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 2 of the Pantry Challenge, our first day back to real life after the holiday break.
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This will be brief since I’m posting so late. Sorry about that! We stayed up late watching a movie after pizza night.
Bryan and the college kids were all back to work today. The high schooler is still on vacation. I took a meal to friends who had planned to come for pizza but got sick instead.
What We Ate
Here’s how we ate on Day 2 of the Pantry Challenge:
Breakfast – I prepped several batches of my Instant Oatmeal Packets as well as made a batch of Homemade Brown Sugar. Kids were on their own.
Lunch – Bryan had a freezer burrito. The college kids packed lunches. Those at home had soup. I made a big batch of Cream of Chicken Soup for Cooking and then made both Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup and this Super Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup.
Dinner – Friday is our regular pizza night, so I made six Sourdough Pizzas and Bryan grilled them on the BBQ.
How did the day go for you?
Angela
B – eggs with diced ham and cheese, cheese grits
L – leftovers from yesterday’s lunch: peas & rice, ham slices. I also made some Mac & cheese for those not interested in collards or peas. 🙂
D – tacos (ground beef from the freezer)
Kathryn M
B – caffiene fix – that was it
L- made a chicken and rice bowl from misc leftovers in the fridge.
D – spaghetti with italian sausage. I tossed in the couple of spoonfulls of leftover pizza sauce to empty out the jar.
Heather M
Jan 2: Still at my in-laws in NY but we did something different than our usual and went to the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria Queens in the afternoon and then watched an old movie there, meeting up with our son who had gone into Manhattan in the morning to catch another film at the IFC (he’s quite a movie buff…).super fun and a new neighborhood for us! It was on the same campus where they film Sesame Street (Kaufman Astoria Studios) and they had a Jim Henson exhibit ;among other awesome things) which was so fun! Anyways, in to our meals:
Brunch: before C headed but the city I grabbed our favorite bagel breakfast sandwiches which we always get at least once a trip here. We all had bacon egg and cheese on everything,(me) poppyseed(C-son), and Onion (L)
Snack: we each had a small bag of Spanish potato chips at the movie which was at 6:15pm and was close to 3 hours long! They were delicious!
Dinner at 11pm!: We picked up Wendy’s for C who did not want any more leftovers and we had leftovers from NYE- I had chicken francese, bread, and a piece of cheese; L had the chicken, lasagna, and bread. We all had some leftover sponge cake and Portuguese cookies
Janet
We made grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade creamy tomato soup for lunch, which used up the last of our heavy cream. For dinner we had chicken fajitas, rice, black beans, and queso.
We somehow ended up with nearly a dozen cans of peaches in heavy syrup. Any ideas other than peach cobbler to use these up? We are trying to avoid too many desserts.
Heather M
Chop the peaches and put them in muffins! Or have them with ice cream for dessert….
Heather M
Ooo or also in pancakes (protein ones too) or on pancakes/waffles in place of syrup!
Janet
Thank you for the suggestions!
Heather from Sacramento
I bought a whole bunch of jars of peaches and I cut them up and add to Greek yogurt. It is so good!
Janet
That’s a good idea. I don’t have much yogurt on hand but I have a large container of cottage cheese. Peaches on top sound good.
Stan
Delicious in Oatmeal with cinnamon!
Christine
I made pasta carbonara for dinner using the cheese I had on hand and spaghetti and bacon I bought when shopping. We ate lunch at my mother’s and I brought all the holiday dessert back to her. Happy to clean that out. Everyone did their own thing for breakfast.
Roberta in So Cal
Hubs and college kids (Son and his GF, who lives nearby) are still home and on vacation. Son’s GF often joins us for meals, so sometimes I’m cooking for 2, sometimes 3, and sometimes 4 people. Sometimes people fend for themselves. It’s interesting. Ha!
B-For 3. Scrambled eggs (from our chickens), bacon (from an open pkg that needed to be used up), fried potatoes, LO pineapple not used for the Hawaiian pizza, OJ, coffee.
L-For 4. Hodgepodge–LO pizza, cheese sandwiches, PBJ, PB toast (me; still pretty full from breakfast), salad, LO pineapple, grapes, tangerines, cookies from Christmas.
D-For 3. Roasted Cauliflower & Chickpea Stew, rice, pitas, salad, cookies. We had cauliflower and pitas leftover from NYE dinner the college kids made (chicken shwarma), chickpeas from the freezer, rice from the pantry. Cookies were a gift from one of Hub’s students.
Lunch wiped out the sandwich bread, so I made a loaf of French bread in the bread machine.
My freezers are out of control. I’m hoping we can work through whatever they contain.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I don’t care what I have available to eat, a PBJ sandwich or PB toast always hits the spot for me! And PB on an apple too.
I have my mother’s bread machine and I keep saying I’m going to make bread – in this very forum, no less. Maybe 2026 will be the year-fingers crossed.
Tasty
Lynn, once you start using the bread machine, you won’t stop. We first got one about 25 years ago, very cautiously buying one that only.made tiny loaves for the simple reason we didn’t want to start eating way more bread! We soon realised that we needed something that made a bigger loaf and haven’t looked back. I occasionally will make bread with the kitchen aid or even by hand but the machine makes it so easy . . . Give it a try.
Karen J
I’ve found that I like to use the dough cycle then bake the bread in a regular pan. For some reason with my bread machine it works better that way.
Roberta in So Cal
Peanut butter is essential in our household. Ha!
Kathy in Denmark
Day 2:
B: Yoghurt and HM granola for DH, Rye porridge for DD1, Chia pudding made with yoghurt and topped with blueberries and chopped nuts for DD1 and myself. Followed by coffee for the adults.
L: I had some rye bread with toppings. I don’t know what anyone else had, but I know they find some food if they´re hungry!
D: Pasta with tomato sauce and topped with grana padano. The tomato sauce contained LO red pepper and the last of the roasted cauliflower from NYE. Also some vegetarian protein I am trying to use up. It’s like TVP but made from peas. We don’t really love it, so I am sneaking it in a handful at the time 🙂
S: Brownie with ice cream and some LO Christmas cookies for movie night. There wasn’t a lot of brownie, as it was LO dessert from NYE, but it made everyone happy.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/2/26
B: toast and coffee. DH had the same I think
L: I had a salad, he had a ham sandwich using up the last of the ham from Christmas
D: chili, made with ground beef I got for the “low” price of 3.99/#. Remember when it was .99/#? I added lots of veggies to stretch it. LO collards and LO cornbread
S: a few pieces of chocolate from Christmas
Allie from Ontario
In addition to the pantry challenge, I’m also a committed declutterer, especially as we are now clearing out T’s father’s very large home. He has gone into care & while it is sad to have him a 75 minute (in the best weather!) drive away, the facility is very new & he is getting very good care as well as making new friends. However, we KNOW that we can “adopt” very few items ourselves & so are picking things that carry true meaning for T and putting aside the items his brother out west has requested. We are working hard to find the best places for items…where they are needed, will be appreciated or to local stores that raise funds to support things like hospice & our local hospital.
What we ate on Jan 2
Brunch: I had toast + soup from the freezer (roasted cauliflower, carrot & garlic) and T had an egg and tomato slice on a toasted English muffin
Dinner: I did a lot of the prep on the 1st, so I finished making a house favourite pasta…caramelized onions made a little saucier with a big spoonful of home- canned onion/garlic jelly, Italian sausage meat from the freezer, fresh basil (in the winter I have an aerogarden with 2 thriving basil plants) and a package of goat cheese whose expiry date was looming. There is enough leftover for 2 lunches today 🙂
Stephanie M
Saturday, January 3, 2026
B – Paul had toast from the last few small slices of a bag of whole wheat bread, mixed fruit, and a yogurt with chopped walnuts. I had bran cereal with strawberries and blueberries. I also had chopped walnuts.
L – Paul finished the last of the Chinese take out that we had on New Year’s Eve. I had a turkey in whole wheat with turkey bacon, lettuce and tomato.
Snack- Paul had some home made Christmas cookies. I keep those in my freezer and pull out five each day to put on a small dish on the counter for him. Neither one of us wants a big bunch of cookies out in the open. lol. I had the rest of the blackberries in the container and some peanuts. One container of blackberries left.
D – we had smoked pork chops, leftover mashed potatoes from last night, and leftover cucumber salad. I also had the last of the peas in a bag from the freezer and sautéed cabbage. Paul doesn’t like cabbage so I made him corn.
Tasty
January 2nd
Its so great to see familiar names returning each year – just like old home week!
B- hubby had his usuall and a pumpkin muffin. As I was meeting up with a bunch of friends for a monthly outing, I just had a yogurt early on with some coffee. We went to the best place in town for breakfast – most of us opted for a smoked salmon eggs Benny. So good.
L – hubby had some clementines and possibly an apple. I grabbed a couple of pieces of pineapple – I really wasn’t hungry.
S – chili from the freezer over a baked potato.
Nothing exciting in the way of eating but good, nevertheless. I had planned to stock up with fruits and veggies on the 31st but the weather was not conducive to venturing out so instead I did that today – shops here do not open on New Year’s day.
Spent about $35 I’m OK with that.
Heather from Sacramento
B- coffee and oatmeal with slivered almonds and dried cranberries
L- pasta with cherry tomatoes and burrata from the freezer.
D- grilled cheese sandwiches
Snacks-honey roasted almonds (a gift from 2 years ago Christmas)
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Heather, I started out as a lurker too. I’m so glad I took the plunge to post a number of years ago. It’s a nice community Jessica has created here. Welcome!
Jessica Fisher
Yay for de-lurking!
Allie from Ontario
I’m another past lurker who is very happy to have taken the plunge to join in officially 3 years ago 🙂
Jessica Fisher
We’re so glad you did!
Heather M
I second the other hellos! We love lurkers who decide to join in the fun. And, another Heather? Yes, please ?
Kim from Colorado
B-cereal
L-BLTs with chips and berries
D-made a quiche for the first time ever, the consistency was a bit off but it was delicious. Used the last of the holiday ham, half a can of mushrooms, and the heavy cream left from holiday baking
Kathy in Denmark
Your quiche sounds delicious!
I love quiche – it´s the perfect dish to turn leftovers into something wonderful 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I love quiche too, and using cream ups the delicious factor! I don’t always have it but love it in a quiche.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/3/25
B : repeat of Greek yogurt with hm jam and coffee
L: vegetable beef soup which is getting low. DH had soup, sandwich and chips
D: beef roast from the freezer, LO collards, cauliflower with cheese sauce, rice, apple
I made a run to the store after my DH requested some chicken dishes this month. We have a ham and a turkey and sausage in the freezer, but actually no chicken. We ALWAYS have chicken as that’s a favorite. Boneless chicken breasts were on sale (1.99# v 1.79 from days gone by) but they were out. Like Jessica’s markdowns the other day, I found thighs marked down to .99#, so got those instead. We will have some tomorrow night and I will debone some for other recipes this month. I also bought a whole chicken, also on sale. I definitely don’t usually start the challenge off by buying, but want to have variety. Plus, as Jessica says, we make our own rules! Also bought cabbage for slaw. I’ll need lettuce soon, but hope this 29.56 will do me for a while. Our wind chill this morning felt like 9 degrees thanks to our strong winds so chicken soup is on the To Do list.
Tasty
This time the soup has very little other than tomatoes. I used about 12lbs of tomatoes to a scant pound of carrots and the same of onions and just one pint of chicken stock. This simmered for probably an hour until everything was well cooked. Then I ran it thru the blender, mixed up a roux and cooked it, then added the tomato back in the pot with some S & P, basil and oregano. This all came to a boil at which I took it off the heat and added a cup of half and half. Done!
Tasty
This time the soup has very little other than tomatoes. I used about 12lbs of tomatoes to a scant pound of carrots and the same of onions and just one pint of chicken stock. This simmered for probably an hour until everything was well cooked. Then I ran it thru the blender, mixed up a roux and cooked it, then added the tomato back in the pot with some S & P, basil and oregano. This all came to a boil at which I took it off the heat and added a cup of half and half. Done!
Tàsty
Sorry for the double post!
Heather M
Sounds amazing! Thanks, Tasty!
Kathy in Denmark
Day 2:
DH worked from home, but all his colleagues were like “Why didn’t you just call in sick?”, whenever he had a virtual meeting. He finally took the hint and finished early, so he could relax 😉
I slept in; I really need the extra rest and I am taking advantage of the fact that the kids don’t go back to school until the 6th.
B: Yoghurt and HM granola for DH and DD1. Coffee for DH. Rye porridge and milk for DD2. HM roll and a hard boiled egg for me. Also coffee.
S: Fruit, cookies, Christmas sweets. Also hot cocoa with whipped cream for the kids and one of their friends.
D: Pasta salad with different veggies from the fridge. LO beef tenderloin for DD1 and me. Veggie patty for DH and fish fillet for DD2. HM baguette.
I know it seems like a lot of work regarding the different types of protein for dinner, but it all went in the oven at the same time and both the veggie patty and the fish fillet were storebought and went straight from the freezer to the oven.
DD2 isn’t a big fan of meat, unlike DD1 and myself, so I sometimes just give her a fish fillet for protein. I sometimes wonder if she will be one of those people who can’t stand the look of fish fillets, since she’s had so much of it as a child. Time will tell.
She has gotten a lot better at tasting different foods and eats more and more things, so I am hopeful 🙂
We have an abundance of Christmas treats leftover, even though I cut down on the amounts we made. We choose to just enjoy them while they last, after all we won’t have them again until next Christmas.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Kathy, I see you made quite a few of your breads-rolls, baguettes. I still hope to do more of that. I even got my mother’s bread maker but haven’t used it yet. In the past I made Jessica’s hamburger rolls, but haven’t made that a part of my routine. Maybe this year will be the year!
Kathy in Denmark
I enjoy baking and I especially enjoy getting quality bread a lot cheaper than at the store or bakery!
I actually made the rolls and the baguettes from the same dough on NYE. We had some of the baguettes with our starter (creamy asparagus soup), ate some of the rolls for breakfast the following days and I froze some of both.
One of our souvenirs from our holiday in France this summer were some baguette moulds, which were really cheap, but very helpful when baking baguettes!
I hope you jump into baking, and if you have a machine to do the kneading, all the better 🙂
Krista Matheson
Ha! That sounds like dinner at my house tonight. Asparagus for DD (she’s the only one who likes), quickly cooked in toaster oven, steamed cabbage for me (i’m the only one who likes it) and peas for DH as he’s the only one who likes that lol. But it works.
Erin in Ontario
Heather M, that vertigo sounds absolutely miserable! Hoping you feel better today.
Yesterday, Husband was out with our oldest son and a couple of the grandkids (Boys’ Day Out) so they ate brunch in one of the towns they visited.
Daughter, youngest son and I stayed home.
B: Oatmeal with fruit
L: Breakfast was at about 11:30 so the oatmeal held us for a few hours, except for my youngest son, who is a teenager and is therefore legally required to eat every hour at a minimum. I saw him going past with peaches, apples, tortillas stuffed with who knows what, and several pbj.
D: I made a potato & kielbasa soup for the others. I made myself a spanakorizo (Greek spinach rice) with added lentils and mushrooms. Teenager had several bowls of soup with homemade bread, and then returned to make himself a “light snack” of the rest of the rice plus a can of tuna. He is very active, so he’s slender as a reed – I have no idea how he packs it away the way he does!
Evening snacks for the others seemed to be leftover Christmas chocolates, from what I saw.
Kathy in Denmark
LOL about your teenage son’s eating.
We have two girls, but they do eat a lot in some periods of time. This is usually a sign it won’t be long before we need to go get them new clothes 😉
I’m sure you relate 🙂
Erin in Ontario
Do I ever, Kathy! lol
When our oldest was this age, he grew more than a foot in 4 months. I once made what I expected to be a week’s worth of beef stew, pasta sauce, and some casseroles for the 5 of us……and they were all gone before we got back from the library a little over an hour later.
Heather M
Hi there! I think the vertigo may have been last year’s Day 2 comment. 🙂 I’m just slogging along with other health issues to manage these days- I think the vertigo from last year is directly related to the ongoing anemia problems I’ve been having for exactly 2 years and seems to be getting worse. Anyways, wow can teen boys eat! Ours is not eating like that anymore (he’s 23), and never ate like my brothers did. My brothers (3 of them, all in a row after me) were extremely active (surfed every day, often twice a day, played team sports as well, just nonstop) and I distinctly recall breakfasts of a serving bowl full of cereal with milk(like half a standard box), 4 pieces of toast, OJ. They were bottomless pits. Mom would buy 2 carts full a week, minimum. It was unreal the amount they could put away and also were super fit and trim. It did not last forever.
Danielle Zecher
I’m sorry you’re still dealing with anemia and other health problems. I hope you start feeling better soon.
Lynn frim NC Outer Banks
My son never ate like other teenage boys either. Now, even at 37, he’s pencil thin, teetering on “underweight” status. I think he got the skinny genes in our family. My daughter and I both say we need to weigh what he does on our shorter frames!
Heather, I’m so sorry to hear you are having the lingering health problems. I remember when you were having lots of tests.
Danielle L Zecher
I was back in the office for part of the day, but we’re still mostly on a holiday schedule, so our meals are still a little weird. We munched on more leftovers from NYE, and Nick baked a frozen pizza while I was at work.
Allie from Ontario
What we ate on Jan 2
Brunch – We both ate some leftover enchiladas
Dinner – I went into the freezer for ground pork + slider buns and made some Asian flavoured sliders (ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, scallions etc) and a tangy, vinaigrette style slaw. Dinners like these make me happy when I do pull out lots of jars etc for prep…if I buy them, I should use them!
While making the slaw, I went on the hunt for an unopened jar of a grated beet chutney that we like to stir in…I KNOW it is here somewhere (which gives a picture of the state of my pantry right now). You will all probably hear me when I DO find it 🙂
It’s great to see so many familiar names here + some new ones (to me at least-it’s only my 2nd year here 🙂 Also good luck to everyone in the path of the coming snow…it looks like we will get missed or at least sideswiped this time.
Heather M
Oh how I can relate to the hidden jar… I don’t have a pantry but one of the food cupboards is a narrow opening into a large multishelf cupboard shaped like a diamond. Things are forever getting lost in there! Your dinner sounds delicious!
Tàsty
We’re not that far from you Allie, as I seem to remember and have seen almost nothing in the way of winter weather yet. May it continue!