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 16 of the Pantry Challenge!
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I got a chance to spend some quiet time in the kitchen today and it was so nice! I prepped some veggies and salads for myself for the week.
What We Ate
Breakfast – There was still a substantial amount of egg bake from the other day, so I pushed it at the people at home.
Lunch – Those at home had a variety of rice, salad, chicken, lunch meat, roast veggies, and curry. I made a big salad and it was just what I needed.
Dinner – I made a big batch of taco meat, rehydrated corn tortillas, and laid out a taco bar. I had one taco but then made a ginormous taco salad which was so good.
How did Day 16 go for you?
Diinaus
B: skiped
L: lo masamum venison potatoes carrots in lettuce wraps at work.whole carrot for snack.
D:a miserable attempt at making dhal and rice. Chooks got leftovers as forgot to get food for them
Hubby made burgers once kids to bed.
Erin in Ontario
Chooks are handy for that, aren’t they? lol Ours get my ruined kitchen experiments too!
Diinaus
Yes lol. I loath wasting food but at least this way it’s not wasted completely and will fertiliser at my garden. Normally I’d turn it into soup but it was left out too long
Karen J
Breakfast- a Trader Joe maple scone mix, link breakfast sausage
Lunch-LO chili and corn bread
Dinner-shrimp fettuccine with jarred alfredo sauce, salad and garlic butter crescent rolls
I revitalized the romaine in an ice water bath. That’s the last of the lettuce so onto the cabbage from the back refrigerator. I also found a Swiss Colony tin of chocolates and a box of petit fours in there that I must have forgotten to put out for Christmas so now more snacks for us.
Heather M
So many snacks after the holidays… even hidden ones :).
Jennifer
Well for the first time in January we “ate out” Not really but I stopped at City BBQ and got 2 lbs of pulled pork. I went straight from work to pick up my husband and we were getting home late. I didn’t have it in me to really cook. But I used my own buns and cheese and made a side to go with the pork I bought.
B – leftover muffins or toast, yogurt and or fruit
L – I took leftover chicken, dh took leftovers of some kind with fruit (he also keeps granola bars at school for snacks)
D – the BBQ sandwiches and roasted broccoli with peppers
Heather M
It has to happen at some point. The fact that you only bought the bbq pork is pretty awesome!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/16
B: I finished off the yogurt and DH had cereal
L: turkey rice soup and sandwiches for both
D: dh was up for more substantial food so we had chicken burgers with the fixings, roasted potato wedges and finished up slaw and green beans
S: tea and Christmas chocolate
Maureen
The girls got two snow days after no school for MLK on Monday, but they should be back in school for Thursday and Friday. We had appointments on Monday and Tuesday, so meals have been “off” regarding timing and who was hungry. That ended up working well as we went through quite a few leftovers. I’m planning to finish off all of the leftovers by lunch tomorrow, so tonight’s dinner will be porkchops from the freezer with leftovers and a salad as sides.
Allie from Ontario
Jan 16
Brunch – I had a smoothie & Ryvita with peanut butter and then after a long appt in town (which I almost missed due to a dead battery…grrr) I had my last roast beef sandwich and discovered 2 things. A toasted English muffin is a great “vehicle” for a small sandwich & the jar of maple mustard that I dug out of the pantry is delicious 🙂 T had a poached egg on cheesy toast and I think maybe some shepherd’s pie after I was gone.
In the afternoon, I repurposed the last of the roast beef into an Asian style noodle soup that used up lots of random bits of veg from the fridge.
By dinner time I actually was feeling really unwell and so the prep for last night’s stir fry got stored away for tonight and T had some of the soup I made…I just went to bed.
Heather M
Hope you’re feeling better!!
Karen J
Maple mustard-intriguing! I bet it would be good on pork chops.
Allie from Ontario
We always have French’s yellow mustard & Maille Dijon on hand but all the specialty mustards we have (many ordered online from Alberta) are Canadian mustards….most people don’t know this but Canada now exports more mustard seeds than any other country in the world, and is the world’s second-largest actual mustard producer as well. I love our home grown mustards 🙂
Kathryn M
Lunch – grilled bacon and cheese sandwich, potato salad, pickles. (The sliced cheese I used needed to go away as it was getting a little old.)
Dinner – I pulled some already made Chicken tortilla soup out of the freezer. Just heat and eat.
Snack – pita crakers and some chive cream cheese that I forgot I had in the fridge. The date on it said March 2024 so I need to get to using it.
I am still working on cleaning out the fridge and have not used a lot out of the actual pantry and freezer yet. I also have been doing a lot of easy meals that don’t require much cooking this year…. It is good to get stuff out that needs to go though.
Danielle Zecher
Breakfast: I had a muffin. I think Nick had toast and/or bagels.
Lunch: We both had leftover pasta and meatballs.
Dinner: Korean Bbq tacos.
Tasty
January 16
B: hubby grabbed a yogurt before heading to the gym, I had yogurt and granola followed by a Nutella bun
L: we decided to go out for lunch as our regular Thursday breakfast won’t happen this week. Hubby had grilled cheese and fries, I had a toasted western which was good but the soup to go with it was tasteless
S: beef stew from the freezer and Brussels sprouts
Danielle Zecher
Sorry your restaurant soup was bland. That’s so disappointing when you spend the money to eat out and it isn’t good.
Heather M
Day 16:
A great challenge day. Also planned out grocery shopping for Tuesday, which would be the first real shopping since the start (having only spent $16.66 so far.). And planned a few meals for the week, but once I’ve shopped and know what veg etc I have available (based on prices/what looks good), then I’ll plan out a few more.
B: L skipped/slept in; I had more toast w/cinnamon bun spread
L: L had yet another toasted turkey and pepperjack sandwich; I had crackers and cheese, both of which we have tons still.
D: very proud of this one: shredded beef tacos w/avocado lime crema, quick jalapeño pickled radishes, shredded lettuce. Beef from the freezer- shredded and already cooked from a vacuum sealed package several months ago who’s leftovers went into 3 ziplocs, have now used one- I added a carne asada spice blend my daughter gave me for christmas- and have leftovers from it- maybe beef and bean burritos for lunch later this week? Crema- found a really old avo in the fruit crisper and was able to salvage some of it w/some sour cream, lime juice, and seasonings. I guessed on the radishes and wow they were good, so I’ll be doing that again, and it used up the last 3 little radishes we had. In fact an exact replica of these tacos would be great. Luckily we had a package of small flour tortillas which i heated up in a teeny bit of avo oil. After dinner, literally a tiny bit of iceberg left and some carrots, baby potatoes, onions, and garlic. No other fresh veg at all, which makes me jumpy.
Tasty
Sounds like a really good meal for supper. I had to comment on your pickled radishes. I work with a group of volunteers that preserves (jams, chutneys, pickles etc) to raise money for our local hospital. One of our ladies tried pickling radishes one day – just because she had a few radishes she had no plans to use. She brought them with her to our next local market (That’s how we sell our stuff) and they were a huge hit. That was a couple of years ago so now we try to always have a few available. Well done you!!!
Heather M
Thanks! Pickled radishes are a great addition to tacos 🙂
JulieT from MN
Catching up e were gone for a long weekend, we arrived home late Sunday night. So for yesterday:
B-sweet potato/potato hash with fried eggs and coffee and OJ
L-Chili from the freezer and grilled cheese sandwiches
D-Cabbage rolls from the freezer
Working on the meals in the freezer. Easy to freeze the L/O but have to remember to use them.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Jan 16
Traveled home.
B: We picked up Panera breakfast. Not frugal but at least I did get and use a discount.
L: Fixed sandwiches- chicken (freezer)/Havarti (freezer)/apple upon return home plus pita chips.
D: dinner sausage (freezer), baked apples (freezer), baked sweet potato, mandarin
I bought a loaf of sourdough bread for the sandwiches. Spent 2.28 which brings my total to $11.42 for the month. Chicken goes off sale tomorrow, so I’m planning to buy a bit before it does so. I also need to pick up a few more items that are at a good price til tomorrow, especially since good buys are so few and far between these days. I keep hoping that my freezer and pantry can outlast the worst of the food inflation, but I don’t know…not looking good. I am ready for these high prices to start to decline! I read that it may be months before the egg prices abate. My egg stash can’t last that long!
Jessica, your egg debacle took me back to when my daughter (now an adult) was a toddler. I had come in from the grocery store, leaving the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter as my husband called me to see a story on the television. While watching, we heard this ch-ch-ch sound. Not sure what in the world the sound was, I went to investigate and found my 20-month-old daughter standing on a bar chair, methodically dropping eggs on my kitchen floor! I think she had already dropped 8 or so on the floor when I got to the kitchen. An interesting way to test gravity! In that case, my husband cleaned up the mess as well. I was just thankful she hadn’t found the other dozen in the bag! Still brings a chuckle now (not then!) after all these years:)