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 13 of the Pantry Challenge!
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Squishy month continues. Many children plus one girlfriend were home today. We all go to Disneyland tomorrow!
I’ve been saving for this trip since the girls and my married kids and I went last May. I’m so excited.
Based on last spring’s Disney culinary experience, I am packing a lot of food. Not because it’s so expensive there (which it is), but more so because it just doesn’t taste that good.
I popped into Target for a couple things and found my favorite yogurt toppers on clearance. They’re still on the pricey side, but for an easy snack for Disneyland, I went with it.
I spent some time prepping food: tamales with rice and beans (the tamales were in the freezer, leftover from Christmas), sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, muffins, and scones for our early morning departure.
No wonder I’m tired…!
What We Ate
Breakfast – It was a fend-for-yourself kind of morning with folks eating pineapple, apples, cereal, cottage cheese, leftovers from yesterday.
Lunch – Again, fend for yourself: leftover chili and sandwich stuff, sausages and rice.
Dinner – I had a spaghetti squash languishing on the counter. Why I leave those things, I do not know. I cooked up some Quick Meat Sauce for Pasta and some veggies and a salad for dinner.
How did Day 13 go for you?
Tasty
Day 13
How come we are so far through the month already???
B: the usual
L: one of my childhood favourites that I have never grown out of – baked beans on toast
S: apricot chicken rice and Brussels sprouts followed by some leftover Christmas ice cream
We keep plugging away at the freezers and the pantry and making some progress.
Kathryn M
Breakfast – banana and caffeine fix
Lunch – slice of cold pizza
Dinner – warmed up 2 slices of pizza and a few breadsticks.
Snack – last of the butter cookies.
Looks like I made up for not eating much yesterday!
Allie from Ontario
We moved a lot of snow yesterday….and it seems to have snowed again all night – sigh 🙂
What we ate on Jan 13
Brunch – I had a slice of the the homemade bread early & then steel cut oats later. There is 1 serving left! T had toast with jam and then left for an appt. When he got back, he opened a can of soup from the pantry – it all helps! I put out veggie sticks with a dip that needed to be finished to graze on after the outside work was done.
Dinner – I made a pan of spicy meatballs (with sambal oelek + homecanned pepperoncinis stirred into the meat) & a sauce from my freezer stash of tomatoes. I freeze lots of different preparations in 1/2 cup & 1 cup blocks. This time it was a block of roasted tomato marinara, a block of “Rotel” tomatoes & a small block of “freezer” salsa. The pan was finished with cheese, run under the broiler & we ate our bowls with spears of toasted garlic cheese buns. Pretty satisfying finish to a physical day 🙂
Jessica’s “fridge thawing station” idea is continuing to work for us. Right now there are pork shoulder cubes & chicken thighs on stand-by for tonight & tomorrow. I try to keep 3 days in there & then replan/refill on day 3. It certainly keeps me on track.
Have fun at Disney Jessica!
Heather M
Dinner sounds amazing! Sorry about all that snow removal-guessing it fills the “get some exercise” bill all too well! I’m also trying to do the thawing station, but only for 1-2 meals at a time, as I can’t reallly plan that far ahead these days. Currently have the rest of the ground turkey(what wasn’t defrosted in time yesterday, since the block seems to take ages to defrost, but had planned for 2 meals anyways) for tonight and also added chicken breast to it to cook up in some form tomorrow(not sure what that will be yet lol).
Jessica Fisher
So glad to hear that your staging area is working!
Danielle L Zecher
Jessica, I hope your Disney trip is fun. 🙂
Breakfast: I had biscuits (from the freezer) with cheese. The roads were kind of bad, so Nick’s job provided muffins for everyone who went in.
Lunch: I had the last of the leftover chicken pot pie. Nick’s job provided pizza for everyone who went in.
Dinner: Burritos made with ground beef from the freezer, cilantro lime rice, and some shells that have been languishing in the bread box for a long time, but were still good. We’re also working our way through a Sam’s Club container of salsa (I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought that for just the two of us), so we also topped our burritos with that. We also had some ice cream for dessert.
I haven’t purchased any groceries this month, which is huge for me!
Allie from Ontario
Congrats on your “no shop” success Danielle!
Heather M
You’re doing amazing!! I understand about the huge salsa purchases… buying huge anything, especially if it’s not shelf stable once opened or not easily frozen is much harder with just 2. Have you thought of making salsa chicken or fish? It’s an easy way to use up a good amount.
Danielle L Zecher
Salsa chicken is a good idea! Thanks!
Tasty
Well done Danielle.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Well done Danielle!!
Heather M
Jessica, hope your day at Disney is awesome!! Love all your food prep for it- with a large group, it would be so much more$$ on top of the tickets and extras one needs to enjoy Disney these days. Plus the food looks fantastic!
Jan 13: I had a long dr. appt today, lots of work(it’s going to be a busy rest of January for a part-timer lol, with some days looking more full time); L was at work and C worked from home.
B: guys skipped; I had some stollen
L: L took a salad with leftover potatoes/beans to which I added the last of the shredded chicken so it would be flavored up(he loved it), last of the cantaloupe, almonds; C made himself a toasted turkey and cheddar on sourdough(there’s a theme here-he loves this); I found a little plain leftover pasta and added the last of the black beans and some more of the leftover sauce from the peruvian chicken place- so yummy!
D: was looking for new ideas for ground turkey and found a recipe that looked promising- a curry w/spinach. It called for pureeing some ingredients(onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder and more), adding yogurt, etc. When I tasted, it definitely needed more curry powder and salt, and was not traditional Korma like it advertised, but was really good. We ate it over the usual half and half rice. I made a side of slaw with a brilliant in my mind dressing for this meal- I added chutney to light mayo, light sour cream, and some lime juice. So good I’ll be doing this again and again. Alas, I didn’t realize I had an open chutney jar buried in my fridge(let this be a lesson to those who haven’t completely gone through their fridges) and now have 2 open jars. I need to figure out how to use them up now. Sigh.
Snacks: no idea what C snacked on but he did snack; I didn’t, after a late lunch and then late dinner; L had a little christmas chocolate after dinner
Danielle L Zecher
That dressing sounds great!
It’s annoying how the condiments disappear until right after you open a new one.
Heather M
Thanks! It’s delicious! I pulled out that jar and opened it… a little mold on the lid, and no idea how long it’s been in there hiding so I tossed it. A loss, but a lesson learned lol.
Stephanie M
Monday, January 13, 2025
I’m back. Some kind of a problem connecting. Paul came home last night and fixed it this morning. Tomorrow he goes back to Savannah but just for overnight.
But while he was gone I kept track of what I ate and I’m going pretty good on the challenge.
I got through a bag of cooked turkey meatballs in gravy from the freezer from a previous meal. I finished a box of farfalle that was open in the pantry. I used up the grapes and cherries. I used some of the turkey sausage from my freezer and made bangers and mash for two nights. I finished a bag of green beans from the freezer.
Current
January 13 –
B – I had a yogurt parfait.
L – salad and the last two garlic breadsticks from the freezer.
D – I had some uncooked beef meatballs in the freezer that I made a couple of months ago. So I made a pot of sauce with meatballs and I opened up a bag of ravioli from the freezer not using all of it but we’re having leftovers tomorrow so I’ll use some more.
Also last night Paul had a piece of chocolate cake from the freezer that I made a few weeks ago. Sometimes I make a cake and then cut it into serving size pieces and freeze. Then we just take out what we want. I have three pieces left and some Christmas cookies too.
I also want to thank everyone for your kind words after Paul’s scary flight. If I missed anyone I apologize but I was off the computer for the last few days until Paul came home last night and fixed the problem.
Heather M
You’re doing great getting through things in the freezer! Glad you go things worked out on the computer and that Paul is home, even if he’s traveling again. I’m sure that hug when he got home felt better than usual, after that ordeal. We’ll talk soon!
Stephanie M
Thanks so much Heather! It was just so nice last night to watch some tv together and just be quiet and peaceful. He had to fly in three planes yesterday to get to Virginia from California. We love Virginia but we miss the convenience of Newark airport and the direct flights that go in and out if there.
Danielle L Zecher
I’m so glad Paul got home safely!
Stephanie M
Thank you so much Danielle! It was such a relief to see him and give him a big hug. Things like this always put things in perspective.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
What a relief to have Paul back home safely.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/12/25
Have fun Jessica! Smart to prepare food for Disney on both counts-taste and cost.
B: boiled egg and coffee. DH ate the last 2 ham cheese sliders.
L: I used several recipes as inspiration for creamy chicken tortilla soup I made for lunch. I had some cream cheese that needed to be used up so it went in there. Another recipe added maseca which started the great pantry search for a small bag I knew I had somewhere! I searched and searched and finally came up with it. When I saw the date on it, I was worried it might be buggy, but it was still fine. I used a lot of different cans and vegetables from the pantry and freezer and it was very tasty, tho definitely not low cal!
D: we had a package of Alaskan king crabs in the freezer. Now, typically any crabs we eat are from the sounds that surround our island. But once again, I had gotten a stock up deal on them awhile back. Although the bag weighed only a little more than 2pounds, it took up so much room in the freezer. So we decided this was the night to eat them. I made slaw with the last of the cabbage. I don’t usually have a lot of mixes, but had one for hush puppies. And I certainly don’t usually deep fry anything, but I deep fried the hush puppies. Added a baked potato for DH and I doubled up on cabbage, eating also the last of the sautéed cabbage along with the slaw. We had a long, messy, tasty dinner. Cracking crabs makes you work for your dinner! Great meal and now much more white space. Yay!
Heather M
OK, Lynn, talk about making a pantry challenge day look like fine dining! Wow! That soup sounds elevated and perfect for winter(and delicious). And dinner with King crab and deep fried hush puppies? YUM! You all ate soooooo well yesterday, you’d never dream you’re two weeks into a pantry challenge! Bonus for lots more room in the freezer!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Lol! Eating king crabs is definitely rare around here, pantry challenge or not. I’d thought we might have enough crab meat left over for some crab cakes, but it was not to be. We ate them all!
Danielle L Zecher
Your dinner sounds wonderful!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Thanks Danielle. We did enjoy it. The crab meat is so sweet!
Karen J
Your soup sounds yummy, Lynn! It’s nice to get rid of (I mean use) lots of cans/veg/freezer items in one meal.
And crab-super yum! Plus it probably left some nice space in your freezer-a win!
Kathryn M
Day 13 – temperatures in the minus degrees kept me in all day.
Lunch: bacon – just bacon. I was supposed to be making bacon for sandwiches, but I just stood in the kitchen and ate bacon! My bad…..
Snack – finished of the guacamole with chips because the top was getting a touch of brown. I just scraped off the brown and ate the nice green stuff underneath.
Dinner – Shrimp Carbonara. This was one of those meals in a bag from my freezer. I didn’t like it all that well, but after adding garlic salt and pepper at the table it was edible.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
LOL about the bacon! Totally get that!
Maureen
I’ve done well keeping my freezer inventory up to date, which is impressive for me. I made potato soup before the storm hit, but have a few servings leftover to eat up. We got 8-9 inches of snow in the last 2 days, which looks lovely and shouldn’t have been too big a deal here in Michigan, but temperatures dropped and will stay VERY low for a number of days, so many of the roads are icy. We had “Christmas” with part of my family yesterday and I came home with some leftovers. So, now we need to work our way through all the bits in the fridge. I’m making stirfry for dinner tonight to get more veggies in everyone, but I’ll be careful to not end up with any leftovers.
Everyone is off school/work Monday for MLK Day. The girls have dental appointments, so we might stop to grab some milk, but I don’t know that we need much else. I’m not sure they’ll have school on Tuesday, either, with the temps dropping so dangerously. If not, then we’ll dig through the freezer for lunch. So far, it’s going well to plan a meal or two at a time and pull from the freezers.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Hooray for you making and keeping your inventory current. I was too overwhelmed by my freezer to even do that, tho I know that Jessica highly recommends that (and it is a great strategy).
Kathy in Denmark
Reporting from two days again.
Day 12: DH worked from home because he got home so late the day before.
B: Oatmeal and milk for DD1, rye porridge for DD2, toast and coffee for the adults
L: Packed lunch for DD1, school provided lunch for DD2, bread with different toppings for DH and I
Afternoon snack: HM sourdough bread
D: Indian korma for DD1, DH and I. LO tortillas with refried beans for DD2
S: We had LO Christmas treats for our Friday movie night. Some also had ice cream 😉
DD2 is participating in an experiment at school where children are served a healthy school lunch and have extra PE. Scientists from two universities are overseeing it and will monitor them during the two years it runs. We are quite happy to let her participate. She only has to bring lunch Monday and then a small mid-morning snack the other days. She was served a small margherita pizza, olives and fruits and veggies Friday 🙂
I baked sourdough bread, so we had some in the afternoon. It’s such a treat when it’s fresh.
The Korma was from a jar I found in the cupboard. I used half in a vegetarian version for DH and the other half in a version with pork for DD1 and I. I also added the last cooked veggies from the night before, some frozen peas and some crème fraiche. We ate it with rice LO from the night before.
Day 13:
Brunch: Toast, coffee, milk, juice, cheese and jams
S: Cheese and crackers
D: HM Black bean burgers on brioche buns. HM oven fries and a few sweet potato fries
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Kathy, that sounds like an interesting experiment. Although my son preferred school lunches, they were no where near as healthy as the ones I fixed for his sister. Your daughter’s pizza and lunch sounds WAY better than our schools’ offerings!
Kathy in Denmark
Hi Lynn.
Even though you replied to a post from last year, what I reported then still applies LOL
The food the kids are served is based on the Danish official recommendations for eating a healthy diet. The meals are mostly organic and the recipes are developed by chefs who work for and the founder of a large company which sells organic meal boxes and also cater to a lot of firms. It’s called “Aarstiderne” which means Seasons. The food looks really good – I wouldn’t mind eating her lunches! The kids also get longer time to eat, sit in groups of 4 and take turns helping serve the food.
I’m so glad her class is part of this experiment, but sad that it ends when this school year is over.
Jennifer
B – I had oatmeal and sausage, dh had cinnamon toast since he wasn’t feeling well
L – I got a mocha and scone from the coffee house and yogurt when I got home, dh had a can of soup
D – pork tenderloin with potatoes and carrots, crescent rolls and a pepper
Allie from Ontario
Jan 13
Brunch – I had a bowl of the cheddar beer soup from yesterday with a toasted English muffin (apparently there is an endless supply of the muffins in the freezer!) and T also raided the freezer for a sausage & hot dog bun.
Dinner – Shepherd’s pie (I guess technically cottage pie as I used ground beef) which used some Yukon golds that were showing their age and a can of creamed corn…my mom always put a layer of creamed corn between the beef filling and the potatoes and as a result I always do too).
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/13
B:I had some milk that was starting to sour so I used it up in place of buttermilk to make scratch biscuits. I had buttered biscuits with coffee. DH had cereal and coffee.
L: last of soup plus biscuit slider with Jessica’s Cranberry chicken/turkey salad. DH had the same.
D:still sticking with poultry but more chicken thighs. I did them in the air fryer. We had green beans and I used up a container of mashed potatoes from the freezer and 1/2 a container of gravy. White space is appearing in the freezers and fridge-hooray!
Like Tasty, I made a turkey pie to take with us to my son’s this weekend when we go to help baby sit our little granddaughter. Can’t wait!
Since we’ve eaten the soup and bitter cold weather is coming, I’ll be making another pot of some kind of soup this week.
Tasty
S
January 13
B: hubby had a bagel and cheese, I had a yogurt and toast and jam
L: I made a quiche, using bought pastry that was in the fridge, some left over chicken, a handful of frozen mushrooms and threw in a little grated mozzarella.
A little space is starting to appear in the fridge.
S: turkey pie with salad. Bought the salad specially. It wasn’t even on sale but we were both missing fresh salad. This used up the other sheet of pastry (Yes, heavy on carbs . . .) the turkey that has been staring me in the face for too long, some leftover peas with white sauce and a little fresh carrot and onion. I also added a can of cream of ?? soup – something I rarely use. A small dish of ice cream rounded out our meal. Definitely Italy making progress.