Good Cheap Eats » Pantry Challenge

Pantry Challenge Finale

Jessica — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:20:59 +0000

Shopping your kitchen can save you money and be a great way to rotate the ingredients you keep on hand.

Stick a fork in me; I’m done!

Oh yes, I did my four weeks of pantry challenge. And it was good. I cleaned out the freezer and thawed that baby out. I worked through our stock on hand, shopping my kitchen before heading out for more. I shaved a good couple hundred dollars off our grocery budget. And I even started some baby steps toward making my boys more independent in the kitchen.

But, I am happy to be done. Yes, yes, I am.

It’s not that it was all that difficult. Truly, it wasn’t. But, it was a little more work than normal. And while January was a sleepy month, trying to get my bearings on school and daily schedules, I know that we can’t move quite so slowly in the months to come.

Life is picking up speed. We’ve got two boys playing hockey this season — and possibly a husband, too. We’ve got school and a new school schedule. I’ve got writing projects to tackle. And life is just busy.

That said, I’m so thankful for having given the pantry, fridge, and freezer a good once over. This week I’m tackling a big freezer cooking session and going to refill the deep freezer. But, for this week, I’m hoping to chip away at those little odds and ends that I found in the fridge freezer when I finally stopped to look. We’ve got a few soups, some fruit, vegetables from the produce box, and a few sauces. I can work those meals into the coming days so that we really are rotating stock.

Overall, my three goals were accomplished this month:

Spend less on groceries. (See my final grocery total here.)
Empty and defrost the freezer in the garage.
Begin teaching my boys to cook.

The curious can see what kind of meals we ate by shopping our kitchen first over here. Don’t forget to hop on by these blogs and see how they made this Pantry Challenge work for them:

How did the Challenge go for YOU?

Pantry Challenge Week 3 (Share Your Progress)

Jessica — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:44:45 +0000

We’re three-quarters of the way through our Pantry Challenge. Are you seeing bare shelves and better able to navigate your kitchen?

Where has the month gone? Seems like we just celebrated Christmas, didn’t we? We’re three weeks into the Pantry Challenge. As I mentioned on Saturday, I stocked up on lunch fixings so that we didn’t have to do a lot of cooking in the middle of the day when things are at their busiest.

In other news, it was kind of a boring week. I wasn’t feeling at that well, and we had several appointments, so things were kinda busy, too. My cooking mojo took the week off, I think. But, we gotta push through, right?

I did tackle ONE of those butternut squash on Saturday, resulting in squash soup, squash muffins, squash pie, squash cake, and squash cinnamon rolls. Yes, really.

Here’s how big that squash was:

I do have to say, using what you have takes work! It’s so much easier to go shopping, is it not? The curse of prosperity….

Anyway, here’s the lowdown on my goals for the month:

Goal 1. Lower my budget.

Currently, we’re just under $300 for grocery spending this month. I am pretty confident that it will be in the $400 range by this time next week, but that is remarkable considering what I normally spend (between $600 – $800). And since we will still have food in the house!

Just “food you have to cook.”

Goal 2. Help my kids be more independent in the kitchen.

I consider this part of a pantry challenge because it will save me money and trips to the local fast food joint. If my kids are able to help with food prep, I know I will be more likely to cook something at home than to make a run for the proverbial border.

In fact, on Friday night, I was too pooped to party — or fix the planned pizza. And by the time I went to start the dough, it was too late to eat a reasonable order. Talk of Chinese food as well as burgers was bandied about. And then I realized I’d have to tell you that we ate out more than twice. So, I grabbed my 9-year old and we worked in the kitchen making grilled cheese, spinach salad, and vegetable crudites. Crisis averted.

Not only do I appreciate the help, but it also gives us a chance to hang out and chat.

I’m sharing more about teaching my boys to cook over at Life as MOM today.

Goal 3. Clean out my freezers and be able to defrost.

We’re not even close to hitting this goal. It’s not that there is a lot of stuff, but there is just too much to cram easily into the refrigerator/freezer. And I’d rather not let my kids eat two boxes of Christmas cookies in one sitting (though they might love it). So, I have a back-up plan.

It’s called Thursday Thaw Out. The high on Thursday will be 74 degrees in my neck of the woods, so I plan to empty the garage freezer, stash the stuff in a cooler, with ice, if need be, and just thaw the freezer out now.

(And yes, whereas you get notice of extreme weather, we get a high surf advisory. It can be dangerous to surf in certain tides. FYI.)

How’s it going in your kitchen?

There’s my update for my three goals for this month. I’d love to hear yours! Either tell us about it in the comments section OR link up a recent post of your Pantry Challenge update. Be sure to link back to this post so that it’s easier to share ideas.

Every Monday this month we’re sharing updates here on GoodCheapEats. What works, what doesn’t. The challenge officially ends on January 31st, but next Monday will be our last link-up.

Hop on by these blogs and see how they’re making this Pantry Challenge work for them:

I’m posting daily updates on my Daily Pantry Challenge Log. Visit that page to see how well — or not — we’ve eaten on a given day. I’ll also share links to recipes that are helping me make the most of what I have.

How’s your challenge going?

Pantry Challenge Week 2 Done (Share Your Progress)

Jessica — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:21:52 +0000

Shopping your kitchen entails a little more cooking and creativity than you would normally employ. But, a Pantry Challenge can save you money.

We’re reached an impasse in the Pantry Challenge. This weekend, my 14yo said, “It seems like there’s nothing to eat but fruit and stuff you have to cook.”

I knew he was right without even looking. Friday’s lunch to take to the park was challenging, but I pulled it off by throwing together a quick salad for myself. The kids devoured sunbutter crackers and apples before we left the house. Shopping the kitchen is a little less fun, but I know it will save us money.

By Saturday evening, we were out of all yogurt, bread, tortillas, and crackers. But, we saved the day with baked potatoes, chips and salsa, and tamales from the freezer for snacks that afternoon. I guess we are more of a snacking family than I thought!

Even though my grocery total is low so far this month, apparently the shopping I did at Trader Joe’s wasn’t enough to last us a full week. So, while the freezer still has a fair amount of stuff, it’s all “stuff you have to cook.” Almost. On the list this week is to plan out lunches using what we have as well as to buy more of the aforementioned yogurt, bread, tortillas, and crackers. I don’t want anyone to hate this experience, especially if it’s not something we are doing out of true necessity.

In other news, we ate most meals at home. Hubs and I had a date night, and on another night we had Costco pizza. I wanted a break from “stuff you have to cook.” Hehe. You can check out my daily log to see what we’ve been eating.

As for goals? Here they are again:

Goal 1. Lower my budget.

We are certainly doing okay with the cash flow. I’ve spent $160.20 so far this month. I’m sure we’ll be under out regular range ($600-800) but we’ve still got 2 weeks left in the month, so I’m not going to count my chickens and make a bet on this month’s spending.

Goal 2. Help my kids be more independent in the kitchen.

I’ve included the boys more in food prep, though I did not do a great job of assigning KP duty. Going to try that again this week and actually write their names down on the meal plan. My two bigger boys did learn how to microwave potatoes. This could signify that I will perpetually be out of potatoes. Only time will tell.

Goal 3. Clean out my freezers and be able to defrost.

Even though I organized the deep freeze, it’s not yet empty. After I pulled the roast and a few other items for this week, there were still several sauces and containers of vegetables. But, clearing out stuff in the kitchen freezer should leave room for the deep freezer tenants to move temporarily by the end of the month. I *think* we’re in good shape.

Every Monday this month we’ll share updates here on GoodCheapEats. What works, what doesn’t. The challenge officially ends on January 31st.

Hop on by these blogs and see how they’re making this Pantry Challenge work for them:

How’s your challenge going?

Pantry Challenge Week 1 Done (Share Your Progress!)

Jessica — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:13:22 +0000

Challenging yourself to “shop the pantry” is a great way to make the most of what you have. Today we’re sharing our progress during Week 1.

The first week of the Pantry Challenge is behind us! Hopefully, you’ve been able to stick to your resolve and plug away at your goals for the new year.

One of the challenges of the Pantry Challenge is that typically it involves more than just one individual. Many of us are not only cooking for ourselves, but for other family members or roommates. As such, there are many appetites to accommodate and also other shoppers to contend with for the grocery budget. I feel ya.

So, if things didn’t go exactly according to your plan, hang in there! There are still three weeks in the month. So keep on keeping on.

You can check out my daily log to see what we’ve been eating. Where applicable, I’ve tried to link to recipes that I used as well as techniques I employed to put together seemingly mismatched ingredients. Eggplant in chili? Oh yeah, baby. And no one was the wiser!

As for my goals, let me see…. how did last week compare with my original intentions?

Goal 1. Lower my budget.

Saturday I shared my grocery shopping trips. I spent a total of $64.40 out of pocket and got a “free” grocery trip to Costco.

I spent almost $100 less than we normally spend in a week. However, as I mentioned before, there are three more weeks in the month, so who knows how this will pan out? Too early in the game to predict the final score. But, the first quarter has gone well.

Goal 2. Help my kids be more independent in the kitchen.

I have six children, aged 14, 11, 9, 7, 5, and 3. Each child seven and older has a regular kitchen job, including: emptying the dishwasher, loading the dishwasher, sweeping the floor, wiping the counters, clearing and wiping the table.

On a good day, they can get the kitchen cleaned up on their own, save the pots and pans which I typically do as well as any dishes that don’t fit in the washer. (Yes, sometimes we exceed the capacity of our dishwasher, usually when we try to combine loads from two different meals.) As I type this, I realize that it’s time to teach some folks how to scrub pots and pans.

So, what else did I do to help make my kids more independent?

FishBoy7 helped me make muffins one morning. We had to be stealth so that the younger kids didn’t clamor to help and steal his job.
I started a binder of recipes that my family can access. In order to share ownership, I asked FishBoy11 to organize the printed recipes and create the dividers.
I enlisted children to form their own pizza dough and add their own toppings on pizza night.

Obviously, I have a lot to do in letting go of control in the kitchen. In that vein, I’m setting specific goals for next week and assigning at least one meal to each child to help prepare.

Goal 3. Clean out my freezers and be able to defrost.

I am nowhere close to having the freezers cleaned out. However, we used several containers of vegetables, cooked pork, marinated chicken, and tamales. This past weekend I spent some time organizing that nightmare of a freezer pictured. More on that later. And I had to adjust my week’s meal plan accordingly, since my original mental inventory did not match up perfectly with reality. Ahem.

So far, so good.

Every Monday this month we’ll share updates here on GoodCheapEats. What works, what doesn’t. The challenge officially ends on January 31st.

Hop on by these blogs and see how they’re making this Pantry Challenge work for them:

Goals for the Pantry Challenge (Winter 2012)

Jessica — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 09:43:17 +0000

Set some goals for your kitchen this month. Make the most of what you already have. Shop your freezer. Save some cash.

Are you ready to make use of what ya got? That’s basically what a pantry challenge is.

Instead of grocery shopping as usual, it involves grocery shopping at home first. You’ll be surprised at what you already have that can make a great meal! Last year Carrie shared some great tips about how to tackle “eating from the pantry.” Seriously. Go read those. They are fabulous suggestions for how to make the most of what you have already.

Now, each of us has a different reason for doing this pantry challenge. Maybe you want to save money. Maybe you want to clean out. Maybe you have some other reason. That’s all cool.

You get to make the rules. Today we’re sharing our goals for the Pantry Challenge. I explained my pantry challenge goals last week. Here they are again:

1. To lower my grocery spending.

I’m looking at shaving a tad off my regular grocery spending. Normally I allow $600 to $800 to feed our family of eight as well as buy any cleaning, paper, or beauty products. This month I hope to land somewhere between $400 and $500.

I set a modest goal because I don’t want to make this too hard. We’ve spent less than $400 some months, but that was before we changed some of our eating habits. I don’t want to go backward on those food goals. So, baby steps for now as I source low prices on more organics.

2. To help my kids be more independent in the kitchen.

My bigger kids are of the ages when they could definitely do more meal prep, either for themselves or for the family. They might not know this yet, but their skills are going to increase this month. Bwahaha!

Part of this goal involves creating a recipe file or binder that they can access and use on a regular basis. I’ll compile our favorites and old standbys in this book so that anyone over 9 can serve on KP.

Having recipes on hand that suit your food storage is a great step toward being a good steward of those ingredients. Hopefully we can help each other out in this area.

3. Clean out my freezers and be able to defrost.

My deep freeze has a bad case of frost that will eventually impede it’s ability to run efficiently — or close, for that matter. So, we’re going to work our way through the various freezer meals stashed in there as well as the turkeys, ground beef, and chicken that I’ve stockpiled.

Are you in?

Those are my three goals for this month. I’d love to hear yours! Either tell us about it in the comments section OR link up a recent post of your goals for the Pantry Challenge. Be sure to link back to this post so that it’s easier to share ideas.

Every Monday this month we’ll share updates here on GoodCheapEats. What works, what doesn’t. The challenge officially ends on January 31st.

Hop on by these blogs and see how they’re making this Pantry Challenge work for them:

I’ll be posting daily updates on my Daily Pantry Challenge Log. Visit that page to see how well — or not — we’ve eaten on a given day. I’ll also share links to recipes that are helping me make the most of what I have.

What do you want to do with the Pantry Challenge?

Join Me for a Pantry Challenge

Jessica — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 09:21:11 +0000

An “eat from the pantry” challenge is a great way to rotate your pantry’s stock and to save money on groceries.

It’s that time of year. I’m ready for a fresh start! And so is my kitchen.

The pantry and freezers around here are pretty much bursting at the seems. I’ve stockpiled a lot of produce from our weekly deliveries by freezing it and now’s a great time to make the most of it.

I’ve done some kind of “pantry challenge” every January for the last couple years. I did it again last July and found it to be just as effective in summer as in winter.

In fact, it’s proven to be a wonderful way to trim the budget, keep close accounts on what we have, and rotate our stock to avoid waste. I first saw Crystal do this many years ago, and I was intrigued.

Over the years, I’ve hosted a “challenge” here at Good Cheap Eats so that others might feel encouraged and try a challenge of their own. So, here we are. I’m ready to go again.

What a Pantry Challenge is NOT

It is NOT a total abstinence of grocery shopping.
It is NOT putting stockpiling on hold.
It is NOT oatmeal and rice and beans until the cows come home.

I once thought this, and it was impossible for me to do a pantry challenge. Life doesn’t work that way. Nor does my pantry.

There was a time when we first started paying down our debt that I really couldn’t buy groceries due to lack of funds. I needed to make the most of what we had until more cash came in. We didn’t starve. I realized that we had a lot in our cupboards already.

What Pantry Challenge IS

A pantry challenge is a focused, but limited, time to “eat from the pantry.” Rather than buying groceries like I normally would, I focus on what we already have. I build my menus around the ingredients I’ve been avoiding using. Sometimes this is something that is cumbersome to prepare or something that I’ve been too lazy to be creative with. The pantry challenge helps me deal with those items — and teaches me not to buy it again.

If you regularly stockpile good deals or if your pantry, refrigerator, or freezer are getting full, you may be a good candidate for the “eat from the pantry challenge.”

Another fringe benefit to giving my pantry a good cleaning out/overhaul is that we save money, too. And January is a fabulous month to do that, is it not?

My Pantry Challenge Goals

1. Lower my budget.

My grocery budget has been ranging between $600 and $800 every month for 8 people. Each week, I get an organic produce box delivery, costing around $40. That’s $160 for the month. Plus, we’ll need milk, cheese, and butter which I don’t have stockpiled. That will be about another $60 for the month. I want to give myself enough allowance for stocking up on good deals as they come and keeping my hungry crew fed. So, I’m not going to get all crazy. But, I would like to spend around $400 to 500 for the month.

Please remember that I’m feeding 8 people, and that our dining out budget is separate from our regular food budget.

2. Help my kids be more independent in the kitchen.

I do a lot of scratch cooking. It’s healthier for us. It’s more economical. But, it also takes more time.

When I stop to think that I was an independent cook in the kitchen by age 10, I realize I haven’t done a great job equipping my three older boys. They need this essential life skill, and I could use the help in feeding this small army I have. So, I’m hoping to teach my 14, 11, and 9-year olds how to cook a few more items that we eat a lot.

3. Clean out my freezers and be able to defrost.

My garage freezer has developed ice on the walls and needs to be defrosted. But, we need to eat up what’s there in order to do that. So, I’ll be focusing on the frozen items in order to do that. That may mean that we eat up our stockpile of frozen meats and vegetables. Currently, it’s not huge. A good defrost, however, will help with the efficiency of the freezer, saving us money and protecting our future additions to the freezer.

Care to join me?

I’d love to have some folks join me so we can spur one another on. On Monday I’ll be posting a link-up for all those who wish to share their goals for the challenge. Then, every Monday following we’ll share updates here on GoodCheapEats. The challenge officially ends on January 31st.

Hop on by these blogs and see how they’re making this Pantry Challenge work for them:

I’ll be posting daily updates right here on my Daily Pantry Challenge Log.

Are ya in?

Pantry Challenge Check-In, Final Week (or Not?)

Jessica — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 15:46:24 +0000

Today wraps up the fourth and final week of the Pantry Challenge. I just finished crunching the numbers on our grocery shopping and eating out and was AMAZED at the results. We did as well as or better than if I had actually set a money limit on myself. Less than $600 to feed 8 people, including eating out, is a great success in my book.

Here are some things that I think made it such a great experience:

1. Don’t feel constricted.

I think not making hard and fast rules was actually freeing. I didn’t feel tempted to say, “no, no, no” when hubs wanted to make an impromptu stop at Trader Joe’s. I enjoyed the days that we ate out. I didn’t make myself feel guilty about buying a loaf of sandwich bread even though I could have baked it myself.

There should be freedom in frugality. And I think we felt it this month.

2. Plan ahead.

I can’t stress this point enough. A lot of the meals we ate this month involved preplanning of some kind, even if it was remembering to thaw something from the freezer. Having a meal plan was essential to making this work. Yeah, and that bit about following the meal plan helped.

3. Pack snacks.

We didn’t do a lot of picnicking this month, not in the homemade sense. Our outings involved some kind of restaurant dining. But, since I know my growing boys don’t fill up under 50 bucks, I made sure to pack snacks wherever we went, even if it was just fruit, cheese, and bottled water. This helped offset that temptation to eat out more often or to overbuy when we did.

4. Enjoy leftovers.

I know, that sounds like an oxymoron. But, really, if I put effort into the meal the first time, if there’s any leftover, it should be good. I made a conscious effort to be creative in using up leftovers, usually turning them into a salad the next day, where appropriate.

5. Think creatively.

Some of my best recipes come from the Pantry Challenge because I start to think about what we have and how they can combine in a tasty way. And many recipes, like Pumpkin Scones, become something that I make over and over — just ’cause.

6. Build a great pantry.

This is probably the most important part of the whole shebang. If you don’t have great stuff to begin with, it will be much harder to have great end results. So, building a pantry on a budget is the rule of the game.

Stockpiling sale items that I know we will use is the key to my success. It takes a little work, but it is so worth it. We eat like kings — without the budget to match.

This month I spent $455 on groceries and another $115 eating out as a family. I find this to be remarkable for us. With eight mouths to feed, budget shopping and eating can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be tasteless.

I’m encouraged to keep on fighting the good fight against rising grocery prices.

The Pantry Challenge is “officially” over, but I think I will continue these same strategies in the new month. I am due for a Costco stock-up trip, but I’m going to focus on the basics and to try to get to the bottom of the freezer this month. Waste not, want not.

Come by LifeasMOM tomorrow to see the meal plan for next week. And you can head here to read what really went down the hatch this month.

What are the girls up to?

A wonderful group of ladies is accompanying me on this journey. We don’t all have the same goals for the challenge, so it will be extra fun to take a peak into their kitchens and see how they’re making things work at their houses. Be sure to bop around and see what’s cooking over here:

Amy from The Finer Things in Life – cleaning up/clearing out, eating from the garden
Erin from $5 Dinners – cleaning up/clearing out
Jen from Balancing Beauty and Bedlam – NO spend, cleaning up/clearing out, eating from the garden
Shaina from Food for My Family – cleaning up/clearing out, eating from the garden
Lynn from Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures – cleaning up/clearing out, eating from the garden
Tammy from Tammy’s Recipes – NO spend

How are YOU doing?

If you’re doing the Pantry Challenge, tell us how it’s going. If you’re struggling, let us know. Maybe we can help you trouble-shoot. That’s what friends are for.

Pumpkin Spice Scones

Jessica — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 08:16:55 +0000

These were a spur-of-the-moment creation, based on a half jar of pumpkin sitting in the fridge just crying to be baked into something delicious. Scones sounded lovely.

And they were.

I use a food processor to cut in the butter and then transfer those buttery crumbs to a bowl and then mix in the liquid ingredients. You can cut the butter in with a pastry blender or with two knives if you don’t have a food processor. Though honestly, I don’t know what I would do without my food processor.

These are delicious for breakfast with your morning coffee as well as an afternoon snack with tea or milk. Cut smaller scones for younger folk; bigger scones for us old people. There are benefits to aging.

Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Scones

Ingredients

3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, cut into small cubes

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 cup buttermilk

2 Tablespoons cinnamon sugar, made by mixing 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon with 5 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Cut in the butter until coarse crumbs form. (To speed up the process, you can do this in batches in a food processor. Then pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl.)

Add the pumpkin and buttermilk. Fold them in gently until combined. The dough will be sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and fold 2-3 turns or until dough comes together.

Gently pat or roll the dough into a 1 inch thickness.

Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the dough.

Cut the dough into twelve squares.

Place the scones on the prepared baking sheets and bake them for 15 minutes or until lightly brown.

Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Leftover scones may be frozen in a ziptop freezer bag.

Preparation time: 15 minute(s)

Cooking time: 15 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 12

Pantry Challenge Check-In Week 3

Jessica — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 08:33:05 +0000

It has been a fun week in the kitchen. I will say that. My family really doesn’t know that I’m not doing major grocery shopping. I’m still shopping one day a week, but I’m trying to limit it mentally to under $100 a week and so far, so good. You can see what I bought this week in my Grocery Geek post for the week.

We’ve eaten well every night this week AND we’ve even stuck to my meal plan, something that is amazing! I’ve felt creative all week long and have made some new creations that I will be sharing in the coming weeks. Here are some of our highlights thus far:

Back to Bread

I’ve returned to Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. After a disastrous attempt at bread baking awhile back, I figured it was a sure thing. I made a double batch of dough (about 8 loaves) and have been serving bread every other day or so with our meals. I tweaked it a little and use part whole wheat flour because I have more of that than unbleached, and it seems to be working okay. At least, there are no leftovers, if that is any indication.

Baking Oatmeal?

Thanks to heavy discussion with my friend Lynn about Baked Oatmeal, I took the plunge. I was worried that it would be mushy. And I don’t like mushy oatmeal. I ended up tweaking her recipe into Raspberry Baked Oatmeal. I served it with unsweetened whipped cream and it. was. so. good. Recipe coming soon.

Watching My Weight

Since my wardrobe and I aren’t getting along, I’m watching what I eat, even during this pantry challenge. As a result, I’ve been eating more salads. And they’ve been really good, like this Salade Nicoise.

Reinventing Leftovers

I’ve also done a fair job of reinventing leftovers. The rest of a Chicken Dinner became Chicken Noodle Soup the next day. Small batches of leftover meat, beans and rice that I’d been stashing in the freezer became Beans and Rice Soup. Leftover sausage from a dinner one night added to scrambled eggs a few mornings later.

Hello, Old Friend

I also resurrected an old favorite from our “deep-in-debt” days: Bean and Cheese Tostadas. Five out of six kids did a happy dance over these babies, made with Homemade Pintos. The oddman said he’s never liked them: 1. We ate them too often “back in the day.” 2. They don’t have meat, and he doesn’t like many meals without meat. However, the other five did another happy dance when I said that we’d be eating them more often since they were so popular with the majority. Poor big brother.

Chick Food

I had a friend and her children to lunch one day. I made chick food. So fun! I pulled a Roasted Vegetable Quiche and a few soups from the freezer (all from the upcoming cookbook) and we feasted. I love girl food. Sigh.

Those are the culinary highlights of the week. We still haven’t really made a dent in the freezer, so I’m wondering if this challenge will continue into August.

Come by LifeasMOM tomorrow to see the meal plan for next week. And you can head here to read what really goes down the hatch.

What are the girls up to?

Amy from The Finer Things in Life – cleaning up/clearing out, eating from the garden
Erin from $5 Dinners – cleaning up/clearing out
Jen from Balancing Beauty and Bedlam – NO spend, cleaning up/clearing out, eating from the garden
Shaina from Food for My Family – cleaning up/clearing out, eating from the garden
Lynn from Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures – cleaning up/clearing out, eating from the garden
Tammy from Tammy’s Recipes – NO spend

How are YOU doing?

If you’re doing the Pantry Challenge, tell us how it’s going. If you’re struggling, let us know. Maybe we can help you trouble-shoot. That’s what friends are for.

Pantry Challenge Check-in, Week 2

Jessica — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 16:11:24 +0000

This week I found myself getting into the groove of the pantry challenge. I baked more. I created a few new recipes, such as Turkey and Black Bean Enchiladas as well as Pumpkin Scones (coming soon). I had some flops as well as some successes. And other than going without milk for a couple days, my family didn’t notice that we were “making do.”

I did go shopping and I’m reporting about that on LifeasMOM.

I wanted to get a few things to supplement what I’ve found lurking in the freezer, pantry, and fridge. Tomorrow, I’ll be sharing my menu plan at LifeasMOM as well.

What are the girls up to?

Amy from The Finer Things in Life – cleaning up/clearing out, eating from the garden
Erin from $5 Dinners – cleaning up/clearing out
Jen from Balancing Beauty and Bedlam – NO spend, cleaning up/clearing out, eating from the garden
Shaina from Food for My Family – cleaning up/clearing out, eating from the garden
Lynn from Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures – cleaning up/clearing out, eating from the garden
Tammy from Tammy’s Recipes – NO spend

How are YOU doing?

If you’re doing the Pantry Challenge, tell us how it’s going. If you’re struggling, let us know. Maybe we can help you trouble-shoot. That’s what friends are for.