One of my favorite recipes, highly recommend! http://melizskitchen.blogspot.com/2020/08/kymal-patlcan-ve-patates-yemegi-turkish.html

For me it’s definitely the second approach! I learned cooking only with sale items when I moved as a Polish student to the Netherlands. I was going from Coop to ALDI to AH in specific hours/days of the week to get downpriced stuff plus whatever was on korting and to be honest, I still prefer this method now, although I am not as strict with this. Helps put away money to the Portuguese fund 😉 it helps to have a freezer though, then you can be sure you won’t spoil anything

I can't meal plan to save my life so I'm firmly in the "buy what's on sale and riff it" camp.

Yes, When I was a young mom, I'd start with the advertisements from the shops, knowing what was in my pantry, make the menus and then make my shopping list of what was needed. Turkey neck is 19c a pound this week, okay, I have flour, egg & water, I can make turkey noodle soup. Made a side of vegetables and dinner. Today is bread baking day and I have beans – chili in the pot to simmer while the bread is rising. But we now buy what is on sale and always have a month's supply of food on hand; often more and we shop from our pantry / freezer and can pretty much make everything we like. We buy produce every week – and replace staples on shopping day. It works for us. We grind our own meat to keep it clean and so have packets of turkey, chicken, beef, pork made into mince and can be combined as we desire.

Hi,
When the pond is embty again you can dig in some black farmers plastic at the borders of the pond. 🤗

Buying new chicken.
When you buy young ones the children would like that a lot.

The spinach quiche looks great. 🤗
Make a list and stick to that,
But you can change when there is a better deal to find. Hèhè

I remember (now that you have reminded me!! lol) how I also "learnt" how to cook with what I had on had on hand! Gradually we grew a vege garden and also had chickens, ducks, peahens, goats and sheep etc. It WAS over a 5/6 year period. I was very proud one year when I realised that we had actually survived off our own farm in the majority of the ways possible. We did have to buy in flour/sugar/some butter and clothing/material (I did sew myself)! What you two are doing is incredible. Keep it up — keep trying no matter what!

Why don't you just put in a pond liner ? Alternatively, you can run ducks for a year, and then it won't leak. You definitely need a couple more dams for all that heavy rain ! Thanks for the great vid.

It's more saving to buy on sale and cook around on what you bought
easier on the budget and can always use cookbook for new meals to use with your supplies!
It helpes if you have a little experience cooking!
The more you practice the better you get!
It all yours out in the end! That dish you made was good!

Hope your family is all well. Always enjoy your videos.

Hope you all feeling better now. I learned from Geoff Lawton (on Youtube to; he is a permaculture expert) that duckpoop can possibly seal the pond. So catch some ducks 🙂 . Or there is bentonite (if I remember good) that you can put on the bottom of your pond when its empty Then put pure soil on it and fill the pond.

Looks yummy, hope you are all feeling much better xx

I prefer your way and that is a lot what I do.💗
All the best your way 🌞🌞🌞

I combine both approaches to my food shopping! I plan my meals based off the advertised weekly specials, and then buy these as my ingredients. I own a lot of cookbooks so those help me to plan, but googling recipes with certain ingredients helps me try new meals too!

Your pond has filled a lot!

Hi, Lea! Just wanted to say "hi" and "nice video". The meal looked yummy and made me think maybe I should start cooking from scratch again. Batchelor life. Regarding the pond, only a mundane plastic liner notion came to mind. If it's not exposed to the sun, it should last a long time. At any rate, I'm sure you'll get it sorted. Good thoughts as always from Nebraska. 🙂

We cook everything from scratch. There is a list, where we list ingredients that need replenishing. Most items stay on the list until they come on sale, then they are purchased in quantity, to get by until the next sale. From those ingredients we make our regular recipes, and experiment a lot with those same ingredients. Some items are purchased regularly without a list, e.g. eggs, as we do not have chickens. Just a comment re no refrigeration – you can pressure can ground meat, and meat, which is then shelf stable. Might be worth looking into in the long term.

And dogs love to run!
As for cooking : first use up what you have , second a list is helpful and third use your talent and invent something totally new! Cooking is also creating !

My daughter always have the recipe and buy exactly what she needs , does not waste anything. I always buy specials and cook accordingly.

I hope your pond holds the water we've spent $4000 AUD and still leaks …

In this economy, getting stuff on sale is the best way to go. Good job!!! Wish I could taste it. 😉

Hi Lea – the food looking healthy and delicious. Great to see the pond with lots of water. Kitty looking quite comfortable in the shoe box 🙂 Btw – love to see Bo enjoying his meal:) I hope Puck is enjoying school.

"Words are hard" 🤣..unlike myself who only knows English (and sarcasm : ) , I admire people who speak more then one language 👍…the meal looked good, I usually go out with a list ,but I'll also throw shit together I have in my fridge/cabinets too when feeling experimental..lol… glad to see your seedlings doing well, I have to water my ( indoor) seedlings every other day to keep them moist , some are starting to get big and I'm getting nervous as to what to do next, put them in bigger pots I guess? This is my most successful seed starting effort yet and don't want to kill them 😔.. fun video !

Love your videos and your hard work on your Portuguese Homestead ! Thank you so much !

As for shopping for meals, I'll keep track of what we have and what I'll need to turn it into a meal. I'll also make categories like fruit, cheese or crackers. I have food allergies so I can't always buy what's on sale but can usually find a close substitute. I do a lot of substitution in recipes as well. If my family tells me that they like the way it tastes, I'll record what I used for the substitutions. If they did not I'll record that as well so I won't do it again. I always tell my family that cooking is like a science experiment to see what I'll get, lol. Some of my families favorite meals were all done by using what I had and being happily surprised by the taste. My daughter was invited to a friend's house for dinner and came home quite confused. She thought she was getting 1 of her favorite meals of mine and what they served was very different. I had to explain that I don't follow the traditional recipe and her friend's mother did. She made it the way it's supposed to be made. This opened the door to my daughter becoming a very good cook at a young age. While her friends struggle to follow a recipe she is not afraid to make substitutions and create new flavors or ways to serve them. I think we cook like you do.

One of my daughter's mother-in-law asked what my cooking speciality was and she said just that I was good at making stuff up from what was on hand (my husband does the shopping and usually forgets my lists). Makes it kind of hard to replicate meals that they particularly enjoyed.

I think a combination of planned meals and incorporating what is on sale. Prices have risen so much it's a must!

hello … good video… I agree with you… better look for cheaper budget meals than a list. Stay better you and your family and enjoy!!

Handsome dog!

So fun to watch you cook! Thanks for all your efforts! I’ve used both shopping methods. Both work great!

They have something you can put in the pond that will stop a leak like you have. Bentonite and other stuff.

Hi Lea. Your meal looked delicious, it actually made me hungry! Having a family who are all sick is never any fun. You're doing the right thing with plenty of rest. Take care. Love from Australia 💞

I loved the cat in the box. Wish you all a speedy recovery. Perhaps the movement of the water keeps the hole open and when it stops raining it will settle and fill the hole.

So tired of Youtube vloggers asking for money.

I will go with out list and buy things are on sale and in season! Great video!😍🤩

So… I say both.

We used to visit four different grocery stores one for meat one for Derry one for other stuff because prices vary from store to store as you know some stores are good for Staples and other stores just sell no premade food like their own lasagna and the prices are out the roof but I would say always go with a list let’s do this differently

Maybe always go with a list
Then maybe always start by trying to replace things on that list with sale items from the store that you arrive at

In this way you’ve got a list to keep you safe to get everything you need for the week but additionally you can look at sales and make substitutions you know throwaway one meal for something that was on sale that replaces it that week and therefore you have an over purchased and you have purchased things on sale and you did go with a list

drive across the top of your dam that way the soil will compact

Loved the update and that dish looked super yummy 🤩

Really enjoy your recipes, thanks for the walk around the pond. Lovely day at your homestead. 🇺🇸🌹❤