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 10 of the Pantry Challenge!
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Even though we’re in a squishy month, not back into routine until spring semester starts at the end of January, it felt good to get back to my Friday ritual, my Rest Day Sabbath Prep.
I got the kitchen and living spaces back to zero and worked on food prep for the weekend. Feels good!
What We Ate
Breakfast – My friend Michele bought me eggs at Fresno prices last week (They are $8 a dozen at my local Ralphs) so we’re still enjoying eggs and toast today.
Lunch – Leftovers needed eating: vegetable soup, mashed potatoes, chicken legs, gravy.
Dinner – Fridays are pizza night and we had a couple of the kids’ friends over. I made six pizzas and a big salad and batch of Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dip.
How did Day 10 go for you?
Carol
Lunch: had friends over to lunch. Used up the ends of 2 packages of red lentils in soup. Finished half a pomegranate and last orange in a lettuce salad.
Made cornbread from mix in pantry.
B ate bagel and smoked salmon from frig.
Supper: Snowday so more soup: hamburger from frig , mixed veg from freezer.
Danielle Zecher
Breakfast: McDonald’s.
Lunch: Nick had a (homemade) burrito from the freezer. I had stuffed chicken breast from the freezer.
Dinner: Baked spaghetti.
Tasty
Day 10
B: the usual
L: Tomato soup – freezer
S: a pasta – less chicken parm with salad. Chicken from the freezer, sauce and cheese from the fridge.
I also went shopping yesterday. A total of a obout $60 but that included $25 I spent on stuff for the condo soup lunch this coming week.. For home it was a mix of fruit, veggies and dairy.. The bag of frozen berries I buy each week is $14 so that’s a noticeable chunk before I start. I also made some bread for us in the afternoon.
Karen J
We actually had a bit of sunshine that took away some of the PNW dreariness.
B-rye toast with peach jam and coffee That delicious loaf of rye bread is now gone. Boo.
L-tomato basil soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
D-leftovers from the restaurant date after the theater
S-finished off the Oreo ice cream left from Christmas
I’m not seeing much white space yet in my freezer. It’s been a pretty social month so there have been more restaurants involved. Not complaining! I did take out proteins for the next three days to thaw in the refrigerator.
Laurie in TX
Where in Fresno did your friend get eggs? I’d like to pass info on to my daughter. I went to Costco in Georgetown, TX and not an egg to be had. Daughter said it was the same way in Fresno Costco.
I haven’t been tracking the last few days but we’re making progress on the freezers. I need tasty ideas on what to do with chicken mango meatballs. Didn’t really care for them and thinking maybe use in a soup. Please don’t suggest any ideas using coconut milk. Can’t stand the stuff.
Jessica Fisher
She bought them prior to the 4th, probably in Clovis.
Karen J
Maybe a sweet and sour sauce with your chicken mango meatballs? Add some green pepper (or red or yellow) to it and serve it over rice?
Heather M
Those meatballs would be good in teriyaki sauce, too.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/10
B: LO breakfast casserole and coffee. DH had the same
L: I traveled the next county over to teach a workshop where they provided subs and chips at lunch. I kind of shopped my way back.
I found eggs at Publix for 2.79. Since my excess old eggs are taken care of, I grabbed 2 dozen at that great price. These are conventional eggs good til the end of February:)
I have several birthday celebrations next month-my amazing mother’s 94th and my granddaughter’s second. In anticipation of those, I found a great price on ribeyes, so I bought a family pack of those. I also bought Walkers shortbread 1/2 price which my Mother loves, so got 2 boxes of those. Found snacks for the GD who is milk free on sale and some sugar free snacks for DH for Valentines. All of that was 55.12 though some of it falls in the “gift” category but I’m going to include it. (Without these items, I spent only 10.60 for the eggs and bread) I need to go back to check but I think that gives me a total of about $100 with the extras-about $60 without. I’ll see how the rest of the month goes.
D: leftover Jambalaya on the leftover cauliflower and rice, with more apples and cukes.
Hope everyone is staying warm. No snow for us, but the prolonged cold snap (for us) is starting to freeze the sounds that surround us.
Tasty, this southern girl can’t imagine -20C. I’ve never felt minus anything as best I can recall. Single digits when I lived in another part of the state, but never below freezing. My teeth chatter just thinking about it!
Karen J
Lynn, you found some good deals-especially the eggs and ribeye! I buy steak seldom, but usually grab a pack of ribeye at Costco for Valentine’s Day (we gave up going to restaurants on VD years ago). On doing my January freezer inventory I found we have two pounds of hamburger and some meatballs so that’s it for beef at home this month. (which I am totally okay with, there are LOTS of other options in my freezer)
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Karen J, we’re the same in not eating much beef. We don’t go out on VD either. Many of our restaurants aren’t even open on VD here, us being a summer tourist destination. The ones that are, are crowded and we’re just not interested in all that .
The boneless ribeyes were thin cut but 7.99# ! I thought that a great price since they had the regular price at 19.49 ?. They only had 1pack with a limit of 2. I really need at least one more steak so I got a rain check to get another pack later. My Mother’s birthday is the 16th so a late VD meal, which is fine with us!
I thought the steaks and eggs were great prices. Did have a frugal fail. When I checked my receipt (when I got home) I’d picked up the wrong type bread so I paid 4.99 instead of the half price variety. Sigh.
Heather M
Our VDay sounds similar! I usually make steaks of some kind, and we also don’t eat tons of red meat (much to my husband’s chagrin). I always cook some sort of steak dinner and he’s always so happy about it. 🙂
Tasty
Lynn, my teeth chatter when I’m out in it!!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I’ll BET!! Brrrr.
Maureen
Leftovers for lunch again. The good news is that I’ve kept up with them, so there aren’t many left. Time to wipe out the entire fridge. We were expecting snow in the afternoon/evening so DH left work a little early (probably had as much to do with it being a Friday and not having any meetings scheduled). We only ended up getting about 2 inches, but everything looks lovely this morning. DD begged to order pizza, so that’s what we did for dinner. We don’t order it often, and with the snow starting it somehow felt cozy to do it. And she will definitely eat the leftovers.
Heather M
Jan 10: Normal day, both guys went to the office, I mostly rested, we all went and finally saw Wicked last night.
B: we all skipped
L: L took a salad with turkey, almonds, a pear; C took the purposely leftover chicken veg teriyaki over rice and a Kind bar; I had some leftover shredded chicken tossed with bbq sauce on toasted sourdough and some chips and street corn dip
D: leftover quinoa tuna salad for L and I; toasted turkey and cheddar on sourdough for C
S: popcorn at the movies; I think we all had a christmas chocolate or two as well
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Glad you could rest. Wicked is on here and is on the To Do list for the hubs and me.
Allie from Ontario
One of the things I prep/freeze from my garden is what I called “starters”. For example the roasted tomatillo/poblano sauce for our favourite chili verde & the base for my gold standard tomato soup (roma tomatoes roasted with balsamic, brown sugar & garlic). I have dental surgery coming up (hence the antibiotics)….I knew something was up but it hasn’t affected eating/brushing & then my dentist used the phrase “…to save the tooth”…ouch. Soooo…. I am now making creamy soups and freezing single portions. I am trying to use things from the freezer (ie container of the tomato soup starter) so I don’t just undo all the clearing our I’ve been doing!
What we ate on Jan 10
Brunch: I had my oats and T had his yogurt and then pulled a burger & bun from the freezer to eat before he went off to afternoon hockey.
I made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in the afternoon which emptied 1 of the “more than 1” quart jars of large flake oats. I also decided a cookie & tea counted as “take with food”.
Dinner: We sous vided & then cubed 2 thick pork chops. The cubes were tossed in homecanned BBQ sauce & finished in a hot pan.. I found a 14 oz can of baked beans in the pantry & dressed them up using Jessica’s recipe for “Jack’s Best Baked Beans” adding a little more heat with sriracha. We also finished the last of the celery salad. Cookies, a movie & then sleep!
Lynn grom NC Outer Banks
Never good to hear the dentist say that! I had that conversation recently too. Fortunately we did save it, but a bit of an ordeal all around.
Erin in Ontario
Allie, I’d love to learn how you make your tomatillo/poblano sauce if you’re willing to share!
Kathy in Denmark
Sorry you’re having dental surgery, Allie.
I had a particularly pesky wisdom tooth which had to be removed by an oral surgeon last February, and it was no fun! I also had to take a lot of antibiotics, so I empathise. In the end, it was good to get it done, but man it took forever to feel like myself again.
I hope the surgery goes well and that you have e speedy recovery!
Erin in Ontario
We had a grandkid yesterday because of the weather, so I completely forgot to eat until after noon. Nothing like an energetic toddler to keep you moving!
B: I think they all had oatmeal.
L: Husband had the last of the Thai peanut noodles. Grandchild had grilled cheese and grapes. I made mango, black bean, and coconut rice bowls with a squeeze of lime on top. Teenager slept through lunch.
D: Vegetable chili – perfect for the snowstorm! As a bonus, it used up a mostly full container of tomato sauce and some aging veggies from the fridge.