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!
A little late with the update for Day 13…. Life was full yesterday! I spent the day shooting recipes. Be on the look out for some new and improved Good Cheap Eats!
As soon as I finished the last dish, Bryan and I headed out to a preview of the Beyond Van Gogh experience at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. It was really beautiful. If you can find affordable tickets, definitely take advantage of this.
We grabbed dinner on the way home while the kids enjoyed some “movie stars,” the stuff I had shot earlier in the day.
When we got home, I played a card game with my kids instead of blogging and that felt like the best right thing to do.
What We Ate
Breakfast – I raided the freezer for breakfast baked goods. I found some slices of Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake as well as Zucchini Cinnamon Waffles that the kids reheated in the air fryer in addition to the leftover Apple Cinnamon Muffins. I believe there were still Breakfast Cookies and yogurt, too. I had my Greek Yogurt With Muesli. FishChick15 made herself Dakjuk. (google it).
Lunch – Since I reshot my Turkey Avocado Baguette Sandwich recipe, that’s what was for lunch.
Dinner – I made the kids Lawnmower Taco Casserole before I left for the evening. It’s a great make-ahead meal. They baked it when they were ready to eat.
How did Day 13 go for you?
Kimberly
1-13
B-cereal
L-lots of veggies on a sandwich, chips, fruit
Snack- mini charcuterie boards, I found a wedge of Gouda in the fridge and lots of random opened crackers from the holidays, added some deli meat and fruit and ended with a fancy after school snack
D- French dips on French bread (I had to buy about half the ingredients for this but it is a family favorite, so worth it), fruit
1-14
B- cereal or pop tart
L- lo broccoli cheddar soup with lo cornbread, hubby’s work treated him to pizza
D- had a Trader Joe’s green curry simmer sauce I impulse bought a few months ago, added in a chicken breast, a potato, some matchstick carrots I am still using up, and broccoli from fridge, served over ramen noodles from pantry, came out pretty darn good…but was a little spicier than the kids prefer so they made a sandwich…oh well, can’t win them all
Also made pumpkin banana muffins with bananas on their last leg and freezer pumpkin puree, everyone did like those!
Heather M
Isn’t that simmer sauce yummy? We love a lot of the sauces from Trader Joe’s. I’m sorry it was too spicy for you kids. We are lucky— ours were downing spicy salsa by 15 months, somehow. But most people it seems like their kids take time in developing that spicy palate. Meanwhile, glad you were able to enjoy it! (and also, love the snack charcuterie! What fun when they got home from school)
Kathryn M
B: cranberry orange muffins
L grilled bacon and cheese sandwich with a pickle spear (i have 4 open jars of pickle in the fridge ?? what the heck???)
D homemade pizza – I used up an older bag of mozzarella that needed to go away. I put some bacon, ham, red and yellow bell pepper, black olives, and onion on it. I forgot that there were a few mushrooms in the fridge.
Lily R.
B: Hubby has been wanting scones for awhile now so I made some caramel glazed cardamom scones and iced lattes to go with it. It’s freezing here but we love iced coffee year round!
L: leftover tahdig and kebabs with side salads.
D: Bouillabaisse with toasted baguette.
Snacks were cashews and dates.
I am going to prep some ingredients to make the next couple of days go easier and I also have the makings of croissant dough getting ready for tomorrow morning. I hope you all have some fun plans for the weekend : )
Jen in Ohio
B: Scrambled eggs w/ sauteed bell peppers (from freezer), onion and mushrooms. DF ate his with hot sauce, and I had mine in a tortilla with chopped tomatoes. DS is out of school again today (and tomorrow) while we wait for the Covid PCR test. He slept some, and then had crackers and peanuts late morning.
L: DS: ramen plus the turkey pepperoni, grapes and cherry tomatoes that were prepped for his school lunch today (if his sore throat was completely gone, they said he could come back today, so we had a lunch ready to go in case. Quarantine rules keep changing here, and I know his school is trying their best to respond to the changing situation)
I had some L/O potato leek soup; based on the dishes in the sink, DF had a taco salad with leftover taco meat/rice/beans
D: homemade lasagna (first time I’ve done it), copycat Red Lobster cheddar bay biscuits, salad
Freezer cooking/prep: 5# packs of ground beef were on sale this week, as low as they go anymore. I ordered one, but it got subbed in our pickup for two 3# packs. I used 1# in the lasagna, froze two packs of raw for future meals, and sauteed the remainder with mushrooms and italian seasoning. Then cooled and froze into 3 meal-sized portions.
I started doing this a few months ago, and it makes for a quicker pasta dinner on busy nights, since I can just heat the cooked meat with a jar or 2 or marinara and boil the noodles.
lisa s
B: coffee
L: tikka masala and fruit
D: well, I was supposed to make chicken and pesto orzo and a salad. hubby made a lovely italian seasoned chicken that was delightful. however my brain took a vacay, and looked at the wrong day on the list, and I started making chicken curry. Since I was halfway thru making the curry and the rice to go with when I realized it, we had a lovely italian chicken curry. I added fresh basil to my normal recipe to go with the chicken he made, and it might be how we do it from now on cuz it was really good.
Heather M
Still not feeling 100%, but have been in touch with my dr, so we are on it. I did run a quick errand yesterday and grabbed a few things. So far, have spent $70 on groceries and I’m feeling good about that, especially considering we had virtually no fresh veg, little fresh fruit, etc, since the holidays. We are well-stocked, though I expect maybe Tuesday I’ll grab some more fresh produce and maybe some bread. On to updating the past two days:
January 12:
B: both skipped
L: he had some of the quinoa tuna salad and cherries; I had a tuna avocado sandwich and some air popped popcorn- very much needing comfort food and this is one of my versions of that (if you know me, you know I could eat a tuna sandwich every day of my life. I love it so much)
D: more comfort food required so I made one of our favorite soups, which is heavily pantry-focused- chicken corn chowder (it uses cans of chicken, cream of chicken soup-the only reason I keep any at all, it’s not something I use often-, green chilis, cream of corn; then chopped onion, garlic, cumin, cheese, and milk) and a side salad
January 13:
B: i had a few ginger cookies (gifted christmas goodies), not sure what he had
L: he had more quinoa chicken salad and peanuts; I didn’t eat until 3, and had a toasted cheese sandwich and a pear
D:I wasn’t hungry, so I heated up the tiny bit of chowder and the leftover mexican rice and beans for him
Of course at 11pm I was finally hungry, and I don’t do well eating within 3-4 hours of bed, so I had a handful of cashews and a couple more of those mini ginger cookies
Heather M
Sorry – he had more quinoa tuna salad, lol. I wasn’t paying attention as my fingers just typed away…
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/13/22
Sounds like you were able to squeeze some quality family time in, Jessica. That’s a win every time!
B: Both had avocado toast, coffee
L: I had a ham sandwich and cheese stick DH: picked up Reuben for lunch
D: LO Chicken Marsala, LO rice, cabbage and fruit medley
Snack: chocolate from work
My son has said that he and his fiancée 🙂 are coming for a visit at the end of the month. I should still have plenty of proteins for that visit and probably many of the sides as well. I will have to keep that in mind as I plan the next couple of weeks, but I think I can still do okay. Of course, if I don’t think I can fix appropriate meals for them, I’ll purchase what I need.
Hubby was asking about “good” (wide pan) bread, almond milk and peanut butter since all were out, so I made a quick grocery trip today. Eggs were in stock and on sale so I added several dozen and also a few on sale apples. Monthly total so far $14.71. The ground beef on sale was out, but other specials were in stock so no other empty shelves that I saw.
Tasty
Thursday January 13th
B – fruit, yogurt and granola for hubby, rhubarb, yogurt and a muffin for me.
L – nachos – used up the chips, a little bit of beef mixture from the other day and emptied the tex-mex cheese pack
S – mandarin chicken, mini potatoes and Brussels sprouts.
Stephanie M.
January 13
B – Paul had peanut butter toast and a yogurt parfait. I had a yogurt parfait.
L – Paul had weight watchers soup and two clementines. I had a roast beef sandwich and a banana.
D – leftover chicken and veggie stir fry over rice.
Sandi
B – I had some l/o chicken salad. Just straight, nothing with it. He had his usual cereal.
L – chili
D – another late evening, didn’t feel like being creative, just ate l/o chili to be easy