
23:29half a teaspoon of paprika and Italian seasoning. Give this a good stir. If you
23:34have other pantry items on hand or anything in the freezer you could throw
23:38it into this pot pie as well but I wanted to stick with the items that we
23:41grabbed from the grocery store. Once you're through stirring this up grab a
23:459 by 13 baking dish and you're going to spray it with nonstick spray. Add your
23:49casserole right in there and spread it out super duper well.
23:59To make the crust for our pot pie we are using our biscuits so unravel your
24:05biscuits and then cut them into smaller pieces. Place them all over the top and
24:09bake this in a preheated oven to 375 degrees for about 25 to 30 minutes or
24:14until the biscuits are super golden brown and beautiful on the top. This
24:18dinner was absolutely delicious. This made for dinner for days 1 and 2 on week
24:233. It is so good, so flavorsome. I asked my little ones and my husband what they
24:28thought of it and they didn't even realize how budget-friendly it was. So
24:32this is such a great affordable dinner option. It's packed full of so many
24:35different veggies and it's so good. The dinner that we are making for day 3 is
24:40this lentil potato soup and I am over-the-top excited about it. I got my
24:45bag of lentils and I measured them out. I wanted to see how much was in the bag of
24:49lentils. We have a little under 3 cups so that's great. I'm going to use it in a
24:54few different recipes but I'm using one cup of lentils for this recipe. I'm just
24:59starting out by rinsing my lentils in water. Sometimes lentils could be a
25:02little dirty so that's why I like to do this. This isn't 100% necessary but it is
25:08good to do I'd say. Now that I'm through rinsing my lentils I'm just looking
25:12through them a little bit but overall they really do look good. To a large pot
25:16on the stove I added a tablespoon of olive oil. Now that my oil is hot I'm
25:20adding the remaining bag of onions and veggies in. I'm also adding in two
25:24cloves of garlic. I cooked that on my stove for about seven minutes then I
25:28added in one diced carrot. Let the carrot cook for three more minutes. Now I'm
25:33adding in the remaining half a can of tomato paste. Now add in all of your
25:38seasonings. I do have all of the seasonings and measurements listed for
25:42this whole month of meals below for you but I'm just adding in some basic
25:46seasoning. Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, you know all the
25:51good seasonings but I gave this a stir. Now I'm adding in my one cup of lentils.
25:55I'm also adding in one bouillon cube. This will give it added flavor. These
26:00bouillon cubes have really been stretching and I'm so thrilled about
26:03that. Next I'm adding in the broth that we saved from last week's chicken and
26:07pasta dish. I knew this would come in handy so I'm so glad I didn't waste that
26:11broth. It is so nutrient-rich. I'm also adding in five cups of water because I
26:16need a little bit more liquid in it. Then I added in three cubed potatoes
26:20and a half a cup of fresh spinach. Let this simmer on your stove covered for
26:24about 25 minutes. You do want to stir it occasionally but after the cooking time
26:29is up you are going to be so excited about this dinner. Those lentils are such
26:34a great meat substitute. They are so high in protein. This dinner is so so
26:39delicious. It has so much spinach in it, so many different veggies. The lentils
26:44are so good. This made for dinners days three and four. I am so glad that I got
26:48so much leftovers from this dinner. It really really helped us out a lot for
26:53dinner day four. Now for dinner day five you can't go wrong with classic spaghetti.
26:59So to a pot of boiling water add in your spaghetti. I'm not using the whole box of
27:04spaghetti. I'm using about 90% of it. Not the whole box. I'll save some of it maybe
27:09for a future recipe but I'm using most of it. Like I said not completely all of
27:13it. Cook your spaghetti according to the package instructions then go ahead and
27:17strain it. I'm adding it back into the pot that it was cooked in. Now I'm adding
27:22in a clove of garlic. The garlic is really going to make your noodles a lot
27:26more flavorsome and it's going to take like basic spaghetti up a notch so it
27:31really is super good. Now I'm adding in the whole can of pasta sauce. I added a
27:36little bit of water in there to get any remaining pasta sauce out of the can. Now
27:40I'm seasoning this up a little bit with a dash of salt pepper and Italian
27:44seasoning. Give this a stir. Let it simmer and then you could serve your spaghetti
27:49up. We ate all of this spaghetti. We had hardly any leftover but we pretty much
27:55just finished it all that night. It was super duper good. My little ones
27:59absolutely love spaghetti. This one was a total total winner. It is so budget
28:03friendly but really really works out nicely for an easy weeknight meal. For
28:09dinner on day six this week we are getting started on the spaghetti bean
28:12soup. So to a large pot on the stove add in a tablespoon of olive oil then add in
28:17a small amount of our onion. Just dice it. Let it cook for a couple minutes. I was a
28:22little bit worried by this point of the month we'd be tired of the meals. Maybe
28:26not eating enough or just not really enjoying them but I am here to tell you
28:30we are fully enjoying every single meal. They are full of so much flavor. Not
28:35lacking in flavor at all. Also we feel like we're eating enough and we're not
28:40feeling hungry after the meals. There's plenty of protein and they're so good so
28:44I'm excited to tell you that. But after I cooked the onion I added in some garlic.
28:48I also added in one of the flavor packets from the ramen. I also added in
28:53nine cups of water and one cup of pinto beans and then 28 ounces of diced
28:58tomatoes. For the seasonings I'm using it's a teaspoon of chili powder, half a
29:02teaspoon of pepper, half a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of garlic powder
29:06and onion powder. Now I'm adding in a half a cup more of our frozen spinach.
29:11This frozen spinach is not done yet and I'm excited about that. I'm also adding
29:16in one of our bouillon cubes and the last thing I'm adding in is the
29:20remaining spaghetti from my box. I'll break this spaghetti up into smaller
29:24pieces so it's easier to eat in a soup. I'm going to let this simmer covered for
29:29about 15 minutes stirring it occasionally.
29:41Here's what your spaghetti bean soup will look like once it is finished
29:45simmering. Isn't that beautiful? I feel like you could get this like at a fancy
29:49restaurant and they charge you like $90 for it. Well I've never been to a
29:53restaurant like that but I'm just thinking. Anyway here's what it looks
29:57like. It is so good. We had this for dinner day six and seven. As you see
30:01there is a ton left over in this pot. We had plenty for dinner the next night.
30:06This was an amazing meal to end week three. Can you hardly believe we are on
30:11week four now? I can't believe it and it is going pretty well. I realized I
30:16haven't used any of the sausage yet so for this first dinner we are making this
30:20sausage veggie stir-fry. I added a half a pound of our sausage to this pan. I also
30:25added two peeled and diced russet potatoes, then the remaining stir-fry
30:29veggies, a small amount of our onion, one bouillon cube, and now I'm just going to
30:33break this sausage up. Then I added in a half a cup of water. I'll let this cook
30:38together for about 15 minutes stirring it occasionally until that sausage is
30:43cooked through. Now that the sausage is cooked through I'm adding in a little
30:46bit of Creole seasoning. I'm also adding in a little bit of salt and pepper. Give
30:51it a stir and then you could serve this up. This dinner is one of those dinners
30:54that just came together in minutes. We actually ate this entire dinner this
30:59night. We had absolutely no leftovers. It was so good. Those veggies are just
31:04perfect cooked like this with the sausage. I served my little ones with an
31:08apple on the side that we had on hand and they dipped theirs in ketchup as
31:11well. Now we're on the second dinner this week and we are making a sausage mac and
31:17cheese. So to a pot of boiling water add in your pasta. I'm just using our box of
31:21macaroni and cheese. Just don't add the cheese packet in yet. Cook the macaroni
31:26according to the package instructions. Now that my macaroni is cooked through
31:30just strain it and set your macaroni to the side. To the same pot the macaroni was
31:35cooked in add the other half a pound of sausage. Just break your sausage up and
31:39cook it through. I was realizing at this point that I should have broken up the
31:43sausage recipes further in the month but I really did just forget that I had the
31:47on hand until this last week of the month. But now that my sausage is cooked
31:52through I'm just removing any excess grease from my pot. Now I'm going to add
31:56in the cooked pasta that we just had cooked up. I'm also adding in the cheese
32:01packet that the pasta came with. This is really going to add quite a bit of
32:05wonderful flavor. I'm also adding in our can of petite diced tomatoes. This can
32:09has garlic and oil in it so it's really going to enhance the flavor of this dish.
32:14Give it a stir once it's all combined and cooked together for a few minutes
32:18you could serve it up.
32:23Here's what dinner for day two looks like. My husband was raving and raving
32:28about this. He didn't realize it was basically like a box of macaroni and
32:31cheese, sausage, and tomatoes. It really tastes exceptionally good. It is amazing.
32:37I served my little ones plate with apples. We also had plenty of leftovers
32:42for day three which I was really excited about. So this was another cook once eat
32:46twice meal. So so good. For dinner on day four I was a little worried that we were
32:52running out of food but trust me we got this. To a large pot on the stove add in
32:56the remaining onion along with a tablespoon of olive oil. Now I'm adding
33:00in the last carrot that we have left. I kind of shredded it and if you shred
33:04your carrots like this they kind of go further. They also have a really nice
33:08texture. So that is what I did for the last carrot. It looks like a ton more
33:12carrots than it actually is. It was just a large huge carrot that I shredded. Next
33:18add in a dash of salt and pepper and you're going to let this cook together
33:21for about seven minutes. Carrots have so many different vitamins and nutrients in
33:26them so if you could cook them into your meal like this it really is wonderful
33:30because carrots are just so inexpensive. Now I'm adding in one cup of lentils.
33:35Lentils are just a powerhouse of protein. I'm also adding in a cup of
33:39pinto beans. Make sure you freeze your pinto beans after five days in the
33:43fridge just so they don't go bad. They stay super well in the freezer. Next add
33:48in your four peeled and diced russet potatoes. Remaining fourth a cup of white
33:53rice and then a ramen flavored packet. One bouillon cube and then you're going
33:57to add in about five cups of water. I added a dash of salt and pepper in here
34:02and then I noticed that I had a couple garlic cloves left. I ended up chopping
34:07up my garlic cloves because I could not find my garlic press at all. I wonder if
34:12one of my little ones did something to it. I gave this a little stir and then I
34:15realized that I had a little bit of spinach left on hand so now I'm adding
34:19in a little bit more spinach and I'm going to let this simmer on my stove for
34:24about 25 minutes stirring it occasionally.
34:33I'll be the first to admit this isn't the most beautiful meal in the world but
34:42oh man is it good. It is full of so much protein from the pinto beans and the
34:47lentils. It is so delicious. After we had our bowls we were not hungry for any
34:52more just because it was that filling. We had plenty more for leftovers the next
34:56day though so this made for dinners days four and five. It was so good. Now for
35:02dinner on day six we are making these loaded chicken burritos. I have two
35:06chicken legs left so add your chicken legs into a large pot of water then add
35:10in any seasonings that you like. I'm just using some salt, pepper, garlic powder,
35:15onion powder, chili powder, those type of seasonings but you could use any
35:19seasonings you like. I'm kind of going for like taco seasonings just because
35:23these are going to be in some like taco burrito type of things but let this
35:27simmer on your stove for about 25 minutes or until the chickens cooked
35:31through. I did look at my potatoes and I did notice that I have four potatoes
35:35left. I'm just going to peel and cube those potatoes into smaller pieces. I'm
35:39so glad I was able to use that whole big bag of potatoes. Now that my chickens
35:44cooked through I'm just removing the chicken and I'm going to shred it up. Now
35:47into the same pot that that chicken was cooked in I am adding my lentils. This is
35:52one cup of uncooked lentils. I'll bring these lentils up to a simmer and once
35:57they do start to simmer I'll add those potatoes that I cubed right into that
36:01pot. I'll let this simmer together for about 20 minutes simmering the potatoes
36:06in that chicken broth with the seasonings and the lentils. It's just
36:09going to give everything so much great flavor. Once the simmering time is up
36:13just strain your potatoes and lentils add them back into that same pot. Next
36:18you're going to add in the remaining pinto beans. I had about two cups left so
36:22I added the two cups in there then I added in my shredded chicken along with
36:26two cloves of garlic and my seasonings. I'm going to be honest with you I'm a
36:31little nervous saying this but I was in tears at this point. I really didn't
36:36think I was going to be able to make it throughout the whole month. I did this
36:39around filming like my normal videos just to give you guys as many recipes as
36:44I could give you throughout the month but we did this behind the scenes and
36:48let me tell you it was definitely a lot of work. I was in tears making this last
36:53meal because it really was quite a bit of work throughout this whole month but
36:57I'm so glad I was able to do it. I remembered I had some spinach on hand so
37:02I added in the last of the spinach. I let this simmer for a little bit now it's
37:07time to assemble into the burritos. Just add your mixture into the burritos. This
37:11made for dinner for day six and seven for us. This made so many burritos I
37:17actually ran out of tortillas. There was so much filling. My husband and I had it
37:21for burrito bowls on one day and like I said I was in tears at this point. I was
37:26thinking about you guys a lot and I was thinking about how grateful I truly am
37:30for you. Thank you for watching this video. Thank you for sharing it with your
37:34friends and thank you for being by my side. I'll always be by your guys's side
37:38and I'm always here for you. I really am so grateful for you and from the bottom
37:42of my heart thanks for being here for me. You mean the world to me and my family. I
37:47would really love to have you over here so make sure you're subscribed so you
37:51don't miss the next video like this. Bye for now.