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
Thursday, February 13, 2025
B – Paul had yogurt almonds and a banana. I had bran cereal with strawberries, blueberries and peanuts.
L – Paul had leftover Chinese general Tso from the freezer from our last Chinese take out. I also made him some rice and gave him 6 coconut shrimp from the freezer. It’s time to finish off the frozen appetizers. I had a salad with some small white beans with a can I opened from the pantry. I also had one slice whole wheat bread.
D – we had burgers. Paul also had French fries. I had bean salad using up the can beans from the can I opened up for lunch.
I am definitely making headway in my freezer. I’m happy with the progress I’m making even though it’s slow.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
2/13/25
I thought my comment disappeared, but it wound up as a reply, with the wrong date and misspellings. Not sure what was going on with me earlier, so I’m going to try again.
B: avocado toast for me, cereal for DH
L: dh went out, I ate soup
D: lo meatloaf, lo baked potatoes, Greek salad and cooked carrots
S: went to an open house for our town’s new youth center and had fruit and veggies there
Heather M
Hello All! Thank you all for your well-wishes; I too am so glad to be feeling better. And, I’m thrilled my needs to be used shelf has motivated a few of you(Karen J, Maureen) to do the same. I love how we all feed off each other’s ideas and successes- it started with Maureen inspiring me, and now it feels full circle. Love this little group here. 🙂
On to dinners from the past several days, as brunch/lunch is the usual set of leftovers, salads, sandwiches, etc.
Mon 2/10: tacos with leftover things from superbowl nachos; I also cooked up a bunch of salsa chicken in the IP for tacos, plus lunches, another dinner
Tues 2/11: zucchini and spinach frittata, garlic toast; used 5 eggs plus a bunch of egg whites- the egg whites are finally almost gone. Need to evaluate whether I want to keep buying and using them. I’m inclined to, but the costco amount is A LOT.
Wed 2/12: a favorite around here, but our son’s first time having it (I started making it when he was off at univ/grad school for 5 years) and he loved it too! I doubled it so we’d have enough for C to take it for lunch thurs and friday. King Ranch Quinoa and Chicken Casserole. I already had the quinoa and chicken cooked which was great, as it still needs time to make, not a 30 min meal, lol, but the last part is all oven time so not terribly time consuming otherwise.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I love this little group too! 🙂
Karen J
11/12
B-Greek yogurt, banana, granola
L-leftover chowder
D- salmon burgers and last of the tater tots
Only one more meal of salmon burgers and they are gone. The garage freezer (on top of the refrigerator) has one entirely empty shelf and the house freezer is looking much leaner. I got out my freezer inventory list and checked off all the things I used in January and was pretty impressed. The other day I made a three grocery store shop-all in the same area- for loss leaders and spent only $60. We have two vacations coming up-love being retired!-and it’s been nice to add the extra $ to the vacation fund.
Heather M
That’s so great about how much freezer space you’ve gained! We only have the 1 freezer (we have no space for a second fridge or deep freeze, just our fridge in the kitchen), and it was half empty from being overstuffed by the end of January. But I’ve filled it back up, though it’s not overstuffed. I restocked on some things at costco and that’s all it took. Love that you have vacations coming up!
Stephanie M
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
B – Paul had yogurt, almonds and a banana. I had bran cereal, strawberries, blueberries and peanuts.
L – Paul had the last of the deli chicken on whole wheat. I had a salad with the last of the rotisserie turkey breast I bought a few days ago. I also had two slices whole wheat.
D – leftover lentil soup from the freezer that I made a couple of weeks ago. Two bags left.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
2/12/25
B: the usual yogurt/cottage cheese for me, yogurt and cereal for DH
L: I ate my little bit of LO salmon and LO cabbage. DH had the last of the chicken noodle soup from the freezer and a toasted pimento cheese sandwich
D: dh had requested a Cobb salad. Believe it or not, I had everything I needed , thanks to keeping blue cheese for Jessica’s pear salad, to make them for dinner. I also made a pot of minestrone soup. I used the last of the Italian sausage from the freezer and my last container of frozen tomatoes from our garden, plus lots of fresh and canned vegetables. It’s so good . DH had a bowl of it to supplement the salad. We will have it for the cool days that are expected later this week.
Maureen
Everyone is still doing so well! Lynn, I’m sorry your visit was cut short, but happy to hear that you have working appliances again. Heather, I’m glad you are feeling better and back to cooking. I’m also going to implement your “needs to be used up shelf”. I had put a few things aside in my overflow pantry in the basement to use up, but I think I need to clear a spot in my kitchen pantry where I can see everything all the time. My girls have a snow day tomorrow, so maybe I’ll empty and reorg the pantry. Karen, your soup sounds wonderful! I just froze the last serving of my recent soup because we weren’t eating it. The last few days involved a restaurant meal for a meeting, multiple meals of leftovers, and two dinners that were about 50% things I wanted to use up. They were very boring, but I wasn’t feeling motivated so at least we were fed at home. I’ve also realized that my girls are old enough to just make themselves meals when they need to, but they are not very inclined to use items that I want them to use. I just keep reminding myself that once I get the pantry and freezer cleaned out, then I can shop for only things we’ll use soon or for our favorites and then I won’t have to go through this again.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Thanks Maureen. Yes, even a short visit was a treat. And it is good to have working appliances again. I told my husband I guess they would be our Valentine and anniversary gifts! LOL.
Heather M
Yay! Glad you’re figuring out what works for you and what will work in the future given your girls are able to feed themselves, too. Also, so many snow days this winter it seems.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
2/12/25
Hello PC friends! I lost my post the other day, so I’ll summarize.
First off, we now have a new dishwasher and dryer. The dryer began working after a visit from the repair man. We will update the outlet however. We were glad to be able to use both after two weeks, tho still very annoyed with the circumstances. Still on temporary power.
The toddler got sick the night of her birthday 🙁 (Friday). She was better Saturday morning so we continued on with our plans to travel there Saturday. She still wasn’t herself for the family party but didn’t have fever or the throw ups. The cake and cookies were a great hit with the family. Along the way, the dinner plans changed and the other grandmother made dinner since I brought the desserts. So now I have those steaks still in the freezer. We will eat them at some point. We had planned to stay 2 nights, but then my son got sick, so we headed home after the one night only and thankfully did not get sick ourselves. Regrettably a very short visit, but these things happen.
We’ve continued to eat what we have though I have bought some proteins. With the news regarding poultry and other items, I’m glad I’ve got room in the freezer to purchase items when they are available and a good price.
I made a quick stop at Aldi on our return home. DH came in (never a good thing!) and a few extra snack items wound up in the cart. I did buy some of the Hawaiian rolls they had on sale to replace the sliders I took with me from the freezer. I make them up in advance, freeze them and then they are ready for company or to take along. Also bought their knock off Daves bread for DH, tri colored peppers, crackers to go with our cheese and yogurt that we were out of.
I had planned to make pizza dough for the Super Bowl but didn’t have time. I wound up using some of the flour tortillas I had to make personal pan pizzas and they turned out well! The stack of 40 is decreasing.
I made pimento cheese for lunches from cheese we had and pimentos I had canned, so a jar out of the pantry. We also ate soup from the freezer. We have cold weather again so I may make another pot of soup as we are now out. Heather, I see y’all got snow.
Ate meatloaf from the beef I had bought and salmon from the freezer. Also eating the asparagus I’d bought to take to the birthday dinner with other sides from what we have.
Cleaning out my purse, I found a receipt I’d forgotten for $20 from last month, so I spent more than I thought. 🙁 But was still under budget and trying to remain under this month as well.
Karen J
Lynn, I’m glad you got to celebrate your granddaughter’s birthday, even if she wasn’t feeling 100%.
I am back to shopping, however we still have proteins in the freezer so am not adding to those. During pantry challenge, in my attempt to spend very little money, I didn’t buy fresh veg or fruit. This month’s goal is to incorporate much more of those. I wish we had an Aldi here as I hear so much about their good prices, but our state has zero.
I finally made seafood chowder. I boiled down the shrimp shells with Old Bay, Kinders salt/pepper/garlic mix and onion powder for the stock (thanks for the idea!) and used whole milk instead of cream as that’s what I had. Also from the freezer I used one of my mirepoix mixes of onion, celery and carrots, shrimp, one cod fillet, one small salmon fillet, and the rest of a bag of corn. I also threw in two cans of clams, diced potatoes and a little additional seasoning. It turned out yummy and used up a bunch of odds and ends. Plus there are enough leftovers for lunch today.
Lynn from NC Outer Bankd
Yes, we were thankful she rallied a little bit for the day. They are all finally back to 100%.
Karen, your seafood chowder sounds delicious! All those different kinds of seafood! Mine was a little light on the seafood (shrimp) but it was still good and used up some freezer items.
I enjoy shopping at Aldi when we’re on the road as the closest one to us is 2.5 hours away. I find that I can still beat some of their prices when shopping sales, but for items that infrequently go on sale, they have a good base price. For instance, this was a small run as the avocados and Roma tomatoes were the same price or a bit higher than ones I had bought from the stores I shop this week. But, their Hawaiian rolls were 2.29 which is even better than when other stores put them half off, and tricolor pepper were about 2.40 compared to $1/apiece on sale this week. Their prices on other produce like spinach, sprouts and some of their specialty cheeses are very good. Their knock off Dave’s killer bread was 3.49 compared to $5-6 in the store and DH thinks it’s just as good. Their selection is limited, but I like to check in. They do put a few items on sale each week, alternating fruits and then veggies. They haven’t been in NC all that long, so maybe they’ll expand your way at some point. I did notice their eggs were $5+ which is about par for everywhere else here these days.
Heather M
Lynn, I’m sorry everyone got sick while you were visiting and also so glad you are both feeling well still! Also glad you were able to celebrate your granddaughter. Love that you’ve figured out ways to use up that massive pile of tortillas! And, I’m so glad you have the appliance situation finally figured out! Now for the temporary power to become permanent…. 🙂
Stephanie M
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
B – Paul had a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and a yogurt with banana and almonds. I had bran cereal with strawberries, blueberries and a side of peanuts
L – Paul had the last can of chicken noodle soup from the pantry. No more soups in there. He also had the last two pieces of Stromboli that I made for the superbowl. I had a roast chicken sandwich in whole wheat.
D – leftover turkey meat loaf, last of the leftover mashed potatoes, peas and salad.
Heather M
Hello All! Guess what?? I finally started cooking dinners again! SInce it’s been a few days I’ll skip breakfast/brunch/lunch reporting, which is mostly the usual anyways (leftovers, salads, typical sandwiches, etc).
Fri 2/7: an easy pasta with rotisserie chicken, spinach(that was about to go), onions, garlic, and a sauce made of half and half, a little sour cream, and sweet chili sauce (a jar that had been in the cupboards a long time, now open and getting used). It was so yummy!)
Sat 2/8: We went to a movie a solid 30+ minutes away, plus parking a few blocks away, etc, and it started at 3:45pm. So, I judiciously prepped food beforehand so it would only take maybe 15 minutes to have dinner on the table when we got home. Helped avoid takeout and we ate healthier too. We had greek quinoa bowls: quinoa, rotisserie chicken, garbanzos, cucumber, tomato, red onion, kalamatas, and I made a quick tzatziki which had time for the flavors to really meld in the fridge while we were gone. I also made extra quinoa and have plans for it this week.
Sun 2/9: C went off to watch the superbowl with friends. L and I had a nacho bar. We each had a personal pan- i have 1/4 sheetpans that are great- of chips with melted cheese, then toppings included taco seasoned ground beef, refried beans i mixed with enchilada sauce (I always do this with refried beans, gives them so much flavor), guacamole(i had a few avocados about to go), chopped tomato/green onion/lettuce, sliced black olives, salsa. We also had raw veggies and kettle chips with Trader Joe’s caramelized onion dip. Needless to say, lots of leftovers, but most will be repurposed (or snacked on lol). Neither of us had eaten much all day, so we did enjoy the food.
I also cleared a small shelf in a cupboard to make it my “needs to get used up” shelf. And filled it with things I found that need using desperately. I actually found a few really old things that I tossed: a cream of celery soup with a 2012 exp date! and jellos with 2015 exp dates! I was shocked. I’m usually pretty good about keeping an eye on things, but these really got lost in the mix. This is why the shelf. I’ll add things whenever I find something aging too much but still usable.
Several things on the shelf are from the baking cupboard. I rarely use mixes of things and have been gifted some over the years. They are aging. I used one for snickerdoodles yesterday, and it made 18 small cookies, that weren’t amazing, but ok. They’ll probably be gone fairly quickly.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Oh Heather, SO glad you’re up to cooking again! And your meals sound delish!
Karen J
Heather, you’ve motivated me. I have a top shelf in a cupboard where I put all the food items I buy “special” or don’t fit into my regular pantry categories. I am going to take them all down today and see what’s there-plus check expiration dates. Then look for ways to use those six jars of specialty olives etc. 🙂
Your salad sounds really good and healthy! I usually have quinoa around, but alas none for January challenge this year. Have you tried Jessica’s egg quinoa bites recipe? They are a favorite here and a great way to use up odds and ends.
I’m glad you are feeling better!
Lynn from NC Outer Bankd
2/23/25
B: avocado toast for me, cereal for DH
L: dh ate out, I ate soup
D: lo meatloaf, lo baked potato, cooked carrots, Greek salad
S: I attended the grand opening of a new building here in our town and ate fruit and vegetables at the open house
Stephanie M
Sunday, February 9, 2025
B – Paul had scrambled eggs and turkey sausage. I skipped.
L – Paul skipped and I had leftovers from last night which was take out from a local Italian restaurant.
D – Super Bowl snacks.
We were very busy all weekend. When we moved here we had so much to unpack
The goal was to find a place for everything. By nature I’m an organized person and I have an affinity for all things that resemble and act as containers like baskets, bins, reusable bags, etc. so I spent all weekend organizing my pantry, my laundry room cabinets and my master walk in closet. Lots of trips to home goods and Lowe’s but now everything looks nice with its new containers. The shelf on top of my closet now has three beautiful blue container bins with lids. The fabric around the container have a nice floral print on them and they are holding my purses. In my laundry room cabinets I went with wicker baskets. There are two cabinets with three shelves each. So each shelf has two rectangular baskets for a total of 6 baskets for each cabinet and they’re holding things like stain removers, extra cleaning cloths, dog grooming items, lint rollers, and a pill removing thing. (The thing that removes the tiny round balls from your clothes). And in my pantry I went with all clear refrigerator bins so I can easily see what I have. I had a lot of fun with this project and I keep looking at it all. lol. Paul was busy too. He built a nice coral to put our trash cans in on the side of the house. Now they can leave the garage and go outside. And from the road all you can see is a white square thing with a gate on it. He used white pvc instead of wood so it stays nice. After all that we went to our daughters house for the superbowl.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Can you make a house call to the Outer Banks to get me organized?? 🙂 Sounds very nice.
Heather M
Stephanie, the organizing all sounds soooooo awesome!!! I also would not be able to stop looking at it all. 🙂 What a productive and good weekend!
Karen J
Stephanie, wow! What an accomplishment to complete all that organization!
And as a side note, aren’t those little pill removing things a marvelous invention? I get such satisfaction from using mine.
Maureen
Chocolate frosting for his mouth sounds perfect. I’m not a fan of black frosting staining my teeth and lips. We’ve had a good, but busy weekend, so I’m trying to catch up on things today. I can’t tell what the people at home ate yesterday, which probably isn’t a good sign that anything I was trying to get rid of disappeared. DD and I ate out twice – lunch at our event and dinner out with her friend before a concert. And we brought home leftover pizza, sliced apples, and some raw veg…yummy, but not helping me empty the fridge/freezer/pantry. So, today was fend for yourself lunch/brunch. I had leftovers. Dinner will be early before DD leaves to babysit – pork loin, leftovers for sides, and salad. I’m hoping to pull a few small things from the freezer to snack on tonight during the Superbowl, since dinner will be so early.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Maureen, that’s a good point regarding black icing! The cake and cookies were well received!
Stephanie M
Friday, February 7, 2025
B – Paul had a yogurt parfait and toast. I had bran cereal with strawberries and blueberries and a side of peanuts.
L – we both had salads with grilled chicken.
D – our HOA community has a Facebook page and every few weeks they make an announcement that a food truck is coming. Last month it was lobster rolls which our daughter and her husband bought from. Last night it was pizza which Paul bought from. So he had that and I took some whole wheat pancakes out of the freezer and had that with turkey sausage and scrambled eggs.
So. Have a question. In New Jersey at this time of year it’s never good to buy strawberries because they’re not in season and they’re tasteless. They’re not even red inside. They’re white. So I don’t buy them until summer. Also they’re not a cherry to be found anywhere at this time of year. So when they come into season I buy them constantly and strawberries too.
Here in Virginia I see cherries all the time in Publix and Kroger and I only recently decided to buy some thinking they would be awful but they weren’t. They were really good. Then two days ago I bought strawberries thinking the same thing but they were also really good. Any idea why this is? Now if only I could get a decent tomato in the summer. But for that I have to go back to New Jersey to get a “Jersey tomato” which they are known for. But we go back to New Jersey usually once a month so I’m August I’m going to get a bunch.
Heather M
It’s all about where the produce is sourced from. Most strawberries in winter come from southern CA, a few from Fla. Apparently Cherries in the winter come mostly from Chile. Tomatoes, you probably need to hit up farmers markets in the summer to get decent tomatoes in virginia. They definitely have a lot more flavor than the grocery store. That’s been my experience.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Thank you all for your kind thoughts with our appliance dilemma. The electrician came and says it’s NOT in the outlet or wall, that the right amount of electricity is getting to the dryer. So it seems, it may well be the dryer, which as Maureen said, would be the simplest problem. We’d paused the pickup of the old dryer, but they came today to pick it up while the electrician was here. They called the service department who wants to come and take “another look” at the new one, though he did yesterday. He never came. 🙁 They are going to come tomorrow morning. Of course we need to leave to get to our little granddaughter’s birthday party! The electrician and the service guys were just hanging around for an hour I’ll bet. And at the end of the day, no dryer and no dishwasher. It IS stressful and DH, who’s dealing with it more directly, is quite frustrated. The electrician confirmed that the dishwasher is also getting power, so maybe we can get that delivered when we get back in town. But going without those 2 appliances for a week and 1/2 is time consuming, tho a first world problem I realize. We didn’t have a dishwasher in our first house until we remodeled the kitchen, but that was over 40 years ago!
Meanwhile, I cooked and decorated- which I find therapeutic. My DDIL had sent me pictures of Elmo cookies and a Cookie Monster cake that she liked.
You know how you always see the Pinterest item people want, and then how it actually turned out? (Usually bad!) That’s what I was afraid of, but they turned out great!! I think DDIL will be pleased. They are quite cute. The only real difference is Cookie Monster’s mouth isn’t black, but brown as I didn’t have black food coloring so used chocolate frosting instead. I used a combination of homemade buttercream and purchased (blue, chocolate-in pantry) icing on the homemade banana cake and Elmo sugar cookies. Now if the cake can make the 3.5 hour trip safely. I took pictures and am also taking leftover icing and tools to make repairs if I need to.
2/7/25
B: cottage cheese with leftover ambrosia. DH had cereal
L: soup and a random salad using up LO roasted veggies, fruit, a tablespoon of chicken salad, the last of a darkening avocado and lettuce. DH is on a quesadilla kick, so as he dealt with workers, I made him a chicken (from a can) cheese quesadilla with peppers and onions. He added salsa, sour cream, avocado
D: LO casserole- gone, Greek salad gone, ambrosia gone and DH had raw carrots too.
I used a large can of chicken from the pantry to make the chicken salad for our lunch on the road tomorrow. I’ll also take fruit and veggies. Using fresh chicken would taste better, but I went for convenience and it got a can out of the pantry. I’ll make wraps with some of the torts we are slowly eating down.
When I made the Greek salad, I remembered the Kalamata olives I discovered in the pantry. But, I found a jar of queen green olives stuffed with feta in the fridge, so chopped those up instead of opening another jar.
I used Jessica’s chicken salad recipe adding craisins, mayo and celery like she does. I thought I was out of celery but discovered the skinniest little pieces with leaves that I was going to put in the freezer for broth. Now the celery is definitely gone.
I hope this post isn’t wonky. Parts have disappeared so hope I’m not redundant.
Heather M
Sheesh the electricity and dryer saga. No fun at all. I hope they can get it resolved asap for you. At least you were able to channel your frustration into kitchen wins. The cake situation sounds awesome and I bet it went over beautifully this weekend! Also, Love your choices and swaps for using things up. What a yummy roadtrip lunch you all had. 🙂
Maureen
Fingers crossed the electrician finds the cause and it’s simple! I’m almost rooting for a lemon of a dryer, as that’s probably the simplest fix. I bought a little sandwich stuff for my youngest for the next few days when she’s on her own for a couple of meals and then stole enough for my lunch today…it just sounded good. Tonight is burgers. I bought buns (but those should work for the sandwich fixings, too), but the patties are from the freezer. There are still quite a few more, so I might have to get creative with some of them. Tomorrow we have an event for the first part of the day where we will get lunch and a concert in the evening, so we might end up eating out. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!
Heather M
So fun you went to a concert! Hope you had a great time.
Heather M
OOPS I sent my post as a comment reply. Here it is:
Hello All! Last few days I’ve shopped and replenished staples and things that were getting low-almost out of rice! I buy it in huge bags at costco and its stored for ages. And many other things, like chicken breasts, tinned fish/chicken, and on and on. But I feel better about things for the next several months now, and will only buy fresh items and things we really need. No big stock ups for a while. Still feels like subsistence cooking. Wed I went to trader joes, thurs to costco. Last few days:
2/5 brunch: i had rolls (newly bought), tuna, banana, L took a salad with chicken, almonds, banana; C ate at work
2/5 dinner: Trader joe’s mandarin orange chicken over half and half rice, steamed peas and broccoli from the freezer
2/6 brunch: L took a salad with orange chicken, almonds, pineapple; C worked from home and ate a toasted turkey/cheddar; I had a tuna sandwich and sun chips
2/6 dinner: costco rotisserie chicken, C finished the yellow rice w/broccoli, L finished the half and half rice w/broccoli, I finished the white rice.
Karen J
I’ve had two pretty good nights of using up items for dinner.
I finally made the chicken pot pie. I used the last frozen pie crust, a freezer bag of chicken tenderloins, the last of the frozen mixed veg, the end of a bag of frozen corn, some of my frozen sautéed mushrooms, a few chopped baby carrots, and some onion.
Last night we had a box of tortellini with shrimp from the freezer, the rest of a jar of pesto, more frozen sautéed mushrooms, frozen peas and some grated parmesan.
Now tonight we will have leftover chicken pot pie or tortellini, because of course, there are leftovers.
We did do a Costco run (first time in two months). I was careful about buying food items and stuck to my list. I picked up two canisters of our favorite Kirkland Columbian coffee as I’m worried the price is going to go way up and we drink it daily. I was going to check egg prices but forgot. Our Fred Meyer, which usually has fairly decent prices, has eggs for $7.49 a dozen. I heard on the news to expect egg prices to increase another 20%. Sigh.
On the plus side, my freezer definitely is slimmed down.
Stephanie M
Isn’t it so rewarding to see the last of so many things!!!
Heather M
Yay for the freezer slimming down! May be good for snagging well-priced items as they come available(if egg prices are going up, and hearing about cattle herds acquiring bird flu too, i wonder how many more basics and proteins are going to go up in price and only feel reasonable to buy on sale?). I also did my first Costco run for real and it was a doozy. But I’m feeling good about my purchases. Have a great weekend!
Stephanie M
Thursday, February 6, 2025
B – Paul had toast and yogurt and a banana. I had bran cereal with bananas and blueberries and peanuts.
L – Paul had two sloppy joes using up a bag of sloppy joes that I made a couple of months ago. Two bags left. He also used up two burger rolls from the freezer. Two left. I had a ham sandwich using up the last of the ham.
D – leftover stir fry and rice using up both.
At night while we were watching tv Paul said “there’s no snacks around”. I laughed and told him there’s fruit but that didn’t sound appealing to him. I have home made chocolate cake in the freezer so we’ll have that over the weekend. On one hand he tells me not to buy cookies anymore or bake any cakes. And when I don’t, he looks for those things. lol.
Heather M
Ha! Paul is in great shape, and if you’re only making things and storing them like you do in single servings, he will still have his treats. Or maybe you can find some more “healthy” things to bake that he might enjoy and he won’t feel guilty. Like cake made with a fruit puree (apple, pumpkin, etc) in place of added fat, lower sugar, whole wheat or oats,etc. That’s what I’m trying to do and need to do more of. Hope you have a great weekend! Cannot believe grandbaby is 1!!
Stephanie M
Hi heather. Yes I still freeze things in single servings and I have several pieces of chocolate cake in my freezer but it was getting too late that night when he wanted a sweet snack to defrost a piece. You have a good memory to remember that I freeze things in single serving!! lol. He only claims he doesn’t want to have all kinds of “stuff” in the house that we shouldn’t be eating but he’s full of bologna!! On one hand he says don’t buy anymore cookies and when I don’t he wants them. So I just keep buying them and he keeps eating them. lol.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Oh this sounds like my husband too! Usually though, if I rustle around in the kitchen, I can find something for him to eat or make that qualifies as a “snack”. Most recently, he really enjoyed the hummus I made. I liked it too and we both enjoyed it with veggies and I think he had his in a few tort chips.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
2/6/25
B: both had yogurt with add ins and coffee
L: I went out with friends. DH ?
D: dh and I finished my leftovers from lunch as well as some of the casserole with a Greek salad and leftover ambrosia.
S: dh had cereal
Well, the status of our appliances is not good. The dryer and dishwasher were being delivered today. They came and hooked up the dryer first, and it wouldn’t stay on. The old dryer would come on , and stay, giving an error message. The new one went off immediately. So now, we fear the wiring in the walls is ruined, or at least the outlet, though we really aren’t sure. Possibly the new dryer is a lemon? But we doubt that’s the case. We paused the dishwasher install with the other crew and an electrician is coming tomorrow. 🙁 Stay tuned.
Karen J
Lynn, how stressful! I’m so sorry you and your husband are having to deal with all that.
Heather M
Oh no!!!!! Lynn, I wish you well with this endeavour. I hope the electrician can figure it out and that it’s not too pricy of a fix. I hope your weekend is wonderful still. 🙂
Maureen
I’m so glad to hear that you are feeling better, Heather! Those cake pops sound wonderful. I’m sure the grands had fun. I did make a small batch of soup with a few freezer and pantry ingredients on my hit list. There’s 1-2 servings left, so that might go in the freezer tomorrow like Lynn’s extra casserole. It feels odd to put things into the freezer, but a meal ready to go is much better than a few ingredients in there. The girls didn’t have school today because of ice in the morning. Things were fine by lunch time, so we headed out to run a ton of errands and grabbed lunch out. “Dinner” was various snacks and leftovers, as everyone had different schedules tonight. I got a few groceries in the last couple of days while out…mostly milk, fruit, and veg.
Heather M
We were supposed to have that dreaded ice… and I’m guessing it did happen nearby, but we were above freezing by early in the morning so lucked out. Glad it wasn’t too bad for you. Love that you made soup using things on your hit list. I’m hoping to do that this weekend. I just haven’t had the brainpower to deal with that yet, just survival cooking this week. Hope you have a great weekend.
Heather M
Hello All! Last few days I’ve shopped and replenished staples and things that were getting low-almost out of rice! I buy it in huge bags at costco and its stored for ages. And many other things, like chicken breasts, tinned fish/chicken, and on and on. But I feel better about things for the next several months now, and will only buy fresh items and things we really need. No big stock ups for a while. Still feels like subsistence cooking. Wed I went to trader joes, thurs to costco. Last few days:
Wed brunch: i had rolls (newly bought), tuna, banana, L took a salad with chicken, almonds, banana; C ate at work
Wed dinner: Trader joe’s mandarin orange chicken over half and half rice, steamed peas and broccoli from the freezer
Thurs brunch: L took a salad with orange chicken, almonds, pineapple; C worked from home and ate a toasted turkey/cheddar; I had a tuna sandwich and sun chips
Thurs dinner: costco rotisserie chicken, C finished the yellow rice w/broccoli, L finished the half and half rice w/broccoli, I finished the white rice.