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 31 of the Pantry Challenge!
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Wow! Last day? How did we get here?
Yesterday I gave the fridge a good clean and it felt good to see so much white space. I also tidied the kitchen closet storage. Ready for a new month!
Thank you so much for your participation this year and your graciousness as I work through energy and health issues.
If you’d like to continue the conversation, feel free to do so in the comments section of this last post!
What We Ate
Breakfast – I made instant oatmeal before Bryan and I went out for a vacation day.
Lunch – The kids had leftover soup. Bryan and I grabbed tacos when we were out.
Dinner – Pizza night!
And that’s a wrap, folks!
How did the Pantry Challenge go for you?
Stephanie M
Friday, February 21, 2025
B – bran cereal with strawberries and blueberries and peanuts.
L – I had a turkey meatloaf that I made a couple of weeks ago in the freezer so I defrosted that and had a meatloaf sandwich on whole wheat. Another thing out of the freezer!!
D – I had two bags of lentil soup left in the freezer from when I made it a couple of weeks ago. Each bag has two servings in them. But since Paul is in California this weekend, I took one of the bags out to defrost and had 1/2 of it with a salad. Tomorrow night I’ll have the other half. I can’t tell you how good and welcoming that soup was during such cold weather. And another thing out of the freezer!!!!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Stephanie, I had never had a meatloaf sandwich until you mentioned it many years ago! Now my husband will often have one with our leftover meatloaf. 🙂
Also, can you post your lentil recipe? I’ve got a bag I would love to use up. Thanks.
We continue to have very cold weather and still have snow in the yard. Our wind chills have been in single digits because of our usual blustery weather. There’s a reason the Wright Brothers picked here to fly-with our constant wind!
Karen J
We went out for breakfast this morning and the rest of the day was eating leftovers and foraging in the refrigerator. The shepherds pie was finished off. My husband was out with his guy friends for dinner so I had leftover kielbasa and roasted cauliflower, then some leftover strawberries for dessert. I’d picked up strawberries for the grandkids to make milkshakes. Not the best season for them, but with whipped cream I managed to eat them 🙂
I bought chicken thighs at our Fred Meyer for $1.29 a pound-a great price around here.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
2/21/25
B: dh ate some of the cereal, I had peanut butter toast again
L: more potato soup and sandwiches
D: roasted chicken in the crock pot, roasted asparagus that needed to be cooked, Mac & cheese using leftover pasta and Jessica’s 3 ingredient recipe that was very good and easy, and ambrosia. I found some pineapple in the freezer that I added to apples, orange supremes, nuts, coconut and sour cream.
After dinner, I put the leftover chicken bones and my vegetable scraps from the freezer in the crock pot for broth. The seasonings from the chicken make this broth very flavorful.
I noticed this week that my preferred brand of coffee has gone up .50 and eggs are now about $6. Yikes!
Karen J
Lynn, Jessica has such good recipes, doesn’t she? Tonight I made her crepe batter to have it ready for tomorrow morning breakfast-just a half recipe to save on eggs and not have a bunch of leftovers. We both reviewed in back in 2020 just a month apart from each other!
Eggs at our Grocery Outlet, which normally has fairly decent prices, were $8.99 a dozen. I was shocked!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
She does have great recipes! I have some favorites that I make again and again. How funny that we both tried and reviewed the crepes about the same time. I haven’t made those in a while. May have to make them again with some of the “precious “ eggs. I’m using a couple in a quiche tonight.
I was shocked too when I saw the price as it wasn’t at one of the more expensive stores and was just conventional eggs. I have noticed the difference in prices between cage free and conventional is narrowing. But $9/doz. Wow.
Heather M
Thursday, Feb 20:
Another brutally cold day here, but no snow at all this week. Allegedly we will warm up early next week. Looking forward to that.
B/L:L took a salad with salami, mandarins, and almonds; C took leftover chicken sausage orzo and a Kind bar; I had the othe french bread pizza
D: Another thing off the “shelf” (which i need to add to, by going though a bunch more cupboard shelves….)- stuffing! I love the pepperidge farm herb stuffing and I never get it on thanksgiving. I bought a bag last year at the end of the holiday and never used it. Definitely needed eating before going stale tasting. So I made it up with celery, onion, and mushrooms all chopped up, less butter than it calls for, etc. Excited for its leftovers. I made pan-grilled chicken that I’d pounded and cut into thinner and smaller pieces, then brushed with a mixture of olive oil, dijon mustard, half a lemon juiced, garlic and onion powders, seasoned salt, and pepper. SO GOOD. And I steamed up the fresh green beans i bought at aldi. We all LOVED the entire dinner. Yay!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
That sounds like a great dinner. We like stuffing/dressing too. I have a couple of boxes in my cupboard. I figure when I fix the turkey I’ll fix it too. Like you, I add other veggies to it. I’ve also got cranberries in the freezer so we may have Thanksgiving for Easter!
Karen J
Heather, Add me to the stuffing in the cupboard crowd too! Thanks for the reminder to use it up. Your dinner sounds so good! I usually add garlic, onions, celery and ground sausage to it at Thanksgiving. My family likes Stove Top better than homemade (easier for me!). In the fall I stuff acorn squash with it and bake.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Karen, that’s a great idea with the acorn squash, especially with sausage in it. I’m going to remember that as we’re acorn squash fans.
I have the cheap Aldi brand dressing but if I have any stale bread I’ll cube it , let it dry or toast it and add it to the box mix, using up those bits.
Stephanie M
Thursday, February 20, 2025
B – bran cereal with strawberries and blueberries and peanuts.
L – the last of the tuna fish on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato.
D – two scrambled eggs, salad, almonds and two slices whole wheat toast.
Paul left for California this morning. He’ll be back on Monday night. This is the end of his project and hopefully the end of all of this traveling.
Heather M
On a weekend, too! I hope you have fun relaxing plans for yourself! Let’s hope he’s done with all this work travel for now.
Stephanie M
Hi Heather!!! Yes on a weekend. Sigh. But as for me other than some light cleaning around my house tomorrow I’m having a relaxing weekend, maybe finish the book I’m reading, doing a facial, watch some movies and going to our daughters for dinner on Sunday. Have a great weekend.