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?
Kathryn M
Jan 11th 2025
Brunch – (at noon) I made some sausage patties from a roll that I pulled out of the freezer yesterday. I splurged and fried one egg for myself. DH has some of the sausages, but there were 4 left that I will use this next week.
Dinner – frozen pizza, bread sticks that we got from Walmart today.
I bought a few items today – bananas, mozzarella sticks to replace what I ate the other day, OJ, tortilla chips. Spent $35 of DH’s money but there were a few other items in the cart like a shirt I found on clearance.
I priced eggs ( $10-$12 a dozen!) and saw nobody was picking them up. I am in a state that went cage-free eggs only the first of the year. The conventional. eggs I bought in Dec were only $4. Glad I still have a few left…..
Tasty
Wow on the price of eggs!!!
Kathryn M
I saw on the news that the five big egg producers in our state had to destroy 100% of their birds last spring. Then just recently 3 of the 5 had to do that again with the new flocks…..
What few eggs are coming in are mostly being transported from out of state right now.
Heather M
If you’re anywhere near a Trader joe’s, try them for eggs(in my state VA I bought white large cage free for 2.99/dozen this week). They’ve been keeping them lower priced so far. Unfortunately the bird flu has decimated egg laying hens, hence the high prices, regardless of type.
Jessica Fisher
They were here, too, but I think they’re running out. I haven’t been this week, but the last I was there, most of the eggs were gone.
Maureen
I pulled chicken drumsticks from the freezer for “wings”, but the guys informed me that they were too big. So, I roasted them for dinner. We ate half, so I stripped the rest, threw the bones in the crockpot to make stock, and then made chicken noodle soup with everything (including a random package of noodles). But, now I have 2 meals of soup without noodles and one meal with noodles in the freezer…and we had the soup for a dinner and a lunch.
Last night’s dinner used up a couple of things from the freezer. It was a bit random, but noone complained. And we’ve stayed on top of eating up leftovers, so, it’s been a successful couple of days. I got half of my freezers inventoried, too. I really plan to work from those inventories to plan meals every few days.
Jessica Fisher
My husband has been asking me to make “wings” with drumsticks because they’d have more meat. Surprised your guys didn’t go for it.
Allie from Ontario
TASTY!! I can only assume you live in/near Picton!! I live in Bancroft 🙂
Tasty
Right on, Allie. It’s a small world!
Allie from Ontario
Hi Tasty!
I live in a small town roughly 1/2 way between Toronto & Ottawa by mileage (but it takes a lot longer to drive Toronto !) and we are also around 125 km straight up (ie north) of the the 401. If you know the park, we are around 70 km from the east gate of Algonquin Park. Our heavy snow earlier this week was followed more by freezing rain than just rain so much of the snow stayed. AND I also purchased a couple of 2 1/4 lb packages of ground beef today for under $10.00 each – score!
I apologize if this comment appears twice….I had a typo in my username 1st time 🙂
M in OH
Jessica, as evidence of how much I have gained from reading your site over many years – tonight for dinner we are having your recipe for red sauce (pulled from the freezer) and your recipe for Italian breadsticks is in the bread machine right now. We are running low on olive oil, so in a pantry challenge – worthy move, I am using up the oil from a jar of sundried tomatoes packed in oil which has been in the fridge (warmed to make it liquid again) in the breadstick dough.
Love seeing your beautiful new kitchen as well as hearing about the orange harvest from your backyard.
Tasty
M in OH, we had Jessica’s red sauce just a few days ago – it is good ?
Tasty
That wasn’t supposed to be a ?, I know the red sauce is good!
Jessica Fisher
Brilliant move with the olive oil! I need to make those breadsticks soon….
Tasty
Don’t know where you are in Ontario Allie but that’s where I am too and we are getting some snow right now. Not a lot, not heavy but steady. What we got on Tuesday had completely disappeared thanks to the rain we got on Tuesday evening.
I did cave and go to the grocery store this morning – very little that I really needed and as I’m doing the annual pantry challenge I wasn’t buying much.. . . I did come home with a couple of things that weren’t on my list but I knew I had a cabbage in the fridge that I wanted to use up and what better way than cabbage rolls. I also knew that I didn’t have enough ground beef in the freezer to make making them worthwhile. I was down to 1/2 lb so when I saw 2 1/2 lb for less than $10, I decided to buy it and we’ll have the cabbage rolls tonight and there will be some for the freezer.
I came home with groceries that came to $43 but used my store points so only paid $3 – pretty good in my books! Off to make said cabbage rolls.
Allie form Ontario
Hi Tasty!
I live in a small town roughly 1/2 way between Toronto & Ottawa by mileage (but it takes a lot longer to drive Toronto !) and we are also around 125 km straight up (ie north) of the the 401. If you know the park, we are around 70 km from the east gate of Algonquin Park. Our heavy snow earlier this week was followed more by freezing rain than just rain so much of the snow stayed. AND I also purchased a couple of 2 1/4 lb packages of ground beef today for under $10.00 each – score!
Tasty
This is really strange Allie because we too are half way between Toronto and Ottawa, down on the edge of Lake Ontario, not very far from Sandbanks provincial park.
Kathryn M
Day 10 2024 Lunch another chicken salad slider, potato salad, and a few homemade pickles.
Dinner: I pulled a tiny container of leftover taco meat out of the freezer. Added some diced onion and pepper that I fried up and heated a can of refried beans. It made 3 burritos, so I ate one and put two in the fridge for later. I have about half the refried beans left over too.
I also fished out a tub of guacamole that has been in the fridge a while and and ate it with tortilla chips.
Heather M
Jan 10- wow 1/3 through the month already. I met a friend for breakfast today, and that was great, since I’ve had virtually zero friend time except via text since mid December, and I’m an extrovert who doesn’t deal well being alone much(I love my husband and son who was here for 2.5weeks of that, but it wasn’t a fun time). Still working up to 100%, not there yet.
B: I had a treat- a cinnamon bun, one of my favorite things that I rarely have(I’ve never made them, probably on purpose, since I’d likely make them all the time) and a nice blueberry roobois tea; L skipped
L: L took another salami/lettuce sandwich(I say salami, but it’s other Italian cold cuts similar to salami as well, from my NYE charcuterie and more shopping- I really did buy a LOT for 3), blackberries and kiwi, and some veggie sticks
D: whole wheat pasta with peas, goat cheese, shallots, and crispy prosciutto, L finished leftover side salad and I finished off the cucumber for a side
I’m determined to use as much from the freezer as possible since I know I haven’t put too much in there since summer and it is overstuffed. Will try to use at least one item a day in this effort- today I used half a bag of petite peas.
Heather M
Oh I forgot my lunch- I just snacked on crackers and cheese
Karen J
B-crepes and bacon If you haven’t tried Jessica’s Easy Homemade Crepes recipe you should! It makes a lot and they freeze great. I left a review back in January 2020. I see our friend Lynn from Outer Banks did too. 🙂
L-chipotle chicken avocado melt from Panera with a gift card. Hub and I split it. Yum.
D-I wasn’t hungry so cookies and decaf tea for me. Husband was out with guy friends.
Allie from Ontario
Jan 10
Brunch – I had a smoothie and T had some yogurt then a little later we split the leftover pasta from the night before
Dinner – I made a spicy meatball soup with lots of veg, the rest of the roasted cherry tomatoes I thawed for the pasta & pearl couscous. It was really good!! We also split the last Costco cheese bun from the freezer. And oh, the cookies are now done…I hope to make another batch later today.
I plan to pick up some ground beef and milk today. This wasn’t meant to be a strict “no spend” challenge for us (except we really haven’t bought anything since Jan 2) and there are some non-negotiables – coffee, milk for that coffee & fresh greens for example. There is lots of meat here but the ground beef will help to use up specific ingredients which has been one of my priorities.
We got through the recent heavy snow/freezing rain okay and now another snowfall warning is on for Friday night. I guess it was going to actually be winter at some time 🙂 Have a great Thursday everyone !
Tasty
Hope Bryan feels better soon, Jessica.
We’re just plugging along here with the pantry challenge and 10 days in and I still haven’t been near a grocery store. I am not one of these people who plans out a week’s worth of menus but I tend to see what I/we feel like eating and go from there. I had been out with friends in the morning and altho the temperature was not that low, it was very windy so it felt cold. I also knew that hubby was curling in the afternoon and would the be spending another couple of hours working on the ice surface so he would likely be cold when he got home. Chilli sounded like a good idea and I knew I had everything needed to make a big pot of it.
B: yogurt and toast for hubby, fruit, yogurt and granola for me.
L:hubby ?? I snacked on cheese and crackers, and some Christmas l/os with friends
S: chilli over baked potato
Barbara
Hi Jennifer –
A little late on the pantry challenge message to you- but we have started
Had left over ham from holiday – so I made Senate Bean Soup for dinner.
Checked in pantry and freezer.
Made Corn Flake Chicken cutlets for dinner with Broccoli and Cheese Quiche.
Had Ronzoni shells – made Stuffed Shells with spinach.
Made French Dip Sandwiches from Roast Beef we had one night.
Made Sloppy Joe Biscuit rounds – with Pillsbury biscuits from fridge.
Still going through pantry and freezer. Will come up with another week of meal plans once I check out the freezer and pantry.
That is it for now – Thanks for the idea of the pantry challenge. The cost of food lately is just crazy, it is smart to do this and not waste.
Jennifer
I think I am behind. I will try to remember. So dh is sick, thought it was the flu, I went and got tamiflu at CVS after he went to the dr. I mentioned previously that my soup stash had been wiped out. I picked up 4 cans of soup for him, meds, and some clearance Christmas candy for the work drawer. I think I spent $15 on food, maybe $20.
B – muffins or oatmeal with fruit
L – leftovers! Yay!
D – sheet pan dinner with chicken sausages, potatoes, broccoli, peppers and carrots with crescent rolls.
Kathy in Denmark
Day 10
B: The usual fare all around
L: DH eats at work, packed lunch for the kids, rye bread with serrano ham and boiled potatoes for me. I also had some lettuce and tomatoes.
D: Tortillas with bean filling, guacamole, crème fraiche and salad.
S: Bananas and cake my MIL gave us to take home.
Kathryn M
B- Hotel had biscuits and gravy and scrambled eggs! I also ate a bowl of fruit loops. Helped myself to a generous amount of hot cocoa too. It was cold outside.
L- grabbed a hamburger for carryout. I ate in my car and drank my own soda.
Snacks – small package of Bugles, candy (from dollar general).
Dinner – pizza rolls in the hotel microwave. They were not super cheap at dollar general but I knew I had better grab something while I was getting snacks in case I decided not to leave the hotel once I checked in.
Kimberly
Oh, I will have to try your recipe for protein cookies. With two growing boys in sports, I am always looking for ways to fill them up. But I had to Pin it to try in February…don’t have many of the pantry ingredients ?
So we returned from San Diego (where my son’s team went defeated and won the lacrosse tourney!) right before dinner time Monday night…so I already planned on takeout. But everyone had leftovers for lunch the next day so it worked. Tuesday, I had to hit the grocery for milk and bread and a few other everyday items but only spent $49 which is good for us anymore!
B- cereal or poptarts, milk
L- boys packed leftover Mod Pizza, yogurt with fruit and granola, LO Christmas candy, water; hubby eats out with work crew once a week and today was it; I had my leftovers and juice (we love Mod Pizza because we each get our own sauce & topping preferences, turns out I love artichoke on pizza!)
D- chicken rigatoni (blended some zucchini and carrots from freezer with the HM tomato-pepper sauce, only had to purchase the pasta!), Sprite LO from the holidays
LO Christmas goodies for dessert
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Jan 10
Interesting about pistachios.
B: coffee
L: ½ turkey sandwich. DH had some LO chicken and soup
D: Chicken enchiladas with slaw and mandarins. Used up some HM enchilada sauce from the freezer that had been in there forever.
S: HM hummus with chickpeas from the freezer, pita chips, nuts
Heather M
Day 10:
B: L skipped; I had two pieces of toast with the same cinnamon bun spread
L: L took the second container of salad with leftover chicken and bacon, a piece of sourdough, and mandarins; I finished off the leftover rice and lone little potato (sans skin), melted cheese on the potato plus a few nibbles of other cheese, and finished off a bad of baked chips with a little sour cream I tried to flavor with seasoned salt and onion powder since other dip options have dried herbs and onion pieces, etc.
D: Made a veggie soup with leftover carrots, chopped tomato and onion, rest of the mushrooms and some leftover garbanzos from the freezer, fresh spinach, and seasonings, plus chicken broth. I strained some so I could just eat the broth. L also had a toasted turkey and pepperjack w/ spinach sandwich.
I found some old boxes of jello in the pantry and looked up the best by date situation online. Turns out that boxes of dried jello mix last indefinitely. Thank goodness since these boxes were quite old. I made a box of lime jello to help me make it through Wednesday before starting the dreaded drink prep for Thursday.
ZC from MA
B: overnight oats with hemp milk, nut butter and strawberries. Coffee.
L: bought at work
D: udon with cabbage and shrimp
S: an orange
Emily
B- eggs Benedict using leftover deli ham and finally the last Mandarin
L- I found some chicken wings that had been pushed to the back of the fridge so I ate those for lunch
Snack- baby carrots and cucumber dipped in onion dip
D- cauliflower soup using a bag of frozen cauliflower, homemade spring rolls, these were not good, the wraps had expired but seemed fine but def tasted stale, I threw away the rest.
Dessert- banana pudding using some leftover cream in the fridge from making my kids scones in the morning.