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 3 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!
Yes, the tree is still up. Since I’ll be out of town tomorrow and this week has had its fill of stuff to do, I decided we’ll go the full 12 days and I’ll take it down on Monday. May just have to make something special for Epiphany to go with!
You know how I reuse the old post from last year and just update it with this year’s doings? Well, apparently sinus trouble is a thing for me. I had it this time last year and I have it now. I wonder if it’s seasonal or something with the house. Hmmm….
What We Ate
Breakfast – I have no idea what the working men and woman had for breakfast. I had my skyr oatmeal with blueberries. My home girl had Greek Eggs with leftover potatoes the kids made last night.
Lunch – My girl made a burrito and veggies; I cobbled together a snacky lunch and ate way too many Pecan Pralines from my stocking.
Dinner – Friday is alway pizza night, so we had a variety of pies tonight on Sourdough Pizza Crust with Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dip. Our old landlords from our old house came from dinner. How fun is that?!
That was our day 3. How did yours go?
Emily
I had a small grocery shop to stock up on some necessities like fruit, veg, bread, milk. Spent about $40, I have $250 for the month. I normally spend anywhere from $600-$900 per month. My in laws gave me $500 in grocery store gift cards for Christmas so I am using those for 2 months in order to get cc paid off.
B- leftover crepes filled with scrambled eggs, ham and Swiss and covered in hollandaise, with a Mandarin
L- the last of the split pea soup, watermelon and a chocolate chip cookie.
D- butternut squash salad, chicken ranch wrap and corn on the cob.
Dessert was sticky toffee pudding using this toffee birch sauce someone gave us years ago that I had no clue what to do with and a pack of rock hard dates that is just as old.
S- rice cake with peanut butter and a banana
Heather M
Love that you used up the dates and sauce in a creative way! Great work using and not tossing 🙂
Kathryn M
Day 3
B pumpkin bread.
L -me: leftover crockpot chicken/stuffing/green beans stuff, bread pudding for dessert
SO had enchilada casserole
Snacks – Chex mix (all gone now), cake that was given to me.
D- Hamburger/bell pepper pizza on focaccia bread
Smoothie of the day: bananas, yogurt, OJ
Day 4 may be pretty much the same meals. Kinda boring but I got to get rid of the pizza making ingrediants and chicken dish. I am going out of town on Saturday for a few days and don’t want to leave stuff in the fridge that SO won’t use up,
ZC
B: overnight oats with almond milk, nut butter and berries
L: bought lunch at work
D: buckwheat noodles in tomato beef broth, topped with napa cabbage and shrimp. The large napa cabbage in my fridge is like 5lbs. So… I’m expecting a lot of meals from it in the next week or so 🙂
S: a banana
JulieT from MN
B: Hubby had wheat toast and jam. I had a blueberry muffin from the freezer. That is the last one so it is time to make another batch and I freeze them in sandwich bags and they are grab and go. I have cranberry sauce in the fridge so I’m thinking cranberry nut.
L: L/O sloppy joes on toasted bread and the last of the taco dip with the remainder of the corn chips.
D: We had an appointment late in the afternoon 45 min away from home. Drove back in the snow. We got 6 inches yesterday. We stopped at our local bar and grill for supper. Hubby had a chicken wing basket. I had popcorn shrimp but no fries. He gets plenty of fries in his basket so we shared. We both had water with lemon. So only $25 with the tip and no leftovers.
Tasty
Tuesday January 3
B – the usual fruit yogurt type combo for both of us. Hubby had a buttered scone (bought on sale) and I had a mincemeast muffin.
L- more of the Asian appys
S – beef and vegetable soup I made yesterday with a loaf of Italian bread made this morning
Danielle L Zecher
Breakfast: Hubby had an English muffin (from the freezer) with veggie sausage, egg, and cheese. I had a bagel with cheese.
Lunch: Leftover egg zaatar and tahini salad.
Dinner: Beef pot pie. I used cooked and shredded roast beef from the freezer and was able to use up some of the abundance of celery and carrots we have. I did a rosemary, garlic, and cheddar biscuit topping for it, and it was delicious. I sent my sister a picture and she said she’s going to make it soon.
We had the last of the leftover buttermilk pie for dessert.
Christine
Not enough stock to do a true pantry challenge, but I am trying to hold off on shopping until Saturday. Used the leftover chicken and mashed potatoes to start a soup. I love soup, but it’s a hard sell here. I find if I put frozen ravioli in everyone eats it. It worked! Score for cleaning up the fridge and getting a meal on the table.
Brenda
It’s going to be a long week.
Breakfast everything bagels with cream cheese and berries. blueberries I just bought went bad. I hate that feeling.
Lunch: jelly and cream cheese sandwiches with grapes and carrots for the kids, dh and I had business lunch
Dinner: cavatelli pasta with pork sausage and veggies in tomato based sauce
Dessert: chocolate over cherries and vanilla ice cream. Apparently today is cherry and chocolate day.
Stephanie M.
B – Paul had cereal. I had toast and yogurt
L – we both had ham sandwiches and apples. (I bought one of those small honey hams that’s already sliced in the meat section of the store on sale for $5.00 and just individually wrapped the slices in 4 ounce portions and put in the freezer to be used as I need it).
D – macaroni with meat sauce and salad. The meat sauce was leftover from the freezer that Paul cooked last week.
Sarah B.
On Monday, we had mini bagels I found on sale at the grocery store with some of the leftover whipped cream cheese that I didn’t use in the sweet rolls. We also had strawberries because my daughter is obsessed with them and they too were on sale. Lunch was leftover pizza and grapes, and then dinner was a pork stew I made that used the orange marmalade, Italian diced tomatoes, and chicken broth I had on hand among other things in my pantry staples. We ate the stew over spaghetti noodles that I bought some time ago.
Kathy in Denmark
Day 3
B: Oats and milk for DH, oatmeal with apple sauce for DD1, rye porridge with banana for DD2, a roll and a cup of coffee for me
L: DH get’s lunch at work. Rye bread with toppings for the girls and me
D: More rye bread, brioche hotdog rolls, cold cuts and cheeses from the fridge and some cut up veggies
S: Walnuts and cut up veggies, DH and I had a piece of kransekage and shared the last bit of champagne from NYE after the kids were in bed
DH went back to work and the kids both had distance learning today. It was a rough day, to be honest. I could tell it was really hard for the kids to shift gears and do school after the long holiday. This meant a lot more coaching from me than normal and no time for meal prep. We all got through it, though, and everyone was fed, so I’ll take it 🙂
Heather M
Oh that transition back to real life can be hard. Glad you all made it through. Hopefully the rest of the week is better. 🙂
Cindy
Monday, January 3
Back to work for me, hubby is retired but is busy with everything on the Homefront!
Breakfast: hubby – orange juice and Basic 4 cereal, I had a protein shake and wheat toast w/pb
Lunch: he made scrambled eggs and made toast, I took cottage cheese, carrots and celery along with a Mandarin to work
Dinner: leftover Christmas ham made into scalloped potatoes and ham + side salad
One meals worth of ham remaining otherwise we’ve successfully used up all of our Christmas leftovers!
Danielle L Zecher
We had snow/sleet yesterday, so it was the perfect day for hearty comfort food.
On Sunday (partly in anticipation of Monday’s weather and partly to use up some milk and veggies that didn’t have much time left), I made a double batch of your cheddar vegetable soup. My relationship with broccoli is shaky at best, so I always go heavy on the zucchini and carrots and lighter on the broccoli. I also tried making paneer for the first time, and was very happy with how it turned out.
Breakfast yesterday was spiced steel cut oatmeal with coconut milk. Lunch was leftover cheddar vegetable soup. Dinner was vegetable and paneer curry (awesome!!!) with coconut brown rice. I also made a batch of rice pudding to use up the last of the milk that was about to expire.
I’ve been trying to use up fresh stuff from the fridge before it expires, so I haven’t even started on the freezers yet. I’m not planning on cooking tonight since we have so many leftovers, but hopefully I can start on the freezer tomorrow night.
I ended up throwing away three eggplant yesterday that I had bought with the intention of making baba ganoush for New Year’s Eve. I never got around to making it and they were mushy yesterday. I seem to throw away most of the eggplant I buy. Is there some trick to storing it? Or is it just one of those only buy it if you can use it within 24 hours things?
Heather M
January 3:
Very glad we opted to drive home late Sunday- we got about 8 inches of snow and the roads were a mess all day (there has been a 19+ hour backup on I-95 south of us, it rained and froze before the snow, etc., and DC area doesn’t do snow as well as further north, though better than further south). Checked out what fresh produce we have left, haven’t shopped since before christmas since we were out of town a week over New Years. The fresh situation isn’t great, but we are fine until I decide to shop (we have 2 barely hanging on bell peppers, one baby head of romaine, carrots, avocados, apples, pears, grape tomatoes I tossed in the fridge before we left so they’ll have to be cooked to be any good, and bananas I did the same with-will either make muffins or freeze them). I need to inventory the freezer and cupboards, but they are full and I don’t have it in me to do that until after my son heads back to university. But we have plenty.
B: neighbor texted first thing that they had made a huge batch of orange rolls(like cinnamon but orange) and dropped them off still warm! I had that while the guys slept in.
L: Husband (L) and son (C) had leftover donuts we brought back from NY (more orange rolls for me later, lol!), L also had peanuts and C had some crackers; I had cheese and crackers and a pear
D: C met up with a friend from HS and they grabbed dinner at one of the few places nearby and open(everything closed yesterday, even the federal govt); I foraged and found leftover rice and ham, so decided to make fried rice, with some chopped onion and most of a bag of frozen mixed veggies, and made a quick sauce to flavor it with soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, and some sambal olek for heat. I also discovered that we had two untouched side salads from takeout right before we left and they were in really good shape! So we ate those too(they come with the best vinaigrette-it needs to be bottled). And, no leftovers. Yay!
Really enjoying reading everyone’s posts, very motivating. 🙂
Maureen
School started again, but those of us home for lunch had various leftovers. I made orange chicken for dinner, using up some sauce from the freezer. I delayed running to the store, so I didn’t have broccoli for dinner, but we made due with peppers, carrots, and onions. We still have holiday chocolates galore, but no more Christmas cookies so my youngest made a coffee cake. Not a remarkable day, but we stuck to the plan, so I’ll call it a success.
Cate
With my older one back to school remote for a few days meant I can spend more time kitchen with out the extra running around.
Breakfast- Hubby ate out at work (we need to work on this)
Miss 10 had freezer waffles/ muffins
Miss 3 and me had oatmeal.
L- Hubby- leftover pasta/meatball/sausage
Miss 10 had freezer turkey meatball and wanted a cheese quesadilla.
Miss 3- PB&J and a snack
Me- finished up leftover pasta/broccoli
Dinner- I made a batch of vegetable soup to use for dinner side and for rest of week. Used up variety remaining CSA root veggies and cabbage plus garlic/onions/leeks- roasted, then chopped and finished simmering in broth.
Main entree was beef stew started on stove and finished in oven. Had some frozen dinner rolls too.
Started feeding my SD starter and defrosting mozzarella cheese block for pizza either today or tomorrow.
Plan on making a batch of yeast bread
**Jessica, the pantry challenge is my favorite and I love reading your daily post!**
Since covid our pantry hasn’t been overstocked but definitely have plenty to work with. I will need to shop soon for milk/fruit/some fresh greens. I have a lot of frozen cooked chicken, so want to try to use that up. My biggest challenge is feeding my 4 year old and my older one is anti-lentil but some legumes are ok.
Sandy
Day 3
B-Leftover pancakes for DH, coffee and granola bar for college son, daughter under the weather so she skipped and Grapenuts and banana for me.
L-Leftovers- BBQ pork and cheeseburger rice, carrots with the last of the blue cheese dressing from the holidays, apples
D-smash burgers and onions on the Blackstone using up patties from the summer and some onions that needed used, salad and orange slices.
S-Christmas cookies and candy
Tasty
Tuesday January 3rd
B – hubby had granola and a muffin, I had rhubarb, yogurt and a muffin
L – fruit and cheese
S – beef and broccoli stir fry . This used some of the leftover prime rib from NYD, the broccoli in the fridge and a seasoning pack (not great and won’t use again) from the pantry.
I did do some shopping. We needed yogurt and milk and some more fruit.
Stephanie M.
Monday, January 3, 2022
B – Paul had an English muffin and a yogurt parfait. I had overnight oatmeal and peanuts.
L – I had leftover white rice from New Year’s Eve Chinese (the one they give everyone for free) so I fried that in butter and I had leftover general Tso chicken in the freezer from last month’s Chinese cheat meal so Paul had that. I had a turkey meat loaf sandwich and a banana.
D – hamburger tortellini soup. Normally with this soup, I use a small macaroni like elbows but I had one package of tortellini in the freezer so in keeping with trying to empty that, I used the tortellini and it was a good choice. That package was leftover from one I didn’t use when I made tortellini meatball soup on Halloween.
And except for three small rainbow cookies still in a large container in the freezer, all cookies gone. We gave so many of them away this past week including to the really nice gas station attendant where we get our gas!!! So two containers gone, one going today. Freezers starting to look way better.
Jennifer
It was back to school for me and daughter yesterday, but hubby had the day off still. Therefore I sent him to the grocery store to get the loss leaders and produce. He is great about sticking to a list and even went into Costco and bought only toilet paper. At the store he bought 10 yogurts, eggs, milk, peanuts, coffee filters, bananas, cucumber, broccoli and blackberries for $24.96. This should get us through til the weekend.
B – the homemade quick bread I made Sunday and yogurt
L – I took a sandwich, veggies and pirates booty, dh had mac n cheese and I don’t know about my daughter – and likely won’t ever know because she goes to the HS half days and is home for lunch and the afternoon of college classes online.
D – veggie quesadillas and blackberries
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/3/22
B: coffee-DH: sausage, egg, toast
L: avocado toast, apple-DH barbeque sandwich, chips
D: Used some of the LO chicken breasts from last night to make chicken/cheese/pepper (frozen from garden) quesadillas with sour cream, salsa, jalapenos (frozen from garden), avocado. Also had black beans, last of the collards and apple slices
No snow here in my part of NC, but extremely high winds (gusts to 86 mph!), torrential rains and some flooding. It was the first day back here for schools and there was early dismissal due to the threatening weather. Quite a turbulent start after the Christmas break.