Thank you for mentioning that the sugar prevents the popsicles from freezing rock hard! I would normally think that the yogurt and peaches are sweet enough and leave out the sugar.
Sherry Chamberlin
I would like to make these freezer pops, but my thing is too many diabetics in the family and I would rather not use any sugar at all not even substitute sugar. Can I do this without using any type of sugar at all? And I will be using Activia yogurt cups, specifically peach and strawberry so I would puree peaches and strawberries to go with the flavor of the yogurt but I will not be adding any sugar other than what may be in the yogurt itself. So hopefully these will still be ok.
Jessica Fisher
The sugar is there for taste as well as texture, so if you don’t mind more tart pops and it freeze very rock solid, that should be fine.
destiney
i found your blog the day you started the pantry challenge and i tried to do this it was perfect we have a huge deep freeze and it is jam packed with stuff. i had also just found out about freezer cooking. well so far i think we have barely put a dent in the freezer. which really need defrosting too. i think this would be easier for us to do in winter. like right before hunting season. which is usually when i quit buying things n use it up so all the deer will fit. plus summer is a hard time for us we are always gone it seems camping, reunions, fairs, and all that also the kids are always here and there with family so it tends to be only 2-3 people a night verses the whole lot so i never seem to cook a real meal. but i LOVE the idea of putting the weeks meals into the freezer in the reg fridge i always do the 5 o’clock freezer dig b4 and this way i actually look and see what we have on hand n work from there. plus i know what i want to cook way in advance!
Caroline
We didn’t do so well this week on spending less; we made two trips to the store. But, we are making good use of leftovers and “little” items.
This week I plan to use only what we have here at the house for all dinners. My goal is to empty out enough this week to organize the pantry well next weekend.
We have tried out a few new recipes during this challenge so far, and we’ve found some tasty ones!
Thanks again for this challenge!
Amber
Overall, I’ve been doing fairly well at my pantry/freezer challenge. I started after July 4th (so as not to include cook-out food), and so far have only spent about $150 on a family of 3, most of that being on fresh fruits, veggies, and milk. Between our cooler and some rough-totes and towels (make-shift coolers), I defrosted our deep freezer and took an inventory of what we had. Most of what’s left in there now is fish (deep sea fishing catches), chicken breast, and veggies.
Jessica
You’re doing great!
Charlene
I am curious about freezer cooking with your frozen meats. How does that work? I have been wondering about that. We get a beef from a local farmer and get it butchered. When we get the meat, it is frozen. I never know if it is a good idea to thaw the meat to make stuff with it (like meatballs for freezer cooking, or meatloaf, or various other yummy stuff) and then refreeze it. Since I don’t get it raw, I don’t have the chance to make things when it is fresh (not frozen). As school is about to get back into the swing of things, I have been thinking about this more than usual. Any thoughts on the subject would be much appreciated!
Amber
@Charlene, from my experience, once the meat is cooked, it starts the “freshness count” over. It depends on what kind of freezer meal you’re making, I suppose – is it the kind that is all uncooked, just pre-assembled (would want to start with fresh meat) or the kind that is already cooked and just needs to be reheated (casseroles)
Jessica
@Charlene, you can thaw, doctor it up, and refreeze it (baked or unbaked). Either way is “technically” fine according to the usda, if it’s been handled properly the entire time.
However, I think that texture is better if I refreeze it cooked. Also, it’s more convenient that way. So, when I’ve had frozen beef, I would cook up taco meat, shredded meat filling, casseroles, meatballs, etc. I think that you can do quite a few things with your frozen stock.
With the grilling cuts that you might want to grill right before serving, I would add chilled marinade to the frozen meat in a ziploc and put it back in the freezer. It will marinate as it thaws. You can also plan ahead for seasoning rubs and compound butters to use on the meats that you might thaw right before cooking. Leave more questions if we haven’t covered everything you have in the freezer. I’m guessing you could probably do anything if we plan it well.
Eryn
I used everything usable, except 2 cans condensed milk and some bread crumbs. Both big freezers cleared out, pantry cleaned out, fridge had just condiments, water and milk left, inside freezer had freeze pops and yeast. Had to throw away a few things that were old. It is so nice to start with a fresh clean slate! After spending 2 full weeks only spending 50$ and using everything we had, we spent an entire day eating out, donuts, Mexican food and pizza. Now I have shopped for 3 full weeks, aside for needing fresh fruits and veg and our weekly 7 gallons of milk. Going to put some meals in the freezer and get ready to take 2 of my girls out of town for a week. Thank you for the inspiration!
KimH
This past week, I spent more than I have in a while. I stocked up on certified organic chickens from an Amish family that supplies eggs for our CSA. They were $5 each & I got 10 of them, and then I stopped on my way home and picked up 4# of cheeses from the Amish coop. The good news is there are no preservatives in the cheese there and its quite inexpensive. While there I also got some beef sticks, and then outside at an open Amish market, I got a quart of orgainic tomatoes, a pound of honey, a plate of maple cinnamon rolls, and a pepperoni roll. Seems like I got something else but I cant think of what. I spent $100 this day cuz thats all I had in my pocket. 😀
I also stocked back up on a 10# bag of chicken breasts, onions, and half & half from Costco, and I also stopped at BJs and stocked up on kosher salt. I got a couple extra boxes to have on hand.
And then Friday night, the Schwans man stopped by… sigh.. I bought tamales, herbed shrimp, and shiskkabob beef and spent $40. He only comes once a month these days, thankfully. 🙂
sarah k. @ the pajama chef
those popsicles sound really good! i think i’ve give them a try (scaled down though since i only have 4 popsicle molds). 🙂 love that you alternated fruit & yogurt.
This is the second week in a row when I’ve done well on the pantry challenge until the end if the week. Then suddenly some major expense comes along and blows the budget out of the water. Last week was a gallon of coconut oil, this week was unexpected house guests — the bacon to feed them all was expensive! But without the pantry challenge I would really have been over budget, so it has been a blessing.
Angela
Pantry challenge here is going okay…
We cleaned out the deep freeze and now it is lovely!
I’m trying to be smart about getting prepped for back-to-school, while using our garden produce wisely, and minimizing trips to the store. Milk and cheese – if I could make those, I could stay out of that place!! 😀
Jillian Kay
Our pantry challenge is going pretty well. I cleared out a ton of space in our big freezer and have been slowly filling it back up with helpful things like frozen meals and green beans from the garden. Yesterday we went to a peach farm and picked 29 pounds so I’ll be adding those soon too. I’m not a canner so I mostly do freezer jam and freeze them in slices. I might try dehydrating some too. And I like your idea of peach salsa.
Brighid
Thank you for mentioning that the sugar prevents the popsicles from freezing rock hard! I would normally think that the yogurt and peaches are sweet enough and leave out the sugar.
Sherry Chamberlin
I would like to make these freezer pops, but my thing is too many diabetics in the family and I would rather not use any sugar at all not even substitute sugar. Can I do this without using any type of sugar at all? And I will be using Activia yogurt cups, specifically peach and strawberry so I would puree peaches and strawberries to go with the flavor of the yogurt but I will not be adding any sugar other than what may be in the yogurt itself. So hopefully these will still be ok.
Jessica Fisher
The sugar is there for taste as well as texture, so if you don’t mind more tart pops and it freeze very rock solid, that should be fine.
destiney
i found your blog the day you started the pantry challenge and i tried to do this it was perfect we have a huge deep freeze and it is jam packed with stuff. i had also just found out about freezer cooking. well so far i think we have barely put a dent in the freezer. which really need defrosting too. i think this would be easier for us to do in winter. like right before hunting season. which is usually when i quit buying things n use it up so all the deer will fit. plus summer is a hard time for us we are always gone it seems camping, reunions, fairs, and all that also the kids are always here and there with family so it tends to be only 2-3 people a night verses the whole lot so i never seem to cook a real meal. but i LOVE the idea of putting the weeks meals into the freezer in the reg fridge i always do the 5 o’clock freezer dig b4 and this way i actually look and see what we have on hand n work from there. plus i know what i want to cook way in advance!
Caroline
We didn’t do so well this week on spending less; we made two trips to the store. But, we are making good use of leftovers and “little” items.
This week I plan to use only what we have here at the house for all dinners. My goal is to empty out enough this week to organize the pantry well next weekend.
We have tried out a few new recipes during this challenge so far, and we’ve found some tasty ones!
Thanks again for this challenge!
Amber
Overall, I’ve been doing fairly well at my pantry/freezer challenge. I started after July 4th (so as not to include cook-out food), and so far have only spent about $150 on a family of 3, most of that being on fresh fruits, veggies, and milk. Between our cooler and some rough-totes and towels (make-shift coolers), I defrosted our deep freezer and took an inventory of what we had. Most of what’s left in there now is fish (deep sea fishing catches), chicken breast, and veggies.
Jessica
You’re doing great!
Charlene
I am curious about freezer cooking with your frozen meats. How does that work? I have been wondering about that. We get a beef from a local farmer and get it butchered. When we get the meat, it is frozen. I never know if it is a good idea to thaw the meat to make stuff with it (like meatballs for freezer cooking, or meatloaf, or various other yummy stuff) and then refreeze it. Since I don’t get it raw, I don’t have the chance to make things when it is fresh (not frozen). As school is about to get back into the swing of things, I have been thinking about this more than usual. Any thoughts on the subject would be much appreciated!
Amber
@Charlene, from my experience, once the meat is cooked, it starts the “freshness count” over. It depends on what kind of freezer meal you’re making, I suppose – is it the kind that is all uncooked, just pre-assembled (would want to start with fresh meat) or the kind that is already cooked and just needs to be reheated (casseroles)
Jessica
@Charlene, you can thaw, doctor it up, and refreeze it (baked or unbaked). Either way is “technically” fine according to the usda, if it’s been handled properly the entire time.
However, I think that texture is better if I refreeze it cooked. Also, it’s more convenient that way. So, when I’ve had frozen beef, I would cook up taco meat, shredded meat filling, casseroles, meatballs, etc. I think that you can do quite a few things with your frozen stock.
With the grilling cuts that you might want to grill right before serving, I would add chilled marinade to the frozen meat in a ziploc and put it back in the freezer. It will marinate as it thaws. You can also plan ahead for seasoning rubs and compound butters to use on the meats that you might thaw right before cooking. Leave more questions if we haven’t covered everything you have in the freezer. I’m guessing you could probably do anything if we plan it well.
Eryn
I used everything usable, except 2 cans condensed milk and some bread crumbs. Both big freezers cleared out, pantry cleaned out, fridge had just condiments, water and milk left, inside freezer had freeze pops and yeast. Had to throw away a few things that were old. It is so nice to start with a fresh clean slate! After spending 2 full weeks only spending 50$ and using everything we had, we spent an entire day eating out, donuts, Mexican food and pizza. Now I have shopped for 3 full weeks, aside for needing fresh fruits and veg and our weekly 7 gallons of milk. Going to put some meals in the freezer and get ready to take 2 of my girls out of town for a week. Thank you for the inspiration!
KimH
This past week, I spent more than I have in a while. I stocked up on certified organic chickens from an Amish family that supplies eggs for our CSA. They were $5 each & I got 10 of them, and then I stopped on my way home and picked up 4# of cheeses from the Amish coop. The good news is there are no preservatives in the cheese there and its quite inexpensive. While there I also got some beef sticks, and then outside at an open Amish market, I got a quart of orgainic tomatoes, a pound of honey, a plate of maple cinnamon rolls, and a pepperoni roll. Seems like I got something else but I cant think of what. I spent $100 this day cuz thats all I had in my pocket. 😀
I also stocked back up on a 10# bag of chicken breasts, onions, and half & half from Costco, and I also stopped at BJs and stocked up on kosher salt. I got a couple extra boxes to have on hand.
And then Friday night, the Schwans man stopped by… sigh.. I bought tamales, herbed shrimp, and shiskkabob beef and spent $40. He only comes once a month these days, thankfully. 🙂
sarah k. @ the pajama chef
those popsicles sound really good! i think i’ve give them a try (scaled down though since i only have 4 popsicle molds). 🙂 love that you alternated fruit & yogurt.
Demi
I have spent more than I budgeted for the pantry challenge, but that’s still alot less than I was spending! I blogged about our week here: http://pleasuresofprairielife.blogspot.com/2012/07/pantry-challenge-week-three-report.html. Highlights: I defrosted the freezer, we ate well, and most of our grocery spending is on fresh produce.
Jenn
This is the second week in a row when I’ve done well on the pantry challenge until the end if the week. Then suddenly some major expense comes along and blows the budget out of the water. Last week was a gallon of coconut oil, this week was unexpected house guests — the bacon to feed them all was expensive! But without the pantry challenge I would really have been over budget, so it has been a blessing.
Angela
Pantry challenge here is going okay…
We cleaned out the deep freeze and now it is lovely!
I’m trying to be smart about getting prepped for back-to-school, while using our garden produce wisely, and minimizing trips to the store. Milk and cheese – if I could make those, I could stay out of that place!! 😀
Jillian Kay
Our pantry challenge is going pretty well. I cleared out a ton of space in our big freezer and have been slowly filling it back up with helpful things like frozen meals and green beans from the garden. Yesterday we went to a peach farm and picked 29 pounds so I’ll be adding those soon too. I’m not a canner so I mostly do freezer jam and freeze them in slices. I might try dehydrating some too. And I like your idea of peach salsa.
Here’s my update:
http://www.momscupofambition.com/2012/07/pantry-challenge_21.html