Monday is in the bag, and so is Day 18. The month is going quickly!
So far, I’m seeing some space in the freezers which is pretty nice after months of things being packed to the gills. We have a hearty supply of proteins left which is nice to see. We should make it through the next week for sure without needing to buy meat; not sure about the last week. We’ll see.
Our meals for Day 18:
Breakfast – A serve yourself kind of day with oats, smoothies, protein shakes, eggs, etc. I had leftover potatoes and stuffing with fried eggs.
Lunch – Bryan had his burrito; some kids had leftovers; others made pancakes. I made a big salad and toast.
Dinner – Pasta night that covers vegan to carnivore tends to make lots of dirty dishes. I made Marinara Sauce and Easy Chicken and Green Beans, but cooked the green beans separately. I also roasted some eggplant, thawed some Pumpkin Dinner Rolls, and cooked some penne.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I agree that the Pantry Challenge is always fun and a great way to start the new year. Now it’s tradition, thanks to Jessica hosting us all. I always look forward to chatting with old virtual friends. Like Pat, I too have so much food stashed away that I don’t need to buy much either. Especially now with just 2 of us.
Sarah
B: fried eggs, leftover sausage, avocado, mini Brie
L: bubble tea and a sesame ball (Chinatown)
D: spaghetti squash w/ cream sauce peas and prosciutto
S: leftover sesame balls; potato chips
It was a snacky and not healthy day – needed to get out of the house so we walked to Chinatown for a snack after a late breakfast. It was nice to get out and comparatively cheaper than getting actual lunch.
Working on my meal plan for this week and transitioning to lower carbs/less grains.
Heather M
Oh but what fun to walk to Chinatown for a snack!
Sandi
I second Heather’s thoughts. Sounds like fun to me. If I wanted to “walk to Chinatown”, I’d be walking for days.
Pat
Day 18
Breakfast and lunch was the usual.
Dinner was BFD. I used the l/o cheesy potatoes. ground ham, a handful of crumbled bacon to make an egg bake. We had toast and sauteed apples with cinnamon too.
The leftover egg bake turned into burritos for my son to take to work. Win!
Tasty
Breakfast was our usual fruit etc but at lunchtime we splurged calorie -wise and had cheesy nachos – but there’s veggies in the salsa, yeah?
Supper was the shepherd’s pie – real shepherd’s pie with lamb – that I had made the day before so a real easy day in the kitchen.
I had to go into town to pick up a prescription so shopped while I was out anyway. There was nothing we were out of but a few things we were running low on. The only thing we need now to be well-stocked is chicken breasts that we buy from the farmer and they’re only open 3 days a week so that will need a special trip later in the week.
I’m really enjoying the pantry challenge again this year,not sure how many years I’ve been doing it but it’s always fun. Love to see “old friends” show up again. It amazes me how little some of you can get away with spending. Like $100 for the month. I do spend less than normal during the PC but I do still pick up whatever bargains I see – it saves in the long run. Hey,the rules are mine to make (and maybe even break).
I do use up odds and ends tho from the pantry and freezer but if we really want something special, we buy it if necessary.
Thanks for hosting us again this year Jessica.
Pat
It is fun to see people from past challenges isn’t it!?
I love to see all the different meals that people make. We tend to eat more basic meals-beef, poultry and pork. We do Italian, Asian and Mexican and that’s about as far as we go in experimentation. We’re pretty boring!
I have so much food socked away that I really don’t have to buy alot at any one time. The Good Cheap Eats system has served me very well over the years.
Sarah
Agreed! I love seeing everyone come back and it is something to look forward to in the new year.
Lily R.
You’re not boring! That’s a pretty good variety of recipes and as long as your family is getting fed nutritious meals at home it’s all that matters!
Maureen
The kids enjoyed the long weekend, so I was the only one up for breakfast. We made homemade pizza with leftover dough from last week for lunch. There are leftovers in the fridge for my girls for snacks and lunches this week. I made Asian noodles, frozen dumplings, and rice for dinner…with intentional leftover noodles for DD13 for lunches. So, she’s set for the week. That works well, because we have some convenience finger foods in the freezer that I’d like to have for lunches this week and she doesn’t like any of them. DD10 has been having fun making hot chocolate bombs all weekend, so we have plenty of those for treats. I’ve got my dinner meal plan ready to go and will focus on the kitchen freezer for snacks, lunches, and desserts this week. I also need to plan to spend a few minutes each day prepping fruit and veg for munching and to go with meals.
Marci
BBQ plans canceled due to weather, i didnt have enough flour for burger buns and had wayyy tooo many carrots (costco sized) and assorted veggies from our yakiniku dinner. Its rainy and cold here, we didnt really get up to eat till after 10am-
Brunch- spicy meatball soup with extra veggies in instant pot and 5-ingredient italian rolls (thanks jessica)
Snack- homemade carrot cake with creamcheese frosting
Dinner- chicken cutlet, gravy, rice, tossed salad.
Still have quite a bit of food from our costco run a week ago- so hoping to use that up this week.
Kim
Ooh, carrot cake is my favorite! But whenever I make one, it goes bad before we can eat it. Have anyone ever frozen part of one, and how did it turn out?
Tasty
I can’t see why you couldn’t freeze carrot cake.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I’ve frozen carrot cake before and it was fine. It’s my husband’s favorite though we rarely have it anymore, but those are yummy calories! And with carrots, it’s got to be healthy, right?
Janet
B: everyone was on their own
L: roast beef salad sandwiches, chips, apples
D: London broil, baked potatoes, blueberries
All the meat was pulled from the freezer. We never seem to eat an entire roast. I have learned to cut the London broil in half before cooking — again they are cut too large for my family of 4 to finish in a single meal.
Sandi
B: breakfast burritos
L: wasn’t hungry, just had some coffee
D: chicken tikka masala, rice, peas – finally used the jar of tikka sauce that has been in the pantry for millennia
I only thawed one chicken breast for the tikka masala, intending to add a can of chickpeas. Imagine my surprise to find I did not have any canned white beans left in the cabinet! Guess I’ve made more progress than realized.
Lily R.
Yay for progress! Did the dish end up being enough without the chickpeas?
Sandi
It was enough for dinner but not enough for the amount of sauce. I had thawed out some white fish fillets that turned out to be smaller than they looked so I cooked them in the extra sauce and had that for lunch today. We liked it better with the chicken, but it’s successfully used up so overall a win!
Lily R.
Day 18
Breakfast: I took advantage of the day off and made doubles, a Trinidadian dish. Delicious, easy and made with pantry ingredients.
Lunch: we finished up the dosa and curries from yesterday.
Dinner: Hubby grilled Korean short ribs and I made banchan to go with it.
I got some prep work done in the kitchen to make meals easier this week. So far we are saving a bundle of cash that will go into our home remodeling fund!