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 11 of the Pantry Challenge!
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Blast from the past: three years ago today I was in the midst of perfecting this. And two years ago I was reshooting this. Yum!
Today was Sunday so I did as little as possible.
Note: I don’t normally eat dinner out of a plastic meal prep container, especially not for Sunday dinner.
However, Asian bowls should be served in low shallow bowls and we only own six. Thus, as hostess, I took the janky one. It was a teachable moment because all the kids noticed. lol
What We Ate
Breakfast: I made an egg bake with leftover pizza toppings and baked two loaves of bread.
Lunch: After church, everyone made a sandwich or quesadilla with chicken from Friday night.
Dinner: We had Asian bowls with fruit salad and clearance fortune cookies. Unfortunately the cookies were incredibly stale, so we read the fortunes and tossed the cookies. haha.
How did Day 11 go for you? We’re ⅓ done!
Kathryn M
B- pumpkin muffins
L fast food burger out. Went to a museum, so just grabbed this on the way.
D – I made garlic cheese flatbread and served it with leftovers. (soup, pasta, whatever else needed to go away).
Heather from Sacramento
B- coffee
L- I went to a celebration of life so I had a late lunch there. Small piece of chicken, 2 slider hamburger patties, roll, chips, potato salad and 2 cookies
D- I ate yogurt with granola, apple and a few slices of cheese.
I did not get as much cooking done as I had hoped over the weekend.
Karen J
Day 11
Day 11
breakfast -Mcmuffin sandwich for me, waffles for H and grandkids.
I have one of those single egg sandwich makers that we use at least twice a week (English muffins from the bread outlet, one egg, bacon from the freezer, and whatever cheese). I don’t usually like small appliances, but that thing gets a work out. We have a duplicate in our camper van.
lunch-out with friends at a favorite restaurant. I had a gift card to cover most of the expense.
dinner- neither of us were hungry, I skipped and he ate some chips I think
Sunday is clean out the refrigerator day as Monday is our garbage pick up day. I didn’t have any food waste this week-yay! There are enough taco leftovers to make taco salads for lunch. I also reorganized the cupboard that contains pastas, dried beans, and multiple other things. I found two bags of polenta and six different kinds of pasta. Reminder to myself-DO NOT buy more pasta, even if it’s on a super cheap sale.
We leave on a week long vacation in two weeks. I will need to continue pantry challenge into February as there is still way too much in my freezer and pantry.
Lynn from NC Outer banks
Hooray for no food waste! That is definitely a win. I get so aggravated with myself when I have waste from just not checking on leftovers. If I would consistently check the fridge every few days-like Jessica recommends-ahem- I could minimize it. Kudos for you for being on top of leftover food.
I’m with you on the pasta. I did make a recipe that called for egg noodles, which I did not have. But penne worked fine and that box got emptied.
Heather M
Jan 10-11: in which we flew from dreary chilly rain to glorious sunny beautiful low 70s San Diego through at times verrrry bumpy air to hang with my mom who’s health isn’t awesome- last March her lungs r gave her a year, which is fast approaching. However a new med was approved in November to help situations like herb and she started 6 weeks ago. She’s determined to beat her odds by a lot. Other than terrible lungs (which affect her energy, fatigue, all of it) she’s great. She moves very slowly cu she has no choice. But drives beautifully, keeps her home in great shape (of course with help every 2 weeks since she can’t handle the physically taxing full cleaning), has lots of lunch and dinner outings with friends, etc. in 2025 I visited solo in March and November, and my entire little family with boyfriend/girlfriend visited over Labor Day for a week plus and I stayed 5 days longer. Determined to get out here whenever I can fit it in my somewhat complicated schedule (medical part is annoying but necessary, plus other things). L and I came together for a week this time- hoping to give him a break from work, alas he has had to pitch in this weekend already and hoping the weekdays will be better
Jan 10:
Lunch: On the cross country flight I ate a cookie in right from home and the mini pretzel snack. L just the snack. We like to arrive hungry lol. We went straight from the airport to Mexican food (it was about 12:15)- L had a massive carne asada burrito and a chicken taco, mom had rice and beans, and I had a bean tostada and chicken taco Sheer Heaven. Then we took a detour to the beach before heading home and were able to snag the one handicapped parking spot right at the lifeguard tower at our favorite beach and all went to stand at the front of it above the sand to soak in the air, the incredibly gorgeous ocean (the color was glorious on Saturday), all of it. Sheer heaven.
Dinner: l was still stuffed from the massive burrito etc. I scrounged in mom’s better stocked than usual kitchen. My brother and family spent the holidays with her from Hawaii and left lots of things she doesn’t normally have. I usually comes and it’s a trick finding things to eat- in November I subsisted on takeout (no complaints lol) and toasted sourdough with PB and guava jam. And mom went to Trader Joe’s for a few more things since my husband was coming too. I made myself two little turkey/cheese sliders on TJs aloha rolls, had a handful of Doritos(thanks bro), and some caramel corn(holiday treat leftovers). Not sure about mom.
Jan 11:
Breakfast: L had chips (he went on a long walk and came in to eat chips?); I had sourdough toast with pb and lingonberry jelly plus a mini bagel with cream cheese. Mom had a mini bagel with cream cheese and a mandarin.
Snack after midday church: L had peanuts. Mom was hungry(some days she’s hungry and others not) and ate 2 aloha rolls a banana, and Doritos. I had a snack container of hummus (thanks bro) with celery and an aloha roll.
Dinner: my brother and his wife came over (they live 25mins north of mom, a town south of Jessica!) and we all made roasted garlic potatoes, toasted mixed fresh veg(zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, peppers, Brussels)), salad. Salmon, and steak. Then we played Swoop (great fun) and had ice cream(thanks bro).
Jessica Fisher
Welcome home! One of these days we’re going to need to plan a meet-up!
Karen J
Heather, Your dinner sounds wonderful.
Positive thoughts for your mom’s health. Enjoy your time in sunny San Diego! We head to Palm Springs in two weeks. Away from Seattle dreariness. 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Heather, enjoy your time with your mother and your return to Sheer Heaven 🙂 Hoping that the new medication will be an answer for her.
Maureen
My FIL is from San Diego with family still there. He messages us regularly when he visits to brag about the Mexican food. Enjoy the time with you’re mom!
Allie from Ontario
Today is a plow, snow blower, shovel day…embrace the winter!
What we ate on Jan 11
Brunch: T had yogurt 1st thing then later had a sausage on a bun…this typically gives all the condiment jars in the fridge a good hit. I had minestrone from the freezer + toast. In the afternoon I made some little “jalapeno cheddar shortbreads” using home canned pickled jalapenos. They are very tasty little guys that we will happily eat this week as afternoon snacks & with soups.
Dinner: I made a small beef stew (ie with just 8 oz of stewing beef) that we ate over mashed potatoes. For the potatoes, I stirred in some “loaded” compound butter from the freezer (fresh oregano, garlic, lemon zest, red pepper flakes) which worked well.
There is enough stew & potatoes leftover for tonight which is great because when we are both outside working hard for “a while”, dinner plans can sometimes get derailed!
Heather M
You’re going to be so grateful for those leftovers! Best wishes getting things cleared!
Maureen
It was a quiet day in the kitchen. I don’t think anyone had breakfast. We all did leftovers for an early lunch. I ended up making homemade mac-n-cheese and a salad for dinner. While I had all the ingredients, it wasn’t really a pantry challenge meal…but it did allow me to put an extra small pan of mac in the fridge for DD to eat after dance one night this week. I’ve planned a few pantry challenge dinners for the next few days, but the leftovers are distracting me. It sounds silly saying that, but I’m going to freeze a couple things that we won’t get to in the next day or two and deal with them later so that I can get back on track.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/11/26
B: cheese toast and coffee for both
L: soup and sandwiches
D: HM pizza using dough ball from freezer, last of pepperoni & sausage/ beef mix from freezer, olives, peppers and onions (freezer) and bag of cheese (no more 20+ bags like the first year of the PC for me!). We had raw carrot sticks and ambrosia (oranges, apples, pineapple, Pom arils, coconut with yogurt and honey dressing) as sides. This pizza was another of DH 20 requested meals. I think I’m 4/20 so far this month! LOL.
S: last unfrosted cupcake from freezer
Karen J
Lynn, you are doing a great job checking off your husband’s requested meals. And that pizza used up a lot of freezer items for the win-including your last cupcake!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Thanks Karen J. I’m working on another requested meal for tonight. 😉 It was good to get those bits out of the freezer and the cupcakes gone. I’m just ignoring the unopened pint of Jenni’s ice cream in the freezer!
SarahLiz
I keep coming to read the posts and do my update and then I get distracted reading comments and forget to make my update!
I can sort of see the shelves in my fridge again! It was pretty packed for a while and it’s not the best fridge to begin with. Yay apartment living! Seriously the door opens to the wall so you can’t actually fully open the door…
We’ve been using up a lot of frozen meats and I finally got around to cooking some of my stockpile of dry beans. We made pioneer woman Italian drip beef sandwiches with an ancient chuck roast. I made my best batch yet of cheesy pinto beans and froze individually for lunches. Last night I attempted to make split pea soup with a Christmas ham bone, but it everything went wrong and I was missing a bunch of ingredients. Hoping I can fix it today.
We made dinner with a friend on Friday and I brought a box of pasta and my stash of frozen garlic scape pesto my mom gave me forever ago.
My brother loves homemade Chex mix and I’m not crazy for it so I am making him another batch since I have multiple boxes of Chex that are half full just hanging around. I didn’t know cereal could go stale until I was in high school and my brothers all left for college. I barely got one bowl before it was gone lol.
We had ikea meatballs on Saturday so I could get out of the house. Otherwise we have been good at sticking to the challenge with minimal groceries and no takeout.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Sarah Liz, I’ve got 4 unopened boxes of Chex cereal. I had planned to make Chex mix over the holidays, but never got to it. It’s cold (for us) here today, so I think this may be a good day to finally do this. Plus, DH would like the additional snack option I think.
Allie from Ontario
Well……I’m glad I’m not the only snack mix delinquent! I bought the 3 cereals I use + the pretzels AND ALSO NEVER MADE IT. I WILL make some this week!
Heather M
Sarah Liz, sounds like you’ve been making some really good progress! Love that for you! It’s amazing finding those ancient items and still being able to use them (unlike stale cereal….). So glad you’re here with us 🙂
Karen J
Hi Sarah Liz-I hear you on using up your stockpile of dried beans. During COVID there wasn’t a dried bean to be found in my area. Once they were available I way overstocked (as to never be out of dried beans again, I guess) You’re doing a great job using yours!
I wish we had an Ikea near us. Their meatballs are so yummy.
Tasty
Jan 11
B – hubby had his usual fruit,yogurt and granola + an oat bar. I had the last little piece of egg casserole left from Saturday and a yogurt.
L – we used up the last of the open pack of bacon and had bacon ‘butties’.
S – CORN night or Clean Out Refridgerator Night. Turkey, potatoes and broccoli. Now the main shelving in the fridge looks quite bare. Time to start all over again. Still not seeing empty space in the freezers – maybe because I have more than one . . . . . .
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
CORN night. I like that Tasty! 🙂
Stephanie M
Sunday, January 11, 2026
B – Paul had a bagel sandwich with eggs, sausage and cheese. I had my usual cereal with nuts and fruit.
L – Paul had two hot dogs and onion rings from the freezer. I had 1/2 a whole wheat bagel with chive cream cheese and ham. I also had the last hard boiled egg and some blackberries
D – we finished up the ravioli with leftover sauce and meatballs.
A lot came out of the freezer this past week. Unfortunately that won’t be the case this week because Paul is going to California for work. He leaves Monday and comes back on Friday. So I’ll be by myself. I will be making a pasta with tuna and spinach dish on Monday which will last for a few days so I don’t have to cook just for myself every day.
Heather M
The weather is glorious out here in CA! Paul is going to love his work trip lol. And, that tuna pasta sounds amazing! I’d do the same exact thing if alone 🙂
Stephanie M
Thanks Heather. Best wishes for a nice visit with your mom. Hoping you all have a lovely time.
Maureen
Leftovers for lunch. My youngest had dinner at a birthday party, so we took advantage and had pork loin (something she won’t eat). We made rice and green beans with it, but also finished up two different potato dishes that were leftover in the fridge. And there were no leftovers from it, so yay! I still need to wipe out the fridge.
Heather M
Jan 11:
A fun Saturday plus we got more snow overnight into Saturday… really haven’t seen this much snow and colder temps in years here. Didn’t stop the best baby shower from happening, luckily. Plus we went to another movie (now that our son is back, it’s prep for awards season time, we are suddenly seeing lots. He talked us into AMC’s A-list, which we’ll use for the next few months and then decide if we want to keep after the Oscars).
Brunch: I had quiche and crepes with beautiful berries at the baby shower; C made himself a sunnyside up w/chicken breakfast sausages; L finished the quinoa tuna salad and ate more cantaloupe
D: I had to scramble to make something quick once we opted to hit the movies. Luckily we had some things in the freezer-chicken basil meatballs and cheese tortelloni, plus the last of the frozen green bell(still have a little frozen red/yellow). Sauteed meatballs with the peppers, onion, some seasonings, and cooked the tortelloni. toward the end added the wrinkling grape tomatoes we had left-it made a nice sauce-and tossed the tortelloni with it. Made a quick side salad.
Snacks: pistachios, ice cream, christmas stollen from neighbors, other things?
Tasty
Day 11
B: our usual
L: tuna sandwiches
S: in. dividual steak and kidney pies with salad. This was 2 pies from different stores, so we split both of them and one was really good, the other was so-so and will not be bought again.
A decent day for eating what we already have. I actually have quite a bit of space in the chest freezer but the upright is still pretty full. Definitely some progress!