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
Hi All. Quick update with dinners from this past week. Very hit or miss since the week was another crazy one, with more medical stuff ending in a definitive diagnosis on Friday and lots of calls to work out a specialist and other things. I’m exhausted from it all, and still a ways to go to treatment and/or surgery etc. Nothing life-threatening but certainly unwelcome(lifetime management) and quite unusual for someone my age. Love being an anomaly. Week of 2/27:
M: I finally made Jessica’s Catalan meatballs (with impossible bulk sausage) recipe and ate it the way she recommended, with boiled potatoes (and green beans on the side)… it was absolutely delicious and we had no idea we were eating plant-based “meat”. YAY!! Winner recipe!
T: Half-Baked Harvest’s creamy chicken gnocchi soup, made with already cooked chicken and fat free half & half. SO GOOD!
W: Leftovers
Th: Leftovers for L; I was feeling nauseous after the morning CT and the stuff they made me drink really did a number on me
F: a perennial favorite I should make more often, tuscan tuna pasta, side salad
S: we were at a party w/tons of food
S: last minute invite to neighbors for spaghetti and meatballs dinner
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Heather, I’ve thought of you often lately. I’m glad you finally have some answers and a plan going forward. I’m truly thankful that it is not a life-threatening situation, though sorry you are looking at lifetime management.
Good to know re: Jessica’s meatballs. I have some bulk sausage in the freezer so I may want to give it a try. We liked the “Impossible” burgers and were surprised at how good they tasted! We didn’t care for the link sausage but haven’t tried the bulk sausage. I’ll have to check out the Tuscan tuna pasta recipe you like. I’m not a huge fan of tuna so another recipe would be good.
Maureen
I enjoyed catching up on the comments again. Everyone is doing so well! Things have been really busy here and the next two weeks are more of the same, so progress has been slow. But, I’ve been very good about keeping shopping to a minimum, which has helped. I think I need to stop planning and just make progress, so the “plan” for this week is to utilize all the time when I’m already in the kitchen (waiting for water to boil, etc.) to prep, clean out, and set things aside to use up. We won’t have time for many family dinners this week, so I’ll focus on finding individual meals/snacks and prepping more of the same, too (veggies to dip, slicing cheese, etc). I plan to keep popping back in throughout the month, but also look forward to catching up again with everyone else that’s wrapping up next year.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Maureen, your plan sounds very efficient. I’ve been kind of doing the same thing-working on some items (making biscuits, getting soup in crockpot) while dinner is cooking. I think it does help in getting things done but I have to be careful when multitasking as I’ve been known to forget whether or not I’ve added ingredients or spices already to recipes! Good to hear from you.
Danielle L Zecher
March 1st:
Breakfast: Nick had an egg and cheese bagel and homemade iced hazelnut latte. I had cereal and hot tea.
Lunch: Leftover chicken sandwiches, spicy sweet potatoes, and broccoli salad.
Dinner: Cereal.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Danielle, forgive me for running on and on about all our restaurants! I promise I am in no way involved in eating establishments here-just lots of good options!
I lived in Charlotte for 20 years and when our children were young, we often vacationed in N Myrtle Beach because we could get there in short order, and then we shifted to Ocean Isle, NC for the same reason. SC does have some beautiful beaches. East of Raleigh is certainly different from everything west of there!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Oops. I forgot to update my spending. I spent another 23.76 at the store which brings me to $185.39 for the month. That’s more than I was hoping to spend, but still under budget. $8 of this was food gifts (nuts for family members), $3 for sliced cheese and $12 for 4 dozen eggs. I had a rain check to get them for 2.97 instead of 4.49. I could have waited until March to buy them, but it’s a 30-mile round trip for me to make it to this, my main grocery store. When I met my friend for lunch, I was halfway there so it seemed wise to save the gas from another trip and get the eggs and the other items while I was up that way.
Danielle L Zecher
I’m so glad there are a few people sticking around for March! I probably won’t post every day, either, but hopefully, a few times a week. We ended up eating out on Monday night. It was one of those days where everything went wrong at work and home, so we opted for Olive Garden after work.
Tuesday, 2/28:
Breakfast: I used a Starbucks reward that was about to expire. I think Nick went to McDonald’s on the way to work.
Lunch: Olive Garden leftovers.
Dinner: Chicken (from the freezer in an ATK Indian spiced marinade) sandwiches. I cooked the chicken on the George Forman grill, and it was delicious. The sides were both GCE recipes; the spicy sweet potatoes from the 30 minutes cookbook and the broccoli pecan cranberry salad. I’ve discovered that while I’m not a fan of cooked broccoli, I really like it raw.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
My husband is right there with you re: the raw vs cooked broccoli. I like it both ways, but he especially likes it in broccoli salad. I’ll have to check out Jessica’s recipe.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I got sidetracked with the comments and forgot to enter my meals, so here are several days’ worth.
2/26
B: sausage & cheese biscuit for DH, cheese biscuit for me
L: minestrone soup, hm chicken salad sandwiches using canned chicken (which I don’t usually have). I added craisins and nuts, along with celery, for a different take which my husband seemed to like.
D: hm pizza crust (freezer) with pepperoni (freezer), olives, peppers, onions, sausage (freezer), pepper slices/celery with ranch dip, orange slices
2/27
B: I skipped as I was meeting a friend for an early lunch, DH had protein shake
L: out with friend, DH had LO pizza
D: DH had minestrone, ½ chicken salad sandwich and a sausage with peppers and onions. Definitely a random dinner but I got home late and I was still full from a big lunch so leftovers it was. I had a piece of peanut butter toast.
2/28
B: DH had eggs, pancakes, I had toast
L: minestrone for both, quesadilla for DH, a cheese biscuit for me
D: beef roast, gravy, brown rice/cauli mix, broccoli (freezer)
S: nuts, orange
I feel like I’m finally making headway with my small chest freezer. We are out of meat for sandwiches. I have turkeys (yes plural!) in said freezer, but I just can’t see cooking one for the 2 of us, though that would supply meat for sandwiches and meals- forever! I need to have some company so I can have some people to help us eat it to start with. We’ll see what the new ads bring.
Danielle L Zecher
You should have a second Thanksgiving! I don’t blame you for wanting to wait and cook the turkeys when you’ll have help eating them. That would be a lot of turkey sandwiches and casseroles for just two people.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Danielle, I actually did that last Jan. Our son had eaten Thanksgiving with his wife’s family who doesn’t do a traditional Thanksgiving. So, when they visited in January, we did have another Thanksgiving. Worked out great with a manageable amount of leftovers!
Tasty
The pantry challenge is not happening for us for a few weeks butI hopefully can get back into it for a while by Easter. Right now we are in Myrtle Beach area, in a rented condo so making most of our meals here. Hubby is ‘helping’ with the shopping so we’re not really saving money this month but I’m fine with that.
Before we left home the only thing I had lots left of was a few pounds of potatoes so I mcooked and mashed them and into the freezer they went. They won’t be the best but I used up the sour cream and some cream cheese so that should help. We left 1 day early on our trip and avoided most of the bad weather.
Thought I’d take a quick look tonight and see if anyone was still around. Lots of successes from what I’m reading. I’ll try and pop in occasionally during March and see what’s going on.
Heather, I hope you get some answers from the doctors and that they’re the answers you’re hoping for – hugs as you wait.
I have really enjoyed the challenge and the camaraderie again this year. Wishing you all all the best for 2023 and many thanks to Jessica for hosting us again.
Looking forward to January 1 2024!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Tasty, enjoy your time at Myrtle Beach. You’ve had some warm weather there, I think. Our family vacationed often in that area when my children were little. I grew up about an hour+ north of there in southeastern, coastal NC.
It’s been another great challenge. And yes, thank you to Jessica for hosting. I was just looking over her St Patrick’s day recipes. Yummy.
Danielle L Zecher
Lynn, are you near Kitty Hawk, NC? My NC beach geography is sketchy, so sorry if that’s a dumb question. I’m going with Nick for a work conference later this month and was wondering if you had any restaurant recommendations.
Danielle L Zecher
Have a great time in Myrtle Beach!
Tasty
Just being away from the snow and ice at home is nice. We hadhust got into a regular habit of spending March each year in Hilton Head, for maybe 5 years when Covid hit and this is our first time back in the South. We couldn’t get our usual accommodation in HH so this is similar. Our intention in 2021 had been to come for February and March – such a shame it didn’t happen. Don’t know how many more years we’ll want to do this, or how much longer insurance costs will allow us to do it. Hoping to get some golf in soon if my hip will co-operate – we’ll see!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Danielle, not a dumb question at all! My knowledge of other states’ geography is woefully lacking.
Yes, Kitty Hawk is in my county and its claim to fame (Wright Brothers) is what we are best known for, though the actual Wright Brothers Memorial is in Kill Devil Hills. There are LOTS of great restaurants here, and most should be reopening by the end of the month. We don’t have a lot of chain restaurants though there are some. Most are locally owned and operated. The days they are open vary, so you’d need to check when you get here to be sure of the days. In Kitty Hawk for starters is Run Down Cafe for casual dining and oceanfront views from a top deck and lots of people like Bad Bean for Mexican. JK’s is a great restaurant in Kill Devil Hills with seafood and steaks and Kill Devil Grill has lots of delicious offerings. In Nags Head there is Lone Cedar Restaurant and Sugar Creek, both places with delicious fresh local seafood among other choices. Other good lunch choices include Barefoot Bernie’s in Kitty Hawk, Blue Water in Nags Head and Mama Kwan’s in KDH. The list goes on and on! Our beaches span over 70 miles, so lots of places in-between. Most of the towns are about 5 miles apart, so it’s not a huge distance to travel and in the off season, when you’re coming, traffic shouldn’t be a problem. Hope you will have a great time. It is a beautiful area with lots of varied attractions. Let me know if I can help with anything else. Remind me where you live?
Heather M
Last week ended up being kinda rough. L was too busy and I was trying to deal alone with what the dr is telling me, though I still have more testing this week. But answers would be nice, and after this week appts and results, we should be in a place where I have some. Anyways, I didn’t shop any more because we ended up eating takeout and out 3x over the weekend. We have plenty for this entire week and won’t be doing a repeat weekend like that again soon.
Wed 2/22 dinner: caprese sandwiches, green salad, last of the sweet potato fries
Th 2/23 dinner: It was 81 degrees here! Crazy insanity. So I made an old favorite, salad with mango, goat cheese, chicken, and homemade meyer lemon dressing
Fr 2/24: L finally around in the evening and we opted to pick up sushi and watched an oscar nominated documentary
S 2/25: L gone most of the day, i started making “meatballs” and was about to bake them when he texted to see if we would go last minute to vietnamese food with friends, and then to the evening meeting we were all going to. I tossed those meatballs in the fridge and quickly cleaned up, as he was picking me up 10 minutes later. I had the most delicious healthy and fresh lemon grass chicken w/ salad and rice vermicelli. Was fun being with friends, too.
S 2/26: we had a busy morning and then went to our favorite not-greek diner and had brunch at 2pm. I had french toast and bacon. Later at home I baked the meatballs for Monday, then baked a Trader Joe’s pumpkin muffin mix since it was from Fall 2021 and needed using up (another thing out of the cupboards!). And we watched Elvis, slowly prepping as best we can for the oscars, lol.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Oh Heather, I’m sorry it has been such a rough week for you. That can certainly be tough going it alone, especially when medical information is being shared. Hard to take it all in without another set of ears listening. Hoping you will get those answers you so need.
Despite your rough week, your meals all sounded delish. I think your temperatures were warmer than ours. That salad sounded especially good to me. Grant yourself some grace for the meals you age out. Good you could have dinner with friends. Sounds like a mood lifter. Hang in there.
Danielle L Zecher
I’m sorry you’ve had such a rough week. I hope you get some answers and good news soon.
That salad with the mango and goat cheese sounds wonderful!
Danielle Zecher
Feb. 26th
Brunch: Biscuits (from the freezer) and gravy.
Dinner: Leftover chili from Saturday. I had chili meat in the freezer and defrosted it to go in the crock pot Saturday, which also used some of the canned beans we have an abundance of.
I’m not planning on any additional grocery shopping over the next two days, and we came in at $282.00 for the month. I was hoping for a little lower than that, but I bought a few more things than I planned for easy dinners since work has been so busy. I budgeted $400.00 for the month, so the extra money will be going on the Home Depot card. Our fridge died during the summer and we opted for the 0% financing when we replaced it.
I’m planning to continue the Pantry Challenge into March since the chest freezer is still really full. Is anyone else sticking around in March?
Heather M
You did pretty great in February! I still haven’t made a dent in my cupboards. A few things gone, but not nearly enough. I still have no space and have a lot that’s been in there for a long time and should be rotated out. So I will be lurking around, probably posting 1-2x a week?
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Heather, then maybe there will be 3 of us. Tasty may rejoin us once she returns, though it sounded like she had made some good headway. Like you, I still have way too much food. Definitely a blessed, first world problem! We’re heading out of town for a few days this next weekend, so I’ll be sporadic in March as well. But the accountability is always good for me.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Danielle, I’m planning to continue into March as well as I’ve got a too-full chest freezer too. I was just going to go it solo if everyone else was wrapping up, but if you hang around, I’ll join you.
I feel your pain regarding the refrigerator. Smart idea to use your excess from the month towards that big expense. I remember all of Jessica’s problems with her fridge. Ours is about 5 years old and it’s been worked on several times. It too died this summer. The repairman put an expensive part in it to see if that worked and it didn’t. So, we went to the store and ordered a new one, much to our chagrin. It was due to arrive in a week. To our shock, about 3 days later, while we were waiting, all of a sudden, we heard the refrigerator making ice. We watched it a few days and it did fine. We called the store and cancelled the new purchase. So far (knock on wood) it has been okay, though I always worry that it will go out at the most inopportune time again. Thankfully, we had a friend that had an empty commercial freezer that could accommodate all our frozen food when it went out before.
Danielle L Zecher
Thanks for the recommendations, Lynn! Bad Bean looks wonderful!
I’m in NC, just the opposite side from you, in the mountains of WNC. I’ve lived in NC for 15 years, but have never been to a NC beach (Raleigh is the farthest I’ve been on the eastern side of the state). I’m from SC, so we usually vacation to SC beaches. And they’re a lot closer to us!
ZC from MA
We are almost through February! I will be concluding my challenge soon and since I have most of next week’s meals planned/cooked, I thought a final note would be in order. I’m glad that most things on my list are used up or trimmed down! I’ll be almost out of fruits, veggies, meat and dairy (except butter) by the end of next week if I don’t restock and I’m satisfied to have gone this far.
And that’s it! Thanks everyone for sharing this experience and supporting each other! Wish everyone all the best!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Congrats ZC from MA. I’m in need of things including eggs and produce too, so will be wrapping up the end of the month too, I’m thinking. I am still going to try and be sensible about spending, using up and stocking up in the months ahead. I remember I had continued into March of 2020 when everything shut down. Even then, I had food to spare! That’s probably the lowest I ever got all of my food stores.
It’s been fun. See you again, same time next year!
Heather M
Yay! So glad things went well for you this month. Best wishes through the rest of 2023 and see you in January!!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
2/25
B: avocado toast for me, oatmeal with almonds, blueberries (freezer), honey for DH
L: red beans (freezer) and rice (LO from dinner) and mandarins for both, plus LO quesadilla for DH
D: LO balsamic chicken with mushrooms, LO broccoli salad, LO potatoes-an easy, cook once eat twice dinner for tonight
S: hummus with celery and pepper strips
Since our cooler weather is returning, I decided to make minestrone soup, with: Italian sausage from freezer, ½ of the chickpeas from freezer, zucchini (freezer), tomatoes (frozen from garden) LO green beans plus other veggies (celery and onions) available. I made a slightly smaller amount so we could eat most of it over several days. It’s good to get those items out of the freezer.
I baked some buttermilk biscuits. DH had commented that he wanted a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit for breakfast one morning. I told him I could do most of that (no eggs) so decided to make biscuits today while it was cool. I had a biscuit mix in the pantry, so I used that to make biscuits for the next couple of mornings and then some in the freezer for other mornings. I only made 10, in 2 sizes. Put 6 in freezer.
Also made hummus, finishing up the rest of the chickpeas. It was some of the best I’ve made, I think.
Heather M
Wow this reads like a super successful challenge day! and lots of prep too! Love it! and yay for making the best hummus yet 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
2/26
B: sausage (freezer) & cheese biscuit for DH, cheese biscuit for me
L: minestrone soup, hm chicken salad sandwiches using canned chicken (which I don’t usually have). I added craisins and nuts, along with celery, for a different take which my husband seemed to like.
D: hm pizza crust (freezer) with pepperoni (freezer), olives, peppers, onions, sausage (freezer), pepper slices/celery with ranch dip, orange slices.
It was great to get a few more bits out of the freezer.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
It was a pretty successful day! I was pleased. Not sure what I did differently with the hummus, but we ate it all!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
2/24
B: I had toast, DH had oatmeal with blueberries from freezer, walnuts and honey
L: DH wanted to go out, so we did-slider for me, brisket sandwich for him
D: balsamic chicken thighs with mushrooms, brown rice/cauli mix, broccoli (garden) salad with bacon, raisins and nuts
S: unfrosted cupcakes from the freezer. These cupcakes LO from the baby shower were actually in my mother’s freezer. She needed the space so since I had a bit of space, I brought them back with me last weekend. We’re steadily eating them down! Yum.
I had an e-coupon for a free package of tri-colored peppers, so I went in the store to pick only that up and resisted looking at any other specials. They would have been 4.09. I’ve taken some chickpeas from the freezer and plan to make hummus so that we can have it with the peppers for a snack and/or side. I also have crackers that we could have with hummus. I have pita bread that DH has declined to use for sandwiches, so I may make chips out of it. It may get eaten that way.
Danielle Zecher
You’ve made me want to try freezing some of them the next time I make cupcakes!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Danielle, the cupcakes had been in the freezer for 3 months and I thought they may have dried out a bit, but they were great. I had stored them in a plastic container. The frosted ones I took for our dessert with DS and the crowd last weekend and the unfrosted ones that we’ve eaten this week. As I noted earlier, I actually had enough frosting I’d stashed in the freezer to frost 2 of them. Still trying to rid my freezer of bits and bobs in there!
Maureen
Everyone has been doing such a great job! I enjoyed catching up on the comments. We’ve eaten a few meals out this past week because we were away from the house at meal times. But, I’ve also pulled some things from the freezers to eat up. And I incorporated a few leftovers into a couple of our regular dinners (sides, sauces, etc) to get rid of them. I accidentally bought 2 big bags of potatoes (well, the first was on purpose, but the second was accidental because I forgot I bought the first – good grief), so lots of potatoes in our future. The fridge in quite full, too, so I’m working on that the next couple of days. And we are currently without power (but using a generator for the fridge and heat) because of a big ice storm here in Michigan. I expect the power to be back on for us within 24 hours, at least I hope that’s the case. I think I’ll clean out and reorganize the pantry in the morning…the rest of the family hasn’t been putting things away properly and DH added some snacks in there, so things are falling out on me when I open the door. I want to get it organized again so that people eat up everything that’s open before it gets stale. Still minimal shopping here, so that’s been helpful.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Maureen, hope your power returns soon! I’m glad you have a generator to help tide you over. We finally got a generator after a few hurricanes and random power losses (like when a boat’s dragged anchor knocked out power to our island). Most of our power outages have been during warm weather however so I’m hoping yours will be short lived since it’s so cold. We found that our propane went pretty fast when we were using our generator, but thankful for the power it provided.
Heather M
SO sorry you had to deal with an ice storm. They’re the worst. Good luck eating up all the potatoes… my mind is churning out ideas right now as to how I’d use them up, lol. Hope you got your pantry cleaned up and have been able to make lots of yummy food with that full fridge and “i can find things now!” pantry. 🙂
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I’m not sure what is happening with my comments. Trying again. I’m back and will try to be brief.
Feb 17
B: I skipped
L: out to lunch out of town with my husband’s family (we grew up in the same hometown)
D: at my mother’s that she fixed. She is QUITE insistent at 92 that SHE wants to fix dinner, despite my protestations. She is pretty amazing. We will all head out of town to see our granddaughter tomorrow and I’ve got meals for that, so it will all work out. This will be my mother’s first time meeting her first ever great grandchild! 🙂 So I may be AWOL for a bit but will be back. (I think I forgot to post this entry)
Feb 18
B: ate before we hit the road, toast for me, bacon and eggs for my hubby and Mother ate a Danish
L: ate hm pimento cheese sandwiches we brought with us on the trip, snacks
Got to see our little granddaughter who remains adorable. Mother was thrilled to meet her first grandchild at 11 days old. DD and SIL also arrived to join us.
D: picked up food at nearby restaurant
Feb 19
B: some of us ate breakfast at the hotel, others ate the breakfast casserole I had prepared and brought for breakfast and/or brunch
L: hm pimento cheese sandwiches, fruit from hotel breakfast
D: We had the celebratory meal I’d brought including rib eye steaks, restuffed potatoes, asparagus, the LO strawberries sliced, from Valentines Day and cupcakes and cookies that I had had in the freezer for dessert. It all tasted good and was a hit. The steaks were thin but were especially tender. I figured we ate that meal for < $6/person for 7 of us. Not bad!
Feb 20
B: we ate in the hotel, DS and DIL ate more of the breakfast casserole
L: hm pimento cheese sandwiches and fruit
We left 🙁 to head back to my mother’s and were so sad to do so. “Parting is such sweet sorrow”. I confess, I had to dry some tears. First my daughter and SIL headed back to DC which made me sad, then we left the baby, DS and DIL which made me even sadder. We already miss her so much. I had no idea this grandchild “thing” would be so emotional!
D: ate LOs at Mother’s with some additional sides
Feb 21
B: toast
L: ate on the road (Chik-Fil-A) while heading home. Did stop at Aldi while traveling (we don’t have Aldi) to pick up several loaves of bread (used to be 1.25/loaf, now 2.29 and a bag of navel oranges. Spent 10.06 for a total this month of 161.63.
D: pancakes, sausage and orange slices for Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday
Upon our return, a friend brought us some delicious sausage from a meat farm. We cooked it all up and put it…in the freezer of course! We like to do that so we then just take out a link and microwave it for a quick breakfast.
Feb 22
B: me-avocado toast, DH protein shake
L: steak (freezer) sandwiches with Provolone cheese, mushrooms (freezer) and peppers, orange slices. DH added chips to his
D: Honeyed Italian chicken thighs, roasted potatoes, green beans and orange slices
S: unfrosted cupcakes from the freezer that I frosted with icing-from the freezer. They had been in the freezer for several months but still were tasty.
I will need to be creative this last week as we are low on fruits and vegetables. I still have cauliflower, lettuce in the garden, oranges (my DH may be getting tired of them!), 1 banana, some frozen blueberries, mandarins (still oranges), broccoli and potatoes. Now that I’ve written all of that out, I think we will make out just fine! Lunches may need to be creative. Hoping to finish strong this last week in Feb. Alas, my freezer isn't as empty as I would like.
Heather M
So fun to be with all your family and the new grandbaby!! We will be together in early May, when our son graduates from university. My parents are hoping to make the trip, too, which would be amazing. I think you’ll make do just fine this last week of February, even if you decide to grab a few bits of produce to help you get through. It’s a fun game to figure out good meals with what’s in the house.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Your May plans sound wonderful. Seems like I remember when your son WENT to university and now, he’s graduating?! Wasn’t he in school across the country? The time just flies these days. Hope all is going well with you working.
Heather M
Feb 16: L had another long day, we just ate leftovers(he took lunch- I’ve been really good about sending him with lunch every day)
Feb 17: Made GCE sour cream chicken enchilada casserole without needing to buy a thing. Even unearthed older corn tortillas in the back of the fridge that were already breaking, which made them unusable otherwise and perfect for this. I halved the recipe but put in the full amount of chicken. It was delicious. We topped it with cilantro and chopped tomatoes and lettuce
Feb 18: L was gone all day and evening. I ate leftovers, etc. He took a sandwich and banana for lunch while gone, and ate at the evening event.
Feb 19: we both just snacked on very little until we went to dinner at our favorite local greek diner. I had my usual chicken souvlaki pita which yielded leftovers for lunch Monday lol. L had a burger and fries.
Feb 20: leftovers for lunch for both of us; pancakes with sliced bananas and breakfast turkey sausage on the side for dinner. This used up the last of a box of Kodiak pancake mix from the cupboards.
Feb 21: He took the last of the leftovers in the fridge for lunch(well, I used the last in dinner, but still, the fridge was cleaned of leftovers for a hot minute, until dinner leftovers lol, but it’s not much); I had all the medical appts all day. It was long and exhausting. I had 20 minutes in between two places and opted for a baby cheeseburger and small fries from McDonalds, eaten in the parking lot. I was starving and still had a few hours to go. Dinner I made red beans and andouille sausage and rice. I added a bunch of bell pepper, onion(all already partially used and in the fridge), celery, tomato(already chopped and needing using up!), and garlic and seasonings. It was so delicious. I didn’t want to cook. at all. But I made it happen. First thing, I had gone to the store for a few things, before my appts. Stopped at the mini target right by my grocery store for bread, sour cream, and limes ($6.27) because it saved a few dollars and is not out of the way at all. Then at the grocery I bought pineapple & cantaloupe cuz $2 each, sandwich rolls, blueberries, basil, a bag of garden salad, romaine, parsley, tomatoes, and a mango (total $23.61-everything on sale). I also bought a couple things on Friday($4.01 on tomatoes and clearance chicken thighs). At $274.11 for the month. Might buy 1 or 2 things before the end of the month, but I should be able to keep it under $300. 🙂
Danielle L Zecher
I hope everything went well with all of your appointments. You’re doing great with using leftovers! I’m also hoping to come in under $300.00 this month. I have to go to Sam’s Club for some pet supplies, so I’m hoping not to do my usual of finding all kinds of fun foods we must have.
Heather M
Best wishes at Sam’s. I was pleased with my outcome when I went to Costco a few weeks ago and stuck to my list. I hope your willpower is there, lol.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
You reminded me that somewhere in the freezer I have LO beans and rice myself. I’ll have to hunt it down. I will also check out Jessica’s enchilada casserole. DH likes enchiladas and I haven’t tried her recipe yet. That was a great use of leftovers. Good for you to make dinner-even though you were exhausted. Hope your appointments will yield some answers.
Danielle Zecher
Feb 21st:
Breakfast: Nick had an egg and cheese sandwich and a semi-homemade iced latte. I had a cheese bagel and tea.
Lunch: I had leftover chicken divan and rice. I think it might be even better as leftovers! Nick had lunch out at work.
Dinner: I think Nick snacked. He was teaching after work. I had cereal.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Chicken divan remains one of my favorite meals. My college roommate’s mother first made it for me when I was visiting them and I’ve made it ever since-which is now QUITE a few years! I had always made it with the rice separately, but I have since seen it as a freezer meal where you mix the rice in with the chicken and sauce, and I’ve done it that was too, as a time saver.
Danielle Zecher
Feb. 20th:
Breakfast: McDonald’s on the way to work.
Lunch: Leftover pasta w/ vodka sauce.
Dinner: GCE Chicken Divan with Curry, with a few modifications. I don’t love broccoli, so I used squash and zucchini instead (two steam in the microwave bags from the freezer) and made it with the white sauce. And I made the oven baked rice to go with it. It was so good!!! It also used some shredded cooked chicken from the freezer.
Heather M
OOOOO I love that you swapped out the veg. I like broccoli but also like to make food with what’s in the house. Glad to hear it worked out so well.
Danielle Zecher
February 19th:
I did a ton of baking! I made three batches of cupcakes (totaling 84 cupcakes); chocolate cherry, lemon raspberry, and pineapple upside down. We spent the evening delivering cupcakes to our neighbors. I kept a few for us and brought the rest to work this morning. I also made a batch of brownies to take to the FD this morning when I had to go for work. All of the baking managed to use up the three opened bags of powdered sugar and two opened bags of brown sugar. I think I only have one open bag of each kind of sugar now. I also used up some boxes of cake mix , cans of pie filling, and lemons that needed to be used.
I was tired after all of the baking so opted for an easy dinner of jarred vodka sauce dressed up with some onion and garlic cooked in olive oil and served over cavatapi pasta.
I have a Wal-Mart pickup order scheduled for after work, but it’s mostly produce, dairy, and bread. I’m trying to hit a balance between trying to clear out the freezer and cabinets while still being realistic about how much time and energy I have to cook this month while we’re on a tight deadline at work.
Some of our neighbors gave us eggs from their chickens when we dropped off the cupcakes, so I don’t have to buy eggs this week.
Heather M
I LOVE that you made all those cupcakes to share with people! So awesome! And to have used up all those opened bags of sugars, must feel so so good. Easy dinners are the reward after all the baking, lol. Thank goodness for jarred sauces.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
What a kind gesture to share all your baked goodies, and such a great way to clear out the cupboards. The cupcake varieties sound delicious. Yum. I’d had some leftover cupcakes myself that I had frozen, some iced and some not. I was worried since they’d been in the freezer since December they might not still be good, but they tasted great.
Tasty
Sunday February 19
b – hubby had his usual, I had yogurt and a toasted English muffin – another thing finished from the freezer!!
L – I had apple, cheese and a piece of lemon loaf, hubby made himself a sandwich – probably cheese
S – Baked chicken, Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes and sprouts.
The weather is changing our plans for leaving on vacation. Looks like we need to leave a day or 2 early or contend with a snow storm.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Tasty, yes, I see that a major storm is brewing here in the US. I hope you can leave early so it doesn’t upend your plans.
Tasty
Saturday February 18
B – the usual
L- cheesey nachos – that finished off a bag of nacho chips and used all the tex-mex cheese in the fridge
S – Spaghetti bolognese – I actually made the sauce from scratch. Seems like a while since I really did any cooking. Of course, it means there are another couple of containers waiting to go in the freezer but one of them would make a good quick supper when we get home from our trip. The fridge is almost empty – it must soon be time to leave.