This month, we’re shopping our kitchen in order to use up what we have so we can save money and clear kitchen clutter. It’s time for the Big ReDo of 2026!
Here we go with Day 1 of the Pantry Challenge.
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This holiday season was really different than the past few. Instead of two Christmases, we just had one and it was amazing! Our eldest son and his wife hosted us all in Sacramento for a long weekend, starting on Christmas Day, and they really spoiled us.
Lots of great meals, fun games, nightly sing alongs — we did it all.
The weather was wild so we are extra thankful that the heavy rain and high winds didn’t close the Grapevine. We got there in record time — despite crazy drivers and weather.
Being gone for so long meant that I didn’t load up the fridge and freezer for Christmas. In fact, I made a point to eat down the fridge so we didn’t waste food while we were gone.
As a result, I don’t know that my pantry inventory will be too exciting for anyone. I have some random cuts of meat and lots of frozen potatoes that went on sale in the fall. I don’t know that we really have that much to eat down, but we will try!
My biggest goal for this month is to level up my sense of order in the kitchen. I crave predictability so I want the cupboards tidier, meals more rhythmic, and my kitchen routines to become more regular.
I started counting macros in November to great success, so my meals are a little weird these days. I took a break over Christmas but am going to try to get back on the regular routine, probably next week when we’re back to a regular schedule.
What We Ate Today
Breakfast – The boys were gone last night and the girls stayed up late, so I didn’t make a big NYD breakfast like I did when they were little. It was a fend-for-yourself kind of morning. At least one kid made eggs and ate a leftover pancake. I made a breakfast bowl of potatoes and eggs.
Lunch – I cooked up two pounds of ground turkey and made a big pot of chili. It was perfect for a rainy day. I found the dregs of a bag of tortilla chips from our last game night, one of the last bags of shredded cheese, and some sour cream and cilantro for toppings.
Side note: I thought I had lots of cheese on hand, but it appears the supply is dwindling.
Dinner – I made Asian Bowls with both rice and rice noodles. I cooked chicken thighs I got on clearance, baking them in this 5-Minute Asian Chicken Marinade. I made a double batch of Carrot Ginger Dressing as well as the a soy-based dressing. We loaded up on lots of chopped veg, too.
We also had our Happy New Year Cake that I baked from a box and topped with Homemade Buttercream Frosting. I forgot that we were out of cocoa powder, so I added jam between the layers and served fresh raspberries on the side.
It was a good day overall. Happy New Year!
What did YOU do for Day 1?
PS If you notice comments from years past below, go ahead and disregard them. I’m reusing past years’ urls but rewriting each post as we go along through the month.
Vicki Skonieczny
Happy New Year Jessica,
I so look forward to this type of challenge and I love reading what you eat:) Just wondering if you’ll post your grocery hauls or not?? I also love seeing what you buy!! Unfortunately I ended up with strep throat and the flu on Monday, so our plans had to be canceled. It could always be worse, right?? I am really curious about the counting macros that you mentioned in your post. Would you be willing to give some details about what that entails?? If not, I’ll google it. Reading your blog has really helped me to home in on organization, meal planning, list making and keeping track of food inventory and having less food waste. Thanks for all you do!
Jessica Fisher
Hey Vicki! Hope you feel better soon! Re: grocery hauls, I will try. I am sometimes so pressed for time, I don’t get pictures taken.
Re: macros, I shared over on Life as Mom. If you read the November rambles, that should explain some.
Kelly Cook
I didn’t do anything intentionally, but we used ground elk (maybe it was deer) that my husband’s friend gives him after a big hunt, and ground beef from the freezer for burgers. Doesn’t count for a pantry challenge much because I had to buy buns and most of the toppings. Tonight there are teens invading our house for a praise and worship time followed by swing/line dancing, so more food is coming in than getting used up.
Karen J
Hello all!
January 1st was nice and relaxing . We celebrated East Coast New Year’s Eve with friends -I’m from north of Seattle-so we were home well before midnight.
I have SO MUCH food so am not going to feel the “creative fun” part of pantry challenge for a while.
Breakfast-eggs, jalapeños, and cheese wrapped in tortillas
Late Lunch-salad and open faced BLTs with avocado
Dinner-last of the potato ham chowder and the last of the pumpkin pie
My food goal this week is to use perishables from the refrigerator first.
My decluttering goal is to go through the kitchen towel drawer and delegate some (many?) to my husband for shop rags.
Heather from Sacramento
Hi everyone! I am so glad to be here. I was a lurker last year and I learned so much and tried to apply it throughout the year. My goals in the pantry challenge are to use what I have and focus on not having food waste. Minimizing eating out and having leftovers in the freezer for times when I don’t have time to prepare food. I will replenish pantry items if I need to and buy dairy, fresh vegetables and fruits and eggs as needed. Shopping at Costco is my favorite thing to do. I buy all of my meat from a butcher about an hour away several times a year. I have a chest freezer and I cook to have leftovers but I’m not very good at freezing leftovers before they go bad in the refrigerator. I also try to have a stock of food for emergencies or sickness. My dream goal is to be an ingredient household.
So glad you made it home. That storm was insane for California. So glad we didn’t have flooding where I live or lose power.
It’s just me in the house.
B- coffee
L- salad with chicken, blue cheese, grapes and walnuts. I made a lemon dressing with lemons from my mom’s tree. Yummy!
D- grilled cheese sandwiches.
Snacks- Ate the last of the Sees candy from Christmas, almonds and cookies leftover from my baking adventures for Christmas gifts.
Kathy in Denmark
So fun to see all the familiar names in the comments already.
Day 1:
Brunch: We all slept in and had a brunch of scrambled eggs, toasted rolls, coffee, juice etc.
D: DD1 was at a sleepover with a friend, so she had dinner there. I sent some treats with her for her and her friend 🙂
The rest of us had LO. DD2 had 2 hotdogs and DH had one veggie hotdog, which wiped out those. DH also had some rye bread with toppings, as did I. We finished a few things, which is always nice.
Late snack for me: LO hasselback potatoes from NYE. SO good!
I’m sure everyone had a few pieces of candy or cookies during the day as well.
I actually managed to avoid a lot of shopping around NYE, since I had meat and other things in the freezer and fridge for NYE dinner. I still have a lot of meat in the freezer, which will last for a long time. DH is a vegetarian, so it lasts quite a while. I gravitate towards vegetarian meals after all the meat we have around Christmas anyway, so no worries there.
Heather M
Happy New Year and hello to all our usual posters here! So fun to be back here with all of you! And Jessica, what a delightful and fantastic Christmas you all had. We did too, with both of our 20 something kids and their partners with us. It seems they have found their people but none are ready to make it official(one day, I’m sure). We had the best week last week and this week has been much more quiet. We are currently in NY at my in-laws, since NYE, and are here until Sunday so we are on vacation budget and not grocery one. However, you all woildnbe pleased with our Jan 1 spending/food. We did not leave their house except to make a “drink” run (always a part of our NY travel budget! It’s necessary). We all ate as we felt like it during the day and essentially ate 2 meals. All leftover ire years even fare. It’s now back to the two of us and our grown son who is still living with us to get his savings and retirement funded as much as possible until he moves out most likely this summer when his girlfriend moves here(most likely at least).
Brunch: not sure what the guys are but I had a piece of Italian bread(.the restaurant sent a TON!!) with cheese and a small piece of a Portuguese sweet spongecake.
Dinner: I had leftover chicken francese, Caesar salad, and another piece of bread. Later I had a pear I had brought for the drive up, and some Christmas candy. The guys had leftover meatballs, same chicken, lasagna, bread. My MIL had ordered trays of foot from a local Italian place. All held up well the next day.
Happy Jan 2 to everyone who is still in that in between with the holidays before Monday comes and life gets back to sort of normal?
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Jessica, your Christmas sounds lovely. We are in the two Christmas season of life-first travel to be with the 2 year old granddaughter and then travel to be with my 94 (almost 95) year old mother and my sister and her family. This year, my whole immediate family traveled to see my mother. She loved getting to see the great granddaughter for an extended period of time. It was a good Christmas and I feel blessed.
So good to see all of these virtual friends again. Can’t wait to catch up.
1/1/26
B: toast and coffee
L: our typical Southern traditional NYD meal. Ham (LO from Christmas, for moving forward), black eyed peas (good luck), collards (green folding money) and cornbread (gold and wealth).
D: leftovers
Karen J
Lynn, how special to have the whole family together with your mom and family! I am the family matriarch now (at 71) and our family of eleven (two adult kids and spouses, four grandkids, and oldest granddaughter’s boyfriend) all gathered at our house. We are lucky that the our family all lives within a 50 mile radius-with us in the middle. Everyone helps out and there’s tons of food-eleven kinds of cookies this year! It’s chaotic and wonderful. I do miss having the teeny ones, but I definitely am not ready to be a great grandma yet!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Happy New Year, Karen! It was a special time! I became a grandmother quite late at 67 so I am thankful for the experience! My mother was thrilled to become a great grandmother finally as well, especially since her twin sister has a gaggle of great grands!
I’m envious of your close proximity to your family. Our daughter is up in the DC area near Heather (5 hours) my son with the grandchild is 3.5 hrs away and my mom 4.5 hours. My car stays on the road, but it’s worth it!
Eleven kinds of cookies is a lot!! Sounds like a wonderful, shared holiday. 🙂
Allie from Ontario
I am also happy to be back after a very successful gardening / canning / freezing etc season so as usual I am well stocked with things that we definitely want to be eating (as well as other things that just need to go 🙂 I also did the big “meat run” to the city (2 butcher shops + Costco) in November so we are well stocked and very grateful that we have the means to be in this position.
I was doing a fridge inventory/rearrange the other day when T asked what we were having for dinner…my response was “hot sauce!” After a pause, he asked if maybe we were eating it WITH something?? Me = “spoons!!” at which point he kinda tiptoed away. So yes, there is work to be done !
As usual, we are typically “midmorning eaters (ie not clear breakfasts / lunches so I will report that way.
What we ate on Jan 1:
Brunch: T was leaving early to help a friend move stuff out of town so he grabbed an English muffin with jam on his way out the door and I had toast + tomato soup from the freezer mid morning.
Dinner: I did a lot of prep (sigh) for a nice New Year’s Day dinner BUT then found out that T’s friend insisted on taking him to East Side Mario’s before heading back here so the dinner prep was stashed in the fridge for tonight and I pulled out a single serving of stuffed pasta shells freezer and made myself a little side salad.
Congrats to all the people who mentioned kitchen reno’s! So much work and yet so fun when it’s all done and ready to be used 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Allie, I’m glad to hear that you had a successful gardening year. Ours was kind of a bust.
We got a lot of tomatoes the first of July, and then that was pretty much it! We usually are picking green tomatoes into the fall for ripening later, but not this year. The temperatures were irregular as was the rain, but that’s happened before and we still had tomatoes and peppers, at least. After the tomatoes did nothing into August, my husband pulled them up and planted flowers. The peppers? Kind of the same deal. They didn’t flower or produce this summer. They waited until fall. ??? We had our first freeze on Dec 14th and I was outside picking a half a dozen bell peppers and 36 mini peppers. I think they got their seasons mixed up. I did freeze a couple of bags of the peppers and 2 containers of tomatoes, but that was the extent of our “harvest”. Maybe next year. I’m glad you had better luck!
Allie from Ontario
Hi Lynn…we did have a great garden this year but it started out rough as just when I would be digging manure / compost into the 4 raised beds and re potting endless seedlings into 4 inch pots, I broke my leg….my spouse (T) saved the day by doing a huge amount of heavy garden work (on top of all of his jobs ) to make sure things got planted. I certainly “extra appreciate” this years harvest .
Stephanie M.
Thursday, January 1, 2026
I started working on a freezer challenge in October. There’s only two of us so it takes a while. I was doing so well until I accumulated a bunch of Christmas things like frozen appetizers and a lot of home made cookies. Thankfully my meat/fish supple is not bad because I haven’t been buying much of it since I’m trying to use it up. The frozen appetizers will take a while to use up. I will be using some of them for upcoming holidays.
B – paul had toast, mixed fruit, and yogurt.
I had bran cereal with strawberries and blueberries. I also had chopped walnuts.
L – Paul skipped. I had deli turkey with turkey bacon, lettuce and tomato in whole wheat
Snack – I had peanuts and blackberries
D – bangers and mash and peas and salad.
Tasty
Jan 1 26
It is so good to be back for yet another year with the pantry challenge. I really don’t know how long I’ve been doing this but it’s a long time and I love the accountability it gives me. Don’t think hubby has ever actually known before that we(?) do this but did mention to him just the other day that WE would be eating the stuff that was already here, rather than buying more. He is one of those people who eats because he has to rather than someone who lives to eat so he seems fine with it. We’ll see what happens when the pickins get slim. I find that we eat a lot less now than we did when I started doing this 10+ years ago.- as we age we are less active, we no longer have a big garden to look after, snow clearing to take care of etc and I guess my shopping doesn’t necessarily reflect those changes.
Anyway, on to what we ate on the 1st.
B – hubby still starts his day usually with fruit, yogurt and granola and today was no exception. I had a yogurt and finished the last piece of French bread, from NYE supper, with h/m apricot jam
L- hubby had an apple and a banana, I had baked beans on toast and we finished the last piece of a little Christmas cake between us.
S – chicken breast, stuffed with apple and brie and broccoli.
All’s good for day 1.
Kathryn M
I am a little late jumping in to the chats, but I am doing the January pantry challenge. I am on the heals of another food challenge from December, so my pantry is a little picked over. I do need a good freezer cleanout and will be focusing on using up stuff from there for a while. Leftover tend to go in and never come back out of the freezer! I have garden veggies from 2 summers that really need to go away too. I see a lot of veggie soup in my future.
Anyway I raided the giant bag of frozen potstickers today. There are still some left though for later.
Heather M
Hello Jessica! Thanks for hosting this again, and it’s so fun to have you back posting again this year! And, I’m thrilled to see so many familiar people again. Happy New Year everyone! My Jan 1 was spent in NY at my in-laws, then panicking when our daughter and her BF missed their flight home even after arriving 2 hours early (pure chaos like she’s never seen) and delaying our drive home until we knew what was happening with them, then them luckily getting rebooked onto the last flight of the night to their home city! We got home at midnight(we live by DC). Starting the Challenge today, with a day off for my birthday on Monday (or maybe just dinner off). We are 3 this year, as our son moved home this Fall after receiving a masters degree and a graduate certificate and started real world working in late October. He’s welcome to live with us as long as he wants, to save money, etc, given how expensive rent is here. Our cupboards, freezer(only 1, attached to the fridge), and fridge are full, and since thanksgiving I haven’t cooked a ton, but bought stuff. I’m in the middle of cleaning out the fridge to assess the situation there. Maybe I’ll inventory the rest later. My rules are chill, but I’d love to not spend a lot. We will not be sacrificing healthy meals, so i’ll keep us in fresh produce and will buy anything we use regularly if we run out of it. Otherwise, buckle up, it’s time to use things up, rotate things out before they get too old, be creative in the kitchen, and a wise steward of our resources.
Kim in Colorado
Hello! I participated year before last but had to take last year off due to a busy January. Looking forward to working through my freezer to make room for summer garden spoils, as well as using those pantry items I keep ignoring. I do have a few months more in a master’s degree program so may not be a daily poster.
Jessica, I also relate to your second Christmas post. I work in a hospital and we are not near family so Christmas “day” is often not traditional for us. But flexibility makes it work so I see much fun in your evolving Christmases of the future 🙂
I worked NY day so brought leftover pizza, fruit, and ate random snacks for lunch and dinner. My family smoked burgers at home with chips on the side. I do think they went to store for buns and ground meat, but they didn’t eat out so a win! I am aiming to cut the grocery budget in half this month.
Looking forward to all the ideas provided by everyone’s posts.
Jessica Fisher
Thanks for your encouraging words, Kim. Looks like you’re off to a good start!
Laurie in Texas
I really need to make a lot of progress on our two bottom freezers of our side by sides. I had bought a bone in ham right before Christmas so I tore it apart yesterday and made navy bean with ham soup and cornbread for dinner. We both ate a slice of ham for lunch. Breakfast was ever man for himself.
Kathy in Denmark
So happy that you are hosting this challenge again, Jessica!
Of course I’m in 🙂
Day one:
Brunch: Scrambled eggs, toast, coffee and juice
S: Crisps, Christmas cookies and candy
D: Chicken nuggets, veg. nuggets for DH, chips (fries) – all from the freezer, mixed salad.
DH and I have both been under the weather since before Christmas, which hasn’t been great for my energy level. So after NYE I pushed the easy button and I have zero regrets! At least the nuggets were from free range chickens and the fries were made with organic potatoes LOL
I’m happy to see some familiar names and some new ones as well. Looking forward to the rest of the month.
I have frozen a bunch of leftovers from Christmas, so I have some easy meals waiting. I am feeling better today, so I hope to be a little more creative meal-wise during the month.
Jessica Fisher
Get well soon, Kathy! Always great to see you here.
Kathy in Denmark
Thanks, Jessica!
I really enjoy this tradition. It helps me so much regarding the way I shop and I always get some great new ideas!
Heather M
Hello Kathy! So happy to see you back here again this year. Hope you’re starting to feel better. Fun fact for you, I started learning Danish on Duolingo the past several months, after enjoying enough shows from Denmark inspired me. Look forward to interacting again this month! Happy New Year!
Kathy in Denmark
Happy New Year, Heather!
Kudos for taking on learning Danish. Danish is notoriously difficult to learn, since we have vowels no one else does and a lot of very hard consonants (especially R).
We also tend to mumble a lot, it’s a bad habit 😉
Held og lykke til dig 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Hello Kathy! Great to see you here again. Feel better soon.
Kathy in Denmark
Great to see you too, Lynn!
Erin in Ontario
I’ve been following along the last couple of years, but was too shy to say much. This year we’re looking to replace our septic system here in the boonies, so I am all in on joining the pantry challenge with everyone! Thanks, Jessica, for hosting.
Day 1 we ate leftovers. It was a fix-it-yourself kind of day with the exception of a slow cooker full of homemade dog food from holiday turkey. Various things I saw eaten: cheese quesadillas, a spinach pizza, a large tomato and cucumber salad with hummus, oatmeal, and scrambled eggs (from our spoiled hens, who have started laying again after the cold snap).
Today I’m more organized, so I’ll share Day 2 tomorrow.
Jessica Fisher
Thanks for delurking, Erin! Great to see you! You’re off to a great start.
Danielle L Zecher
Your meals sound awesome. It’s great to see so many familiar names in the comments. ?
The freezers are in better shape than they have been in years. I’m in western NC, and we were hit pretty hard by Hurricane Helene. We lost everything in our fridge and nearly everything in our chest freezer. I’ve done some restocking and meal-prepping in anticipation of January being my busy time at work, but the freezers aren’t packed like they usually are going into the Pantry Challenge. I need to focus on using up some of the dry ingredients like spices (my spice cabinet is out of control!), flour, beans, etc. I’ve set a grocery budget of $100.00 for the month, but my stretch goal is not to spend any actual money. I have some Walmart gift cards and Walmart cash, and I’m hoping that will see us through the month. We had to replace our entire HVAC system/furnace and all of the ductwork, the sump pump, and have some electrical work and drainage work done as a result of the hurricane, so I’m looking to divert as much grocery money as possible toward paying all of that off.
Day 1 was super easy. I made several appetizers/snacks (meatballs, devilled eggs, egg salad, hummus/veggie tray, fruit/dip tray, cheese/crackers, and cake) for NYE, so we munched on those leftovers all day yesterday.
Heather M
Happy New Year, Danielle! I sure hope it’s a better year after Helene. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Also happy to see you here, and ready to cheer you on during your busy month. 🙂
Danielle Zecher
Hi Heather, thanks! I’m glad to see you again, too. 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Hello Danielle. So sorry to hear of the damages you sustained from Helene. We have family in your area that luckily sustained only minor damage. Such an awful and tragic occurrence. :’( I’m worried about WNC with the colder weather heading our way.
Sounds like you are off to a good start, for the challenge. Glad to “see” you again.
Danielle Zecher
Lynn, I’m glad your family was okay after Helene. I still can’t believe how bad it was (and still is) in some places.
Karen J
Happy New Year! May our 2025 be filled with adventures and good health!
Upon doing my inventory I found that, as usual, I have an overabundance of food after Christmas so I am very happy to be pantry challenging again this year! Thank you, Jessica, for hosting. I have several containers of those dehydrated hash browns from Costco so will try your breakfast casserole later this month.
Breakfast-egg sandwich in my egg sandwich making machine. We accidentally left ours in a condo on the Oregon coast in November, but my good friend found me another in a thrift store-so yay!
Lunch-veggies and dip, Christmas cookies from the freezer
Dinner-crock pot pork roast (using a big roast from the freezer), mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn. Lots left over for the two of us.
Allie from Ontario
Very happy to be back here for another run at this fun challenge! My focus this year is INGREDIENTS from the fridge, freezer, canning cupboard and dry pantry. We are currently well stocked with meat after a late November “city” run and fresh produce after a mindful shop on the 31st to refill the crispers and I do have a good sized cookbook collection which really helps me keep the variety up.
So on Jan 1st…here’s what we ate
Brunch = I had a bowl of some broccoli cheese soup I made on the 30th and T had some yogurt & finished off some mashed potatoes with some cheese melted on top
Dinner = I made a small pan of enchiladas using roasted tomatillos, chicken stock, black beans, corn and a big mix of both sweet & hot diced peppers all from the freezer. Seems like a good start for us 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Happy New Year Jessica and Tasty!
The last few months of 2024 were chaotic for a variety of reasons. Though I can’t believe it’s 2025 (wasn’t it just yesterday we were worried about Y2K?), I’m ready for a restart and that includes the budget. Due to said chaos, I didn’t even check my budget the month of December. So here’s to the do over.
Thank you Jessica for hosting this challenge again. I SO enjoy it.
1/1/25
B: LO ham and cheese sliders from the holidays, coffee
L: snacked on chips and queso, DH had a sandwich and chips
D: had our traditional Southern NYD dinner-ham (LO from Christmas Day), black eyed peas, cornbread, collards and pineapple. DH and I shared a slice of 12 layer cake we purchased when out of town.
PS Jessica I read your post on Two Christmases with interest. With my son’s family including our little toddler granddaughter being out of town, DD and hubby out of state, a soon to be 94 year old mother out of town and my sister’s family where my mom is, we had a lot of moving parts. Still trying to figure out how to make it all work.
Heather M
Hello Lynn! So happy to see you back here again for another Challenge! Hope you’re doing well. Fun fact for you: 2024 ended up being a year of getting to know NC finally. L and I did a long weekend in Raleigh/Durham in March and had a grand time. Then we spent the 4th of July week at the Outer Banks for the very first time in all the years we have lived here! When our kids were growing up we always went to San Diego to my home for the summer beach trip, unlike so many from the DC area who head to NC. We finally made it when our best friends rented a house on the beach in Nags Head and set aside a room for us! Best time, really enjoyed. Looking forward to interacting with you again this year!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Heather, you did traverse NC a bit this year including my neck of the woods! Fourth of July here is THE busiest week with huge crowds! Glad you still had fun. Hard to compete with San Diego, but we do enjoy our miles and miles of beaches!
Looking forward to sharing here again this year.
Tasty
I am so happy to see the pantry challenge for another year. Somehow, ‘reporting’ here makes me much more accountable, so a big thank you Jessica. Must admit your meals sound really great. We did just fine today too!
B – hubby had a regular breakfast of berries, yogurt and granola, followed by some toast and lemon curd. Mine was similar – banana, yogurt, toast and jam.
L – hubby made cheese sandwiches for us.
S – lasagne, using ground beef and Italian sausages from the freezer, along with mushrooms and peppers and a jar a pasta sauce. Good eats for sure today.
Heather M
Hello Tasty! Glad to see you back here! Hope you had a good 2024 and look forward to seeing you here again this year. 🙂