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 19 of the Pantry Challenge!
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Today was a computer day, but I spent some time playing with sourdough starter. In the works: a new recipe for Sourdough Donuts. I’m excited. They were a huge hit, even though they still need some work.
What We Ate
Breakfast – There were leftover Everything Hamburger Buns, so I made Ham and Egg Sandwiches for the crew with them.
Lunch – Lunch was late due to donuts. I had a big salad, but I have no idea what the kids had.
Dinner – Pizza night, baby. Last week I was out of goat cheese and this week we were out of garlic, so no Goat Cheese Pizza tonight. I made do and it was still good.
How did Day 19 go for you?
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Jan 19
B: I skipped, DH had egg and toast
L: Steak sandwiches with peppers and onions plus last of chili for DH
D: Herbed chicken thighs, baked potatoes, carrot-raisin salad
S: Panettone
Tasty, our Italian friend gave us a panettone. Yum!
Used my rain check to pick up the 3 racks of baby back ribs today like I had planned. I bought them on “Senior day” to get an extra 5% off. They wound up costing 1.89/#. The current price is 5.99/# so I thought this was a stock up price for a meal our family enjoys occasionally. However, this put me over my goal of $50 due to the unplanned purchase of a pork loin earlier in the week. I’m at 61.46 for the month. Without the loin, I would be at around $44-in line with my plan. But I’m not going to fret about it as this is still way under my monthly budget, and it’s just hard to ignore prices that may not come around again for a while.
I also did some prep work in the kitchen. I made red beans in the crock pot (sausage from freezer, beans from dried in instant pot) and baked rice while I baked the chicken. I also baked a quiche using some cream and bacon from the freezer. I’m planning to make some waffles using up the last of the cream tomorrow. This should provide us with some breakfast/lunch/dinner options over the weekend with less time in the kitchen. Have a good weekend everyone!
Heather M
Great prep work! Have a good weekend, too 🙂
Tasty
Tasty, our Italian friend gave us a panettone. Yum! – Enjoy!!!
Emily
B- fried egg, avocado and cream cheese on a gf bagel, a yogurt and a Mandarin.
L- leftover ribs, beans, potato skins and cornbread.
D- I used a box of beer battered shrimp I once found on sale for .60 and stocked up on, baked rice and peas. For dessert we had the last of the Christmas desserts from the freezer, it was a sticky toffee pudding, it was ok but it had nuts in it and I don’t really like nuts in desserts.
ZC from MA
B: slice of toast with almond butter, cherries and coffee
L: bought at work
D: cauliflower stir fry, rice
S: several pieces of pre-cut fruit at work, an apple
Danielle Zecher
Breakfast: Bagels.
Lunch: I had leftover spaghetti and meatballs. Nick had canned ravioli at work.
Dinner: Nick had leftover pizza. I had a leftover burrito and stress ate a lot of white chocolate throughout the day.
Tasty
Thursday January 19th
B – Hubby made himself some porridge, I had raspberries, yogurt granola with a slice of h/m bread with orange curd
L – hubby made bacon and egg on buns for us
S – beef and broccoli w/rice, some of the leftover Christmas ice cream – it’s almost finished!!!
Stephanie M.
Thursday, January 19, 2023
B – I had yogurt parfait.
L – Paul had a ham sandwich, a banana and a slice of pound cake that I made a few days ago. The rest I put in the freezer in slices so I can thaw whatever I need.
D – whole wheat pancakes that we made and froze a few weeks ago and turkey sausage.
My hand is greatly improving and I’m able to do most things myself now. Which means for the most part, the days of Paul cooking with the exception of grilling, because he always does that, are over. I can’t say how good it feels to get my independence back. The orthopedic doctor told me my hand will be swollen for 6 months to one year. I thought I was hearing things. But oh well. I’m just happy it’s not hindering me too much. With all of this, unfortunately my challenge was not what it could have been but the good news is my freezer is never stuffed anymore like in previous years so it would never take me a month to get through what’s in there. But since paul is not someone who normally cooks inside, he grills outside, I had to give him simple meals to make. I am very grateful for all of his help this last month and a half.
Tasty
Glad to see that your hand is improving and that Paul can be released from kitchen duties. Just don’t try to do too much with it yet – I know it’s frustrating not to be able to do what you want to do.
Stephanie M.
Thank you tasty!! Released from kitchen duties. Lol. That’s so funny!! But I’m sure he’s happy to be coming home after work and dinner is ready instead of him having to make it. I will definitely take it slow because I don’t want to re injure it and go backwards.
Danielle Zecher
I’m glad your hand is improving, but sorry you’ll have to deal with swelling for so long.
Stephanie M.
Thank you Danielle!! I was shocked to hear that too but that’s ok. I’m just so happy for little things like I can tie my own sneaker laces!!!!!!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Stephanie, glad your healing continues. I remember how good it was to finally be able to resume my normal activities when I had a similar injury.
Stephanie M.
Thank you lynn!! It’s definitely a great feeling to be gaining my independence. There was so much I couldn’t do by myself. Now I can finally write again. Lol.
Heather M
Yay for getting your independence back! Yay for your hand healing so well! Glad you’re able to get back into your groove, swelling and all. 🙂
Stephanie M.
Thank you Heather!!!
I’m in a much happier place than I was a month ago. Lol.
Kathy in Denmark
Day 19
B: The usual things for all 🙂
L: Packed lunch for the girls. Rye bread with toppings for DH and me
D: Fish fillets/vegetarian nuggets, boiled potatoes and carrots, parsley sauce
S: Yoghurt with HM granola, bananas
I had made some pigs in blankets for the girls’ lunches on sunday, and they had them in their lunchboxes all week along with cut up veggies, a piece of fruit and cubed cheddar. I think pigs in blankets are made with puff pastry in the US, but in Denmark it’s a bread dough, so it is actually quite filling. I add WW flour to mine as well.
DH worked from home, so we got to have lunch together, which was very nice.
We have been out of our regular milk, since I haven’t been able to find a good price for it and only bought a small amount. DD2 had a dentist appointment in a town nearby where a grocery store has a permanent low price on organic milk. Needless to say, I bought as much as I thought we could drink before it goes bad!
Heather M
love it when other errands (dentist) can facilitate picking up better priced things – going somewhere out of the way just for one item’s lower price is fairly wasteful (time, gas, whatever), so this is great. Loved hearing about your pigs in blankets. Sneaking in whole wheat is always a good thing 🙂
Kathy in Denmark
We always try to batch errands together, since diesel is so expensive! However, I may go back just for the milk, since the normal price is 13,- DKR for one litre and this store has it for 9,- DKR pr. litre! With a savings like that it is actually worth the trip since the town isn’t that far away.
Lily R.
B: Eggs benedict over english muffins.
L: I prepped all the ingredients for japchae and pajeon the night before, so lunch came together pretty quickly.
D: Moules mariníères. I toasted baguette/made pasta so everyone could have what they wanted with it.
Snacks were red pears and macadamia nuts.
Our houseguests have one more night with us. They can’t splurge on fine dining often, so hubby and I want to treat them to a Michelin star restaurant for their last night. Not sure where they will choose! But if the men have their way, steak will be involved.
We didn’t plan to have guests during a pantry challenge, but c’est la vie.
Heather M
Oh my goodness your houseguests are loving the menu at your home! Just awesome! I hope you enjoy your dinner out…. that will be such a wonderful treat for everyone!!
Lily R.
It was a wonderful treat for everyone. Thanks, Heather!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Lily, the menu and meals at your house already sound like fine dining to me! 🙂
Lily R.
Thanks, Lynn! Your meals sound delicious as well 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/19/22
Oh Jessica, congrats to your family re: your son’s upcoming marriage! Did you find a dress? I get to do that exciting task as well. My son is getting married in May!
B: coffee DH: grits and sausage
L: both finished up the last of the chowder. I had avocado toast with mine, he had biscuits
D: finished LO chicken Florentine, had baked apples and cauliflower with cheese sauce
Kathryn M
B: yogurt (the last one)
Lunch: flatbread pizza with Italian sausage, red and yellow bell pepper, and onion. There are still 3 pieces of the flatbread in the freezer, I just pulled one out of the package for myself. I am now down to about a cup of shredded mozzarella in one opened bag – one more pizza meal should get rid of that. Not sure why we ended up with 3 open bags of white cheeses.
(DH took chili to work all week from that big pot he made on Saturday night. He usually cooks then so that he can meal prep his work lunches for the whole week.)
Dinner: Lazy meal from the freezer. Bertolli bagged chicken alfredo pasta (the kind you just drop in a skillet to heat) and a heat and eat loaf of french bread that I covered with garlic butter. I saved some pasta and a small piece of the bread for tomorrow’s lunch. At least I got a couple of odds and ends out of the freezer.
No snacks just because i was too lazy to make anything.,,
Julie T
B-rest of the pancake batter from yesterday. I put in the refrigerator overnight. Thinned out in the morning. I had blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, Hubby had plain pancakes with strawberry jam. I had one plain pancake left over. That went in the freezer.
L-Rueben soup from the freezer for me. Rest of the hamburger from Monday night made into a cheeseburger on a home made hamburger bun from the freezer for hubby.
D-Chili made in the crockpot. I then cooked some macaroni and added chili for Chili Mac. I have 6 single serve containers of chili in the freezer to either eat as soup, add to pasta, use over hamburgers, etc.
I pulled pheasant breasts from the freezer to thaw for stir fry for tomorrow. I hope to get them chunked tonight. I cooked rice in the rice cooker and threw in the fridge for fried rice. I also prepped some veggies for the fried rice.
I have spent $52.00 and used 24 jars of home canned food so far this month. My goal is to only spend $50 and open 50 jars of home canned food.
Jen in Ohio
I dropped DS off for 6th grade camp this morning – he’ll be gone until Friday afternoon. He was so excited! My stepkids are with their mom, so it’s going to be quiet here for a couple days.
B: frozen breakfast sandwich & blackberries for DS, we skipped
L: DS – ate at camp, we had l/o ham, cookies from my mom, fruit, probably DF had some other snacky stuff
D: just the 2 of us, so we went out to Buffalo Wild Wings. I really like being able to go to a restaurant for a date night on an off night (not Friday/Saturday), and with the kids we rarely have that option, so I try to take advantage of it when it occurs!
Linda B
I’ve been following the challenge, but this is my first time reporting in. I can’t see that I’ve made a huge dent in our deep freeze, but I’m starting to see a bit of room in the pantry at least.
Went to the grocery store and got potatoes, since they are a staple we’ve used up this month.
Kind of proud of myself for taking a cooked piece of corned beef out of the freezer (from last March!). Made that for dinner and we now have some for sandwiches for the next few days. Will be good with your sourdough rye bread that I made over the weekend!
Maureen
I pulled leftovers from the freezer for lunch (there’s enough for me for tomorrow, too). We ended up ordering takeout for dinner from a local restaurant that was holding a fundraiser for our Elementary school. That was kind of the plan, but I was trying to talk myself into cooking. But, we enjoyed it…chicken, salad, breadsticks, and pizza. A little bit of leftovers of everything except the salad, but I think the kids will take care of it in the next couple of days as they snack after school. My youngest made some chocolate cupcakes, too. We frosted some with frosting leftover from the holidays. Those should last a couple of days.
Heather M
Jessica, what a time, shopping for a dress for your son’s wedding. It’s so exciting! And, I feel you re the “gringo” spice levels. That can be so disappointing.
This week is going well with the challenge. And, wee haven’t had a takeout meal since my birthday, unless that auntie anne’s pretzel counts. Feeling good about that, too.
Wednesday, January 19:
B:we both skipped
L: L finished the leftover greek chicken salad plus a piece of sourdough garlic toast; I had sourdough garlic toast, a hardboiled egg, carrots & cucumber slices with some spinach dip I found in the fridge and needs to get eaten up
D: spaghetti squash lasagna- used the squash that had been hanging around a few months, the rest of an open jar of marinara, the rest of the fresh spinach, fresh mozzarella that’s got to get eaten asap before it turns, some of the ricotta I bought over the holidays and never opened (I see ricotta pancakes in our future maybe), plus half the 1lb package of 96% lean ground beef I pulled from the freezer. It was delicious!
Also took the time to prep part of Thursday’s dinner; cooked up the other half of the ground beef and added things to get that layer prepped for the meal I’m making tonight. It’s not going to take much to get it in the oven tonight now. 🙂
Tasty
Wednesday January 19th
B. – hubby had his usual with the last of the nutella oatmeal squares, I had a pear, yogurt and a muffin.
L – cleaned out some leftovers from the fridge. Hubby had the pasta and I had the last piece of quiche.
S – pulled 2 small packs of meatloaf mix from the freezer, so supper was meatloaf, carrots (also from the freezer) with potatoes and broccoli.
A good day for using up leftovers.
Mol
Wait, nutella oatmeal squares? These sound dangerously delicious. Do you have a recipe to share?
Stephanie M.
January 19
B – Paul had cereal. I had a yogurt parfait.
L – Paul had an empanada from the freezer that I made last week and some fried macaroni leftover from my lunch yesterday and two clementines. I had a turkey sandwich and a banana.
D – burgers and fries using up the last of the burgers from the freezer.
Jennifer
I actually planned ahead on a work day and had thawed meat!
B – leftover muffins, grapefruit
L – leftover deer roast/stew for me, leftover ham au graten for hubby along with yogurt and fruit
D – chicken casserole with stuffing on top – used up the remains of 1 bag and half another bag of stuffing. Sliced veggies.
Danielle L Zecher
Breakfast: Toast or bagel.
Lunch: Leftover vegetable and paneer curry.
Dinner: McDonald’s. Not planned, but we had to take our dog to the vet an hour and a half away and opted for the drive-thru on the way home.
Jen in Ohio
I hope your dog is ok!
Danielle L Zecher
Thanks! He’s scheduled for surgery next week that will hopefully fix everything.
Lily R.
Oh no, is the pup ok??
Danielle L Zecher
He has Cushing’s Disease and was scheduled for surgery on Monday. Unfortunately, that was canceled because of all the snow/ice we had. There was some concern that the tumor was bleeding. Happily, they don’t think it is and his surgery is rescheduled for next week. Hopefully he’ll be back to normal after his surgery and recovery.
Stephanie M.
Hi Danielle. I’m sorry to hear that your dog is not feeling well. As a dog and cat lover myself, I have three dogs and one cat, I know how difficult it can be when something is wrong. I hope the surgery is a success.
Danielle L Zecher
Thank you. They’re definitely our babies. I’m nervous about him having the surgery, but I’m also impatient for it to happen so he’ll start getting better.
Kathy in Denmark
Day 19
B: The ususal
L: DH ate at work, packed lunch for the girls. I had some leftover curry dish and then froze the rest
D: WW spaghetti with marinara sauce and parmesan cheese
S: Pretzels, cookies, Christmas candy and some bread. We all had different things at some point 🙂
Wednesday is swimming night for DD1, so we had an easy dinner. I used up the last two pieces of HM bread in the girls’ lunches, so I made some sandwich bread. It turned out well, even though I made some substitutions to the normal recipe.