When you're hungry the food pyramid goes out the window and anyone who wants to argue that fact has issues. You're doing a great job so just keep being YOU. Great video again as always. Much love and prayers. 🙏❤

💗You probably don't know how many people you have been helping with your channel .... but you are! Thank you for Brooke !!!

You are doing the viewing world a great service by teaching people how to stretch the few food dollars they have, Keep up the great education of the masses. We love you.😀

😁 THANK YOU for calling out all the "Karens"! They frustrate me to no end 🙄 Good video on making do with a little & being satisfied with it!

Brooke, I just can't say enough good things about you, you're just precious. Anyone who gives you grief about the emergency meals you prepare (which look delicious) well,they've probably never had to make do. You handle any sayers well. Thank you for sharing.

I lost it at "I'm sorry, Karen". I love you Brooke and the donuts, budget or not look so good right now. Have a glorious day and be blessed always! xoxo

Dusty, to those who take offense to your "military" shirts in my opinion they don't deserve to live in our America. We are the home of the free and brave. I come from a line of military family and I love my country. And I'm proud of our service men and women. You just keep sporting your shirts!

Anyone that criticizes these videos,has obviously never been broke. Or had to live paycheck to paycheck. I love these videos. You do a great job

When your hungry you don't care about healthy. We made biscuit donuts every weekend as a kid. We fried them an rolled them in cinnamon and sugar. If we were lucky mom made glaze. Love you ideas it helps to realize what you can do with very little.

Girlfriend, you are a woman after my own heart. I really admire your spunk and your grit. Atta girl.

The funnest part of watching these videos is seeing all my kitchens utensils in the video. I have the same Pioneer Woman supplies you have. It's like being in my own kitchen.

Thank you for saying this ❤️ it's absolutely infuriating to me when people try to food shame others, if you only have a few dollars and your kids are hungry you feed them whatever you can afford and don't let anyone make you feel bad for it, the only thing those kids know is that they're not going to bed hungry.

Let's all help Brooke by letting the ads play during her videos. Thx everyone. As always watching from Ontario Canada 🇨🇦

On blessing boxes what good to give is when I go to food bank and get things my family can't use. So I first offer it up on a local mom site that everything is free. Every area has one. We as mom's are strong force and can help each other. But if I have anything or find good deal at store I share with blessing boxes. We have over 20 in our county. It's awesome. We have one local that just for homeless or those who can't cook. We have a lot of latch key kids. Single moms working. In one apartment I lived in I use to always make extra there was always a hungry kid around. My daughter would bring kids to the house all the time. She say my mom loves you so sit down so she can feed you. I dressed and bath a few kids too. You can't go to school unclean. You get pick on. And hard to learn. See a kid in need try to help if you. can. Thanks for all you can do.

I know you like adobo seasoning so if you run out of premade store bought adobo you mix your own seasoning! Adobo Seasoning Recipe Mix 1/4 cup garlic powder +1/4 cup salt +1 Tablespoon oregano + 1 Tablespoon cumin + 1/2 teaspoon turmeric. I enjoy your channel presenting different meal ideas. Nellie Bakare

Hello Brooke. This is Darlene in Florida. Best use of 5 dollars ever. Loved the Christmas card your family sent me and I love watching your channel. You are very welcome and thank you for acknowledging me. Have a wonderful day 💗 😊

It today's world everyday is a tight budget day . Thanks for the inspiration 🙏

Just a reminder too, some Walmart's sell Family Size soup cans, which are usually less priced than the 2 regular cans.

I always check the Walmart clearance section and I came across reduced boxes of cereal - I chose the healthiest which were marked $5.48 [ I wouldn't buy it at that price ] but checked with an employee to find it was $1.91 , a price I will pay. I stocked up 4 boxes enough for one person for a very long time. So, a box of reduced cereal and a container of shelf stable milk and you have an emergency breakfast quick and easy !

For the Karen’s: part of the pantry challenge can be stocking up on canned fruit & veg or better yet, frozen. These can be saved for weeks when you’re tight on budget and need veg and fruit. Cheap protein to stock up in the pantry: tinned fish, chicken, or turkey or Walmart spam knockoff, nut butter, beans, cottage cheese (you can freeze it and still make lasagne with it when you’re ready).

i love your emergency videos, im on an extremely limited income and your videos give me so many ideas

YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY !!! LOVE YOUR SHOWS !!!!

I love how you can always put together so many meals with so little. You are the queen of budget meals Brooke. What breaks my budget are dietary restrictions on carbs, because spaghetti squash costs so much more than a box of pasta, but with a tight budget, we all do what we have to do, don't we? Thank you for showing us ideas and how to stretch that dollar out. Love you for being you!

A good way to add more bulk to the tomato soup - I always keep a Ziploc of cooked white rice in my freezer, you can add some rice to the tomato soup and it's really filling. Add it at the very end, or you risk having the rice expand and get mushy.

Brooke your the best sweetie. I am recently divorced. Im use to having plenty. Now Im having near nothing so these videos really help me out. Thanks sweetie. Love ya❤

At my Walmart pasta in the Hispanic food aisle is less expensive than regular pasta.

Thank you for making these budget videos! I appreciate you and don’t listen to the “Karen’s” because you absolutely ROCK❤

I would love to see you do a meal plan around things that come in food/ blessing boxes.

Thank you for all that you do to help/inform others. I especially appreciate your honesty and the realization that you are one of the most "Real" people in KZfaq land. Continue to make memories with your family. One of the most precious gifts we can give to another is our time. Thank you for sharing your time with us.

When I was little my mom would take biscuit dough, dip it into melted butter and then into a cinnamon sugar mix. She baked it in the oven and it would come out all caramel-ly and gooey!😋

My kids loved elbow macaroni in tomato soup. They still eat it now and I have seen my grandchildren eat it now. They love it too.

The Barilla protein pasta is so yummy and filling. Perfect for this type frugal challenge.

My son and I had a box of macaroni and cheese with some left over ham diced and added to it for supper tonight. It was easy for me and tasty. So what if we had no veggies tonight. You don’t have to have veggies every supper meal. We had some left over too.

I have been binge watching your content lately, and I love it! So many creative ideas! I LOVE your positivity 🥰

My absolutely favorite meal when I wad home sick as a kid. My mom would fry the croutons in cast iron to brown and the best part was the hiss when the hot bread hit the soup. Thanks for the reminder!

The kids are fed. Job done 👍🙏

We have been looking for those kind of biscuits for months. I love using the air fryer. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and not worry about how healthy the food is. Thank you for more creative ideas.

I'm dating myself, but I can remember when the biscuits were 5/$1. Great video!

I think 5.00 meals are great and you can put a week of 5.00 meals together to have a low spend week. No says you have to eat like this forever or you can't add extra food if you have more money. I think these videos are a great way to help us all stretch our food budget.

Flashback to college! I used to use the hotplate part of my popcorn popper with oil and make these in the dorm! (40yrs ago) ok now I feel really old.

Have you ever tried making pasta sauce out of tomato soup or just tomato paste? It is very good: use a small amount of bacon drippings add some diced onion, garlic, diced carrot, S&P, Italian seasoning ( or just little basil and oregano), little wine or beef broth and touch of sugar if needed. After cooking until carrots are tender…blend in blender or food processor. You can also make a pesto sauce from the tops of carrots with Parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic and some kind of nuts( I save pecans at Christmas to use all year long).. Great on pasta, baked fish etc. Tomato soup can be used to make sloppy joes, stuffed bell peppers, pasta bake and much more. The family size cans are a little less expensive at times than buying two small cans. You can also make a fresh tomato sauce where you do not cook the tomatoes ( great in summer when you do not want to heat up the house). Also, you can freeze any leftover pesto sauce in ice cube tray, place in freezer bag for another time, to pull out couple of cubes for a meal…up to person how much sauce they want…and a touch of heavy cream can be add to pesto to make creamy pesto sauce. Also, I make a mushroom pasta… just cook your pasta as usual. Now cook your mushrooms in butter, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, little red wine ( only about 1-2 tablespoons), garlic salt and plenty of black pepper( or as much as you want). Now toss this with cooked pasta and serve. I also make garlic bread sticks out of cheap hotdog buns..separate buns where connected, butter halves, sprinkle with garlic salt and parsley, or just parsley works too. Cut each lengthwise. Place on baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 5-10 minutes or until your desired texture. I like mine a golden brown. These can be made into croutons too. If anyone needs different ideas you can also go to your local library and check out cookbooks or get them through your library to look at on your phone or computer…If they do not have the books you are looking for ask them if they can get them in and they will and will call you when they come in. I suggest these: Ten Dollar Dinners by Melissa d’Arabian and Money Saving Meals & Round 2 Recipes( all on front cover as title) by Sandra Lee. They both have great ideas, but I prefer the first book…gives great ideas on how to use up leftovers etc.

Hi Brooke, you do a great job and you are so inspirational! Actually, today's " menu " looked good. I agree with you that when a person is hungry and on a tight budget, we have to go into survival mode. You just make it a lot more appealing than just eating some bread or a piece of cheese. Thank you for helping so many people. You are so genuine, you have a beautiful soul and you are so entertaining!! You have a beautiful family! Linda from Las Vegas 🥰 ♥

Love you and your family. You guys are such a blessing to so many.

Have you every watched Mindymom. She does great budget friendly meals. She did something one day and it's Awesome and cheap. 1 can of spaghetti sauce with can of water. Heat up. Homemade in a way tomatoes soup. It good and can be cheap. I sometimes get sauce 98 cents so less than a dollar 48 oz of soup. So good. I was thinking too good base if you wanted to add any veggies you have hanging around need useing. Have a blessed day.

I’m sorry Karen! Epic statement of the year!!!!!

“Fed is best”

Hi Booke. For the tomato soup you can cut up grilled cheese sandwiches and use them for croutons.

I have something to say to those "Karen's" You obviously have not ever suffered with food insecurities. It literally sucks. It makes you feel like less of a person when you can't even feed your children. Back in the day I could buy tuna helper, a can of tuna and green beans for less than $2! I would let my boys eat first and if there was any left then I ate. There were many a night I went hungry. I appreciate you Brooke for helping us all. Some of the things I have forgotten (donut biscuits!) I'm super excited! Grrrrr. Sorry so long but the Karen's set me off!!!

Yes there is a cat food shortage. There has been for a while now. Love these vids. About a year ago I purchased 6lbs of pasta from Sam's club for $4.97 each. They are now $8.51. 😳 I stocked up big time back then. Thank goodness. It's amazing how fast you can build your pantry at $5/week. It works people!!!

I lived in my car for 10+ years. Sometimes I only had a microwave at a gas station to use, sometimes I could find power to plug in a crockpot, but I lived on the cheapest meals. I tried to be healthy but following the food pyramid wasn’t a priority, before then I was a widow of 3 & again you try to balance out the meals but the most important thing is to fill the bellies of your family.

You did awesome. May have to mail money with a request 😆 No that's awesome that both of y'all did that, and of course you got the wheels in my head turning!

Biscuit donuts are a great idea...I never would of thought of that

Excellent video Brooke....love your take on things. You never met a 5 $ bill you couldn’t turn into a day of wholesome filling meals😊

Your make up is beautiful. You do an awesome job

You could also add so soy sauce to make it a Asian dish.

I love watching your videos. and pasta is always a great go to for cheap meals for sure. when food is low you eat what you can i've just ate lettuce and mayo sandwiches. or the good old toasted bread sliced tomatoes mayo salt n pepper but yes just pasta with salt pepper garlic powder and parm was always a go to lol. i love seeing what kind of meals you can come up with and i know you are helping lots of people. the ones complaining must not of ever had to struggle before.

I remember the biscuits being 25 cents and sometimes on sale for 8 or 10 for $1. I made variations of them for all meals.

Love the "Karen" part. Some people gotta do what they have to do to like u said have a full stomach. Myself if I had or have to make these meals a few times a wk so be it. It's my family and I am doing what I can for us to survive. Glad u said that about the "Karen" or Karen's. Not everyone can afford what others can.

Your videos have given me tons of ideas! We're not $5 struggling, but we are if we buy the toilet paper we need then we can't buy these 2 packages of meat struggling. I'm learning to stretch a dollar out of a dime. With your help of course!

The pasta dish looks like a good way to use up some odds & ends veg leftovers, too. I like your meal plan for $5! I'm surprised you can still do it with the way that prices are going up everywhere. Thanks for the ideas!!

Hi I love your $5 videos because I am a single person I am on disability I get food stamps thank goodness at least for that I am do appreciate the food stamps but $5 bills helps me out a lot because you know what you can find something well-rounded you know like to see what your protein with the pasta it all works out we make it work thank you

One of the things I love about you is you are practical. Lots of people are really struggling. There could be more as this year goes along. Hope not, but...I have been one of those who's scraping the barrel. The soup can get pretty thin!! Thanks for being so helpful and caring.❤

Don’t worry about the negative people. This gives us ideas for those times when we don’t have a lot to spend and when we’re feeling not in the mood to cook a lot. Your videos are a big help! And plus, you bought a Zucchini. That’s good enough for a vegetable, some people probably never buy vegetables or fruit at all😂

I just have to say I'm a working single mom and your videos are such an inspiration. Also your personality is so great every time I watch you make me giggle. Thank you for being so real it's refreshing ❤️

Boy I haven't made doughnuts like that since the 70s. I loved them. Blessings!!

I've been one of these people who needed to eat this way.. vegetables dont matter when you hear your child say their hungry. Whatever can make their hunger go away is what matters to mothers. People dont really need as much vegetables as the government says anyways, other foods have the stuff in them too.

“I’m sorry, Karen.” 🤣🤣🤣 the best!

Pantry challenge what about powder milk for your tomato soup. I love watching your shows.

A little red pepper flakes would be good on the pasta

Everything really looked delicious! And I was skeptical with what you bought 😆

You are amazing. I love to watch you frugal cook meals.

I really enjoy your videos. I would add lemon pepper seasoning also to the pasta dinner.

Brooke You look beautiful in your green top. I always enjoy your $5 challenge. I craved donuts all day. Now I can make my own.

Mushrooms add a meaty taste and texture to dishes, just an idea for a meatless dish.

I'm prepared for January tough times because I have stocked up before the holidays with enough food to get through until I run out of vegetables. I still have some potatoes, frozen vegetables and a few canned veggies. Also, powdered milk is a life saver; plus, you can add a can of condensed milk to make it a bit richer if needed.

🎉🎉 thankful y’all ok It’s amazing the ideas you come up with. It’s only hubby and me. It’s hard to come up with meals. He is so picky 😢. Blessing to you and yours ❤

Thanks for the tip on using the air fryer to cook your Zucchini , I’ve never thought of it, and also the donuts in air fryer! I love your page , you give great tips and ideas and you show us how you make good meals out of very few items! God bless ❤️🙏🙋🏻

Love your ideas for cheap meals! ❤

Thank you so much.this help me feed my husband.

Love you girl, you look beautiful today btw. Happy prepping

I remember when the store brand biscuits were 4/$1.

People who complain about "not enough this or too much that" could be encouraged to donate these items (most fruit and veg can be found in cans, shelf stable milk, etc) to their local food pantry. Then instead of whining, they can actually help.

I love these videos. Even if you have more money it’s okay to spend less. I do frugal challenges to afford fun. When I’m under my grocery budget the difference goes in my vacation fund. This Mom Travels as much as possible. Lol

Girl your Amazing. Yes. We are going to make croutons and that pasta recipe.

AMEN, Sister! Temporary means temporary. No one needs dairy, EVER. That is a lobbyist marketing tool. We get the best and most calcium from greens anyway, not from dairy. Modern day milk contains rBst which is used to increase production. It's a hormone not in all milk. Be sure to read labels. You do a great job with your videos. Thank you.

Much appreciated sis. Blessings always ❤

Hey Brooke I keep checking your channel for the rest of the days of the December Random acts of kindness with your kids and haven't seen it posted yet. I'd love it if you still posted it

A quick hack for tomato soup is using pasta sauce and you can get a pretty big can of it for a dollar maybe a little more than a dollar but not by much at Walmart and chicken bouillon with some water quick and easy if you have milk or heavy whipping cream that works out really well you can even buy that media crema (canned cream) on the Mexican food aisle and it's delicious and shelf stable

Your shirt color is definitely your color

Always have great ideas 💡 love it thanks 👍

Brooke, I just love you! You have a great personality and a great heart. You’re “my kinda people”. Im from WV and “country”. You’d fit right in here. You’re like my bestie. I check every morning to see if you got a new video up. Keep up the good work. Your videos are so helpful. Im like you, I’ve always had a fear of food shortage. My dad always encouraged us to grow, can and save. These times are scary because I have little grand babies and I worry so much for them. Im so glad Dusty encouraged you to start doing these videos. Keep it up girl! Best of luck and love to you and your family in this new year.

Brooke you’re so awesome! If you like chocolate glazed donuts mix 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 2 tbsps butter , melt in microwave 30 seconds at a time and stir… until melted and yummy then dip one side of the hot donut in them!! Omg so so good. Reminds me of being a kid

We eat these donuts all the time when I was a kid. My mom would have some canned chocolate frosting so we could make them chocolate frosted donuts! It was yours before I had a donut from a donut shop but I still love those biscuit donuts

i heat up regular tomato juice as soup

I love these videos! I also love when you do the $20/25 dollar challenges like this. They always inspire me to see what I can purchase in my area to stretch my budget (our prices are 1.5-2 times as much as your area). So sorry to hear that the little guy has a cold! I love those fever packs! My kiddo has a condition in which his fevers will spike instantly and has had 2 Seizures as a result of fever spikes, so those head packs are a godsend for us!

You could have made a bachamel sauce to go with that zucchini pasta or bought two zucchini and some garlic to make a pesto. Ever household should have a little of the basics like flour, sugar, and rice. So although it's a five dollar challenge you should still be able to use basic ingredients. You don't have to buy a 10lb bag of rice or 5lb bag of sugar everytime you grocery shop. You did a good job. Thanks

I appreciate these videos! I really enjoy watching all your videos! Thank you for all the work you and your family do to make videos. 🌸💕🦋💙🌼💛😊

Love it! You are amazing! Hope little man feels better!

I have a challenge for you can you make a days worth of food for four. With one 2lb of flour, one can of diced tomatoes and a can of mixed veggies. You can use pantry staples with this.

So helpful. Julia Child herself could not have posted a more satisfying food challenge. Everything was appealing. Makes me view that lone fiver in my purse with more respect and appreciation. How we all love you!