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 29 of the Pantry Challenge!
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Today was B’s birthday so we took a vacation day and drove up to Orange County. We do this once a month, the vacation day, not the OC, and just do whatever. We ended up getting our steps, redeeming some of his free birthday treats, exploring HMart, and watching another mystery called Ridley on PBS.
What We Ate
Breakfast – Free coffee at Peets, free breakfast at Starbucks.
Lunch – The Kebab Shop for the parents, kids had leftovers
Dinner – We only ate 2 dozen enchiladas last night so we had the rest for dinner along with beans and a salad.
How did Day 29 go for you?
Tasty
January 29th
The pantry challenge is over for us – until we return home in April. We left Ontario and started a slow trip to South Carolina where we will spend the next 2 months, hopefully playing lots of golf. I had a hip replacement in the summer of 23 so am now anxious to see just what I can manage.
As we were . And, many, many thanks for hosting us again this year.getting ready to leave, I think all. I had left in the fridge was 2 carrots and onions which I quickly peeled and chopped into a mini stew pack for the freezer. Some cream went out and I think that was the only thing!
I will read what the rest of you are up to for the last few days. As always, it has been a lot of fun and this year I feel we did really well. It is so much fun seeing the same people from year to year. Heather, hope all is well with you, and Jessica, I hope you get some answers and some help. Personally, I will continue with the challenge when we get home in the spring and look forward to doing it all again in ’25.
Tasty
Oops I did not proof read – hope you can make sense of what I wanted to say!!!
Heather M
Tasty, so great to see you here again this month! I hope your time in South Carolina is wonderful and here’s hoping the new hip allows for lots more fun while there 🙂 You did a great job this month. Happy 2024!
Jessica Fisher
Have a great trip, Tasty! Thank you for joining us this year.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Tasty, safe travels as you head near my “neck of the woods”! Hope that new hip lets you hit more fairways! (I think that surgery may be in my future)
You did a great job this year with the challenge. That sounds like an e.m.p.t.y refrigerator! And yay for freezing the veggies for later.
Have a great vacation and we’ll see you next year-same time, same place!
Karen J
Happy birthday to your husband! I’m glad you are feeling better and had a nice day out.
About your enchilada making the other day… I learned the goodness of roasted poblanos from your website quite awhie back and now try to have some frozen in the freezer (also roasted hatch peppers when they are in season). We enjoy several of your enchilada recipes, with one of our favorites being the chile cheese version. Thank you!
Breakfast-out with hub as we had a busy day planned
Lunch-popcorn and fruit snacks -the grandkids did have a healthier lunch first 🙂
Dinner-jambalaya with shrimp, leftover ribs and leftover kielbasa I try to keep a package of the Zatarin brand of jambalaya in the pantry for a quick good meal. I don’t buy a lot of boxed mixes, but that’s one we like. It comes in a low sodium version too.
It was a busy fun day. We picked up three grandkids in the morning. My husband and the oldest granddaughter put the engine into a Subaru Forester, that’s going to be hers when she gets her license next month. Fingers crossed. I took the 7 and soon to be 9 year old to the movie Migration. Very rare for us to go to the movies and a special treat. Even the matinee is SO expensive now! However a very cute movie and not terribly crowded-mostly grandparents and grandkids.
Jessica Fisher
Thank you!
Heather M
Oh wow what a great day! How awesome your husband and granddaughter can get a car rebuilt for her! Love that!
Karen J
It was my husband’s gift to our own kids and now the oldest grandkid. Good lessons to learn and great bonding time with grandpa.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
That’s pretty great your granddaughter helped with the engine. She’ll really value the vehicle now!
Heather M
Jan 29: in witch I made a delicious dinner despite being on a very low fiber diet for several days.
B: i had a piece of toast with honey; L skipped
L: L was in a rush and had a very busy day and only ate m&ms apparently(very glad I had a good dinner made when he got home!); I had cheese and crackers
D: from the freezer I finally used up the two large split chicken breasts(bone in) that had been in there well over a year. I roasted then with a rub I threw together and with carrots(cooked carrots allowed). The chicken turned out so juicy and yummy! I also found s box of yellow rice in the cupboards and used that up. Delicious meal with plenty for a hungry L plus a bit of leftovers.
I also baked a Turkish lemon yogurt cake with the rest of the tub of greek yogurt(it had exactly the 1 2/3 c called for!!), eggs, sugar, lemon juice/zest, a little flour. Super easy and turned out yummy too!
We ate well last night despite my dietary needs. Tuesday won’t be so great and Wednesday is clear liquids/prep day so I’m glad I pulled off one really good meal.
Heather M
Also, a very happy birthday to Bryan! Glad you were able to enjoy a day off together 🙂
Jessica Fisher
Thank you!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
You’ve done a great job of preparing meals within your dietary constraints. Soon you can return to your typical eating! When you mentioned chicken breasts, I think this time last year we were discussing getting boneless chicken breasts for 1.79/#at HT. Sadly, haven’t seen that price in a while there!
Allie from Ontario
Jan 29
Brunch – T had the lo meatballs and I pulled a single serving of coq au vin from the freezer. We also split one of the dinner rolls I had made.
Dinner – I took inspiration from Jessica’s Green Chicken Enchiladas with Cream Cheese recipe that arrived in a January Gazette email. I don’t typically use cream cheese in enchilada filling but it worked perfectly even though I did have a lighter hand than suggested. I also added lots of odds + ends (frozen corn, black beans, chopped sweet pepper, pickled red onions & pickled hot peppers) to the filling because to match our preference. I grow (and therefore preserve) LOTS of tomatillos (which can’t be purchased here in any form other than maybe 1 brand of a ready made sauce) and so I was happy to empty a jar of my roasted tomatillo-poblano enchilada sauce and and also use some of my “gold standard” tomatillo salsa verde. For the 2 us, I make 6 small enchiladas and there is lunch left for at least one of us today (pretty sure I’m claiming this one) which is why I also smiled at “we only ate 2 dozen enchiladas”!
Heather M
Your tomatillo growing, sauce making, and bottling is awesome! The things we take for granted here in metropolitan areas and in Mexican food heavy states in the US. Your enchiladas sound amazing!!
Allie from Ontario
Hi Heather….I love my little town but if I want to cook with anything aside from sweet bell peppers & jalapenos, the only dependable way to have a supply is to grow them from seed myself. My “must grows” each summer are poblanos, Anaheims, Fresnos and habaneros but I also grow lots of other kinds of sweet & hot peppers each summer. I actually grow a wide variety of veg including several different kinds of tomatoes but it is pretty widely known that I am a bit “pepper obsessed” 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I second Heather’s comments re: growing and canning the peppers you need. I chuckled because what do I grow down here in the south? Sweet bell peppers and jalapeños! If you can grow all those varieties in Canada, I think I need to branch out a bit here in North Carolina, where my growing zone is 8b/9a!