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 22 of the Pantry Challenge!
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Such a rainy day! And again everyone is fend-for-yourself except for dinner.
What We Ate
Breakfast – I had fruit and cottage cheese as well as a protein bar. I’m not sure what the kids had.
Lunch – I sautéed a bunch of veg, reheated rice, and fried a couple eggs.
Dinner – I made Tuna Casserole and a big salad. The boys were all out, so it was just Bryan and the girls and me. There’s none left!
How was your day 22?
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Hello all. My challenge is on pause til I return home, but I’m reading everyone’s wins!
I wanted to second Karen’s comment about the Nido whole powdered milk. I keep it for cooking as we too no longer drink much milk (tho I probably should!) It is good and convenient.
Karen J
Breakfast-oatmeal with freezer blueberries
Lunch-random leftovers from refrigerator
Dinner-restaurant pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw and fries
We went on a twenty four hour vacation to a hotel within an hour’s drive with our good friends, something we try to do about once a month and budget for. It gets us away, we get discounts on our dinner and breakfast out, our room has a view of the water, and it is just nice. (love retirement, mid week outings couldn’t happen during work years) Not frugal, but worth it.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Karen, you are so right about retirement affording the flexibility for midweek outings. Here we are in VA for a gathering on a Wednesday night!
Karen J
Life is good!
Kathryn M
Lunch – I warmed up taquitos that were left from the other day. Just used salsa as a dipping sauce.
Dinner – Does ice cream count as dinner! I was at work and not really hungry for anything else so I got a treat from the little onsite convenience store. I did eat more of the taquitos when I got home – again at midnight!
Snacks – the last of the BBQ chips, half a candy bar, rice krispy treats (i had a bulk box of these individually wrapped ones on hand).
I am realizing how terribly I eat on the days that I work. To much junk food!
Heather M
Jan 22: I went to the store for a few things and spent just under $21 on carrots and celery(totally out and these are staples), tomatoes, bread , sandwich rolls corn tortillas were $1.25 for 30 so I had to grab them, saltines, pretzels, a few other snacks- everything was on sale except the produce and the sandwich rolls. I also begin dietary modifications thursday and cut out most good stuff (produce, whole grains, etc) on Saturday in prep for a colonoscopy.
B: we both skipped
L: L took a salami with arugula sandwich on a lone sandwich roll from the freezer, a mango, and a snack mix i tossed together with pretzels, peanuts, and pita chips; I had the bit of leftover salad from Sunday night and toasted the heel of a finished bread loaf and put the leftover bbq chicken heated up and some pickles on it
D:pulled a small package of thin sliced steak I’d bought on clearance last year and tossed in the freezer plus some of the sliced bell peppers I’d frozen before an unexpected trip in September, finished off a red onion, used some thinly sliced provolone(no idea why I bought this in December) and made the most delicious steak and cheese sandwiches (why I bought the rolls), plus a quick sort of Caesar salad with just romaine and the last of a package of croutons I’d bought though I prefer to make them. Delicious!
Allie from Ontario
Jan 22
Brunch – we ate the remaining mini frittatas from last night and split the last piece of toast…T did buy another loaf of bread in the afternoon.
Dinner – I made our favourite mini meatloaves (not muffin tin mini…I make two little loaves b/w 4 and 5 oz each). They have a tangy glaze and we eat them with mashed potatoes & frozen peas. A couple of people mentioned instant mashed potatoes the other day and this is one meal where we also prefer instant potatoes over the “real stuff” (my Salisbury steak is another example example where instant just rule). Because there are just 2 of us I make a 1/2 package each time. And this is a meal with purposeful leftovers so we each have a chunk of saucy meatloaf and a scoop of potatoes for todays lunch. Score!
I also made a small batch of cookies the other day and so we will be using those for our after dinner treat.
Heather M
Sometimes instant are the only way to go! The meatloaf sounds delicious 🙂
Tasty
January 22
B: hubby had yogurt and a muffin, I had my usual berries, yogurt and granola.
L: turkey soup from the freezer. Added some extra broth and finished off the bag of egg noodles that had been languishing in the pantry for a while.
S: tourtiere (Canadian meat pie) also from the freezer and baked beans
Another day of winning against those bulging freezers!!!
Heather M
Woohoo!!
Danielle Zecher
01/22/24
Breakfast: Oatmeal, hot tea (for me), iced coffee from home (for Nick)
Lunch: Leftover cheeseburger soup
Dinner: A Pantry Challenge casserole that was delicious. I chopped up three grilled burgers from the freezer, sauteed bell pepper, onion, a bag of squash, and zucchini from the freezer, and added a tomato, then added a can of black beans, a can of enchilada sauce, and shredded cheese. I put that in a casserole dish, topped it with crescent roll dough, and baked it until the dough was cooked. It was so good! And it got a few random things used up.
Danielle Zecher
I didn’t mean to post twice. It looked like it disappeared the first time. Clearly, the caffeine hasn’t kicked in yet!
Heather M
Ok that sounds just delicious!!!
Danielle Zecher
01/22/24
Breakfast: Oatmeal. I also had hot tea, and Nick had iced coffee from home.
Lunch: Leftover cheeseburger soup.
Dinner: Finally a real Pantry Challenge meal! I’m not entirely sure what to call it, but I used three grilled burgers (from the freezer) that I chopped into small pieces, sauteed an onion and bell pepper (that really needed to be used), a tomato (that was at the use it or lose it point) added some squash and zucchini (also from the freezer) and then added a can of black beans, enchilada sauce, and shredded cheese, put it in a casserole dish, put crescent roll dough on top, and baked until the dough was cooked. It was so good! And it was really nice to use up a few odds and ends.
Krista
B dd and I ate out, hubs had a frozen breakfast bowl from costco
L hubs had LO red sauce pasta with pork roast and garlic bread, I had pimiento toast with back bacon
D I made a shepherds pie using the LO roast from the other day, I used frozen mixed veg and a can of mushrooms, also a half package of turkey gravy from freezer. There’s some definite white space now!! Yay!
S popcorn, pork spring rolls from freezer, ritz crackers, HM yogurt with maple syrup and bite sized frozen fruit that I found while rummaging around
I will be continuing to eat from freezer into Feb, we are on a strict budget for a few months. But we have plenty of food. Will just need essentials. Tomorrow I will make a pumpkin pie using crust from freezer, and canned ingredients I have in the pantry. I even have a small container of whipping cream in fridge! Not planned but a win. DD loves pumpkin pie.
Heather M
I’ll be joining you into February. We just have so much food they needs to be used up before it’s too old. And may as well save some $$$. 🙂
Danielle Zecher
I’ll definitely be joining into February.
Julie
I’m definitely continuing through February
Krista Matheson
B bagel with cream cheese, not sure what hubs had
L mini pizza from freezer, pineapple, popcorn
D the last 2 sweet potatoes, roasted and a can of chili to go on top
Jennifer
We got tons of snow yesterday so it was nice to be by the fire after a coffee date and a trip to Costco. Spent around $80 on produce, honey, milk, bacon and tea bags.
B – muffins from the freezer or toast and yogurt
L – I had a smoothie, dh had frozen fish tenders and fruit, not sure what ds ate
D – I made the pork tenderloins I had thawed on Saturday. Tried a new recipe and it was delicious! I also had roasted potatoes and sliced up a pepper.
We are coming to the end of the hogs that my boys hunted last January. Small roasts and tenderloins are all that’s left I think. Unless a pack or 2 of ground sausage got buried in the freezer.
Lisa S
What? No tater tot casserole? I love them all. My favs are chicken pot pie version and my chili version which is just filling the 9×13 half way up with favorite chili, sprinkle on the bag of tots and cook to tot bag directions, after done, sprinkle with cheddar and melt in oven for a couple minutes. voila, serve with fav chili toppings. My youngest doesn’t love tots either (or chili), but gets out voted sometimes. We snacked all morning on veggie plates, LOs, and cereal, then had early dinner of loaded baked potatoes to finish off some taco meat, and chicken corn chowder to finish off some cubed chicken from the night before.
Jessica Fisher
I have never heard of a chili version. I think I can get them on side with that one! Will try it later this week to see. Next Sunday is Bryan’s bday so I’m not going to try it then. lol
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Lisa, your chili version does sound tasty, and a one dish main which is always great. Thanks for sharing.
ZC from MA
B: a slice of toast with almond butter, blueberries and coffee
L: green beans, potatoes and chicken, brown rice
D: chicken and potatoes, noodles
S: an apple, muesli with yogurt
I did quite a bit of meal-prep today as well–I have a pretty busy week ahead at work and having pre-cooked meals on hand just makes things easier. My produce/meat inventory is mostly used up. I think one more shopping trip this weekend (mostly for Feb) will conclude my grocery shopping this month.