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?
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 a breakfast sandwich with the last of the freezer rye bread.
Lunch & Dinner – I shot three recipes today, so watch for those updated images. They are basically what’s to eat today for lunch and dinner: Sauerkraut and Pork, Crockpot Chili Mac, and Rice and Black Bean Salad.
And that’s a wrap, folks!
How did the Pantry Challenge go for you?
Heather M
Feb 2:
B: L skipped (he doesn’t head into the office until after 10 usually-WFH earlier- and eats everything there, so I just put it in his lunch); I had a small piece of the ww banana oat choc chip snack cake and it’s so so good. First time making it.
L: L took: some of the snack cake, southwest trail mix, another ham spinach sandwich, and cantaloupe; I had lunch out w/a friend-chicken pozole soup w/bread
D: spinach tomato red onion avocado salad topped with a salmon burger (from the freezer) and a quick HM champagne vinaigrette, side of sourdough garlic toast w/the last of the sourdough. Glad it was super easy. L didn’t get home until well after 9pm, so I worked a little longer than planned and was able to make it all while the salmon cooked. A 10 minute dinner! L worked until after midnight and I took him in at 6:20am. Love it when big news happens on his beat. *shrugging emoji*
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
That’s a long workday for L. But I guess that’s the life of a newsman and his wife!
Heather M
Oh it’s long sometimes. He got home close to 8pm, but worked off and on until he went to bed, we went over our (more like his) crazy schedule for the next month and beyond, and he’s doing some church volunteer work he needs to be doing today, along with work, cuz there’s still a spy balloon hovering probably over you right now, lol.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I KNOW and I don’t like that spy balloon hovering over us!! But I guess, the Outer Banks is better than it passing over the military resources in Camp Lejeune and Fort Bragg farther south in NC, or the Norfolk VA Naval base!
Danielle Zecher
Feb. 2nd:
Breakfast PB& J sandwiches.
Lunch: Tomato soup and sandwiches (egg salad for Nick and veggie for me).
Dinner: Yesterday was the neighborhood compatibility meeting for a development that will destroy our neighborhood. After chatting with some of the neighbors afterward, some of us decided to go out to dinner together at a local Mexican restaurant. I think it was exactly what we needed. And, some of our neighbors have chickens and have said they’ll share eggs with us during the summer. 🙂 Apparently, chickens lay a lot more eggs during the summer.
Heather M
Oh yay for neighbors with chickens! That’s great! Why you had to meet with the neighbors in the first place, not so much.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Feb 2
B: waffle (ate it on the go), DH-egg, toast
L: pbj for me-again running out the door, DH picked up his lunch
D: LO spaghetti with meat sauce, LO green beans. We had fruit available, but neither of us ate any. Last meal and last time to run out the door for an appointment. Busy day for me.
S: last of the gingerbread cookies from freezer
Did shopping as planned. I got the requested roast for my DS and DIL. I got 2 bags of sale coffee. Creamer was not on sale, and it has skyrocketed in price. Got iceberg lettuce for a wedge salad. Picked up mandarins, cheeses, bread, canned tomatoes (used all I had), cauliflower and yogurt at a good price. I also picked up 2 free yogurts to add to the breakfast and snack options. I broke down and bought eggs. With a combination of coupons and discounts, I got a dozen EB eggs for 3.23 which were cheaper than store brand. I have chickpeas that I cooked in the freezer, but I read that its liquid (aquafaba) for an egg substitute was better in canned chickpeas than in home cooked ones. Since I’m thinking I may stretch my eggs with this, I opted to buy 2 cans as they were on sale plus some spices that I’d used up. I spent a total of 57.35 today for a total of 64.22 with 2 days in! Ouch. Despite everything (except creamer) being on sale that’s a lot right here in the beginning. I’m hoping I won’t need more big stockups. When I got home, I realized I’d forgotten the celery, carrots and onions, so I will need to pick those up before too much longer.
Danielle Zecher
Let us know how the aquafaba turns out. I keep thinking about trying that, but haven’t done it yet.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Danielle, I actually tried the aquafaba in the waffles I made. Instead of 2 eggs, I used 1 egg and the aquafaba from the chickpeas I cooked. This was my first time making the recipe and the first time with my waffle maker. The waffles tasted great. They were a little less fluffy/thick than I expected, but that could be because I underfilled the waffle trays or due to the recipe. I froze some of the aquafaba into cubes to use in the future. I’ll keep you posted when I next use it.
Heather M
Lynn, I’m headed out to shop some more today and suspect I’ll be spending a bit, too. Time for eggs and we have just little bits of fresh produce(last of spinach and open lettuce, one carrot, zero onions, less than a head of garlic, etc.) except celery and a few bell peppers. need to stock up on some basics and may grab some sugar at $1.99 this week. Debating whether to grab more chicken at $1.79/lb again. Since we use it a lot. So I feel your pain. I know this month will not be nearly as good as January, but as long as I’m careful and use things up, I’m going to call it a win.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I’m going to do the same-use things up and be intentional about other purchases. I knew I’d need to purchase more this month. For instance, I only bought the 1 dozen eggs. My weekend specials have eggs at 2.97, so I’ll probably get some of those at that price. I picked more lettuce from my “fall” garden since it’s supposed to get down to 25 degrees tonight, so I do have a bit more produce but still no carrots or celery.
Danielle Zecher
Lynn, that’s great to know about the aquafaba. It seems like a good strategy to use it for some of the eggs a recipe calls for, but not all. Thanks for sharing.
Tasty
Thursday February 2
B – Our weekly breakfast out. Hubby had blueberry pancakes and I had eggs benedict
L- neither of us was hungry
S- Chilli from the freezer and I made some biscuits to go with it
Kimberly
I spent about $7 to restock fruit yesterday
B- cereal, yogurt
L- sandwiches/fruit for kids, LO chicken Alfredo for hubby, Lo stone soup for me
D- bacon, egg, cheese biscuits cleared out the rest of the eggs ?
Kids eat multiple mini dinners with sports these days, so they also finished off the LO nachos and had some LO chicken Alfredo. I had some fruit and dessert at a galentines party
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Feb 1
B: me-waffle, DH shake
L: HM potato soup, steak sandwiches (freezer) on buns (just found in the freezer) with cheese, peppers and onions for both, chips
D: LO pork, LO cabbage, LO sweet potato, LO green beans
S: gingerbread cookie from freezer
I used another ham bone from the freezer to make potato soup, which used up the celery and carrots. I also made a smaller batch of broth as well. It’s chilly here, so the soup tastes good.
I made a few purchases today. Since I now have a waffle maker, I needed some syrup. I’ve been eating my waffles for breakfast without syrup. So picked up some that was ½ off for 2.83. I also used a rain check that was expiring for mushrooms. They were .99/8 oz instead of 1.99. I got 4 packages, so 4.04. Total in Feb thus far, 6.87. Will be picking up more items tomorrow. My DH was with me today, so I didn’t tarry with a big grocery list.
Tasty
Wednesday February 1st
Well, here we go with month #2B – our usual fruit etc. Finished the last of the bread – 2 slices – with newly made marmalade
L – smoked meat sandwiches for both of usS – pork chops with apples and stuffing, and a side of cauliflower broccoli and carrots with a cheese sauce. Our friend sent us home with the last of the dessert on Sunday so we had that – Portuguese custard tarts – so yummy!
ZC from MA
Feb 1st
B: grapes, English muffin
L: bought at work
D: chicken and chestnut stew (last portion in the freezer), brown rice, pan-grilled brussels sprouts
Heather M
Feb 1:
Ran to the store for salad stuff, an onion, and sandwich rolls. All on sale except the onion, spent less than $10(receipt in another room right now, lol), and I live less than a mile from this store so not a time or gas suck for a few things.
B: L skipped; I had one of the last eggnog sugar cookies, oops
L: L took a ham/spinach sandwich, cantaloupe, and some southwest trail mix; I had cheese and crackers (so much to clear out of the snack cupboard still)
D: pepperjack chicken cheesesteaks, big basic side salad, L also finished the last roasted spanish potatoes
I also poached the last large chicken breast from what I’d defrosted and shredded it, and baked a ww banana oat choc chip ” snack cake” – likely to be breakfast here. Bananas from the freezer, oats are now getting low, everything we had.
Danielle Zecher
Feb. 1st:
Breakfast: Oatmeal – Peanut butter and banana for Nick, blueberry and almond for me. Nick had a semi-homemade iced latte with his and I had sweet tea with mine.
Lunch: I had leftover cheese pizza and kale salad. Nick had the last of the leftover cheeseburger soup.
Dinner: Nick had an egg salad sandwich and goldfish crackers. I had tuna and crackers.
Kimberly
As mentioned, Jessica, thanks for keeping us motivated every year! While my challenge also looked a bit different this time, I notice the past 3 years that I participated, I carry a few more bits into my usual routine.
This year I didn’t throw out any leftovers and got better at repurposing them too!
My Jan total spend was $450, my food budget also includes toiletries like shampoo and toilet paper because I feel I can shop well to control those expenses too. Down from my usual $700, and not bad because I had to restock proteins several times.
Last 2 days (all from pantry/fridge)
B usual cereal, yogurt, poptarts
L LO stone soup, sandwiches or roll ups, fruit, avocado toast with eggs
D chicken Alfredo pasta, edamame, chicken nuggets
S oatmeal, bananas with honey & cinnamon, quesadillas (growing boys take “snack” to the next level)
Heather M
You did great! I’m like you because I’ve also gotten way better at using up leftovers and repurposing them. I think between this yearly pantry challenge and the first year of the pandemic, I really have improved in food planing, shopping, less waste, etc. Glad it was a good challenge for you 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Jessica, like others, I want to thank you for hosting us all again. It’s fun to meet up with old-time virtual friends here each January. It’s a great tradition for the new year. I always enjoy your posts during the Pantry Challenge (and every other day as well 🙂 and I’ll be looking forward to some of those recipes you mentioned and photographed. I’m sure that is a lot of work.
I agree that for some reason this month flew by and wasn’t as difficult for me as in past years. I guess that confirms that I have way too much food! One difference I did notice is that usually I run out of vegetables-be it canned, fresh or frozen. This year, I still have veggies, though the supply is dwindling.
Because of said too much food, I also will be continuing on into Feb. Thank you Jessica for letting us continue to post in this thread. I won’t be as strict this month either since we need coffee, creamer, tea, etc. so I’ll need to get those items and more. Though I had enough veggies with a few still in the freezer, I’m down to 1 onion, no carrots, no celery and a half a head of cabbage that lasts forever like Heather M said! I know of some upcoming events that will require some groceries and preparation. For instance, my DS requested a beef roast when we go see them after our little granddaughter is born later this month! The roasts are on sale this week, so I’ll be picking up one for them and maybe a second one to have in the freezer. I don’t think we had any seafood in January, so I’m hoping to serve some of that in Feb. However, I plan to continue to mainly eat what I have and limit purchases. I still would like to make more white space in my freezer and empty the pantry a bit more. Fingers crossed I can make it happen. I’ll look forward to continuing to chat with those who are continuing on.
Heather M
Lol those heads of cabbage, Lynn! Your fresh produce reminds me of a few weeks ago here. I’m doing a little better this week, after a quick stop at the store yesterday for barely anything, but we were out of onions except one red one. I only bought 1 though, because I didn’t like the prices. I also bough a bag of lettuce and some tomatoes on sale and some sandwich rolls which I also purposely bought. But I still have 1 fat carrot, quite a bit of celery, a few bell peppers, and spinach. So we are ok. But through the weekend? Idk. I’ll likely shop on Friday too.
Julie
I did participate, just didn’t take the time to post with being occupied with homeschooling 4 children and working at the hospital some days. But we spent $111 on food this month. My budget has been $150/ month since December and plan to keep it up as long as I can. Still have lots of food whether dry, frozen, or canned. I do have one small chest freezer empty now.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Julie, you are in the busy, busy season of life, so you did well-finishing under budget and emptying a freezer with a lot going on! Congrats.
Julie
Thank you, Lynn! Fortunately I love cooking and canning and all things food prep because it brings a lot of joy in feeding the 6 of us.
Heather M
Amazing work, keeping to budget or less for 2 months now! Good luck in February. 🙂
Julie
Thank you, Heather! I’m thankful I have been able to rotate some food because I probably overstocked on some things especially with all the shortages in 2020.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Jan 31
B: me-boiled egg, DH shake
L: DH egg salad sandwich on ww bread, chips, orange Me: steak sandwich in pita, chips, orange
D: spaghetti with meat sauce (sausage from freezer), green beans
S: gingerbread cookies from freezer
Kathy
Thank you for doing all the work on the Pantry Challenge! I followed along every day. I love reading your blog. For the two of us, we spent $200 on groceries as compared to our normal $500. So I transferred $300 into our vacation fund, yay!!!! I’m continuing on into February since I still have a lot of meat. But I won’t be so strict about not getting our other regular groceries.
Jessica Fisher
Thank you, Kathy!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Kathy, yay for vacation funds 🙂 Well done!
Heather M
Kathy, that’s great!! Fellow February continuers unite 🙂
Heather M
Thanks, Jessica, as always, for hosting this awesome pantry challenge! It’s really a great thing for the month of January. Day 31 I kept busy- I just started working again, after many years out of the workforce. It’s part-time and from home and very flexible, which is what I need. Anyhow, I know it will force me to plan even better, so we don’t resort to takeout on random weeknights when I’ve lost track of time in the afternoon (I’m known to do that even not working). I also managed to stay out of the stores, and think we’re good until later in the week, though I may run to grab sandwich rolls if my mood for dinner tonight doesn’t change, lol. We have enough fresh produce for a few more days of meals but I know I’ll be needing stuff by the weekend, and I am sure February’s grocery spending won’t be nearly as good as January’s but I’ll do my best.
On that note, our total grocery spending (meals out and household supplies never included for me) for January was $90.84. It was mostly on fresh items like produce, bread, and dairy, but also a few clearance items from the meat/deli and that awesome deal on BS chicken breast. We also managed to not need eggs this month since I way overbought a day or two before Christmas(lucky me, who knew?).
I for sure am continuing into February. I only just inventoried my freezer, which has space now. But I have not inventoried the cupboards at all. And they are still stuffed. My goals for February are to do that inventory and move the older items forward and make plans to use them up. And also keep clearing out the freezer and keeping on top of things in the fridge so nothing goes to waste. I was good about both of those in January. And, we had very few meals out except my birthday and a few lunches.
B: L skipped; I had a quick bite of eggnog sugar cookie running out the door for a few things.
L: L took another ham/avo/spinach sandwich, the last piece of ww eggnog bread, and the last 2 satsumas; I had the leftover mac & cheese with tuna and onion
D: made a version of egg roll in a bowl (still have 1/4 of that head of cabbage- they last forever!) with chicken breast cut small instead of ground meat of some kind. we had it over rice. Delicious and no leftovers but a bit of rice.
I also cut up the huge cantaloupe, as it seemed like it was ripe enough, and it was!
Jessica Fisher
Always love your participation, Heather!
Danielle Zecher
Congratulations on the new job! I have a similar goal for February (though, our freezer is still really bad!), so will definitely keep going. I’m hoping to do a lot better about not getting takeout/DoorDash on random weeknights. Hopefully, that will be better since work should just be regular busy, not everything is due NOW busy.
I know it sounds kind of dumb, but I’ve found it helpful to set an alarm for my end time on my work-from-home days.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Danielle, setting a timer is a practical way to manage time when working from home. When I worked remotely, I worked WAY longer than typical hours. I saw where Heather said she sometimes loses track of time in the afternoon. SAME HERE, though probably not just limited to afternoons for me. My husband would eventually come in and ask about dinner, which was soon, and that was the cue that I should get off the computer. My neck could certainly tell I was putting in too much time at the computer as well-despite good ergonomics. I definitely struggled with establishing boundaries and margins for work vs home, though that was still a problem with in-person work as well! Anyway, that’s a good suggestion. See you in the comments for Feb.
Heather M
Thanks, Danielle! That is a good idea, the alarm. There are a few evenings a week where I need to have dinner ready before my husband has meetings, so I will be using that idea. Thanks!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Congratulations on the new job and your PC success. I’ll be here right along with you, hoping to continue to eat down the freezer and the pantry. Like you, I’ve got plenty! I wondered about cantaloupe. I see they are on sale this week but wasn’t sure whether or not I should trust a Feb cantaloupe! Glad yours was ripe.
Heather M
This cantaloupe is delicious and juicy! We are lucky, cuz you never know. I picked a huge one that I ended up leaving on the counter for 4 days before cutting it. And I’m glad I didn’t cut it a day sooner. Last night my husband commented on how yummy it is and how much there is, lol! See you here. 🙂
Stephanie M.
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
B – I had a yogurt parfait
L – paul had leftover general Tso chicken from our last once a month Chinese cheat meal that I had in the freezer and also the last of the Spanish rice. He also had a chocolate pudding. I had a ham sandwich and an apple.
D – BLT’s and regular fries for Paul, sweet potato fries for me and the last of the cucumber salad from Sunday.
My challenge was not as good as previous challenges mostly because the first two weeks I wasn’t able to cook because of my broken hand and I needed to keep the meals simple for Paul to make after working all day. That said my meat drawer is not overloaded anyway because I got out of the habit of storing so much in my freezer years ago. I keep myself on a simple pantry challenge all year by always using up leftovers from every meal and being intentional by using up frozen leftovers and anything else I have in the freezer. For the month of January, I spent $772.11 and it’s only my husband Paul and I living in our home. For me, that’s quite a win because since the prices of groceries has risen to an all time high, my normal monthly spending is between $1,000.00 and $1,100.00. To be fair, that would also include non food items like paper goods including tissues, toilet paper, and paper towels, kitty litter and cleaning supplies. I don’t buy napkins. We switched to cloth napkins at least 15 years ago but I can’t make the break from paper towels. Even with these items accounting for some of the money I spend, my grocery cart is still mostly food so I am happy with what I got away with this month.
Have a happy and healthy new year everyone and thank you Jessica for hosting another pantry challenge. It’s always nice to see everyone new and the regulars. ??
Heather M
I love that you say you now live a simple pantry challenge year round. It’s a great mindset to have. You’re awesome and did great this month, all the things considered. See you on text/facetime. 🙂
Jessica Fisher
You will always be the pantry challenge QUEEN!
Stephanie M.
Aww thank you Jessica!! Thank you so much for teaching me how to be a good Stewart of food.
Danielle Zecher
How many cats do you have? That’s a really good total when you factor in kitty litter, which seems to keep going up. We’re the same with napkins and paper towels. We switched to cloth napkins a little over three years ago and it was an easy switch. We’ve managed to reduce our paper towel usage some, but I don’t think we’ll EVER totally eliminate them or even make a significant reduction.
Stephanie M.
Hi Danielle. We have one cat so in reality she’s doesn’t eat much out of our budget. I also have three dogs. They’re a different story. Lol. Somebody always needs something. Food, litter, new beds,shots, etc. but we do as good as we can. Enjoy the next year with good health and happiness. It was great hearing from you.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Stephanie, you (and Paul!) did great considering your fracture and all that went with that! You are right that, like everything else, non-food items have skyrocketed in price as well. We’ve been using cloth napkins for about 5+ ? years now too and have drastically curtailed our paper towel use. I will buy an occasional roll for really awful needs, but one roll will now last us for months. The non-food and health and beauty items quickly run up the costs in a grocery cart. Great to “see” you again. Til next year!
Stephanie M.
Hi Lynn
Thank you so much!!
I just can’t make the break from paper towels completely. But I was able to cut down by keeping a basket by my kitchen sink with wash cloths to dry my hands and the counter. I just use a new one everyday. But for cleaning I still use them. It was great hearing from you. Have a healthy happy new year ahead.
ZC from MA
B: some grapes, English muffin, tea
L: bought at work
D: kale and noodles
S: a banana, cup of hot cocoa
January went by fast and so did the challenge! I am quite happy with my results—there’s only a few items to check off my list, and cooking at home helped limit my eating out. I’m able to eat cheaper and, more importantly, healthier.
Thank you Jessica for organizing, and thanks to everyone in this group!
Heather M
Yay! so glad this was successful for you! Especially the more cooking at home. That means you saved even more than the usual expenditures on groceries – that was also a win for us. Good luck finishing up those last things on your list.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Hooray for success! There is a sense of accomplishment when, at the end of the PC, we’ve met goals and been more intentional about our food dollars. Good for you! I’ve got a few items left on my list as well. Here’s to completing them.
Tasty
January 31
B – the usual
L – hubby??? I snacked while I was out with friends
S – bacon beef and bean soup from the freezer
Tasty
Back again! Another great year Jessica – I always look forward to the accountability of the pantry challenge. I still visited the grocery stores more than was needed but I always do. However, I have also used lots of ‘stuff’ from the freezers. The pantry was in good shape. We moved in the fall and our kitchen reno will not happen until the spring so I purposely have not built up the pantry supplies, knowing that I’m going to have to store them somewhere while the reno happens. I definitely will keep going thru the next month and look forward to meet everyone again next time around – it’s like meeting up with old friends. Wishing everyone a healthy year with lots of fun.
Tasty
Heather M
That’s exciting about a kitchen reno coming up soon! Best wishes using up more of your pantry so you have less to store. I’ll be continuing as well because there is just too much that needs rotating or cleared out. And you are so right, it is like meeting up with old friends each January-a welcome thing in a kind of dreary month. 🙂
Jessica Fisher
Thanks so much for being a regular!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Tasty, that’s smart to continue to keep your pantry supplies low with a kitchen redo looming. I lived through one of those in my first house. It was definitely a mess while it was going on (and it took longer than planned and cost more!) but it was so worth it once it was finished. I LOVED that kitchen. Still wish I had a cooktop like the one that was in there! Best of luck with the renovations and the rest of the year.
Danielle Zecher
I met and survived all of my 1/31 work deadlines!!! 🙂 Which means that I now have a life outside of work. I think February is going to be my real Pantry Challenge month now that my schedule is a little more normal. I hope other people who are continuing will keep commenting.
I did end up going to Sam’s Club for a few things yesterday. We were almost out of ground beef, which is a major go-to for us, so I got that, Greek yogurt, and Green Goddess dressing/dip. I also picked up last night’s dinner.
Breakfast: I had my leftovers from Monday night at the Italian place. I think Nick got fast food on the way to work.
Lunch: Leftover cheeseburger soup.
Dinner: Cheese pizza from Sam’s Club and a kale salad mix, also from Sam’s Club.
Heather M
Congrats on meeting all your deadlines!! That must feel so good. I will definitely be here in February, as I have so much I’d like to clear out from the cupboards and the freezer still has plenty to use up before I start restocking with the things we use regularly (sometimes I buy random things and then they just sit and don’t get used until I force it- I’d rather force it this next month like I did in January and not have things with crazy freezer burn I need to toss). See you here 🙂
Danielle Zecher
Thanks! It does feel like a huge weight has been lifted. I’m glad I’m not the only one who will continuing into February.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Yes, congrats on meeting your deadlines! Now you can catch your breath. It will be nice for you to have some “margins” with worth and home.
I’ll be here too. It’s a slow process with just 2 of us, so I’ll be here-commenting and plodding along. See you soon!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Make that “work” and home.
Danielle Zecher
Thanks! It’s definitely helping my stress level.
We’re also just two people, so it seems to take us longer than others to use everything up. I’m glad so many people are planning to keep commenting here.