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 20 of the Pantry Challenge!
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Can you believe the month is already ⅔ over? Crazy how fast it has gone!
I’m trying to invest more time in my writing business so today was a full day at my desk even though most of the fam had the day off.
What We Ate
Breakfast – I made my old school favorite: Greek Yogurt With Muesli and Blueberries. I am trying to go back to my 2BMindset ways as I’ve gained a little too much weight in my perimenopausal years.
Lunch – It was a fend-for-yourself day. There was a lot of Lawnmower Taco leftover from last night as well as pizza from Sunday. The kids had that while Bryan grabbed a burrito from the freezer. I had a salad and a couple turkey patties from the freezer.
Dinner – I made two soups tonight: Instant Pot Potato Soup as well as an experimental curried vegetable soup. Unfortunately, I didn’t measure the spices and made the curry way too hot. Yikes! I am freezing the leftovers in ½- and 1-cup portions to stretch with other soup stuff in the future.
How did Day 20 go for you?
Kathy in Denmark
Day 20:
B: Oatmeal porridge for DD1, rye porridge for DD2, Greek yoghurt with HM granola for DH and with fruit and nuts for me.
L: Packed lunch for both kids. Rye bread with different toppings for the adults
D: “Stew” made with either LO roasted duck from Christmas (freezer) or vegetarian meat substitution. Mashed potatoes. DD2 had LO tomato sauce and some pasta, since she doesn’t like stew
S: a piece of cake and a cup of tea at a meeting I attended. Small bowl of Greek yoghurt with HM jam after the meeting.
Allie from Ontario
I finally did a shop that included milk for both of us, 3 different salad greens, cauliflower, onions & a (pricey!) cheese we like that they don’t always carry (ie grab it when you can). I spent $34.00 which isn’t bad for the 1st “more than just milk” shop since we started. It was also fun when my truck wouldn’t start as I was setting out on errand day so I took T’s car while he put the charger on the truck 🙁
What we ate on Jan 21
Brunch – we each put together bowls with leftover flank steak, black beans, pickly stuff, cheese, chopped lettuce (rescuing what we could from a head of iceberg) and some salsa.
Dinner – I had it all planned out but was de-railed by a series of long distance family calls from all over Canada (thankfully not bad news) so I packed everything up for tonight and we raided the freezer for soups (chicken noodle for me & turkey for T) which we ate with veggies and some leftover dressing that I stretched with more herbs & sour cream.
While eating T said…”isn’t it great that we haven’t eaten EVERYTHING from the freezers yet?!?” He got a bit of side eye for that one.
Stephanie M
Your steak bowl sounds delicious!! We’re having leftover roast beef tonight but I’ll still have some left so I’m going to make something like that for myself tomorrow. Thanks for the wonderful idea!!
Heather M
So was your truck not starting because of the extreme cold? Just curious, always wanting to learn about things. Love that you had all the fun phone calls, but yes, they can get in the way of things. Luckily you did have that stash of soup in the freezer! And after such a lovely hearty brunch, I’m sure soup was great for dinner.
Allie from Ontario
Hi Heather….yes – very cold overnight temps (close to -30 C) not great for the battery. Stupidly we both talked about the upcoming cold temps and neither thought about plugging it in…block heaters really are a must here. We had been spoiled by milder temps (ie -high teens overnight which is not a huge problem. It is charged and plugged in for tonight 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/20/25
I’m not sure what happened to my comment from last night but I enjoyed going back and reading previous year comments as I was making sure it didn’t show up anywhere before reposting.
It’s cold here and they have upped our chances of snow to 80/85% for the next 2 days. We’ll see if it actually happens. It’s been a while since we’ve had a snowfall so everyone is quite excited at the possibility. Snow on a beach is a bit rare!
B: coffee, yogurt and peaches for me. That finished up the yogurt so I will probably need to buy more of it. DH had some of the LO breakfast casserole and I think some of the yogurt? He also had the last of the Hawaiian ham and cheese sliders that I had made Sunday for football snacks.
L: dh and I ate out with friends. I had shrimp chowder, he had cod and potatoes.
D: finally fixed the chicken with a lemon butter sauce. Fixed cauli rice for the sauce and finished up the roasted butternut squash and had more of the tasty ambrosia.
S: hubby snacked on nuts and some chocolate
Hubby wanted to be sure we had what we needed in case of snow. Oh yes, and then some! Despite good progress in the PC, I’ve still got plenty of options for meals.
Heather M
Yay for plenty of options! I am feeling very much the same, except we are finally low on fruit and after tonight, salad stuff. So I think I’ll have to hit the stores again tomorrow (wed) for some things. But not too much, as I really want to keep clearing out the cupboards and freezer of older things before starting to restock as prices and needs warrant. Enjoy the snow, if it comes! Cannot believe we’re seeing snow in New Orleans, Houston, Fla, etc!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Those are crazy videos of all the snow on Bourbon Street! Ours has started coming down. We’ll see how much accumulation we get. Allie, those are SUCH cold temps. Makes even our windchill (13F) balmy compared to you!
I’ve been out of lettuce for a while now. I’m substituting cabbage and cauliflower for salads for now, but think lettuce will be on the list for the next grocery run though I’m trying hard to use what I’ve got as well.
Karen J
I have one small piece of cod, another small salmon fillet, shrimp (lots and lots) in the freezer, and two cans of clams in the cupboard. That’s sounding like some sort of seafood chowder in my future.
Enjoy your snowy weather!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Karen, seafood chowder sounds delicious. I had shrimp chowder for lunch yesterday. Chowders are good anytime but especially when it’s cold.
I’ve got shrimp in the freezer so am trying to figure out how best to use it.
I had forgotten that you were a former teacher. Both my parents were teachers (for 30 and 35 yrs), along with a LOT of aunts, uncles and cousins. I said I had to marry a teacher (which I did!) to stay in the family:)
Stephanie M
Monday, January 19, 2025
B – Paul had yogurt. I had a yogurt parfait
L – Paul had leftover pizza from last night. I skipped.
D – I finally took a top round roast out of my freezer that’s been in there for a while and made a roast beef. I also made mashed potatoes with some potatoes that have been in the fridge for a while. I made gravy using some mushrooms I had and we also had cucumber salad using up an English cucumber I had in the fridge.
Heather M
Roast beef–perfect for this cold weather!!
Tasty
Day 20
B: hubby finished the bananas in the fruit bowl.. they were getting almost black – just how he likes them. There’s no point in freezing them here for banana bread as neither of us like it. He also ate the last of the muffins. I pulled the remaining cranberry walnut loaf from the freezer (made before Christmas) and had a couple of slices of that toasted – so good!
L: ham sandwiches
S: I made our favourite cauliflower cheese to go with yet more ham.
Hubby took the meat off the bone and I got some lovely stock made in the afternoon – more for the freezer!!! That’s also where most of the remaining ham will go too.
Tasty
Meant to add that I made muffins in Ihe morning. That was quite funny because the first few kinds I considered making, I was missing ingredients for, such as fresh blueberries, oatmeal etc. I’ve been working thru the pantry challenge and using up the last of lots of things and not replacing, not only because of the PC but we are also heading south for a while come the end of the month so using as many odds and ends as possible. We ended up with date and pecan muffins from a strange recipe I had saved but never used. The fat – melted butter – gets added at the very end. Anyway, they turned out fine hubby tells me – he taste tested one when he came home from the gym!!
Heather M
Love that you head south in the winter for a break! And that makes so much sense to not replace even regular things because you’ll be gone a while. Love that these muffins turned out well for you! (although I think you’re probably glad you aren’t headed South for a while given the crazy snowfall happening all over right now!)
Karen J
I’m right there with you with not replacing like I usually would. We are leaving for Tucson for a week on Saturday ( for warmer climes, fingers crossed). So besides Pantry Challenge I am trying to use up anything that will spoil from the refrigerator before we leave. There is plenty of freezer food to last into February after we get back.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Tasty, seems like you usually head to SC for your winter break. Like Heather said, good it’s not right now as you’d be in the snow you are trying to escape!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
That’s good your husband likes VERY overripe bananas. Around here, no matter how many I buy, there is always one that gets too ripe for my liking. Once they’ve got spots, I’m not eating them and into the freezer they go!
Tasty
I think right now there is more snow in the southern states than we have at home here. We really have had very little white stuff this year. Boots haven’t seen the light of day but I may need to pa k them to take with me!!
Kathryn M
Jan 20, 2025
Long work day. I ate sloppy joes for both lunch and dinner. Snacked on some trail mix – it was mostly peanuts and raisins left – I think I picked out the best parts yesterday.
Kathryn M
Lunch taquitos from frozen. I finished up the cheese sauce finally -first for dipping taquitos – then I scooped up the rest with some tortilla chips.
Dinner – Frozen ravioli and jarred marinara sauce.
Snack – a small bag of potato chips.
Karen J
Breakfast-leftover breakfast burritos
Lunch-granola bar
Dinner-dinner party with seven of our best friends. I was to bring an appetizer and made jalapeno poppers with cream cheese and bacon-all that I had at home so incurred no additional cost. There was so much food. No one went home hungry!
Heather M
I bet that was such a fun dinner party 🙂
Heather M
Jan. 20: in which L and I had separate plans all morning and half the afternoon and I didn’t cook.
Jessica, your open game night sounds amazing and such a Great idea!! Bet it’s so great!!
B: L skipped as he left earlier than me; I had a wedge of the frozen leftover spinach gruyere frittata before leaving.
L: L skipped(he was at the auto show with a big group); my friend I was with for a thing we did treated me to a late lunch- I had a tuna melt, open face- one piece of really good bread, with a small side of chips
D: i ate so late and L was starving when we both got home after 3:30, thst i immediately got him some leftovers together – he finished off the last 2 baked tacos and some of the pizza pasta salad from the night before. Neither of us needed more real food and just snacked in the evening. I had popcorn and some Christmas candy; I can’t remember what L had.
Allie from Ontario
Jan 20
Brunch – I had the last bowl of beef noodle soup with some crackers, old cheddar and tomatillo-jalapeno jam. T had a bowl of his leftover pork chop bake and finished off the jar of pickled beans.
Dinner – I took a container of our favourite chili (big chunks of stewing beef, black beans, corn and lots of peppers) out of the freezer and we ate it with extra pickled peppers (another empty fridge jar!), chopped onions & grated cheese. We split the 2nd last Costco ciabatta bun (made into garlic toast) and we also split the last of the chocolate mousse from my birthday.
Kathy in Denmark
Reporting from two days again 🙂
Day 19:
B: The usual for all
L: DH eats at work, packed lunch for DD1. DD2 is served a healthy lunch at school. Yoghurt for me, because I lost track of time and needed something fast.
D: Pulled pork burgers with chips (fries) from the freezer. DH had a vegetarian burger patty.
S: Ice cream and different sweets from the cupboards for movie night. We still have Christmas goodies, amazingly!
Pulled pork was made earlier and frozen. Both DD1 and I really enjoy it, so I make a batch every once in a while and freeze in smaller portions. The burger rolls were from the pantry and the vegetarian burger patty was also from another night 🙂
Day 20:
Brunch: Bread, coffee, juice, jams and cheese for all
S: Tortilla chips and salsa.
D: Vegetarian lasagne with bread and a salad made with finely sliced cabbage and feta.
I love making lasagne, because I can put in so many veggies and everyone still loves it! This one had onion, garlic, carrots, broccoli stalks, mushrooms and red pepper. I used up a lot of little veggie scraps from the fridge! Also passata and lentils to bulk up the protein. I simmered a piece of parmesan rind to add umami as well. The white sauce was made with vegetable stock, milk and cream, which also emptied a few cartons.
We are out of lettuce, which is why I made the cabbage salad. It had a mix of red and white cabbage, a little red onion and crumbled feta. I dressed it with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. I left some of the cabbage as is in a bowl for the kids. The bread was from the freezer.
Allie from Ontario
I’m pretty sure I’ll be using that cabbage salad idea later this week 🙂
Kathy in Denmark
I hope you like it! I found another recipe which calls for “massaging” the cabbage with salt to make it release some water and then rinsing it off before dressing it. I think I might try this one next. I also sometimes just mix finely shredded cabbage with edamame beans and dress it with a vinaigrette with mustard and a little honey or syrup added. DD1 especially likes that one 😉
We still have plenty of cabbage left, even though I have used it for a few meals. It’s amazing how much food you get out of it!
Karen J
Me too-except I will have to sub something for feta. Hmmm.
Heather M
Oh wow this dinner sounds amazing!! And using up so many scraps is an added bonus 🙂
Jennifer
Hmm, Saturday, why is it so hard to remember?
B – dh and I tried a new coffee shop in a nearby town. We got drinks and breakfast sandwiches.
L – french bread pizzas, fruit
D – sausage and sweet potato pasta, peppers
I got inspired to make pizza pockets. I made our usual pizza crust dough in the bread machine and mixed up the filling using half the sausage I had browned for dinner. When I attempted to make them the dough would not roll out. It either bounced right back or tore. So frustrating! So I made dinner rolls for the freezer with the dough and I put the filling in the fridge. I need a different crust recipe and will try again today.
Kathy in Denmark
It’s frustrating when an idea doesn’t work the way you think it would…
Did you shape the dough into balls and let it rest before attempting to roll it out? Resting is key to relax the gluten in the dough, which makes it a lot easier to roll out and prevents it from bouncing back. Olive oil in the dough also makes it easier to work with, in my experience. Hope you either get your normal recipe to work or find a new one that does!
Jessica Fisher
That is disappointing. Has the weather been weird? It sounds like it needed more water or a longer rise time. You can try my Calzone recipe. You don’t have to shape it the way I did.
Tasty
January 20
B: hubby had yogurt, muffin and an apple, I had mixed berries, yogurt and granola
L: chicken fingers
S: pork and apple casserole, fingerling potatoes, with Brussels sprouts for hubby and rutabaga for me
Kathryn M
Day 20 I made a big pot of Chili con carne for dinner. I had everything here for that. I used a boxed corn muffin mix as I have too many of those and need to start using them up.
Lunch – I chopped up a couple of leftover brats and fried some potato, onion, and green pepper to make a one pot meal.
B- Cranberry orange muffins.
Danielle Zecher
Breakfast: I had an early meeting at work, so got a drive-thru biscuit on the way in. I think Nick went to a drive-thru, too, but I’m not positive.
Lunch: We had a potluck at work (chili w/ various fixings and two different kinds of meatballs, among other things). I brought three bean salad. I didn’t finish up with work until after 8:30 the night before and wanted something easy. I’m not sure I’ll bring three bean salad to something again. I’m used to only taking home an empty dish, but took home about half of what I brought this time. Nick worked through lunch.
Dinner: I made cookies (the premade ones in the refrigerated section; I bought a lot on sale around the holidays). Nick had leftover spaghetti and meatballs. I wasn’t very hungry, so just had a few cookies.
Maureen
I just caught up on almost a week of posts. It sounds like everyone is doing a great job with the challenge this year. I’ve been very careful with my shopping this past week. I did grab a few packages of chicken and tilapia that were reduced for the freezer. But, otherwise I went with limited lists and stuck to them. I’ve eaten a ton of leftovers and a few odd things from the freezer. DH was out of town for a few days, so the girls and I did a bit of our thing a few nights. I used up some extra milk to make crepes one night since strawberries were on sale and looked pretty good for winter…the girls were excited. And we used up some leftover ricotta from lasagna night in some muffins – an 2 days later my youngest asked to make lasagna again, so we opened another ricotta. Ha! I guess we’ll make another batch of muffins this weekend. I’m seeing space in the fridge and freezer from things that I wanted to get rid of, so big win. And I’m planning to do a little extra meal prep this weekend to help get rid of a few more odd items in addition to regular weekly prep. I hope to keep up with everyone posting more this week to help me stay motivated.
Jennifer
B – I had cinnamon toast and turkey sausage, dh had oatmeal, ds had a breakfast burrito from the freezer
L – I packed a roll-up with turkey salami and cheese, cheez-its and a yogurt drink – I had to eat while driving to an appt. dh took leftovers. Oldest came home and it appeared that my boys had chicken tenders. Oldest also raided the freezer and took 4 pork roasts from the hog he shot last winter and a bowl of bean soup
D – spicy chicken patty sandwiches, sweet potatoes diced and roasted, the last 1/2 of a cucumber
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Jan 20
B: DH had cheese toast, I had yogurt
L: Chicken/Havarti/apple sandwiches on toasted sourdough bread, pita chips
D: Bacon/Swiss cheese quiche, green beans, orange slices, breakfast potatoes. The quiche was so good with the cream from the freezer in it!
S: panettone
Kathy in Denmark
Day 20
B: Oat porridge for DD1, rye porridge for DD2, oats and milk for DH. Coffee and toast with brie cheese for me.
L: DH eats at work, packed lunch for the girls, more toast with brie for me
D: Burgers and fries on HM buns
S: The girls had some cake for movie night. DH and I were still full from dinner
I had bought some cheese around Christmas, but we ended up not eating it. Some of it has been eaten, but I am the only one who eats brie, so it is taking a while. Almost gone, though!
I got a Too good to go bag from our local bakery. I haven’t bought one in a while because they are usually sold out. It wasn’t as good as it has been before, but that might just be bad luck. We did get a good amount of bread and the cake that the girls had for movie night.
Fun fact: I am writing this while watching Denmark play against USA in the men’s Handball World Championship 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Kathy, you got my curiosity up re: handball so I went digging around. I couldn’t get the feed to load, but congrats to you and Denmark. Since the US had never won a single championship game in 25 tries, we were probably thrilled to have made it to the second game with your team-the former Olympic champs! My dear daddy used to play handball when he was young, so your comment piqued my interest.
Kathy in Denmark
That’s so funny that your dad used to play handball. I am terrible at it, but I enjoy watching it 🙂
The Danish team actually didn’t play as well as they usually do, but there were some players who were spared for this match and that probably made a difference. I think the US team did a pretty good job; they certainly played their chance! Denmark has won the last two world championships, so I’m thinking it must be a little daunting to play against them…
Heather M
Day 20:
B: we both skipped
L:L was at a memorial service (too many deaths in his world the past 3-4 weeks), then came home and had a toasted turkey pepperjack on sourdough w/arugula; I had cheese and crackers (still working through tons of that… little by little some of the cheese gets moldy and i have to toss some, but I’m salvaging enough to not feel terrible about it. Most of it was leftover from thanksgiving and before, so.)
D: I made Jessica’s latest posted recipe: cream cheese pasta! I cut it in half and used spinach in place of kale. I also used more spinach, tomatoes, and green onion that she called for, cuz I always push the limit with veg in recipes. I topped it with crisped up parma ham, since we had a small unopened package left from the holidays. SO GOOD!!!
Jessica Fisher
So glad you enjoyed it! When you get a minute would you leave a review on the post?
Heather M
Done 🙂