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 18 of the Pantry Challenge!
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Sorry for the late night posting again! We’ll blame the weekend vibes.
What We Ate
Breakfast – I am loving blueberries and yogurt with homemade granola.
Lunch – We had game night leftovers for a nacho bar with a few extras added in.
Dinner – For Sunday dinner, I made a pork loin in the Dutch oven in the oven with a mustard sauce – so good! Also mashed potatoes and roasted carrots.
How did Day 18 go for you?
Kathryn M
B- cinnamon crumb cake
Snack – crackers
Lunch – went out shopping and stopped at Potbelly Sandwich Shop – chicken salad sandwich and chips
Dinner – I ate the rest of my sandwich. Spouse fixed a couple pieces of fish.
Tomorrow is my last day of the challenge as I am leaving on a trip on Tuesday.I will take a little food for the airplane trip/hotel. After that the cruise ship cooks will be feeding me for a bit….
Maureen
Enjoy your trip!!
Maureen
I haven’t reported in a few days because college daughter was home and we’ve been busy. Son and fiancee came for dinner Friday night – we had pot roast and mashed potatoes. I froze one meal of pot roast for hubby and I for later. And there’s 1-2 lunches worth in the fridge, too. Lunch each of the last few days has been leftovers. I don’t think many had breakfast all weekend. College daughter and I saw a show Saturday night, so we grabbed a quick dinner out between errands on the way. DD had dinner at a birthday party that night. Not sure what hubby did, but it was probably takeout. I made pork loin (a favorite of college daughter) Sunday night before she headed back. There’s a little leftover. We did a fair bit of meal prep for her to take back to school. So, now I need to do the same for us for the week. I am going to focus on finishing off the leftovers and eating up a few things from the freezer this week, even if that means some meals look a bit strange. DD has half days W-F because of semester exams and we might end up with no school once or twice in the next 2 weeks because it might be too cold for kids to walk and be at the busstops. Hopefully, I’ll prep to take advantage if that happens.
Heather from Sacramento
My Mom and I have season tickets to Broadway shows. We saw The Lion King. It was good.
B- coffee
L- I was running behind so I just had some cheese and crackers
D- I made some ravioli from the freezer and used the last of the pesto from 2 seasons ago. I’m really sad. I didn’t get to make any this year. There was just too much going on. Hopefully this year will give me a good crop. I paired it with tri tip.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Jessica, those are good looking nachos. Looks like candied jalapeños in there. I have a jar in the refrigerator I’d candied. I saw a burrito recipe that used pulled pork and candied jalapeños. I may try it, or a version of it. I have some pulled pork in the freezer that needs to be used. I may try your recipe Karen J as well, if I’ve got enough pork. And I’m sure DH would like nachos also. Choices, choices. Ll
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I’m catching up too!
1/17/26
B: breakfast casserole I had made using up sausage from the freezer and bread cubes I had put in the freezer to make croutons. They did well in the casserole instead. I precooked the casserole so that we could just reheat it and not have to wait 45-60 minutes in the morning. This worked out well. Added the blackberries I’d bought for my son.
L: the minestrone I’d made and taken along with chicken salad. I had canned chicken and I made the “Costco” chicken salad for the first time as I had everything I needed for this recipe. Home cooked chicken and celery are in my usual recipe. I’m out of celery and the canned chicken was a time saver. This version was very good and everyone liked it.
D: pork tenderloin with sweet potatoes (DH’s #10/20 requested meals. I undercounted before). Added green beans from the freezer and cabbage.
S: I had made some peanut butter cookies
1/18/26
B: last of breakfast casserole
L: DH and I are ate a light lunch with just a bit of soup and LO chicken salad before leaving. We thought it would be enough to get us home. But DH needed to eat so we ran through Wendy’s on the way home.
D: very late, we ate again! This time Chicken Divan from the freezer with LO green beans and cabbage that DS didn’t want.
I was able to leave some more of the food I had purchased and prepared with my son. It will help make their evenings a little less busy. It’s my own version of “Meals on Wheels”! And it helped empty my freezer a bit more!
We did have a great visit with the little one. Always kinda sad to leave, but her birthday is coming up soon, so another trip in a couple of weeks!
Karen J
Jessica, your nachos look yummy! We are out of chips, much to my husband’s chagrin. He has resorted to cheese and crackers as his afternoon snack.
Jan. 18
Breakfast-I made pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips. The can of pumpkin was near pull date so glad to use it up. We also had oranges.
Lunch-H had the leftover jambalaya, I had an apple with peanut butter
Dinner-I tried to recreate a meal I’d had in a restaurant that I’d really liked. I took some cooked pulled pork out of the freezer and added barbecue sauce. I also made a box of Kraft mac and cheese but fancied it up with extra cheddar, cream cheese, onion and garlic powder then put it in a baking dish, topped it with buttered Ritz crumbs and baked it. For some reason the combo of mac and cheese topped with pulled pork is very tasty. I want to say I added a vegetable, but I didn’t.
Allie from Ontario
I am also behind by a day. Thank you for all the nice birthday wishes!
Jan 17:
Brunch: We happily split the leftover mini meatloaf + rest of the mashed potatoes.
Dinner: I had a plan where after a long stint outside, I was going to have an early hot tub, followed by a shower & then we would start on my birthday dinner. BUT that got derailed after the shower as a cottage neighbour + his buddies all of whom we know well, were up for the weekend & stopped in for birthday drinks which meant the end of the plan. It was super fun & when they left, T asked if we had any of those “hammy cheesy oven sandwiches left?” It does pay to have a well stocked freezer and we ate 3(!) each & called it a night.
Jan 18
Brunch: I had a smoothie and Ryvita + PB and I have no idea what T had
Dinner: Time for my “comfort food birthday dinner”. Last year it was macaroni & cheese AND this year it was pan of scalloped potatoes made with both Yukon gold & sweet potatoes with gruyere, parmesan, sauteed leeks, cubed ham & pickled hot peppers going between the layers. With lots of cream with garlic & fresh herbs, T declared it “not a light delight but absolutely delicious”. I believe we earned it after all the outdoor work this week (or at least I keep telling myself that 🙂
Heather M
Oh my goodness those scalloped potatoes sound AMAZING!!! Glad you had a good birthday 🙂
Tàsty
Jan 18
B – normal breakfast for hubby. I had the same plus the last of the Christmas muffins from the freezer.
L – hubby had more fruit. I had made a batch of marmalade in the morning and wanted to try it so lunch was bread and marmalade. Mmmm. . .good!
S – it was a snowy day here and we wanted something cosy. Of the 3 choices I offered him, hubby chose lasagne. This came from where else but the freezer. It was so good. One of these days there’s going to be a big hole in the freezer. We’re not there yet but it is improving.
Stephanie M
Sunday, January 18, 2026
B – I had cereal, fruit and nuts. Paul had mixed fruit, a whole wheat English muffin and scrambled eggs.
L – we both had turkey sandwiches on whole wheat.
D – I defrosted the last two packages of chicken sausage and made a delicious Italian sausage soup finishing up the bag of carrots and the rest of the celery.
Heather M
Last non challenge report since we traveled home today. Alas, I’m lying in bed at 2:20am wide awake. Travel was, ahem not fun this time. My seat was beyond uncomfortable unfortunately, and there was nothing to be done but scrunch up and bear it, and try not to overheat too. Anyways. Hard to say goodbye to mom, as it always is now. And hard to leave the glorious weather. It’s really cold here at home, at least for me (I’m not hardy like these wonderful Ontario friends here).
Jan 18:
Breakfast: one last piece of toast with PB with lingonberry jam, L skipped
Airport food: L grabbed a fabulous pumpkin muffin and choc chip cookie from the Pannikin (oh the memories from high school…. I’ll spare you) outlet at the airport – we split them.
Airplane food: I bought a snack box and gave L half the salami and all the almonds (he was in front of me and decided to suffer with just the snack mix little thing?); also had a little bag of smart food popcorn
Dinner at 11pm after getting home – Wendy’s for L and I ran into 7-11 for a sandwich. Ate some chips at home, too.
All the spending was vacation budget and now we are back to the pantry challenge! Excited to get the kitchen in a good place, less stuffed full.
Stephanie M
Welcome home Heather!!
Heather M
Two days to report.
Jan. 17:
B: we all skipped
L: L took a salad w/turkey, almonds, clementines; C took the leftover greek yogurt chicken over rice w/sauteed veg, the last piece of cornbread, a Kind bar; I had tuna with the leftover mashed potatoes from 16th dinner
D: Found tw small bags of 10 minute farro in the cupboard and one was so old it was rancid. Tossed it and then made a delicious farro “risotto” with half the other bag, but should have made the whole thing it was so yummy. I used onions, celery, white wine, stock, seasonings, a little parm and peas at the end. I’d happily have eaten all the leftovers but only made enough for the 3 of us. We also had chicken sausages.
Jan 18:
Brunch: I made a frittata/casserole thing with eggs, egg whites, sauteed bell pepper from the freezer, onions, chopped up turkey breakfast sausage, sharp cheddar and pepperjack. Yummy! served it with pear slices.
Dinner: I put chicken drumsticks from the freezer (from almost a year ago! This is why the challenge) into the slow cooker with a simple Filipino marinade (I used to make this, and it wasn’t as good as I’d remembered. Maybe I doctored it? idk, probably won’t be making this again. It was fine, but didn’t wow me). Made more half and half rice (still have riced cauli in the freezer!) and steamed basic mixed veg.
Snacks: popcorn at the movies (hence the slow cooker…. we got home at 8, and were eating dinner before 8:30 thankfully, and no takeout!); ice cream (still lots)
Karen J
This month is going by quickly!
Day 18
B-scrambled eggs with cheese, ham slice and toast
L-apple slices/peanut butter
D-a potluck at our friends’ place for Murder Mystery night. Nine of us dressed in our assigned character’s costumes and had a rather complicated script where each character gave out information (and withheld other) At the end of three scenes we had to guess who was the murderer and it ended up being my husband”s character. Two people guessed him correctly (and I was not one of them) We are all in our 70s, with one youngster being only 67, and have such fun times. I had made a new recipe, always a bit risky, cranberry bars using cranberry sauce. It called for two cups and my can from the pantry was short of that so I added the rest of a jar of raspberry jam. It turned out really good and I didn’t have to buy anything. We didn’t get home until midnight-super late for us!
Heather M
Oh what fun! Love a good evening with friends, and this sounds like a lot of fun! And, love your resourcefulness in making the cranberry bars! They sound delicious!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
That sounds like a fun evening! And good for you to supplement the cranberry sauce with what you had. I’ve seen cran-raspberry juice so I bet that was a good combo. And out til midnight!! Goodness 🙂
Maureen
Teo days to report…Leftovers for lunch. We were busy until dinner time and I had planned on having leftovers, but DH ended up heading out before we got home, so the girls convinced me to grab takeout. Since we’ve been keeping up with the leftovers, I figured we could do that.
The next day my highschooler and I headed up to her first choice college for an admitted students’ day and choir scholarship audition, so we were gone most of the day. We grabbed breakfast from home for the drive and the program fed us in the cafeteria for lunch. The college kid was home for the night when we got back, so we whipped up spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad (sauce and bread from the freezer). We popped in to the grocery store on our way home and grabbed a couple of things, but stuck to the short list.
Allie from Ontario
Heartfelt thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes 🙂
Tasty….feel better soon!
And Jessica, that jam sent me googling and T (who is a jam lover) would devour it.
Yesterday I made peanut butter cookies that called for salted peanuts…I use a snack pack of honey roasted peanuts instead and that worked well.
What we ate on Jan 18
Brunch: T left early to help his dad then had a sausage & bun from the freezer when he returned. I had toast & yogurt.
Dinner: I took out a large (& wrinkly!) yellow pepper & made 2 stuffed 1/2’s. I made the stuffing by cooking small amts of mgrd beef + both mild & hot Italian sausage meat with onion, garlic, diced hot peppers & frozen grape tomatoes. When cooled I stirred in fresh bread crumbs (from the freezer), fresh basil, diced fontina & a big spoonful of ricotta. I topped them with a bread crumb & parmesan mix and baked til the filling was hot/the peppers were soft. A green salad with lots of fridge stuff & a lemon vinaigrette completed the plate. It used small amounts of a lot of stuff and was a pretty good pantry/fridge/freezer meal.
Heather M
A hearty belated birthday to you, Allie! I just tried commenting on Jan 17’s post/comment, but it said my comment needed moderating? It may show up. Regardless, I hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend, and I love the story about the cupcake. 🙂 Also love your stuffed pepppers… they are something I love to make too, with whatever is hanging around. These you made sound divine!