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 6 of the Pantry Challenge.
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First off: Happy Birthday to Heather! She is one of the OG Pantry Challengers as are many of you. It’s been so fun to read your comments and encouragements to one another. That is such a gift to me. Thank you!
I wish I were able to reply to every single comment during the PC, but I am just short of time. Know that I’m reading and love that new folks have joined us and lots of regulars have returned. Yay!
What We Ate
Breakfast – I started the morning baking two loaves of Sourdough Rye Bread without the rye. I actually submitted an order to Vitacost yesterday for more. They had a great sale I couldn’t pass up. Then I made myself a bowl of Instant Oatmeal.
Lunch – FishChick17 finished off the Broccoli Cheese Soup. We both made salads. I topped mine with leftover Grilled Pork Tenderloin from last night. That salad in the picture had more than 40 grams of protein!
Dinner – Tuesdays are for tacos. I cooked up three pounds of Taco Meat and set out a bunch of Taco Fillings. Everyone made what he wanted.
How did Day 6 go for you?
Angela
B- breakfast biscuit with sausage, cheese & veggies baked in; hot tea with honey & lemon
L- chicken salad with celery, carrots & pecans
D – Dinner out with friends.
Allie from Ontario
T left early to drive to Havelock to see his dad while I dealt with snow shoveling and various other house jobs
What we ate on Jan 6
Brunch: T had cereal with banana before he left and when he got home he cut a big chunk off the ham (that I was intending to use for a frittata) and made a sandwich…oops! I had my mixed berry smoothie + ryvita with peanut butter. I snacked on some tortilla chips with home canned tomato salsa which I firmly believe counts as a vegetable 🙂
Dinner: I easily switched up my plans by raiding the freezer for a container of meat sauce, a Costco rectangular ciabatta bun & some pats of a compound butter (garlic, parm, basil). I cooked the last of the rigatoni and we ate this with some romaine leaves dipped in a simple ranch dressing (ie a very lazy salad 🙂
Perhaps I’m the only one, but the page that I had left open to follow along never posted a day 6 or 7 and I had to do some (not very hard) searching to find this page with day 6 and 7??
Kathryn M
B – pastries
L- last of the leftover spaghetti
Snack – Ice cream
D – I had a bowl of granola cereal. Spouse made a ham and cheese tortilla contraption in the air fryer.
Maureen
I boiled some eggs for my daughter for easy “second” dinner options for after dance, so I had an egg salad sandwich for brunch. And a snack of cheese and crackers mid-afternoon. Then we had alfredo for dinner. I used up a bag of frozen tortellini and some older vegetables from the fridge.
Roberta in So Cal
Tues. 1/6/26
B: For 3. Hubs had his usual cereal (w/ banana), toast, OJ, and coffee. Son and I had cereal and coffee.
L: For 4. Hubs–ham & cheese sandwich, salad, yogurt w/ jam, apple & orange slices, 2 Trader Joe’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups. Son and GF–turkey and cheese sandwiches, salad. Me–ham and cheese sandwich, crudités, orange slices.
D: For 3. Burrito bowls (black beans, rice, LO corn, shredded cheese, sour cream, sliced olives, sliced grape tomatoes, salsa–whatever combination each person wanted), green salad, apple & orange slices, See’s chocolates for dessert (continuing to eat up gifts Hubs received from students).
I made a huge batch of black beans in the crock pot–used some for dinner and will stash the rest in 2-C portions in the freezer. Also made croutons and salad dressing (Jessica’s Dijon vinaigrette) and put it in the fridge for future salads. I overcooked the croutons a bit. They’re so-so, but the chickens might get them. At least they won’t be totally wasted. Ack!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/6/26
Happy belated birthday Heather!
B: Greek yogurt and coffee for both
L: DH had a sandwich and the last of the vegetable beef soup. I snacked as I was cooking.
D: chicken (freezer)/cheese quesadillas with lettuce and salsa. I would typically add black beans but instead, we ate some of the black eyed peas I’d frozen. We also had fruit and tortilla chips with guacamole. I’m not going to tell y’all how out of date the guac was while in the freezer!! But the color and smell was okay as was the taste. I’m here to say we survived it and it actually tasted pretty good. 🙂
This was a busy day. I’m heading out of town to visit my mom. DH isn’t joining me this time, so I did some prep cooking to leave food for him so he won’t head out to dinner or pick up!
Since he ate the last of the vegetable beef soup, I made ham bone soup to have going forward for lunches, to go with sandwiches. I also made one of his TWENTY ONE (I counted wrong) requested meals! It’s a casserole that my dear MIL made. I made enough for him to eat here and for me to take some with me. I also re-boiled the ham bone to make some broth for beans in the future. Getting rid of the ham bone created some space in the deep freeze-yay! I also used some frozen and canned vegetables which was good too.
Heather M
Thank you Jessica and everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes! I had a delightful day that mostly consisted of really fun phone calls and text conversations with friends and family across the country. I loved it.
Jan. 6: in which I spent $4.39 on lettuce and an English cucumber to make it through Friday before we head out of town again (first grocery spending!). Not our usual January this year, but I will be checking in 🙂
Breakfast: I had the last GF chocolate muffins from Christmas week. Trader Joe’s has truly delicious GF muffins that you’d never know are GF. We had them for my daughter who was in town and is celiac. Both guys (frankly all of us usually) only eat lunch/brunch and dinner most days
Lunch: C ate at work(they’ve been working under deadline and someone bought lunch, so what he brought he’ll eat another day); L took his usual sale with the deli roast beef, an apple, and cashews; I made myself a most delicious smashed white bean and tuna salad I ate in what I could salvage of a small wedge of iceberg that has been languishing for weeks. LovedN
Dinner: I never cook for my birthday and we got takeout from a great place nearby. 2 starters- a house made ricotta with red pepper jelly served with 9 grain toast, and deviled eggs(I have leftovers of both of these – so excited; C(son) had a brisket/rib plate with fries and crispy Brussels sprouts; L had steak frites that also had an arugula side salad; and I had a most delicious roasted butternut squash salad with arugula, burrata, candied walnuts, pomegranate, and grilled chicken. Really yummy and a little is left -yay! Finished off with a little peppermint ice cream for dessert.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Sounds like a delish birthday dinner Heather!
I add white beans to my tuna salad as well and think it is quite tasty.
Heather M
Thank you, Lynn!
Kathy in Denmark
Happy belated birthday, Heather!
So glad you had a good day.
Heather M
Thank you, Kathy!
Tàsty
Jan 6
There is so much food here that so far it has not been an issue at to find something to feed us.
B – hubby has his usual. I opted for a yogurt and one of the remaining bagels with cream cheese.
L- hubby?? I had an apple and some cheese
S – applle cider beef stew I made last month with frozen duchesse potatoes. The beef stew is not a recipe I will be repeating. It was OK but the cider made it a little too sweet for me.. We pulled out a small Christmas cake from ’24!! And it was
actually good. Had some with our after dinner ner coffee. I don’t think it will last long.
Stephanie M
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
B – Paul had a bagel from the freezer and mixed fruit. Two bagels left in the freezer. I had my usual bran cereal with fruit and nuts.
L – Paul had two hot dogs from a bag in the freezer and some onion rings. I had two bags of onion rings and used up one in the appetizer section of my Christmas dinner. So this was the second bag I just opened. I had a whole wheat bagel with chive cream cheese and smoked salmon. I had three packages of smoked salmon in the freezer for when our other daughter came from New Jersey for a visit day after Christmas. She and I love it. So now I just opened the last package and I’m happy I don’t have to share it with Paul. He won’t eat it. Yea for me!! And this gives me a chance to use up the final two containers of chive cream cheese. I also had blackberries.
D – I took the last two pieces of quiche out of the freezer. So we had that with broccoli with garlic and olive oil, rice pilaf and cucumber salad.
I have a bag of bananas in the freezer. When they don’t look fit to eat anymore I put them in there and bake banana bread or muffins when I want to. I had 1/2 cup sour cream in the fridge that I wanted to use up and it was just the right amount for a banana bread so I defrosted two bananas and made one. A good challenge day today.
Heather M
Love your bagel choice cream cheese smoked salmon lunch treat you have due to leftover things and Paul not liking the salmon. So great!
Stephanie M
lol thanks Heather!! Paul can be such a fuss pot but this is one of those times I’m glad he doesn’t like something that I love because then I would be forced to share it with him. This way I can eat it all!!! Lol
Heather from Sacramento
Happy Birthday Heather!
Tuesdays are a busy day for me. I have a lunch Rotary meeting that I attend every week. It’s held at a very good restaurant. After work it’s movie night. The local theatre has $5 Tuesday movies all day. Extra charges for big screen and special movies. I started going a couple of years ago and my rule is I have to pick a movie every week no matter what. It’s been interesting to say the least but it has also led to some good surprises. This weeks movie was Song Sung Blue. It was good.
B- coffee
L- chicken breast sandwich with pesto and homemade chips
D- LO tortellini soup
Snacks- LO cookies (I’ve been the Cookie Monster lately)
Karen J
Jessica, I have made your taco seasoning many, many times and no longer buy the packets. I noticed that you also have a chipotle taco seasoning recipe so I will try that one next time as I have everything for it (and we love chipotle).
Breakfast-out with hub, we ordered two different things then traded half way.
Lunch-neither of us was hungry so skipped
Dinner-We had the grandkids and I am trying to avoid food waste so was a short order cook (or perhaps I should say re-heater). The kids had the last of the freezer chicken nuggets with tater tots and sliced apples, I had the leftover hamburger gravy/potatoes and my husband finished off the andouille sheet pan leftovers (although he did pick out the Brussel sprouts, once a week is his limit for those), We also had garlic olive bread. I’m pleased that I currently am leftover free in my refrigerator.
Jessica Fisher
Glad you are enjoying the taco seasoning. I hope you like the chipotle one, too!
Heather M
Great leftover dinner night! Love your movie plan. So good. Our 24yo son is living with us during he’s first few years of post masters employment to jumpstart retirement and other savings. He is a huge movie bugf and turned us on to AMC theater’s A List which costs around $26/month and you can see up to 4 movies per week, including IMAX and the more pricy ones! You see 2 movies a month and it more than pays for itself. We are loving it so much(now that the kids are grown and we have the time), and also have plans to see song Sung Blue soon!
Erin in Ontario
I’m late for the party – Happy birthday, Heather! – but delighted to see familiar names again this year.
Christmas and New Year’s were a blur. We lost 3 close family members in less than 2 weeks, and then gained a new grandson a couple of days later, so I really couldn’t tell you anything we ate until I got home yesterday.
Today: Breakfast is leftover lentil coconut curry with rice, because I can’t think of anything else. Husband had oatmeal and fruit, my daughter took a bagel with cream cheese to work, and my son isn’t up yet.
Lunch will be a fend for yourself deal, but my daughter made a big batch of pasta and sauce last night, so most likely that.
I’ve already made supper for both our house and the new parents’ house: Taco tater tot casseroles all around, with toppings like tomato, lettuce, sour cream etc ready to add right before eating.
I need to inventory the pantry and freezers today, so I can get organized.
Karen J
Erin, that is a tough holiday season losing three family members. Hugs to you. I hope the new baby snuggles helped somewhat.
Tasty
Welcome back Erin. That was not a good end to 2025 for you altho a new baby would have been very welcome – congrats!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Erin, I’m so sorry for your losses, especially during the holiday season. A new baby illustrates the Circle of Life. I hope he brought joy during your sad times.
Jessica Fisher
Congrats on the new grand baby! I’m sorry to hear of your losses, Erin.
Heather M
Oh Erin, what an incredibly difficult holiday season for you and your family. I’m sure the arrival of the new grandbaby brought some much needed joy. I’m sending you my deepest sympathies and best wishes for a better 2026.
Maureen
I’m so sorry to hear about your losses. I do hope new grandson is able to lift our spirits a bit.
Kathy in Denmark
Congratulations on the new gandson, Erin! And I’m so sorry for your losses.
Kathryn M
Brunch – banana pancakes
Dinner – instead of spaghetti, I just ate the mozzarella sticks that were leftover.
Snack – Danish butter cookies. I had a giant tin that I bought at Sam’s Club for the holiday celebrations. There were a lot left because we had cake and apple pie too
Because it was a work day, I have no idea what DH ate. I just let him figure it out on the 3-4 days I go work, I assume he is working on those pork chops.
Kathy in Denmark
I hear you on Christmas not being a break! I hope you get to rest.
Day 6:
Kids back to school and DH worked from home.
B: Oatmeal sprinkled with some nuts for DD1. Rye porridge for DD2. Milk for both. Greek yoghurt with HM granola for DH. Greek yoghurt with an apple, mix of almonds, chia seeds and hemp seeds for me. Coffee for the adults.
L: Packed lunch for both kids. It included fruit, veggies, rye bread and some of the sausage rolls. DH and I had some rye bread with different toppings.
D: Pureed veggie soup with HM sourdough bread.
S: Honey cake.
I baked up the sourdough bread today (two loaves). I had used spelt flour, and they turned out well.
The soup was a mix of all kinds of veggies I had. I used a jar of Moroccan sauce as the base. It’s quite spicy, but I like the flavour of it. I sauteed onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, garlic, chickpeas and some cooked spaghetti squash from the freezer. I also added tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, a little cream and some coconut cream. Blitzed it with my immersion blender and served it with a dollop of crème fraiche and some lemon juice.
It was perfect on a cold and rainy day.
Heather M
the soup sounds so good!
Danielle L Zecher
I worked from home and had a brunch of avocado toast, fried eggs, and pomegranate arils. I have no idea what Nick had during the work day.
Dinner: Leftover beef pot pie and peanut butter cookies.
Karen J
Day 6
My day didn’t go quite as planned as the school called and my grandson had a migraine and needed to get picked up. So my errands were put on hold. My daughter works over half an hour away so I am the on call. He had a long nap and woke up feeling better so all was well. fingers crossed
B-out with hub
L-cereal at daughter’s house
D-cornbread and Zatarin’s jambalaya with leftover ham, some andouille and shrimp. I don’t make many boxed mixes but this is a favorite that I keep on hand for a quick dinner-and it comes in a low sodium version. Plus it’s great for using up bits of additions. I do have a lot of shrimp in the freezer to use this month-not that it will be a hardship!
I found an unopened jar of harissa in the cupboard, which I’ve never used before. I must have had a plan for it when I bought it? If so, it’s long forgotten. Must google.
Heather M
Glad he’s feeling better! The shrimp thing… I have a good friend who is participating in this challenge but not here-she found out about the whole concept from me and loved it so much she had inventoried her freezers before new years…. and found 3 open bags of shrimp! She and you both will be eating all the shrimp this month! Harissa is delicious, though spicy. It’s great with chicken and vegetables. It’s north african so when I use it, I typically serve the main over couscous. It’s good for flavor and spice added in small amounts.
Karen J
Thanks for the harissa ideas, Heather M! During my pantry inventory I discovered a bag of couscous (something I don’t use often) and I have chicken, so I’m off to hunt for recipes now.