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 23 of the Pantry Challenge!
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Thanks for your graciousness, as this has been a really off month for me.
What We Ate
Breakfast – 17yo made a batch of Basic Pancakes. I cooked breakfast sausage and hashbrowns as well as some scrams. Full breakfast for those that were home.
Lunch – Fend-for-yourself per usual these days. I had a ham and swiss sandwich as well as veggie dippers.
Dinner – I cooked up two pounds of taco meat, rice, beans, and made some toppings. Everyone made his or her own bowl/quesadilla.
How did Day 23 go for you?
Maureen
We had a bunch of schedule changes here the last few days…hubby had late notice work dinners Monday and Tuesday. And my girls had no school Tuesday and Wednesday due to icy roads, which pushed their half days for mid-terms from W/Th/F to F/M/Tu. I basically forgot to run to the store on Tuesday because we didn’t really need much…so, now I’m waiting until Friday to go for a few things. I’m really glad it’s pantry challenge time and I’m using a loose plan or all of these changes would have really thrown me for a loop. So, we’ve eaten quite a few leftovers and the girls had a few other things that weren’t really targeted for the challenge (but also didn’t require my help, so I’ll call it a win). We pulled a few small things from the freezer for lunches. And I was so used to not cooking that I had to convince myself to make something for dinner tonight, so we had “breakfast” using up a bit of ham from the freezer. I’ll definitely be continuing on through February to use up things from the freezer, but this is my most successful pantry challenge to date.
Karen J
First of all, Jessica, thank you for hosting this challenge. For the last couple of years I’d been traveling in January and couldn’t join in. Not that it wasn’t a great experience! It’s one thing doing a pantry challenge on your own and another way more positive and fun experience sharing with others.
Breakfast- out on the last day of our mini vacation
Lunch-LO chicken salad and ritz crackers
Dinner-pantry challenge improvised chili dogs-chili from the freezer, kielbasa from the freezer, and hamburger buns also from the freezer (which my husband remarked were stale but he ate them anyway)
The other day I was at Fred Meyer getting some cleaning products. I had a coupon for a package of free sliced cheese so picked that up as well. When I got back to the car I remembered I hadn’t handed in the coupon. $2.49 wasted! Such a minor thing, but I was mad at myself so had to sing Let It Go.
Jessica Fisher
Thanks, Karen! I’m so glad you’re able to dig in this year. Sounds like some yummy meals at your house. Remember, weather permitting, you should be able to go back to the store with your receipt and get the cash back. you might still be able to. My Ralphs people do it all the time — Ralphs and FM are both owned by Kroger — so here’s hoping yours is as accommodating.
Heather M
Jan 23: in which I got a ton of random things done at home and ended up not cooking, though I’d planned to.
Jessica, thank you for hosting us. I so appreciate it. Hope you’re feeling ok.
B: both skipped
L: L took another salami/arugula sandwich with pieces from a small half loaf I froze before leaving town suddenly in Sept, an apple, and a snacky mix of pretzels, pita chips, peanuts, almonds, and cashews; I found a small ziploc of leftover pasta with tuna and veg I’d frozen before we left town in November and ate that up.
D: L called saying he really wanted greasy food, so we ran by KFC after I picked him up from the metro. I finished the chicken corn chowder.
Jessica Fisher
Thanks, Heather. The Change is hitting hard this month. lol
Allie from Ontario
Jan 23
Brunch – we both ate our “planned leftovers” of meatloaf and mashed potatoes.
When T went for bread & milk the other day he also purchased a small cooked ham on sale (CRAZY what they want for a 700 g ham these days!). His explanation/rationale for the unplanned purchase was pretty funny…”I would like ham sandwiches for the next couple of days. I will slice what I need, then cut the rest into into chunks (which we thaw & chop up for recipes). Furthermore, I promise I will hide them in one of the freezers so you won’t be able to find them until you decide the challenge is over”. Deal!.
Dinner – I raided the freezer for a 2 serving container of turkey soup and also used up the end of a jar of passata to make some pizza sauce for English muffin pepperoni pizzas. The endless supply of English muffins in the freezer is dwindling and the pepperoni needs to be finished off soon – at least I made a dent. A simple but tasty & fun dinner 🙂
I would like to echo appreciation to Jessica for hosting us. I am really enjoying digging around and planning for what is already here!
Heather M
Love T’s plans and thoughtfulness, too. What a yen for ham sandwiches can do… Love the variety and food you keep finding and making from your freezers. Really fun following along with you this year 🙂
Allie from Ontario
Thank you ! I stumbled across this blog last January and followed along with the pantry challenge, reading each day but didn’t join in. I promised myself I would participate this year and I am very happy I did 🙂
Jessica Fisher
Sounds like some yummy meals, Allie. Thanks for your kind words. I’m glad you’re enjoying the Challenge!
Kathryn M
Lunch: repurposed the ravioli into a casserole with the sauce and the last of the mozzarella cheese. Made some garlic toast with white sandwich bread.
Dinner: Opened a can of Progresso soup that needed to go away. Whole wheat crackers accompanied it. I felt better about having some good veggies in the soup bowl after eating so terribly the last few days.
Snacks: the other half of my candy bar, a rice krispy treat, a small bag of chips.
Heather M
Yay for veggies!! I am not looking forward to my colonoscopy prep which means no veggies(among other things) for 5 days starting Saturday, so I know how good it must have felt to get some healthier food in you 🙂
Tasty
January 23
B: yogurt, muffin and an apple for hubby, berries, yogurt and granola for me
L: hubby – I have no idea, I was out with a recently widowed friend and had the special of the day which was tomato parm soup and grilled cheese – really, really good.
S: I had pulled a small pork roast from the freezer and cooked that along with smashed potatoes,some l/o stuffing from the freezer and peas. Enough pork for tonight.
Jessica, I really appreciate that you have hosted the pantry challenge this year for us. I don’t know whether you are taking part this year or not. Your posts don’t say and I suspect you may not be doing it. So, thank you for the effort you have put in for the rest of us.
Jessica Fisher
Thanks, Tasty. It’s a very haphazard month. My energy is just sapped. Hot flashes have been keeping me awake for many hours at night, so meals are very much fend-for-yourself this month. I finally made an appt for nurse practitioner for next week. I just don’t have the energy to cook much — or write about it — but didn’t want to let y’all down. Next year will be better. 🙂
Tasty
Again,thanks Jessica. It’s a good thing your family can be self-sufficient. Hope your appointment with the nurse practitioner gives you some relief – It’s not fun! It seems like a few of us are doing well with using whar we have this year. I find it just hasn’t been difficult to stay out of the stores this year whereas usually I would check around the stores and if there was a good buy that I knew we would use, into my basket it went. Just hasn’t happened in 2024.
Danielle Zecher
01/23/24:
Breakfast: We both had drive-thru on the way to work.
Lunch: My work had an annual meeting, and lunch (pizza) was provided. One of Nick’s coworkers bought him lunch (Burger King).
Dinner: Ice cream because, apparently, we’re both responsible adults. 🙂 We were both tired but wanted something sweet, so ice cream it was. And we both had Sleepytime hot tea before bed.
Krista
B DD made us egg and bacon sandwiches using the last 2 cheese buns from freezer. Dh had a breakfast bowl
L DD and I ate out as we did some impromptu errands and weren’t home. Dh had LO shep pie
D I had pimiento toast and half a chocolate chip muffin I found in the freezer and forgot we had. The giant chocolate ones from Costco. DD Lo shep pie. Not sure what Dh had
s chips and HM dip, 2 bite cupcakes, nuts and smoothie
I did a total reorg of my 2 fridge freezers today. I am very pleased it went well. Definite white space now! And I remember what I have in there lol. Am starting a small grocery list but just for essentials
Heather M
The newly organized freezer with space must feel so good!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
M in OH, I left you some suggestions re: your gravy dilemma in the previous post! I was a bit late in posting so wanted to be sure you saw it-for what it’s worth!
Heather M
Day 23:
Yet another good challenge day! I was pretty tired (story of my life) and finally had some energy in the evening after not doing much all day, so I baked a bit after dinner. I had leftover eggnog that pretty much only I drink at the holidays. So, I made whole wheat eggnog chocolate chip bread and also a new to me recipe, eggnog sugar cookie bars. I need to make the frosting still today, but it was pretty easy and I’ll likely share some with neighbors too. The bit of dough I tasted was yummy. Baking these used up 3 eggs and now we are into our last dozen from the under $3/dozen days, with only 11 left.
B: L skipped; I had stollen (almost gone!)
L: L took a salad with the last of the shredded beef, standard salad stuff, and avocado I tossed in lime juice so it would stay fresh, a small thing of mixed nuts(sooooo many nuts in our house, flavored packages, plain ones, just a lot), and pineapple; I made myself a big salad with the last of the spring mix- a cheeseburger salad with cucumber, red onion, tomato(this little batch is so sweet and yummy), chopped pickle, the rest of the cheddar I’d shredded for the chili saturday, also I had taken the 1/4lb of uncooked ground chicken I didn’t need in the chili recipe and had cooked up some baby chicken patties with just this salad in mind and cut it up. I topped it with a quick light homemade thousand island dressing. So good.
D: chicken with green olives (this is a braise and makes a nice soupy sauce, all north african flavors- spices like cumin, turmeric, paprika, ginger, dash of cayenne, a cinnamon stick and bay leaf, etc and really delicious) over whole wheat couscous I tossed with sauteed zucchini (the last one) and chopped jarred roasted red bell pepper. Just enough leftover for a lunch serving for L.
Danielle Zecher
You were busy! Eggnog sugar cookie bars sound really good. I bet your neighbors will be really happy.
Heather M
Thanks 🙂
Stephanie M.
Monday, January 24, 2023
B – I had a yogurt parfait.
L – Paul had cereal and the last of the apple coffee cake I made over the weekend.
D – hamburgers and regular fries for Paul. Sweet potato fries for me.