This month, we’re shopping our kitchen in order to use up what we have so we can save money and clear kitchen clutter.
Here we go with Day 8 of the Pantry Challenge! We are on our way into week 2.
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Today I did a little bit of meal prep for myself: portioned berries and made some Meal Prep Salads, nothing major, but things that I know will pay off later this week.
What We Ate
Breakfast and Lunch – it was a fend for yourself kind of day. So I’m not sure what the others had besides the scones and apple pie I baked last night. I had yogurt, berries, and muesli for brekkie, a large salad for lunch.
Dinner – My original plan didn’t work out, but I had stuff to make homemade salsa and Bean Tostadas.
How did Day 8 go for you?
Nancy
I was out volunteering this morning so ate a slice of zucchini bread I brought along from the freezer and a package of trail mix. Husband had oatmeal.
For lunch I had leftover pasta bake and a cookie. Husband had the last of the Mexican casserole.
For dinner we had sandwiches using up the last of a jar of sauerkraut, the last of the charcuterie cheeses hanging out in the cheese drawer, the last of the corned beef from the freezer and a couple of buns that are needing to be gone from my freezer.
I have made some noticeable differences in my freezer already which is exciting and I’m almost completely out of produce except part of an onion, head lettuce, carrots, lemons and limes. I will plan to buy a bit today. Last week I spent $32 on groceries, we’ll see what this weeks total is. I’m cooking for 3 adults.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/8
B: toasted English muffin and coffee. DH had scrambled eggs and coffee.
L: we’re awaiting the big storm heading up the east coast. We figured today was our only chance to get out of the house for a couple of days with coastal storm warnings, flood warnings, wind advisories-you name it-beginning tomorrow. So we went to the beach for a couple of hours. We had it to ourselves since, tho it was bright, the wind chill was 33 degrees. After that we had a lunch date and got burgers at a local place before heading home.
D: I had prepped dinner earlier so we had turkey (!) tetrazzini, Caesar salad and oranges, apples and Pom arils.
S: lo cookies and candy from Christmas
It’s great hearing how everyone is doing with the challenge. Glad several of you and your families are getting over illnesses.
Heather M
How lovely to go to the beach despite the cold! We are getting the same driving rain and wind here. Glad you were able to enjoy the calm before the storm 🙂
Karen J
Breakfast-Cinnamon rolls from the Pillsbury tube. Not my favorite, but now they are gone
Lunch-leftover pasta
Dinner-turkey pot pie soup-uses up lots of vegetables both from the freezer and the refrigerator 🙂
Dropped off the older grandkid to her driver’s ed drive with the instructor. Pouring down rain, dark @ 4pm and her first time on the freeway. I was a nervous wreck-she did great!
Heather M
Yay for your granddaughter!! That is a skill so necessary to learn when driving and so glad she did great!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I’ll bet you were a wreck under those conditions! Glad she did well. I think both of my kids, way back when, did their driving during holiday traffic here which can lead to a bit of white knuckled driving too!
Tasty
Karen – I wouldn’t be too happy driving in those conditions and I’m definitely not at the driver’s ed stage of driving!
Jennifer
Hmm, I am still home after surgery so I slept later than everyone that had to go back to school yesterday. No idea what they ate for breakfast. I did stock up on produce at Costco today
B – I made homemade chocolate chip scones and a piece of turkey sausage (I make my own with ground turkey)
L – I snacked throughout the day as I was back and forth quite a bit trying to order new glasses. It was a frustrating day. I got ds a hot dog at Costco. Dh took leftovers
D – I pulled out the pack of Great Lakes Christmas Ale brats that I stashed in the freezer before Christmas. We had brats on the grill with roasted potatoes (mainly for the boys) and honey sriracha brussels sprouts (all for dh and I)
Maureen
I finally sat down to clear out my e-mail and just found the pantry challenge posts. Yay! I’m glad to see so many returning friends posting. We were out of town for Thanksgiving and for a week+ between Christmas and New Years, so we don’t have a glut of holiday food in the house (although we somehow have tons of holiday treats). The fridge is in good shape, which should help with my first challenge goal of not wasting (eating leftovers will be key). There are a few condiments and cheeses that need to be eaten, too. My main challenge goal is a huge food purge…defrost the chest freezer, completely reorganize the freezers, and reduce the pantry space to fit with our changing eating habits (our eating has evolved a bit with the girls cooking more and with my son away at college). I want to set everything up so that it works better for us and doesn’t allow me to overstock, especially on items that we don’t use regularly. It seems obvious, but has always been my struggle. So, I’m trying something a little different this year. I have mostly purged the pantry to consolidate all of the items that need to be used up in one area (I’ll probably make one more pass through at the end of the month, too). I am working to inventory the freezers, but that might take all month to finish (they are in rough shape). I’ve also decided not to plan very far ahead. I have a running list of meals that I have ingredients for, as well as my growing freezer inventory and pantry pile. I’m hoping that by only planning a day or two at a time I can make sure we deal with all leftovers and produce, adjust faster to changing schedules and people not being home for meals, and keep me focused on my goals so I don’t resort to “regular” meals as often.
I’m really looking forward to reading all of the updates. And I certainly hope that everyone is feeling better soon!
Heather M
Hi Maureen!!! Glad you’re back 🙂 I also have found with the way our life is these days, planning only a day or two in advance works really well. After so many years cooking, I’m pretty good at making a game of what can I make with what we need to use and only what we have. Good luck with your goals!
Karen J
Heather-I actually have more fun the last week of pantry challenge because I get to be more “creative”. In the past there have been a few end of the month January meals with some questionable concoctions. Like when I learned mayonnaise is not always a good substitute for eggs.
Allie from Ontario
Jan 8
Brunch – A good freezer day…Italian beef & bean soup + toasted English muffin for me and a hot dog + bun for T.
Dinner – I made a pork stir fry with 6 oz of pork tenderloin (freezer) and lots of veg from the fridge. I served it over cauliflower rice (I grate the fresh stuff for this & we both love it). The stir fry sauce used lots of things I keep in the pantry (black vinegar, Shaoxing cooking wine, my own dried/crushed de Arbol peppers etc) and also emptied a fridge jar of Asian chile paste so that made me happy – it was very good & helped with the challenge! Also, with a storm approaching (which has hit lots of you already I’m sure) it is reassuring to know that we have lots of food here and a generator system if needed!
And just a quick thanks to everyone participating this year…I appreciate you sharing about how you are approaching the challenge and how it fits into your busy & sometimes unexpected (in both good & bad ways) lives 🙂
Jessica Fisher
So glad you can join in, Allie! It’s a different kind of year for me, but I’m so glad to be able to provide this space. Thank you for participating.
Danielle Zecher
Breakfast: I had a muffin and hot tea. Once again, I overbought tea for the tea advent boxes, so I’m working my way through lots of tea. I love tea, so that’s not a real hardship. I’m just storing more teabags than I’d like to at the moment. I think Nick had drive-thru on the way to work.
Lunch: – I had leftover Indian takeout. I think Nick had lunch out, but I’m not sure what.
Dinner: It was a long day, and we ordered pizza.
Jennifer
I was going through my tea stash today and we too have a ton of tea! Ds does use 2 in his cup every morning (he mixes flavors) and I drink it everyday as well. But I certainly don’t need to buy any this month or likely next either
Jessica Fisher
I always have a healthy tea stash, and just when I whittle it down, the kids buy more!
Lynn of NC Outer Banks
Raising my hand with the tea stash as well. I now tend to drink coffee in the morning and tea at night. My husband has recently decided that he likes hot tea also in the evenings, so that will help me whittle down my too large stash.
Kathryn M
Today was a rather long and weird work day. Anyway I polished of a lot food that I had left in the work fridge and my work bag – pizza breadsticks, mozzerella sticks, the rest of the pickles and pickled onion, BBQ chips, a package of mini cookies, and a couple of sodas – all in no particular order. Anyway I am off work tomorrow and will start the day with a look at what needs to leave the house fridge this week. It is so cold out that I may not go anywhere tomorrow at all.
Linda B
Went to the grocery store today to pick up a few necessities as we are expecting a major snowstorm followed by several days of sub-zero temps, followed by another snowstorm.
B—toast, OJ (the last of it, but I didn’t buy more because we have a lot of POM juice and we’re going to drink that for the rest of the month), coffee
L—deli meat sandwiches and chips
D—went out for hamburgers because my husband is still recovering from 2+ months in the hospital and rehab and he’s going stir crazy. Also, we aren’t leaving the house for the next 7-10 days. Used gift cards we got for Christmas and a coupon. Total spent: $0
Jessica Fisher
Yikes! Stay warm!
Jennifer
I get the going stir crazy! I had surgery at end of November and was house bound for a week. It was rough. Dh and I started going out for coffee every couple of days just for me to get out somewhere. Coffee out is much cheaper than a meal out and we could sit and chat as long as we wanted. I hope your dh improves quickly, especially now that he is home.
Linda B
DH fell and sustained 6 fractures in his pelvis and lower back. Had surgery on his tailbone, 10 days in the hospital, then 7 weeks in rehab to learn how to sit, stand, and walk. He’s still leaning very heavily on his walker and walking very slowly. It’s a big deal to get him down 3 stairs and into the car, but I think it’s worth it even if he just stays in the car when I’m running errands. But my cooking and groceries totally got screwed up for all of November and December. I really need this pantry challenge!
Julie
Sounds like you’re in my region of the country perhaps? (Nebraska here)
Heather M
Jan 8: A day to start getting caught up on chores at home, after sickness and vertigo and holidays, theorems a lot to do. It’s the first day I’m feeling markedly better from the vertigo, though not 100%. I stopped at target to pick up prescriptions and bought mangos and blackberries (we are getting low on fruit) for $6.74, but I used a gift card(I have random gift cards from past purchase deals and also have like $70 in circle $$) so it cost me nothing. Trying to decide how I’ll total my spending – maybe only what I spend out of pocket?
B: we both skipped
L: sent L with a proper lunch but he was too busy and only ate the veggie sticks; I had a salami sandwich(I really wanted tuna but we have been eating a ton of fish lately, plus we have a ton of leftover charcuterie), a handful of chips(too many snacks too), and salvaged the last pear which was suddenly bruising- cut off the bruises and it was great.
D: we had the leftover Branzino from my birthday dinner. To go with it, I made a green spinach rice and a few stuffed mini peppers with balsamic glaze. Yum!
Jessica Fisher
I’m so glad your vertigo is subsiding so quickly. My last bout took months to completely go away. As for tracking, OOP (out of pocket) is my fave. But you could track both to see what hidden gems you had in your purse.
Heather M
Thanks! I’m still not 100% at all, but it’s markedly better. And, yeah, I think I’ll track both total expenditures and total out of pocket. Will be fun to see the outcome!
Janet
B: everyone is on their own
L: Sausage and rice with roasted veggies
D: Ham and pinto beans. tossed salad
Tasty
Monday 8th
B: Fruit, yogurt and Nutella bun
L: cheese sandwiches
S: chicken paprika soup with French bread
Another day of everything from the fridge or freezer. The freezers are not quite as overflowing this year as usual so just maybe, after many years of doing this challenge I am making some progress – a slow learner!
Nancy
Jessica, not sure if I understood your budget, would you normally spend around $180O a month and plan to spend half that this month? Thanks for the clarification and inspiration!
Jessica Fisher
Our monthly average for 2022 was over $1600. We had a wedding reception and a few other special events as well as business ingredients worked into that, but I’m trying to be realistic with current conditions, especially since the recent USDA food cost reports are that high for my family right now.
Heather M
Day 8:
B: we both skipped, with early church meetings
L: I was home 3+ hours earlier than L, who had a bunch of volunteer related things to do at church. I had a tuna sandwich and chips (almost gone, but not quite). When L gave me the heads up he would be home soon around 2:45, I knew he’d be starving so I grabbed some of the leftover rice and made him a quick teriyaki fried rice with frozen mixed veg and cut up breakfast turkey sausage which I sauteed before adding the rest of the stuff. He loved it.
D: Discovered that the yukon gold potatoes we had left really needed using asap. I had to toss one even. So I air fryer baked them all up, cooked some bacon and shredded some cheese (we have a ton of different cheeses right now- way more than the two of us needs; luckily it keeps pretty well). L had a big side salad and a baked potato with cheese, bacon, and a little sour cream. I scraped the potato out of its crispy yummy jacket(sigh) and had it with the same toppings. YUM!
Dessert: we finished off the amazing brazilian flan
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Heather, regarding the wrong restaurant name…OLD BRAIN here!
My DD and SIL love it in DC as well. Don’t see them returning to NC, at least not any time soon 🙁 We always enjoy our visits north.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Jan 8
Checking our local price on eggs: At Harris Teeter a doz large is 3.89-limit 3. Food Lion doesn’t even show online a dozen large eggs, only 18 count for 7.49 (makes them 4.99 doz) or XL doz for 5.99. Conventional eggs are pretty close to cage/free range at this point. I still have about 2 dozen. I will definitely be intentional with their use but will need to buy more at some point. I know the avian flu that is affecting prices has even begun affecting wild birds too as we have had many sea birds die recently here on our coast. Biologists have confirmed avian flu as the cause.
B: coffee, toast
L: soup, ½ ham sandwich, DH same
D: LOs, tossed salad
Still staying out of the stores, but I have several rain checks that are due to expire shortly, so I will be using them, i.e. mushrooms for .99/8 oz. Holding at $9.14 for the month for now.
Kathryn M
Hotel breakfast x2. I grabbed a bowl of cereal at 7am then went back to fill up the tummy at 930am.
Lunch- while at breakfast #2 I made extra toast and did PBJ for a picnic lunch later. I also grabbed some extra whole fruits off the breakfast bar (I still have one orange that I didn’t eat).
Dinner – a microwaved steak sandwich and the rest of my salt&vinegar chips bag.
The first grocery spend was yesterday (Winco) and today(Walmart). I got chips, 2 liter sodas, and that steak sandwich (marked down at the walmart deli). The total was $8.99 for all the food. I had to pick up paper plates too. I had brought some plastic untensils and ziplocks but didn’t think to grab a few plates out of the house.