FEEDING A FAMILY ON A TIGHT BUDGET

[@patpeters6331]

One thing that I have learned over the years is that a little ground beef/pork/chicken, can go a long way in recipes; especially if cooking for 1. A quarter pound of ground beef still gives me a bit of meat in every bite and I never feel deprived.

[@ArdentMichelle]

so true 👍

[@teacherinrecovery]

There's 2 of us and for most meals, I use only half a pound of ground turkey. If I do use the whole thing, there's leftovers for lunch the next day.

[@peggywalker2103]

Hi Michelle, I really like your channel! One thing I do with ground beef is I have started adding 1/2 ground beef to half cooked lentils for bologanise, soups etc. It makes the meat go so far and I find the texture of the cooked lentils is similar to the beef :)

[@ArdentMichelle]

that's such a great idea 👍 Thanks for sharing!

[@mustwereallydothis]

When I saw the title of this video I thought you were making two meals for a single person and I thought that was impressive. Now I find out that it's two healthy and tasty familly dinners for 4. Wow!

[@ArdentMichelle]

Glad you like my video! 😁

[@tonifloerchinger3462]

I loved this...adapted it to what I had...cabbage, onion, celery, carrots and zucchini..saute in olive oil. Added rice and sauted. Then added pinch of br sugar, 2 1/2 cups beef broth and 1 can fire roasted tomato. It was wonderful!

[@ArdentMichelle]

I'm so glad you liked this and thanks so much for sharing your version. Sounds very good! I love zucchini in everything.

[@BrowneyedGirlmjd]

This looks so good. It is literally a cabbage roll in a bowl only it’s a lot easier and less fussy to make. Yummy! And don’t worry you wont taste the cabbage! Trust me. I am a full out veggie hater and this is something that I know is delicious. Thank you for going outside your comfort zone to share a recipe that I think a lot of people are going to love. ❤️😋

[@ArdentMichelle]

Welcome. Glad you like this weeks recipe. 😁 I don't understand this "veggie hater" talk. 😂 We have to change that to "veggie lover."

[@denisebd1000]

Also I love thick soup. Because it’s more filling.

[@krista9015]

I like to make flat bread to serve with soup. It is filling and tasty

[@ArdentMichelle]

I bet that's delicious 👍

[@patpeters6331]

That was a good idea taking a screenshot of the ground beef price. I never thought of doing that, so thanks for the tip. 📱👍

[@ArdentMichelle]

sadly I have learned from experience to do this 😂

[@dawnziccardi8205]

I make a cabbage soup too. I use ground turkey and use beef broth, onion, rice, bagged cole slaw mix from aldi, a can of crushed tomatoes, a little bit of salt & pepper. I brown the meat then put everything in the crockpot. I usually share this with my mom. I didn't want to cut cabbage or the carrots so taking help with the bagged cole slaw mix saves time.

[@ArdentMichelle]

Love this! 👍

[@im7mommy]

I’m a huge fan of golumpki, but my family is large and I’m lazy. So I make essentially this with more cabbage and different spices and no broth and we serve it over rice. It’s relatively quick, easy and cheap.

[@ArdentMichelle]

I should try making that sometime 🤔 someone mentioned this recipe as a filling for peppers too, which I think sounds like a good idea!

[@denisebd1000]

I do the same, cut my meat in half to stretch it and also save on my grocery bill!

[@dianethoroughman9541]

Thank you, I love beef broth and ground beef, while I hate ham and chicken. I also like vegetarian. I am glad you tried something that wasn't quite your thing. I shared this video with my sister. She is on a very tight budget. Unlike me, she loves ham, chicken, mushrooms, and etc.

[@ArdentMichelle]

Welcome 😁 I'm glad you liked this weeks recipe. I have an even better one this Sunday!

[@chellesoup]

I truly love watching your videos. Your love of fresh vegetables and healthful food options is so inspiring to me. I aspire to be more like you (eating less processed and sweetened foods).

[@ArdentMichelle]

I'm so glad you like this weeks video and that I inspire you to eat better 😁 I'm always trying to do that myself.

[@happygardener28]

Cabbage Roll soup can be adapted slightly into a deconstructed Stuffed Bell Pepper (soup/stew).

[@ArdentMichelle]

Such a great idea! Thanks for mentioning this. I'll add this to the description area of my video as an option.

[@margaretwhiting3073]

I love stuffed peppers, but they are time consuming to me. Is there an easy recipe like this stuffed cabbage soup you might share please?

[@happygardener28]

@@margaretwhiting3073 The only difference I ever did was to use 1/3rd of the cabbage Michelle used, and added large cuts of sweet peppers and Worcestershire sauce. There are several excellent recipes online and at least one here on YT.

[@teacherinrecovery]

​​@@margaretwhiting3073brown your meat with your pepper and onion then add the rest of your ingredients including cooked rice and warm through. For soup I toss the leftovers in a pot with beef broth and simmer til warm.

[@forgivenandredeemed9460]

With the leftover supplies you could make a simple version of eggroll in a bowl minus the egg...ground beef, cabbage , thin sliced carrots. Garlic and onion powder ( if you don't want fresh) add soy sauce ( plus a pinch of oyster sauce if you have , bit not necessary) mix cooked rice in or serve on top ( I like mine mixed) Simple way to utilize the leftover ingredients! Love this soup you made! ❤

[@ArdentMichelle]

Great suggestion 👍 sounds yummy! Glad you like this! 😁

[@susanamariapereirasoares7188]

that looks more like "arroz malandro", "runny rice" than soup 😍 you might want to check out those Portuguese rice recipes.

[@mommajo]

My husband prefers thick/stewy type soups while I prefer pureed/brothy soups. I'll definitely give the cabbage roll soup a try!

[@ArdentMichelle]

I'm with you on the love of broth soups. 👍 You could always make it a little thinner as a compromise 😂

[@elenacala]

You could use that other half of beef to make beef stroganoff, or asian lettuce wraps, or beef and potato burritos.

[@ArdentMichelle]

Love all those ideas! 👍

[@teacherinrecovery]

The gardein "beef" is pretty good. I used it for 3 different dinners. It was really good in spaghetti sauce. Their "fish" is good too. Same look and texture. My SO had no idea until i told him!

[@ArdentMichelle]

that's funny! 😁 I've never tried the vegan fish because I haven't thought I would like it since I don't think I would like the taste of fish. 🤔

[@allyrooh3628]

Excellent flavor choices as usual. Could definitely make beef egg roll in a bowl kind of thing with the cabbage and the beef if you have spices at home as well. I hope you’re doing good at work. Sounds like long hours. Take care of yourself.

[@ArdentMichelle]

Great idea! 👍 It's going well. I'm supposed to be receiving my regional work assignment next Friday. So looking forward to figuring that out, but it's all going very well. Thanks so much for asking.

[@RG-dn5yd]

Thank you so much for your channel! I love getting new recipes from you on Sundays. Monday has become our “soup day.” My daughter and I go grocery shopping on Monday for the ingredients and have a nice soup for dinner. It’s always delicious! My husband liked the one that had all the ginger in it. ☺️

[@RG-dn5yd]

OK I had to come back and leave another comment now that I made the soup. It is perfect! My four-year-old and I are devouring it! The only changes that I did are lean ground turkey instead of beef, half of an onion instead of onion powder, and low sodium chicken broth instead of boullion, but other than that I followed it to a T and the flavors are perfect! Thank you!

[@ArdentMichelle]

That's so awesome! 😁 I just love reading comments like this. I'm so glad you liked the soup. Also glad your family likes the soup with the ginger in it. Honestly I can't get enough of that soup, although it's started to warm up here in California so I think my soup loving days are limited. 😂 I love being able to bond with my family over food, and it sounds like you do too! I'm excited to share Sundays recipe with you, because my entire family LOVED it! See you Sunday!

[@margaretwhiting3073]

How about a small bag of shredded cabbage instead of a full cabbage?

[@BrowneyedGirlmjd]

That’s the only thing I ever buy I never buy a whole head of cabbage and chop it up myself!

[@ArdentMichelle]

definitely! Thanks for mentioning this. I forgot to. SamsClub has a huge bag for less than $2

[@NoOneUKnow-c3y]

Thanks for the great idea, I love cabbage rolls. See you next time.

[@ArdentMichelle]

welcome 😁 see you Sunday!

[@danasandlin2435]

I think that I might have oven roasted or fried the cabbage, carrot and added onion, before adding to the soup, to boost the flavor profile...dts/usa

[@breezybre2670]

Were the carrots hard? Should I put the carrots in way before the cabbage tp let them soften first?

[@ArdentMichelle]

They were al dente for the first bowl and soft for the ones the next day. 😂 I hate mushy carrots, myself.. .. but it really depends on how you like your carrots. I

[@glorytogodhomestead3495]

Zucchini would be a good option instead of cabbage, I love cabbage too!

[@ArdentMichelle]

agreed 👍

[@kippytx]

All the recipes sound delicious. Thanks

[@ArdentMichelle]

My pleasure 😊

[@thegigiollieshow8768]

So much more convenient also than making cabbage rolls I have never made the cabbage roll soup but I'm going to thank you for sharing but I love making I call it unstuffed green pepper soup so then I decided I had so many squash and zucchini in my garden last season I love stuffing them also and baking in the oven so instead of stuffing and baking in the oven I started making unstuffed zucchini soup it is delicious you can do it with so many vegetables and options of sales and clearance vegetables and produce section the possibilities are endless when you sit and think about it thank you for sharing I adore you and your videos so much great big hugs 🖤

[@ArdentMichelle]

I love the idea of stuffed zucchini. Also the soup options, but it's getting hot here already. 😳 Glad you enjoy my videos 💜

[@ArdentMichelle]

I also wanted to mention that someone said this would be good in stuffed peppers, which I think would be great. 👩‍🍳

[@martahagenhoyer9165]

I was looking for a rice recipe and found Thai coconut rice with ginger. Used jasmine rice, one can lite coconut milk, ginger and some spices. I had got chicken thighs for 49 cents a lb at Fred Meyer. Added broccoli and it made a nice meal. Next time I would use half the coconut milk and mix with water to save. The vegetable was the most expensive! I don’t think I’ll ever find that price for chicken again and my freezer was full so could only buy one tray. I baked the chicken with lime juice and paprika. Delicious!

[@ArdentMichelle]

Wow that sounds like a delicious meal! I'm saving this to make sometime for my channel. Thanks for sharing this!

[@rebekahhansen1112]

Great looking recipes and all the alternative suggestions. Purchased some red mesh bags at Kroger and now i need to figure out a recipe for parsnips . Only used them a couple times. I was lucky to get green peppers in one and yellow squash in the other. Great deal for 1 dollar each.

[@ArdentMichelle]

I haven't eaten parsnips much but I bet they are good roasted or in a soup. Same here....I've only used them a few times. Someone thought this soup would be great in a stuffed pepper...and I agree! I'll probably make a plant based in the future for myself.

[@rebekahhansen1112]

@@ArdentMichelle yes Michelle I'll roast them and than add coconut milk, lime , a little ginger , veg broth, garlic smoked paprika blend it and make soup....thank you for your suggestion 😊

[@charlottekearn5185]

Thanks!

[@ArdentMichelle]

💜 Thank you so much Charlotte! I appreciate the support! 😁

[@FranCollins-f5o]

This soup looks good. The brown sugar was unexpected, but maybe it was to balance the acidity in the tomato sauce. I will give this a go. Thanks.

[@ArdentMichelle]

I was surprised to see brown sugar in so many recipes. For me, I don't think it's necessary.

[@VictoriaFerland-gu7rb]

Hello 👩‍🍳 Michelle ❤it’s Sunday and relaxing watching your video makes my day brighter. Soups and Stews and today’s featured recipe is a favorite though I have not used brown sugar or bullion. I use ground turkey more than beef. I do need to give the plant based “beef” a try sometime. A soup I like is one I eat just to eat and it’s the cabbage soup diet and it’s vegan friendly. CHALLENGE for $1 per meal. I know you can do it. Have a great week. 💟

[@ArdentMichelle]

Thanks so much. Hope your week has been great too friend! 😁

[@VictoriaFerland-gu7rb]

@@ArdentMichelle thank you 😊 my friend. I am happy you are well. A busy week for me. A good one because I have been spending some extra time with my dad. 💟

[@CMarie404]

Lovely. thank you. I happen to have a small pack of ground meat, a head of cabbage, and some carrots that need to be used up. Freakishly good timing on this video :) The weather is still chilly, and it just sounds good. Cabbage and carrots lend plenty of sweetness. I like brothy or thick. My husband prefers less broth, so I often make "stewp". My go-to term for a thick soup. I figure I can always water it down. Very few recipes I follow to the letter. Like you said, use a recipe as a list of ingredients. From there just figure it out, make adjustments. Not too often something needs to be exact.

[@ArdentMichelle]

We only have a few more weeks to get our soup fix in before the weather turns warm! 😂 I just walked my dog and it was quite chilly out and I'm in Southern California, but it did get up to the 80's one day last week! Feeling a desperate need to get in all my cold weather meals before it's too late 😁

[@CMarie404]

@@ArdentMichelle haha, exactly. Lately I have been meal planning based on temps,. 😆I need to use up stuff best suited for cold weather dishes before it gets too warm. Thick hot soup just doesnt hit the same when its toasty outside.

[@ArdentMichelle]

@@CMarie404 so true 😂

[@diannemarcantonio5954]

Maybe add the carrots when you add the liquid. They need to be softer. Substitute green peppers for cabbage. Looks very good.

[@ArdentMichelle]

I added the carrots in later because I hate mushy carrots....but that's just personal preference of course. Green peppers would be good in this, and also using the soup as a stuffing for stuffed peppers.

[@elizabethmay7262]

SHINEE is my favourite group. Keys, Taemin, Minho, and Onew. Heartbroken about Jonghun ❤

[@vinnydabarber]

That looks really good, I love cabbage soup! Anything with cabbage in it actually. YUM! 😇❤

[@ArdentMichelle]

I have to agree.. I've become a real cabbage lover! 😁

[@lenoraw1098]

Thank you from Oklahoma! ♥️🇺🇸♥️

[@ArdentMichelle]

Welcome! 😁 Thanks for tuning in this week! 💜

[@SelfTaughtWeightloss]

Thanks for this recipe. I’m making it this week.

[@ArdentMichelle]

Welcome 😁 Glad you like it. Make sure to customize it to suit your tastes.

[@ShettikkaWoods-jl8iq]

Peace ✌🏾🕊️ and blessings 🙏🏾💞💞

[@ArdentMichelle]

Thanks and right back at ya! 💜

[@ginah3910]

Thanks for posting!

[@ArdentMichelle]

Thanks for watching! 😁

[@darkrandom9947]

That soup looks so good!

[@ArdentMichelle]

Glad you think so! 😁

[@auntiepam5649]

I add my rice last because it cooks faster, I don’t like mine that mushy.

[@annmich4593]

❤

[@ArdentMichelle]

💜

[@connieblack5276]

Love your channel! Good job! Thanks again.

[@ArdentMichelle]

Welcome 😁 Thank YOU for watching!

[@mattparke4370]

Your logo character is soooo cute! Lol

[@thegigiollieshow8768]

I apologize also for no punctuation in my last great big comment or any speaking errors I am legally blind so I have to do voice text I hope you can decipher it I apologize I can't see all the mistakes I make great big hugs I just wanted to let you know 🖤

[@ArdentMichelle]

No apologies necessary friend! 😁I'll take you just the way you are! 💜

[@Dee-ps3um]

❤❤❤

[@ArdentMichelle]

💜

[@chrisharmon5453]

Your hamburger patty that popped up in your search reminded me of an early online shopping mistake I made. I bought toddler tap shoes instead of child size ones. Not returnable due to the extreme discount I got 😅

[@ArdentMichelle]

It's some trickery in marketing I think. 😂

[@Ericaaaaaaaaaa]

Have you ever made mujaddarra? It's a super budget friendly Middle Eastern dish of rice, lentils, and onions, topped with crispy fried onions. So good! 😋

[@ArdentMichelle]

No but I've made koshari which has a couple more ingredients and I loved it. Mujaddarra has been on the bucket list though

[@charlottekearn5185]

Hi Michelle, I love cabbage soup, I like my soups thick or thin depending on what kind of soup. I don't usually buy soup but there was a grand opening of a new store here and I saw a boxed soup called super greens, it has potatoes, onions and carrots plus spices also but it's mainly broccoli,peas and spinach. If the taste is good I would probably try my own recipe with the same kind of ingredients. It sounds healthy. I don't eat a lot of soup in the summer months but they are generally inexpensive. Have a great week and see you next Sunday. Charlotte

[@ArdentMichelle]

The warm weather is almost upon us here in California so I'm not sure how many more soups I'll do, but like you said they are so inexpensive that I really do like to feature them on my channel. That soup sounds interesting and delicious! 😋 I love spinach in my soups. I hope you have a great week friend, with lots of good eats!

[@colettebishop2173]

There are always chilled soups, like gazpacho or vichyssoise

[@charlottekearn5185]

@@colettebishop2173 Yes 💯, I love gazpacho.

[@Jaydit7]

I've made the cabbage soup with Impossible ground and it turned out great...I even fooled some omnivores!

[@ArdentMichelle]

That Impossible stuff definitely tastes like meat!😂

[@naty1012]

I would like to make cabbage rools. Do you have a recipe for it?

[@ArdentMichelle]

I don't although I think this recipe could easily be adapted to that.

[@teresitap5778]

I don't eat meat but this even looked good to me.

[@ArdentMichelle]

I think it would be great with plant based burger crumbles too!

[@naty1012]

The soup looks more like a stew but I'm sure it tasted great.

[@margaretwhiting3073]

Is there a way I can be alerted when you are starting a new video? I was watching the 3 dinners for $9 when this came on, (glad I didn’t miss this one!) I have almost everything for the soup, no meat this week, but it will be a nice change from my fried potato sandwiches. (Very very low price but seriously filling.)

[@lealeaj3662]

Turn on your notifications, by hitting the bell

[@LisaHenderson-gy8lq]

How do you make a fried potato sandwich

[@margaretwhiting3073]

@@LisaHenderson-gy8lq 1 regular potato washed and sliced, thin slices: crunchy, thick: softer but not mushy. I use both. Just fry in a skillet with some oil or whatever you have, salt & pepper plus whatever seasoning you like. Fry till browned then just layer on a slice of bread, I used mustard on my bread with a little butter and enjoy ( but I’ve had it with a simple slice of American cheese and it’s SO GOOD. My mother was a small child and her mom made this for the family’s lunches

[@ArdentMichelle]

The potato sandwich sounds good. 😋 Yum! I try to always release videos on Sunday mornings at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time but please turn on notifications so that you're alerted when I release a new video. I'll try to show how to do that in my next video.

[@ireneroy8820]

I buy the 3 lbs of ground beef @$2.49 lb. 3 lbs.=$7.49 Make 6 meals out of it for my husband and I

[@ArdentMichelle]

That is a great deal 👍 love this!

[@comatoseps1382]

From where at that price? Walmart is 4.99/lb most times near me.

[@ireneroy8820]

@@comatoseps1382 Kroger when on sale, in a 3 lb. Roll 80/20 (when it’s not on sale, it is almost $15 for 3Lbs. Walmart is expensive on most meats and Meat hardly goes on sale there. I also buy the $3.49-$3.99 beef chuck roast On sale at Kroger or Albertsons Also have to look out for loss liters, every week This week I purchased 2-3 lbs. white onions 🧅 2- 1 lb. Strawberries 🍓 2- large cantaloupes 🍈 10- ears of sweet corn 🌽 1-bunny (brand) sandwich bread for $14 @ Albertsons A half gallon milk 🥛 for $1.59 at Kroger.. These items is all I needed to buy For This weeks groceries.

[@arthrodea]

Yum, when you were dishing it out I thought it looked like lentil soup - which then gave me the idea to just make this with lentils! I personally don’t like ground beef, including the vegan version - I hate the crumbly texture of both.

[@ArdentMichelle]

Lentils would be great in this! I also think this would be good with some wheat berries!

[@uweschroeder]

I don't think meat is expensive. If anything it's way way too cheap because it's produced industrially in a not so nice way - for the animals that is. I went shopping today (and I live less than 400 miles from you in the same state, so pricing is similar. Actually I just came back from a Florida trip and pricing there was similar to the west coast). So today brown chicken (anything but breast) was 99c a lbs on sale and 93/7 ground beef was 2.97 a pound if you buy 3lbs or more. That's not Walmart or a discount store but just a regular grocery store sale and yes, I think that's way too cheap because it's produced without any respect for the animal whatsoever. There are vegetables that cost more. I visited the USVI recently and we tend to go to local small restaurants and street food vendors when traveling and the best meal we had was a place on the side of the street with 4 dishes - all done traditionally from locally grown and raised ingredients. Of course they came bone and all so they were a bit "fuzzy" to eat, but they were excellent and clearly showed that locally produced meat (goat and chicken in this case) doesn't have to be excruciatingly expensive when used responsibly (not that the USVI are cheap to go to - I think the cheapest thing there is gasoline which is about as expensive as in California at currently around $5.50, but I digress). Little goes a long way to make a dish. Steak and large cuts are just decadent when it comes to meat use and sadly many think a good meal requires a large chunk of animal protein which couldn't be further from the truth. Stews, soups, sauces etc. all require little meat and deliver a big bang for the buck. People just need to learn how to cook such meals and rediscover what our ancestors have known for centuries.

[@Caitlin1928]

It's kind of surprising to me that you don't like beef or beef broth. Is it just ground beef or any cut of beef? I'm sure there's chicken variation of this somebody could try. Maybe without the tomato sauce though.

[@ArdentMichelle]

It's just a taste thing. Even my oldest son that loves beef, prefers the flavor of chicken broth in recipes instead of beef broth.

[@ireneroy8820]

More meat videos please? In a weekly shopping plan and cooking it too. Thank You

[@ArdentMichelle]

Unfortunately since I work full time now, it's harder to produce the weekly meal plan videos but I'll try to squeeze in more meat videos. 😁

[@ShettikkaWoods-jl8iq]

I saw this online, pork fat, Cook it, pour the fat in a mason jar place beef in it, preserves the beef 🍖...what the people in the great depression era did. Much healthier than butter 🧈❤ it was interesting 🤔

[@ArdentMichelle]

That's an idea 👍

[@moonstoneway2694]

Thank you!

[@ArdentMichelle]

Welcome! 😁