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 14 of the Pantry Challenge!
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Such a chill weekend. I love it.
What We Ate
Breakfast – I made two Sausage Egg Hash Brown Casseroles for breakfast. One disappeared right away. We’ll eat the other tomorrow.
Lunch – We had a random collection of things, including spam asubi and Asian Bowls.
Dinner – I made a big Shepherd’s Pie with Cheddar Mash and a Chocolate Pudding Cheesecake concoction.
How did Day 14 go for you?
Kathryn M
Day 14
B – cereal
L- Eat Out
D – brats and tator tots. Both items came out of the freezer.
Had a busy day doing some errands and such so made life simple by going out for lunch.
ZC from MA
B: overnight oats with soy milk, coffee.
I used up the last bit of muesli–one more item off the list. I have to say though I’m beginning to actually like overnight oats so I will be buying more! Previously my go-to for breakfast was coffee+pastry, and I’ve been thinking to switch things up a bit because of the added sugar. Forcing myself to finish the bags of oatmeal and muesli helped get this diet into a habit. Bonus points!
L: beef and onion rice bowl
D: napa cabbage and brown rice, a can of sardines
S: strawberries
Jennifer
I think I have lost track. I know I had to go to the store (actually walmart pick up) for somethings dd needed before heading back to college. I added somethings for us as well – our total was around $40, That was Friday. Saturday I also went to a different store. Spent about $40 there as well. There were some deals I could not pass up and we all know they are few and far between these days. I also got more soup and OJ for my sick dh. He tested negative for everything but is on day 6 of feeling horrible. Ugh!
B – muffin and sausage from the freezer for me, dh had oatmeal, dd had cereal, sausage and a yogurt drink
S – out for coffee with dd before she went back to school
L – dh had soup with leftover corn muffins, I had yogurt and a sauteed cinnamon apple
D – I got a $1 ciabatta loaf at the store and we had homemade french bread pizzas with salad. Ds ended up being home at the last minute so I threw some chicken tenders in the over for him
Heather M
There are definitely some nasty viruses out there this year- I have heard of several people feeling terrible and testing negative (repeatedly w/covid and for flu, etc) for everything easily testable. And most of the time, no one else in their homes have gotten it either. So sorry it’s been a week already. Hope he perks up soon!
Heather M
Day 14:
Finally feels like I’m getting back into the kitchen. I even made a short grocery list after coming up with a few more dinner ideas to make it through Monday- forgot it’s a holiday and L will be home. I may skip shopping until Tuesday, now that I have a few plans in place.
B: L skipped; I had toast with cinnamon bun spread (this stuff is so good; luckily I use a very small amount since that’s all you need to make toast a treat)
L: toasted turkey and pepperjack sandwiches with spinach- i had a smaller version open-faced, one piece. L snacked on various ends of bags of tortilla chips and cookies
D: frittata with bacon, swiss(this was leftover from a premade tray with 4 kinds of cheese squares-we have so much random cheese from all the holidays, etc I’m determined not to buy any incl parm until the supply has thinned out), the last tomato, some onion, the rest of the spinach, and some seasonings. I only made a 4-egg smaller one so we could eat the whole thing and have it be more veggie heavy. Also, along with that long gone flan, we were gifted homemade doughballs of those brazilian cheese puff things and they needed baking/eating up, so I baked up several of them. So good!
I’m slowly adding fresh produce back into my diet. Maybe fresh fruit will come soon. I’m a little nervous, but also really want to enjoy some pears and apples. Maybe I’ll remove the skins and that will help ease those feelings.
Karen J
Assorted veggies and cheeses in eggs is one of my favorite ways to use up bits too. Plus it always seems to come out tasty and I feel virtuous for not tossing those last little things out.
Stephanie M.
Saturday, January 14, 2023
B – I had a yogurt parfait.
L – Paul had a grilled cheese sandwich. I had the last of the egg salad on whole wheat.
D – we decided on a date night and went to a local Italian restaurant. Sometimes it’s just nice to let someone else do the cooking and cleaning up. So we came home and watched a movie. So relaxing.
Tasty
Saturday January 14th
B – The usual fruit yogurt etc mix for hubby. I had a muffin and some yogurt.
L – We needed some bread so I made some in the morning It looked so good (and it was) that I changed lunch plans to ham and cheese sandwiches.
S- an evening out at a local winery for a meal and a concert, featuring a friend.
Vegan shepherd’s pie with a salad. It might have been OK if it was hot Oh, well!! It was still an enjoyable evening.
Emily
I finally got around to defrosting my basement freezer today. It’s something I do every January and a task I dread but it’s so clean and neat looking now. I had a frozen bag of cranberries spill around thanksgiving and I finally managed to get them all cleaned out from the back. Also ran to the store to pick up milk and had to bring my 5 year old since she had her first dentist appointment so although I meant to only come home with milk I also came home with a box of bear paw cookies and some discount Christmas cereal. This is exactly why I only shop when they are in school.
B- yogurt, granola and a piece of toast.
L- leftover pork in gravy and mashed potato’s
Snack- rice cakes with cheese and some grapes
D- I made a big batch of gf gnocchi and a mushroom cream sauce. It was so delicious I am looking forward to leftovers.
Danielle L Zecher
Yesterday was one of those days where you just hate everything about your job. Hubby and I both worked late. I skipped breakfast, he had McDonald’s. He skipped lunch, I had chips and instant ramen.
Dinner: I decided on comfort food. I made a sort of cross between baked ziti and lasagna. I had cottage cheese that needed to be used. I also made 3 Bean Salad to go with it, using green beans from the freezer and two cans of beans. And a cherry crunch for dessert.
Heather M
Sigh. I’m sorry it was a rough day. And clearly your meals reflected that. Glad you went for a comfort food dinner.
Janie Keevy
My family of 5 just returned from a 12 day trip to Mexico, missing our connection flight last night and finally got in this afternoon. The month is halfway over, but I want to participate for the last 2 weeks. We have a lot of Venison and some other meats and plenty of odds and ends that I want to use up. I’ll need to shop for basics for kids’ lunches, milk and produce but won’t need a lot this month.
Today we didn’t prepare a meal until dinner as we had a breakfast at the hotel and snacks during the flight. I’m getting over a cold so I’ve had lot of tea today. I was proud of myself for using up things I had on hand even though we’ve been gone.
Dinner- Homemade chili from the freezer, oven ranch potatoes using up sour cream and green onions that needed to be used, and cooked bacon from the freezer and leftover cinnamon rolls from the freezer. I also made up a baked oatmeal while the oven was on for the potatoes that I can eat for breakast before work this week. The recipe called for zucchini but I subbed canned pie filling and some frozen whole cranberries that were in the freezer needing to be used. It’s amazing when you through together a meal when there was “nothing in the fridge!”
I have a few random items in my pantry that I need inspiration for:
Red curry paste
Butter Chicken spice blend
Jar of Teriyaki sauce
Farina
Cracked Wheat
Dry Powder polenta
Pearl barley
Anyone have any good recipes to help me use up these items?
Love the challenge, thanks Jessica!
Lily R.
B: Freshly baked croissants with iced macchiatos.
L: Shrimp po’boys with coleslaw on the side. I have not made these in forever and it’s one of those meals that you wonder why you don’t make it more often once you do.
D: Arroz con gandules, bistec encebollado (steak and onions), tostones (green plantains), maduros (ripe yellow plantains), salad and avocado. I have a friend whose entire family is finally getting over the flu, so I made enough of this feast for them and us.
Snack/dessert was tembleque (coconut pudding).
Heather M
Lily, another amazing menu. Oh wow fresh homemade croissants, just so impressive. Shrimp po’boys are so good and you are so right, it’s so easy to forget about some of these most delicious dishes! And you had me at arroz con gandules. Oh. the memories of my childhood. sigh. (and also, you are wonderful for sharing with friends)
Lily R.
Heather,
I remember from last year’s challenge that you also love arroz con gandules! I wish you lived closer so that I could share with you : )
Kathy in Denmark
Day 13
B: The usual for all 🙂
L: DH eats at work, packed lunch for the girls, tuna salad sandwich and a piece of rye with boiled egg and tomato for me
D: HM veggie burgers with fries.
The burgers were made with a can of black beans from the pantry and the fries were just frozen ones I made in the air fryer. I didn’t have any lettuce, so we had baby spinach leaves in stead.
Day 14
B: The usual
L: DH eats at work, packed lunch for the girls, yoghurt for me
S: Leftover koldskål for the kids after school
D: Pork schnitzel for DD1 and me, vegetarian schnitzel for DH, breaded fish filet for DD2. Boiled potatoes and carrots, sauce béarnaise for everyone
Movie night treat: Never ending Christmas treats 🙂
I have been succesfully using up things from the freezer in the girls’ lunches and I have been trying to be a bit creative with the veggies and fruit. I think this is good for me and one of the reasons I love the PC. DH has a catered lunch at work. It’s very affordable, but not always very good. It does save me from making him lunch every day, which I appreciate 😀
DD2 is a picky eater and generally doesn’t like meat. She has to eat a small bite of whatever we are having and then she can have her beloved fish fillet and whatever sides we are having. The same goes for vegetables, she has to try. Last year it was almost impossible to get her to even try something, whereas now she tries (mostly) without fuss and she has expanded what she eats greatly. I’ll take it!
Heather M
My second child was pretty picky too. If we found something new he liked, it always felt like a huge win. By age 16 he was finally much more open about things, and now at 20 he is very willing to try (and usually enjoy) almost anything. I also had a brother (I’m the oldest of 5) who had the most limited diet when little. Once he was in his 20s he enjoyed everything and lost his pickiness. I always reminded myself of that while raising our son. And, here we are with an adventurous eater now.
I love your strategy and attitude about her food choices. It will all work out in the end. 🙂
Kathy in Denmark
I was actually a very picky eater as a kid, but not anymore! I had to try the food as well and eat a certain amount of whatever vegetable we were having. I think it’s fair to have your children try the food and if they don’t like it, they don’t have to have anymore. I always make sure there are multiple things on the table she enjoys, so she has pretty balanced meals overall. She also really likes a lot of things most Danish kids don’t, such as beans in various forms. A benefit of having a dad who’s vegetarian, I guess 🙂
Sandy
Oh, I am so behind! I haven’t posted in a week. So much sickness is going around our area. Our oldest son’s kids’ daycare was closed because there was not enough workers so Grandma was called up to duty. We farm with our son, so when I couldn’t watch them he did. They are 2 years and 1 year and they kept Grandma very busy. The one year old is teething and not too happy about it! The 2 year old is just nonstop energy, way more than Grandma has. By the end of the week our oldest daughter’s babysitter was sick also, so we added 3 more kids to the lot! I did use up a lot of food with all of them here. Our son ate lunch with us everyday too, so we went through plenty of randomness in the freezer and lots of the Christmas goodies that I am ready to see go. Throughout the week I used BBQ pork, chili, vegetable soup, homemade bread, chicken strips, ground beef, misc. bags of French fries, naan bread for pizza, green beans, corn, cookies, and fruit all from the freezer. I got some random pasta used up and lots of opened snacks gone from the pantry. Used most of the fruit and fresh veggies also, so all in all I did very well on the challenge yet. I did do a grocery run because I had to take our 17 year old to the Children’s Hospital about an hour away from us for her doc appointment. I love hitting up the bigger grocery stores than I have in our rural area. I got some deals, but needed more fruit, veggies and dairy to keep the kiddos full all week. Total was $79, but a lot of what I bought will be used for a month or so ahead yet. Hopefully the week ahead will be a little quieter here!
Heather M
Such a crazy time. Glad you were able to step in and help with your grandkids. And what a boon for your pantry challenge! Sounds like a great clean-out happened and I imagine it is going to make the rest of the month really come together for a really successful challenge. 🙂
Pat
I am really behind in posting
I made a 2lb meatloaf and a double batch of cheesy potatoes on Thursday. My husband decided he wanted fried chicken from the deli that night. Needless to say we have been eating this food up. Tonight he is catering a prime rib dinner so we will have that to eat as well! Yummy!!
Tasty
Friday January 14th
B – regular for both of us
L – Bacon on a bun for both of us
S – beef and bean burritos with Mexican rice, ice cream
Nothing new opened at breakfast time, the bacon came from the freezer along with the buns at lunchtime and supper was all from the freezer – a definite win of a day.
However I did go to the store in the morning – there were a few things we needed and as always, I found a few bargains that I couldn`t pass up but they are now all stashed in that white space I had in the freezer. But a good quality lasagne that will feed us twice for less than $6, a small ham for less than $5, 2 bags of tortilla chips for less than $4 – need I say more!
Jennifer
Yesterday was a weird day for me since I had off work and had some appointments.
B – I had leftover pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and grapefruit for breakfast as did hubby and son. Daughter went out to breakfast with her boyfriend.
L – dh took leftovers from the pasta dinner I hosted. I got a mocha at Starbucks between appointments and called it lunch.
S – strawberries
D – We ate big salads, biscuits from the freezer and a brownie in a mug before the gymnastics meet. Son went out, daughter was at the meet.
Martha Artyomenko
We had planned tomato basil soup from tomatoes from the garden for lunch and the freezer and enchiladas, but I forgot that I had a dinner obligation, so we ended up saving that for today.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/14/22
B: avocado toast, coffee DH: grits, sausage, coffee
L: I had LO chicken marsala. I made chili this morning for lunch (turkey, peppers from freezer), DH: had chili plus cheese steak (freezer) with peppers (freezer) and mushrooms, chips
D: chicken (freezer) Florentine (spinach from freezer) over noodles plus apple slices
Have leftover cream from dinner I need to use so I’m planning to make corn chowder. Though we currently have chili to finish, I’m thinking some of it may go in the freezer for later and then we’ll eat the chowder, so we don’t get tired of either. Am beginning to have a bit more room in the chest and refrigerator freezers.
Maureen
I ran errands on Thursday, so I got some groceries. Mostly milk and produce. I did get pretzels for my daughter (but I’m stashing them until some of the other open snacks are gone) and a couple odds and ends to make some planned pantry meals a little more special (like fortune cookies for a couple of stirfry nights). I reached for a few other things that caught my eye, but we didn’t need…I was able to successfully walk away, though.
Thursday was all leftovers and using up a few things in the fridge. Everyone wasn’t home at the same time for dinner so it worked out. Friday night we had pizza as part of a school fundraiser.
I did make some raspberry oat bars. We have apricot jam to use up, but don’t love it, so I did 50/50 apricot and raspberry. They turned out great. There’s enough jam for 2 more batches, so I’ll likely do it again in a few weeks. And I roasted some veggies to stash in the fridge. It’s easy to ignore the veggie intake when I’m just grabbing leftovers out of the fridge, so I’m hoping having them handy means I’ll add them to the meal.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
That walking away can be the challenge for me as Stephanie and I have discussed. I was helped by an email that my main store (Harris Teeter) would not be having additional weekend sales until further notice. Bad news for the supply chain but decreased temptation for me as the weekend sales were usually good and often worth a trip. But it’s also bitter cold here so I would have to desperately need something today before I would venture out. We’ve got flood and wind advisories for tomorrow so shaping up to be a stay home weekend!
Heather M
Ooooooo the combo apricot raspberry bars sound so good! What a great idea. 🙂
Stephanie M.
January 14
B – Paul had cereal. I had a yogurt parfait.
L – Paul went out for a business luncheon. I ate a roast beef sandwich and a banana.
D – French toast and turkey sausage. French toast I made a few weeks ago and put in the freezer. Several slices left.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Stephanie, thank you for mentioning the French toast. I’ve got some old bread in the freezer and I think French toast would add variety to breakfast (or dinner!) options for us.
Stephanie M.
Hi Lynn. I try to always have French toast in the freezer and we’ve grown very fond of having it for dinner. When I run out I take a few hours and start with a whole loaf of whole wheat bread and use the whole thing. Then on days when I don’t feel like cooking I just defrost some and dinner is done.
Kathryn M
B cranberry orange muffins
L pantry challenge failure – went out for burgers and onion rings – sometimes you just gotta do it.
D enchilada casserole with some leftover street taco beef. Used up some Mexican blend cheese that needed to go away, I am always too lazy to roll enchiladas, so I just do a casserole with the corn tortillas laying flat layered with sauce, cheese, and sometimes meat.
No snacking today as I was busy with errands and one fun thing this afternoon…
Maureen
I agree, sometimes you just gotta do it. I think it often gives us more focus afterwards. And it sounds delicious.