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? The month went fast, didn’t it?
Thank you so much for your participation this year. 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 a breakfast bowl with leftover sausage and veggies from the fridge.
Lunch – We ate leftover lasagna and leftover beef pot pie from yesterday’s shoot.
Dinner – I had four pounds of clearance ground turkey that needed using. So, I cooked it all up and used half in burritos for tonight and the other half for a Shepherd’s Pie for tomorrow.
And that’s a wrap, folks!
How did the Pantry Challenge go for you?
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
2/10/26
B: boiled eggs, toast and coffee for both
L: I had a small can of smoked tuna that was given to us. Added celery and onion and an egg to stretch it for tuna salad for us. It was delicious with great flavor. We had tuna salad sandwiches with more of the chicken noodle soup. The small can was from Fishwives of Canada:) We have leftovers for tomorrow.
D: I used those chicken drumsticks for .99# to make a new recipe where you marinate them in an Asian marinade and bake. They were quite good and DH said to add it to the rotation. We have LOs for tomorrow. Used up the last of the brown rice along with carrots, cauliflower and broccoli from the freezer, and orange slices from the fridge for sides.
S:LO birthday cupcakes and cookies
Shopped for the chicken thighs I wanted, mayo as we’re on the last jar, avocados (out), butter (last pound) cheese, eggs, pepperoni, Italian sausage and ground turkey, all of which were 1/2 price. Spent ~$46 plus the $70 before, so $116 for the month so far. Hoping to “hold the line” for the rest of the month, with minimal more purchases which I think I can do.
Our store runs a B2G3 cheese special. The first year I participated in the PC, I had THIRTY bags of cheese in the freezer. Goodness. I have definitely reformed my overbuying of cheese. We are out so I bought only 5 and no more! Now I need to remember this in other instances.
Tasty
We never see B2G3 deals here altho I have seen it in SC in past years. Even then I never did take ‘advantage’ because in the length of tome we were there we couldn’t use it all. But if I saw that kind of deal here on cheese, I would be taking full advantage of it – oops!, could this be part of my problem?
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Haha, Tasty. You can freeze them so that prolongs their usefulness!
Tasty
Feb 10
B – hubby – his normal? I was still sleeping, even tho I should have been up. I grabbed a yogurt and a quick cup of coffee
L Hubby ?? I snacked in the middle of our canning session as did the rest of the group
S – I diced a large chicken breast. Sautéed some onions (freezer) and mushrooms (fridge), added the chicken, then a little white wine and half a jar of Alfredo sauce from the pantry. Guess where the rest of the jar will end up – yep, freezer!!! Added some herbs and a good sprinkling of parmesan and let it cook down while some rice and broccoli cooked. It was good!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Sounds very “tasty”, Tasty! 🙂
Thought of you and your curling club as I watched curling in the Olympics.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I so agree about a chest freezer. I’ve never had an upright one, but when I see them I think they would be easier to organize. I would definitely consider one in the future. Our chest freezer is very small, but like yours- JUMBLED!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
2/9/26
B: toast and coffee for both
L: I had made broth from my flavorful crock pot rotisserie chicken, but hadn’t used it before our trip. So I brought it out, added carrots and celery I’d bought plus onions. I had bought some chicken drumsticks which I don’t usually buy, but they were .99#. They were included in the last mini shop I made and were added for chicken noodle soup. I emptied one box of pasta and used part of another. We have enough soup for lunch tomorrow as well. We wound up with some LO chicken salad which DH ate and some cornbread from the weekend. I’d made a double batch so I left some for family to have with bean soup. I’ve still got meat on the ham bone so another batch of bean soup is in our future.
D: I had cooked up beef I’d bought awhile back with peppers and onions. I used some on Super Bowl nachos, but had leftovers which became soft tacos for dinner with lettuce, queso, salsa and cheese. (Meal #14/20 for DH)We ate the LO black bean salsa and grapes to round it out a bit. I’m just about out of cheese and it is on sale through today so another small shop is in order today. Our temps are above freezing finally so a better day to be out.
S: LO party cupcakes and cookies
Maureen
It’s been great to hear what everyone has been up to with the challenge and with life. I’ll keep checking for a bit to see if anyone keeps posting. I’ll be continuing on for the rest of the month to clean out the freezers. We did well the last few days, using up a few single servings of things from the freezer that I was able to pair with odds and ends from the fridge…we had burgers, nachos, and stirfry with fried rice. We also finished one and half frozen appetizers on Sunday for Superbowl snacking. I am going to try a new organizing system in the kitchen freezer that I hope works well for us, but we need to eat a few more things up before I have enough room to rearrange everything. I, too, have learned that I need to further change my shopping habits now that we are down to only 3 of us in the house, so I will keep working on that.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Please let me know about your new freezer organizing strategy. I’m at a total loss regarding that. I keep thinking maybe if I were better organized I could stay on top of the surplus. I know some people used reusable grocery bags in the freezer. Maybe I should try that. ?
Tasty
I never liked the idea of an upright freezer I always felt that they don’t hold as much as a chest. However when we moved here to the condo, we inherited an upright. I find it is very east to organise. I have one shelf for baking, fruit, chicken, beef, pork and odds & ends. In the chest is everything else – jumbled! The new additions are always on top, hence stuff gets buried and forgotten. Just my experience.
Maureen
My kitchen freezer is a drawer style and has 6 compartments, so everything is fairly accessible if it isn’t jammed full. But, I always have it too full. So the plan is to try to keep it only about 2/3 full and everything to have a home. I’m going to try every person having their own compartment and using the other three for smoothie ingredients, items for the coming week or things we need to use up, and the items we use most often (chopped onions, garlic, etc). I also have a chest freezer that’s a mess – mostly because it’s jammed full and hard to get beneath the top layer. In the past I used two layers of carboard boxes and kept like with like…one box for frozen veggies, one for meat, one for prepped foods, etc. That worked well as long as the boxes were small enough to lift easily when full. It made it much easier to get to the items underneath. I need to get back to that setup once I clean it out a bit. We are probably at the point of needing to downsize that freezer, but maybe I can make a decision once it’s cleaned out and I’ve been productively using it for a while to see what size would be best for us.
Tasty
Welcome back Lynn – sounds like a busy time for you and your family while celebrating birthdays. Allie, you have made such good use of your garden produce as well as what was already in the freezer and pantry. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing everyone else’s experiences while sharing ours. My main takeaway this year is that as we age we really are eating a lot less than even 2 or 3 years ago and I have to make some major changes to how I shop in future. I will continue with the pantry challenge for another week, until we leave the cold weather behind and head to warmer climes.
Feb 8
B – our usual
L – hubby had pineapple, cheese and shortbread. I had some baked beans that need to be used
S- chilli
Feb 9
B – hubby fruit and yogurt with a muffin. We were out of granola for a couple of days but did make some this morning after buying the add ins – coconut, almonds and sunflower seeds. I had pineapple, cheese and a muffin.
L – I pulled some bacon and a couple of buns from the freezer
S – chili over baked potatoes.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
2/9/26
We got back yesterday from the birthday party for the 3 year old, which was great fun. (But I want time to slow down! :,( She’s growing too fast) My banana cupcakes were a hit as were the sugar cookies (family favorite).
The food I had taken with us made everything so much easier. It was a BIG weekend in my son’s area with a huge instate rivalry basketball game and the Super Bowl airing. My Son in law ordered some wings and it took 2 hours for them to be ready. I was glad we had other good food to eat without delay.
My bean soup from the freezer ham hock was delicious and, with it being a very cold day, it hit the spot. I’d made egg salad and took sliced cheese for sandwich options to go along with lunch. The breakfast casserole was eaten for 2 mornings. All of that was made from food I already had.
Along the way, we did stop at Aldi to pick up charcuterie type items as a gift for my sister in law as we spent one night with her. We also picked up a few things for my son’s family that they like (avocados, salmon, crackers and snacks). But I consider this more as a gift budget item as none of the food was for us or eaten here. My rules as Jessica says! I declined to stop at Aldi on the return home as we usually do, in keeping with the challenge.
The good Lord willing, we will be traveling this weekend to celebrate my mother’s 95th birthday!! We’re celebrating from the youngest in the family to the oldest within 9 days and I feel so blessed. My children will be traveling also this time, so I will probably make and take something we can all eat since it will be another busy food weekend with Valentine’s Day and President’s Day. I’ve got local shrimp in the freezer and will probably make shrimp and grits. I did buy some andouille sausage on sale in my last small grocery run. I use it for that recipe. We will take my mother out to lunch on the 16th, her birthday. So that’s what’s happening here for me. I’m continuing on until then and will re-evaluate afterwards.
Allie from Ontario
Well….this is the end of our pantry challenge for 2026…a big grocery is on the books for today. I am very pleased at the progress we made re: using up ingredients and preserved garden produce throughout this challenge. We are also well stocked with frozen single serving soups etc, all of which were made with what we had in the house and that we will happily pick away for the rest of the winter.
Brunch: I had a roast beef sandwich and T had a bowl of the sausage, broccoli, pasta soup.
Dinner: I had saved the liquid from the Instapot after cooking the roast and turned it into a simple gravy so T had an open faced hot beef sandwich with some frozen peas and I had the last bowl of soup with some carrot sticks.
Hope to see everybody next year!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
You did so well Allie! All of your preserved produce has inspired me to branch out a bit with our garden come springtime. Maybe I’ll have some jars to empty come next January.
I read of your -30 degree days. Goodness! We were -13 and I thought THAT was cold! Brr.
I’m just getting back from the little granddaughter’s birthday. I plan to continue on a bit longer with my purchases.
Wishing you a wonderful rest of the year. We will meet up again next January!
Allie from Ontario
The severe cold continues but by Monday we will be back to more normal mid winter temps…bring it on!
What we ate on Feb 7
Brunch: We continue to work on that granola (so good) and later we both had a roast beef sandwich.
Dinner: I finally finished off all that broccoli in a soup made with ground pork, sausage meat, a mix of onion, celery, carrot & stock with the broccoli, frozen spinach and pasta added near the end. We ate this for dinner with a hot corn dip (cream cheese, mayo, Monterey Jack, frozen corn, garlic, chives, hot sauce). The tortilla chips for were a little stale so I just heated them in the oven for a few minutes which worked great.
Tasty
The temperature today tells me that we are stuck back in the depths of winter. The sun was beautiful and the sky was a beautiful blue but the cold was nasty! After dumping some stuff from the freezers this week. I redid my inventory of what is there and there’s plenty to see us thru another month easily, possibly 2 for main courses.
Feb 7
B- hubby had his usual, I had a yogurt and a toasted English muffin.
L hubby had an apple and the last banana. I had a piece of haddock.
S – we had individual pizzas. We each topped our own but basically the same things – sausage crumbles, mushrooms, pineapple and pickled sweet peppers, topped of course with mozzarella. The only thing I bought for them was the pineapple. We really like fresh pineapple and it’s been a while.
Allie from Ontario
The cold has definitely returned with wind chill temps back overnight and today in the mid -30’s. I had outdoor work to do and so spent yesterday afternoon outside…very happy to get so much done while the temp was still “tolerable” 🙂
What we ate on Feb 6
Brunch: Once again, granola etc for both of us 1st thing then later we each finished our portions of pot pie with home canned chili sauce.
Dinner: As I spent a lot of the afternoon outdoors followed by a fun visit with one of the hockey guys, I was very happy to have that roast beef on hand. We each had a sandwich (using a bun + a bagel from the freezer) and I am close to the bottom of one of the fridge jars of mustard. I made (yet another!) simple salad of romaine (it is hanging on!) + celery, carrots & feta. This time I mixed the last of 2 homemade dressings together which worked well. But I’m pretty I will be upping my salad game soon!
Tasty
I finally got thru the res of the upright freezer and then emptied the chest as well. and got rid of more than I care to admit but most of it was stuff I’d been avoiding anyway. What’s done is done – now just to convince myself not to buy every bargain I see!!!!
Feb 6th
B – the usual
L – omelets using up the last of a different ham and some cheese
S – being a cold and snowy evening, we’ll have some of the pea & ham soup I made yesterday with the last of the French bread.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Hey Tasty! I’m back from the birthday and I am with you and your resolution to not buy every available sale. To me it is a fine line between having enough for emergencies or spur of the minute occasions and having too much!
In addition to the pantry challenge, I’ve done the same for health and beauty supplies. My DH likes a particular kind of toothpaste. I don’t care at all. I’ve convinced him to use up what we’ve got before purchasing any more. So I’m going to TRY and be more thoughtful and intentional about all of my purchases going forward. I’ll see if it changes anything come next January!
Allie from Ontario
What we ate on Feb 5
Happy Friday to everyone 🙂
Brunch; We each had some granola etc 1st thing and then later some of the leftover chile beef braise & grits. There is a little bit of that left.
Dinner: I ended up taking out 2 smallish frozen turkey pot pies that we ate with a simple salad/mustard vinaigrette. We each had enough pot pie leftover for a small lunch.
I finally made that broccoli soup, now stashed in the freezer. I also dug out a smallish beef roast from the garage freezer (around 2 lbs) that needed a purpose so T cooked it in the instant pot and it will get get used for cold sandwiches, potentially some open faced hot beef & gravy sandwiches, vegetable beef soup and/or a small pot pie. My fresh carrot/celery/romaine supply is definitely dwindling so there is likely a produce shop coming up this weekend. I also have a plan for the very last of the broccoli for tomorrow night.
Maureen
We’ve eaten up most of the leftovers for lunches, side dishes, etc. There are just a few left that I have planned into the meals for today and tomorrow. And I have a meal plan for the weekend that shouldn’t generate any leftovers, uses up a number of things from the freezer, and is simple enough that we should be able to stick to it even if we don’t want to. I definitely have some items in the freezers that just need to be tossed. I’ll do that as I come across them for now, but I plan to completely clean out the kitchen freezer and wipe it out when there’s enough white space for what remains to be well organized.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Maureen, I would love to get to the point that I could wipe down and organize my freezer as well! Maybe soon..
Tasty
Feb 5
B – the usual – I guess it means we don’t have to think early in the morning.
L – I was out to lunch with some of the ladies group I belong to. We had a great time but the food was only so-so. Very disappointing .
S – I pulled turkey stew out of the freezer that I had put in there in December. It’s a favourite for hubby and I make it every time we have a turkey but after 50+ years, I decided I’m tired of it!!! Oh, maybe I’ll change my mind by the end of the year.
Looking in the fridge and pantry this afternoon, I decided I had everything needed to make pea and ham soup so now it is cooling on the counter so I can pop it in the fridge overnight and then into the freezer – where else? – tomorrow.
Allie from Ontario
Tasty – I totally get how frustrating finding/discarding that ham was. I was so annoyed at myself when I dragged out the “yikes” cauliflower the other day. I actually had a dinner plan to use some florets AND could easily have turned the rest into soup. My issue is that I like to be able to cook what ever I want from the fridge without going to the store for one or 2 things BUT it means that I can struggle to get through ALL the produce. My habit of loading up fresh produce in one shop must change !
Tasty
I do wonder if we’ll being having the same conversation this time next year about cutting down on how much we buy..
Allie from Ontario
What we ate on Feb 5
Brunch: We both had granola (T with milk and me with yogurt & apple butter) 1st thing. Then later, we both had some of the sausage/bean etc soup I made before I froze the rest.
Dinner: It was time for the “red chile” braised beef that I made 2 days ago. It used 8 oz of stewing beef, a 1 cup block of a sauce I made in the fall (with fresh & dried chiles + plus some garden tomatoes) and a handful of frozen corn (all from a freezer). I added lots of sweet peppers (I’ll miss those until I decide to shop!) and a bunch of different diced hot pepper “ice cubes”. We spooned this stuff over cheesy grits….very good and there is enough of everything to split for a late lunch today.
I’m still chipping away at everything (freezer, fridge, pantry). I think I’ll pull a “turkey pot pie for 2” out of the freezer…..always make them after Thanksgiving. And there is some “use me up soon” romaine, carrots and celery for a simple salad. And I will finally make the broccoli soup I’ve been planning.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
2/4/26
B: toast and coffee for both, last of yogurt for DH
L: Last of the Brunswick stew for both, DH added chicken salad sandwich
D: the last of the leftovers-chicken casserole, broccoli and mashed potatoes
S: cookies
I finished my baking and cooking today. I finished up bags of flour and sugar. I also like to take food with me, as I’ve said before. So I made bean soup with the ham hock from the freezer, and a pound of dried beans. I also made cornbread (mixes from pantry) and an egg casserole that used bacon I had and the last of half and half. I shopped and bought creamer, eggs, cheese, DH’s crackers, bread, chips, snacks, thyme that I had used up, celery, carrots and a small pack of chicken. I spent $44 to go with the $27 spent earlier so $71 so far.
Tasty
You have done very well Lynn with not shopping. Have a great trip to family.
Tasty
I had pulled some ham slices from the freezer a couple of days ago to use with our supper and they had been there too long to be palatable. We did not eat them. I truly do not know how long they had been there, but that experience will change the way I shop in future. Buy smaller quantities and use what we have before buying more so that stuff doesn’t get lost and forgotten. I know we are eating less than we used to. Went thru a couple of shelves in the upright freezer this morning and altho I was not happy doing so, I got rid of anything that might be too old. To me, it’s not worth eating something that doesn’t seem quite right. I will go through the rest over the next few days and I know I’m going to have white space in both freezers. I know everything in the drawer under the fridge is fine . It’s a hard lesson to learn and a hard way to learn it but . . .
On another topic – I bought grapes for hubby today and was totally shocked when I saw the price – over $10.
February 4
B – the usual
L – hubby had his fruit and I had the pork leftovers from a few days ago with some bread and butter.
S – I pulled a cream of vegetable soup from the freezer along with some French bread. More empty space!!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Tasty, that’s how I’m trying to change my buying too. Instead of buying way ahead, I want to buy smaller amounts that are soon to be used. At the store today I resisted some items that will probably be on sale again before I need them. AND, I’m going to do better at labeling items!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Tasty, my DH requested grapes too. I found some for 1.99# which I think is a bit better than your $10!
Maureen
You all are making such amazing progress clearing out items and even dedicating kitchen time to prepping! I finished off two containers of soup for lunch yesterday and today. Last night was homemade pizza, using up a couple cheeses. And I’m thawing some shredded pork for dinner tonight – probably nachos/quesadillas, so we can eat at different times because of DD’s dance. I have a bunch of frozen fruit, so I’m hoping we’ll work some smoothies into our after school snack routine this week.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
It sounds like you’ve got a good plan!
Allie from Ontario
Lynn! You made me laugh out loud! “Eternity is ham with 2 people” is going to get used around here for sure! T can’t resist buying small hams when they are on sale…these days, those guys are stupid expensive (ie $16.00 CA for a 1.5 lb ham! is not unheard of). I never freeze them whole (channeling your saying I guess!) but we thickly slice for ham steaks, thinner slices for sandwiches and/or cut into chunks to be cubed for soups, pastas etc.
I am certainly seeing space in the kitchen fridge/freezer and am not upset that open space in the upright freezer is now being filled with soups & other single servings…making those is using up lots of ingredients which was one of my goals AND I know they will get eaten no problem. Yesterday’s small batch soup was a Sausage, Beans & Greens soup which used spinach, sausage meat, Great Northern Beans, diced tomatoes & chicken stock (all from a freezer) + some aging carrots& celery and ditalini from the pantry. I’ll get 3 or 4 singles out of it which is great.
What we at on Feb 3
Brunch: I had some of my granola/apple butter early and then had a leftover stuffed potato 1/2 later on. T had yogurt early and a fish sandwich later.
Dinner: It was steak night (we are not at risk of running out of meat!) and so we split a ribeye. I made a marinade that emptied 3 bottles…soy sauce, Lea & Perrins + olive oil. No fear…there were 3 replacements waiting to be brought to the kitchen. Pantry space! I had the last of the sweet peppers + red onion, stir fried & drizzled with the salad dressing from the other night + some feta. I also had a piece of toast. T had saved his leftover potato 1/2 for dinner and I also steamed him some garden green & yellow beans that I froze last summer. We were both happy and no leftovers!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Oh my goodness, that is EXPENSIVE ham. I’m thinking maybe it’s boneless and that’s why it’s so expensive? I got mine (bone in and larger) after Thanksgiving for .50/#!
I’m like you with the items in the fridge and freezer. I made lots of broth that will get used up with soups to come. And I used some when I made soup recently. Slow and steady wins the race!