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 25 of the Pantry Challenge!
Want to save this post?
Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox. Plus, I’ll send you budget recipes and money-saving tips every week!
Today was a chilly day, but unfortunately my meal plans didn’t match!
What We Ate
Breakfast – I finished up the last of the instant oatmeal packets. Purely Elizabeth had sent me this box in the fall along with some granola. I was very skeptical about banana-flavored, but it was actually pretty good. I really liked mixing it with the Kodiak Maple and Brown Sugar packs that kids bought for stocking stuffers.
The rest of the fam made eggs, English muffins, and leftover pizza.
Lunch – A variety of leftover pizza and free Chick-fil-A. The San Diego County locations released a coupon earlier this week which was a nice boost.
Dinner – I made a double batch of homemade hamburger buns and Bryan grilled burgers. We also had a Caesar Salad kit that I prepped yesterday.
How did Day 25 go for you?
Maureen
The store had strawberries on sale (and they actually looked decent for January) when I popped in for milk, so I got some. We had crepes with them for brunch. One daughter and I grabbed dinner out with Grandma on the way to another show. The youngest and dad cooked dinner together, but I’m not sure what they made. Not much of a challenge day. I need to kick it into gear for the week ahead. We have been doing really well about not wasting much at all. And I’ve really limited shopping, so we’re eating from the freezer and pantry, but we’re not doing great at eating up the oldest, weirdest stuff. DH did use a couple frozen burgers to make himself tacos for lunch the other day, so that’s a win.
Heather M
Jan 25:
Stayed home all day and night, anticipating a busy Sunday and still not feeling 100 (though not anything anyone can catch, thankfully). The guys kept themselves busy, and C went off to see a movie at an old beautiful theater he wanted to check out, in a very different part of town from us.
Brunch: L had turkey breakfast sausages and baguette; C had a tuna melt and chex mix; I had saltines with laughing cow.
Dinner: rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes from pouches(C can eat quite a lot of one pouch, being a 23yo guy and I wanted leftovers for me), and steamed frozen green beans and peas for the guys only. Still on the chill no fiber, mellow food boring diet for a few more days. I don’t like crohns flares. I like food and flavor too much for this to be my life. 🙁
Erin in
Yesterday was a sort of fend-for-yourself day, since everyone was up at different times and eating when they were hungry.
Breakfast ranged from smoothies to an omelette to hummus and veggies.
Lunch I honestly don’t remember; we had a repair guy in to look at a damp problem and I may have forgotten to eat. I assume everyone else had something, based on the full dish rack, but don’t ask me what!
Supper was funny. I had made a big slow cooker full of beef, kidney beans, and brown rice for our dogs. The teenager decided it was just what he was in the mood for and turned some of it into burritos along with cheese and salsa. I’m still giggling a bit.
Husband made me crostini from a leftover baguette (leftovers are almost unheard of in this house!) and I happily binge watched my favourite show while crunching loudly. Daughter and husband made roasted veggie grilled cheese with pesto for everyone else.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
That’s hilarious about the son/dog’s food! I giggled when I read it. Yummy food for the dog AND your son! I used to fix some food for our Golden Retriever, which he always liked!
Erin in Ontario
Lynn, our boys are all very old and very spoiled. So many allergies that it’s easier to cook for them than to find a commercial food that fits!
Stephanie M
Saturday, January 25, 2025
B – Paul had a yogurt. I had bran cereal with bananas and blueberries and a side of peanuts.
L – Paul had some leftover pizza from the freezer. I skipped lunch.
D – since Paul is leaving again for California on Thursday we decided we wanted another date night so we went out. Went to a lovely restaurant nearby that we’ve been to several times. We both had seafood.
During the day we had a lot of fun in the kitchen. Paul is going to retire next June. He has always enjoyed cooking on the grill. He is the only one of us that cooks on the grill and he cooks in all kinds of weather. But he’s starting to like to play around in the kitchen too so I’m getting him ready for retirement. lol.
I have tried my hand at baking bread so many times and all of them were an epic fail. I always end up with nothing but flat crackers. lol. I really think it was because I never put the dough in a warm enough place for rising. But my cousin recently gave me a recipe for a no knead artisan bread that uses rapid rising yeast and only has to rise one time. Then 30 minutes before bake time you have to put a Dutch oven pot in the oven at 450 for 30 minutes. After the dough is finished rising you fold it and put it seam side down in the hot pot and put in the oven covered for 30 minutes and then remove the cover and bake an additional 12 minutes. Done!!! I have never tried an easier bread and I can’t describe how delicious it was. I could have stayed home from going out and had that with some olive oil and garlic and a salad and been happy. We will be making that often. I will still use my bread machine when I just want to make bread without the extra bit of work but this was quite easy and we were really excited about it.
I think it’s funny to look back to when we were teenagers and what was exciting to us then. And now we get all giddy about baking a beautiful loaf of bread. lol.
Then we made some home made pudding. We started with vanilla and it was really good. Today,( Sunday) Paul made chocolate pudding. Also delicious. No more boxed puddings for us.
After all that was done we put on some nice clothes and out the door we went.
What a fun day.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
It sounded fun! Great times cooking together 🙂 I have made that artisan bread too, and it really is easy and very good. I need to make it again. Meanwhile, I’ve still got my mother’s borrowed bread maker. Maybe soon.
Stephanie M
Hi Lynn
It really was a fun day. We had a good time together.
Allie from Ontario
It snowed a lot yesterday so we will be outside today! Also, we were glued to the men’s downhill from Kitzbuhel, Austria and when Canadians took 1st & 3rd, I basically teared up! I still remember watching Todd Brooker & Ken Reid achieve the same result when I was a teenager in 1983 and for those of us who are skiers & grew up as huge fans of the “Crazy Canucks”, yesterday was a big moment…our phones lit up all day from siblings & friends asking “DID YOU WATCH THAT??”
What we ate on Jan 25
Brunch – there were NO leftovers in the house so we each had a single serving soup from the freezer (minestrone & bean with bacon). We snacked on cheese & crackers during the skiing.
Dinner – I made a small’ish pan of baked penne, scaling back a 9×13 version to 1/3. I am working through a container of ricotta as best I can (WHY don’t they sell them in a 1/2 size??). I used a 1 cup block of meat sauce from the freezer and topped it up with a little sausage meat & the end of a jar of passata. It will be great to have this for lunch today and I feel like I’ve done okay on one of my key challenge goals of using up open fridge jars.
Heather M
What fun to watch the skiing! I haven’t skiied since college, and married the wrong guy to actually take ski trips with. But, I love it and spent my teen and college years skiing in utah snow, on trips with my family and then when I went to college there. I was also a teen in 1983, lol, just discovering skiing after moving back to CA from living in the caribbean and south america from 1975-early 1982.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Congratulations to Canada and that finish!
Unrelated to snow.. don’t know that I’ve mentioned that we have a large contingent of Canadians that serve as lifeguards on our Outer Banks beaches in the summer. About half are from Canada. I don’t know what we’d do without them. They have a large role in keeping everyone safe and we are so grateful they venture this far south to work.
Tasty
Day 25
B: I had the usual mix of fruit, yogurt and granola , hubby had granola and a muffin
L: I made a ‘maple sausage braid’ – a recipe I had earmarked to try ages ago. It was to my mind a huge sausage roll with apple and maple syrup added. It was actually quite good and we had that with the last of the salad ingredients from the fridge. Also a plus that it used up a couple of sausages that needed to be gone.
S: by supper time we were not very hungry so a spicy chicken appetizer (bought for the cancelled dinner with friends) disappeared. Quick easy and satisfying. Hubby had some ice cream.
We seem to be having some odd mixes, but we are trying to make sure that as much as possible is used.before we head out later this week. We really do have quite a bit of space in the freezer but I will be continuing with this challenge when we come home in the spring.
Heather M
The braid sounds delicious, Tasty, and that it used up more random items needing to be gone is the bonus. Seems to me you’re doing great getting cleaned out before your travels.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/25/25
B:boiled egg and coffee. DH had sausage and ??
L: I had a can of chicken in the pantry, which I typically don’t buy. I decided to try a recipe for chicken salad for lunch that used canned chicken. It tasted pretty good (had apples, craisins, relish, etc) DH said it tasted different, was okay, but he preferred my usual, made from scratch. He ate that with the last of the crackers and some soup. I had chicken salad and a cup of soup.
After lunch I did a cooking marathon like Jessica. I’m heading out of town to see my mother for a couple of days, while DH holds down the fort. I wanted to make treats for my mother, food for me to take and food and snacks to leave for DH. So I made a batch of Chex mix to split, sugar cookies to split, chili (didn’t have beef so used a bit of sausage, which was good), used frozen tomatoes and peppers from the garden and several cans of beans. Then I made cornbread from a mix, adding sour cream and the last bit of creamed corn from the freezer to enhance it a bit. He will have lots of LO soup as well.
For dinner I fixed a chicken dish, we finished off the ramen slaw and had a medley of fruit (apples, clementines, Pom arils, cherries with pineapple juice). I had in the freezer some leftover topping from a sweet potato casserole from Christmas, so that used baked sweet potatoes and was another side. Whew! It was a full day.
When I mention my chest freezer, it’s not really that big-28×24” maybe, but it was jam packed. So great to see space in there and the one in the fridge. My cupboard shelves are becoming emptier also. Progress.
I’ll post as I can these next few days. Everyone carry on!
Heather M
What a fantastic cooking marathon! I was hoping to do something like that later this past week, alas. stupid crohns and car tire. Maybe later this week. You’ve done remarkably well. And that you’re leaving your husband with food and taking things with you, sooooo great!!! Also, it’s always healthier, lol. Have a great visit with your mom. 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Oh Heather, I hope you’ll bounce back this week and can knock some things off your To Do list.
Yes, I’m glad to have good food for all of us. So much healthier, more to our liking and definitely cheaper. My mother has already munched on cookies and Chex mix with her after-dinner coffee. With snow melting, I hope I can get her out and about tomorrow.
Take good care and feel better soon.
Erin in Ontario
Heather, it’s never just one thing at a time, is it? Hoping that your Crohns improves again and that your tire is replaced soon!
Kathryn M
Brunch – I slept late so I did pancakes. Ate the last sausage patty from the fridge.
I made a ton of extra pancakes and will eat them during the week ahead…
Dinner – I just threw a can of chili on the stove top. The chili was no beans, so I added my own can and got rid of an older one out of the pantry. Topped with cheese and green onion. I also had a few crackers.
Snack – peanuts, soda. The other half just started a pan of brownies, so that will be tonight’s dessert.
It was cold and snowy today, so I never even left the house. I want to just hibernate until spring.
Heather M
Oh can relate to wanting to hibernate until spring. …….. Chili was a good move on a cold and snowy day 🙂
Maureen
I hope everyone is feeling better soon. It’s been a rough few weeks.
We’ve done well with the challenge the last couple of days, although I did find a cucumber today that I couldn’t salvage. We had burgers from the summer that I wanted gone (still a few left for another meal) and I just threw a salad together. DD said she’d eat the rest of the buns with the lunch meat in the fridge. Last night was soup from the freezer and quesadillas, because everyone had to eat at different times and this allowed for that.
Krista
B I had cream of wheat with pb toast, and HM jam, DD had hew new favorite, an egg english muffin sammy, DH had cereal
Late lunch/early dinner Ribs from freezer, mac and cheese in the crockpot, recipe used cottage cheese, cream cheese, and the other half jar of pimientos, score!, cucumber. Meant to use the last 2 slices of garlic bread but forgot.
S dried pineapple and coconut I found, was very yummy.
Made pasta salad today, and chicken slald yesterday using 2 packs of pre shredded meat, still have 2 packs left. Still a bit of pie left. Was looking through my stash and discovered a jar of pickled jalapeños which will go well on the totchos I plan to make soon. Also found a jar of powdered peanut butter so will get into that. We are eating so well! Everything is all mixed upo and everyone is having different things but it’s all good.
Erin in Ontario
Krista, if you like spicy food, peanut butter powder is excellent for making a Thai peanut sauce.
Kathryn M
Lunch: grilled bacon and cheese sandwich, dill pickle, small bag of chips
Dinner- country fried steak patty, leftover mashed potatoes from last weekend, another gravy packet from the pantry used up, green beans.
Snacks: finished the whole wheat crackers, rice crispy treat.
Tasty
January 25th
B: hubby had granola, I had berries, yogurt and granola
L: we had some l/o potatoes that we heated and had with fried egg
S: omelets using ham from the freezer, a couple of elderly tomatoes and some cheese – light and good. The last of the cheesecake from the freezer for dessert.
Diinaus
Random day today. Sooo hot and humid no one felt like eating much through the day.
B: kids made pancakes hubs and I skiped
L: snacky lunch,watermelon to try use it up, carrot sticks , cookies
D: pop corn and nice cream/smoothie bowls using up some of the frozen fruit in the freezer and tin of sustagen found in the closet cleaup that I did today
Super thankful that hubby Was able to repair my food processor. If the weather does not let up this may just be a regular meal on these hot days esp with sinus irritated by dust.
Hubby and I still hungry once kids in bed so made a egg and pork mince omelet. He had his on toast. I put mine with a big water Mellon, carrot and avocado salad.used some refrigerator Pickles to dress it.
While searching for frozen fruit found lots of stock kits so sauted some of those and made over night stock in the instant pot. Will prob turn that into a mix and match risotto tomorrow.
Getting real low on the fresh I think. Tomorrow will raid the garden to see what I can find.
Diinaus
Sorry to hear you are so under the weather. Sending arrow prayers that you get well soon. Thanks for all you do
Jessica Fisher
Thank you!
Heather M
Jessica, I hope you’re feeling better. Jan 25: a relatively normal day
B: we both skipped
L: L took a repeat sandwich and snack mix, along with an orange; I had a tuna sandwich and my latest favorite lentil/rice snack rings from Trader Joe’s.
D: one of our house favorites: cheeseburger salad with homemade thousand island; I used ground turkey from the freezer for the little burgers I made for the salad
Jessica Fisher
Thank you!
Karen J
This has been a rough month for you. Know that you are appreciated!
Breakfast-bean and cheese burrito-a strange choice but used up some LO refried beans
Lunch-the last of the LO chili/kielbasa with crackers
Dinner- turkey pot pie using a ton of frozen mixed vegetables, freezer turkey and a can of crescent rolls for the crust
Jessica Fisher
Thank you!
Danielle Zecher
I hope you’re feeling better today and can rest up over the weekend.
01/25/24:
Breakfast: I had cereal. Nick had fast food.
Lunch/Dinner: It was a work-from-home day for me, and I got busy/distracted. I snacked on a few cookies at one point, but was hangry when Nick was on the way home. He wanted fast food anyway, so he picked up McDonald’s on the way home.
Jessica Fisher
Thanks, Danielle. We had plans to fly to Sacramento, but canceled them. Definitely got space to rest this weekend.