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 7 of the Pantry Challenge! I don’t know about you, but that first week went by pretty quickly! How are we already one week down?
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Sorry for the delay in posting. I got caught up in a book and forgot to post.
(How weird is it that this happened on January 7th last year, too?!)
What We Ate
Breakfast – I had cottage cheese and blueberries.
Lunch – The last of the tenderloin on a salad.
Dinner – I had made a double batch of baked penne before Christmas and froze one. Tonight we baked that with two bags of frozen broccoli and two frozen baguettes.
Easy day! I also hard-cooked a dozen eggs and a few chicken breasts for Bryan to snack on, per his request.
How did Day 7 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 – Leftovers from hubby’s grill-fest on Sunday: grilled burger with sautéed mushrooms, roasted sweet potatoes and roasted onion. Yum!
Heather from Sacramento
B- coffee
L- oatmeal with dried cranberries and slivered almonds and apple cinnamon toast with butter. I might have those almonds until next years pantry challenge.
D- tortellini soup
Snacks- Brie cheese and finished the box of crackers.
I forgot to mention that I spent $13.50 on groceries on Tuesday. I bought milk, half and half and a giant tub of spring mix.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/7/26
B: toast and coffee for me, Greek yogurt for DH
L: since I was driving to my mom’s
(4.5 hrs) I made a sandwich for the road to avoid stopping (and spending money) using turkey from the freezer. Added an apple.
D: I brought a portion of DH’s casserole request with me for dinner out of town. I left some with him along with his LO requested quesadillas. I added fruit to dinner. He said he added chips and salsa to his.
Tàsty
I was sure I had posted this morning but I see no sign of it so maybe I’m just imagining things so here goes:
B – we both had fruit, yogurt and granola, I also had an Oat bar.
Lunch – I had chicken fingers, hubby had fruit.
S – as were were not home for Christmas, we had no turkey leftovers. When shopping one day hubby saw a frozen stuffed turkey breast, so we had that, with mashed potatoes, gravy and broccoli. It was really good and the best part – we have leftovers!!
Roberta in So Cal
I’m starting to see fridge space!
B: For 3. Hubs regular cereal w/ banana, toast, OJ, coffee. Son and me–cereal and coffee.
L: For 2. Hubs–ham and cheese sandwich, yogurt w/ jam, crudités w/ ranch, apple and orange slices, 2 Trader Joe’s dark chocolate mints. Me–Ham and cheese sandwich, orange slices, too many of the dk choc mints throughout the afternoon. (It’s a good thing we rarely buy these; I have zero self-control when it comes to chocolate. Yikes!) Son went out to lunch with friends.
D: For 3. Lentil and ham soup, cheese toast, green salad, apple & orange slices, Sees.
Kathryn M
1/8/2026
Spent a lot of the day at a hospital keeping a relative company.
I pulled out a frozen pizza for lunch from the freezer There was one piece left over that I ate for dinner. That was it for me all day. Spouse had a piece of meatloaf, some corn and some rice….
Heather M
Jan 7: in which I tried to catch up on things at home before we leave again (only home 5 days between trips).
Brunch: C took leftover pasta from the other night, a mandarin and kiwi, and a Kind bar; L took a salad with the last of the deli roast beef (made between him actually doing a live on camera news hit which he rarely does at home and does right by the kitchen so I had to stop mid-prep and be silent, and ask him participating in their morning editorial call-again sudden silence. I should’ve sucked it up and made it the night before on my birthday but I just did not want to), a satsuma and a mandarin, and cashews; I had the leftover salad and 1 deviled egg left over from my birthday dinner
Dinner: pulled some ground turkey from the freezer, an onion, most of the mini bell peppers leftover from THANKSGIVING appetizers and got forgotten about but still in decent shape, and the rest of a delicious green dipping/topping sauce/spread from our fancy dinner out in late December and sauteed it all together- the little bit of sauce (it’s bold, so a little goes a long way) was perfect to flavor the whole mess of food. Added the rest of the can of cannellini beans I only needed 1/4 of for the smashed bean tuna salad. Cooked up some quinoa and served the mess on top. We all topped it with the last bitty dollops left of toum (garlic sauce) also from the same restaurant. SO GOOD!
We all had a few bites of ice cream afterward.
If you’re curious, we went to a restaurant called Maydan in DC. It’s been a mainstay for years and also very hard to get reservations, not super big, etc. We were so excited to finally snag reservations to take our kids/partners and enjoy it the best way, which is best with 4-6 people when they serve it all prix fixe “tawle” style (family style essentially). It’s a lot of courses and food and just delicious. We feel like we know about enough of the menu now and could go to sit at the bar by the big open fire where they cook most of the food and order à la carte now (which would also be more reasonable in price).
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
I’ll have to ask my DD and SIL about the Maydan restaurant. It sounds very nice. If they haven’t made it there yet, I’m sure they would like to put it on the To Do list.
Also, I’m sure L has been quite busy of late.
Heather M
Lynn, it’s been utterly ridiculous how busy he is/has been. Last Saturday he worked 2am-5pm and he was out on vacation. I worry he will have to work this coming week while we are in San Diego. If that happens, at least we are visiting mom, the point of the trip.
Karen J
Day 7
I usually walk with a friend on Wednesdays, however she was down with back pain (and it was pouring rain here). Instead I went to Target to check out what’s left of their Christmas clearance. All I came out with was a $1 package of Christmas themed kid fake fingernails for the youngest granddaughter -originally $10 which I never would have paid. Also I went to the grocery store and bought just a head of lettuce. The clerk said they were lucky to have it back in stock, I think due to the California floods? So my grocery spending this month is at $1.99.
Breakfast-scrambled eggs with cream cheese and spinach, toast
Lunch-snacked I guess?
Dinner-salad and lasagna with Italian sausage from the freezer. I didn’t have cottage cheese or ricotta so made a quick white sauce with garlic and parmesan for the “white” layer. There’s enough for three more meals at least. I also had found two sad breadsticks in the freezer so those are now gone.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
That was a great substitution for the white layer of your lasagna. I would never have thought of that. I’m going to remember this. Thanks!
Allie from Ontario
I fell a bit behind re day 6 and 7 posts so 1st off, happy belated birthday to heather M from another January birthday girl. And my thoughts go out to Erin and her family, so much loss in too short a time. We also lost a family member on Christmas Eve which certainly changed our focus/priorities/emotional states (struggling to find the right word??) for the season.
Yesterday was a hockey day for T and I went into his dad’s place for a big sort out of kitchen items. My friend at the high school I retired from runs the food program and we are big supporters of it so I’m laying out items that she might want for the kids’ kitchens etc to cook with. She runs an outstanding program and I love to see young people cooking and learning about nutrition/food budgeting/safety etc.
What we ate on Jan 7
Brunch: T = a banana and English muffin with jam and I had a freezer soup (rst’d garlic, cauliflower & carrot) + toast.
Dinner: I found some thinly sliced deli style black forest ham in the freezer and used it + the last of some gruyere to make croque monsieur sandwiches that we ate with a salad dressing in a lemony vinaigrette.
Heather M
Allie, I’m sorry to hear of your loss. the holidays are especially complicated when that happens- my brother passed unexpectedly 6 years ago between Christmas and new years and it was no fun at all. I love what you are planning for T’s dad’s kitchen items- what a great program to donate to!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Allie, condolences to your family as well as Erin’s. Holiday losses are so devastating. It can be devastating at any time, but the sadness seems so amplified when the holidays are often joyful and you are not. We had a similar loss a few years back as well. Just very hard.
Maureen
My car was in the shop near my mom, so we went out for a long lunch. I thawed some chili for dinner and made a small batch of corn muffins. I also shredded quite a bit of cheddar cheese for the chili and some future meals. I have errands to run tomorrow, but plan to keep my grocery stop to a tight list. I have found this past year, that shopping 1-2 times per week actually has me purchasing less overall. I think I don’t feel the need to stock up on things I “might” need. And since I drive right by so many grocery stores throughout the week, this has been working well.
Jessica Fisher
That’s a great observation, Maureen!
Heather M
What a delight to have a long lunch with your mom! And I am the same way and will stop at various store when I’m in the neighborhood and spend less that way, too. We have so many options and most are very nearby.
Kathy in Denmark
We had a pretty busy day yesterday, so I didn’t get around to posting our meals. The contractor and all the craftsmen came by in the afternoon for at walktrough of the work we want to have done in our house. I am dreading the quote, but we’ve used them before, so I believe they will be reasonable 🙂
Day 6:
B: Oats and milk for DH, rye porridge for DD2, chia pudding for DD 1 and myself.
L: Packed lunch for both kids. Rye bread with toppings for DH and myself
D: Tortillas with beans, guacamole, lettuce etc.
S: Hot cocoa with whipped cream.
Winter has finally come, so DH worked from home to avoid driving and I cleared the snow off the pavement in front of our house. We all enjoyed the hot cocoa immensely. Good thing I stocked up on cocoa powder before the price skyrocketed!
I made refried beans by opening two jars of home canned chili beans and smashing them while heating. I used to get away with one jar, but no more!
Guacamole was made with frozen avocado and the cheese was a mix from the fridge. I forgot that I have some havarti with jalapeño in the fridge, but we will use it up eventually.
Day 7: DH worked from home again.
B: Yoghurt with HM granola for DH, rye porridge for DD2, chia pudding for DD1 and myself.
L: Packed lunch for both kids, Rye bread with topping for DH and myself.
D: Veggie curry with brown rice.
I used a jar of tikka masala sauce and a tikka masala veggie mix from the freezer as the base. Also added in potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Then added a tin of chopped tomatoes, some cooked “Ingrid peas” (like chickpeas), fresh cauliflower and some coconut cream. I let it simmer and finished it off with a little heavy cream and some garam masala.
This was a big hit, and even my picky eater loved it. She ate it with chop sticks, which I think makes it more fun for her. Never mind that this was a take on an indian dish, chop stiks are always fun 🙂
I made dough for sourdough white bread and rye bread and prepared fruit for the coming days as well. Always nice to be a little ahead of the game.
Karen J
Kathy, your veggie curry sounds delicious! I’m going to try a variation of yours with what I have, which is a jar of coconut korma simmer sauce and all the vegetables you used, except celery. Plus I have some shelf stable TJ heavy cream and Indian spices. I’ve been thinking of how I was going to use the cauliflower in the refrigerator and your post gave me the inspiration. Thank you!
Kathy in Denmark
I hope the curry turns out well! I love a good curry and always make a big batch. It’s even better after a few says in the fridge and it can be frozen as well 🙂
Stephanie M
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
B – Paul had banana bread, mixed fruit and yogurt with walnuts. I had my usual cereal fruit and nuts.
L – Paul had crackers, cheese, pepperoni, sliced apple with peanut butter, an hard boiled egg and a few chocolate covered almonds. I had 1/2 a whole wheat bagel with smoked salmon, leftover broccoli, tomatoes, olives, blackberries and leftover cucumber salad.
D – grilled pork chops (the last two in the freezer), baked potatoes, green beans and I also had some sautéed cabbage from the cabbage in my fridge. Still have 1/2 a cabbage left.
Erin in Ontario
Breakfast: Husband had oatmeal and fruit, I wasn’t hungry, daughter forgot, son wasn’t awake yet.
Lunch: For myself, I made a potato and pea curry (perfect winter comfort food!) and a Moroccan couscous with roasted veggies and a lemon cumin dressing for the others.
Supper: My son is back to his 5-evenings-a-week martial arts schedule after the holidays, so he made rice and beans with a big salad for everyone. Quick, filling, and delicious.
Thank you for all the kind words yesterday! It meant a lot. I also forgot to mention that my oldest son was very close with my dad, and so he and his wife ended up honouring him by using his name for the baby. We were all so touched.
Jessica Fisher
That’s so lovely your son and his wife named the baby after your father. Sweet!
Heather M
Erin, what a beautiful tribute to your dad.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
How sweet to honor your dad with a grandson as a namesake.
Kathy in Denmark
Day 7:
B: DH had oats and milk, DD1 had oatmeal porridge with banana and nuts. DD2 had rye porridge. Both kids had milk.
I had a fruit salad (orange, kiwi and small banana) with a little Greek yoghurt. Later on I had a soft boiled egg, sourdough bread and and some coffee.
L: DH gets lunch at work, DD1 had a packed lunch, DD2 gets school lunch 4 days a week. Her class is part of a scientific project where they get healthy lunch and extra PE and general movement. The food is really good and she tries new things 🙂
I had a bowl of leftover soup and a piece of sourdough bread.
D: I heated up LO soup, added another tin of tomatoes, some more cooked chickpeas and some spices. Served with more sourdough bread.
S: peanuts.
DD2 informed me that “she was not eating soup again tomorrow”. Noted 😉
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/7/25
B: cottage cheese, nuts, jam and coffee
L: LO vegetable beef soup from freezer, slice of deli turkey. DH had same in a sandwich.
All was well today until I had a food crisis! You know how Jessica’s suggests always going thru your fridge every several days to avoid food waste? I try to do this as I think it’s a really good idea and strategy. But, my life has been a bit chaotic for the last 10-12 weeks.
My almost 94 yr old mother fell ill and I stayed with her for a number of weeks with quick, turn around, one night visits back home. At Christmas I did the majority of cooking and baking for 2 out of town Christmases and was gone about a week.
So I finally am digging around in my fridge and found 2 partial dozen eggs which were VERY out of date!! As many times as I’ve been in the fridge, I don’t know how I missed checking them. I am not a big stickler for expiration dates, but eggs? Not sure about that. The thought of having let 16 eggs go to waste at the price they are now just made me sick. Then I decided to do the “egg test” and lo and behold, NONE of them were bad! I was so surprised. But then I began the great egg bake-figuring out how to use these eggs asap. So we had quiche for dinner and I hard boiled 7 to use in other ways, buying me some time. Today, the 8th, I fixed a breakfast casserole and some cornbread. I’m now down to only 4 remaining eggs which I plan to use up somehow tomorrow morning! So the crisis was averted, but you can be sure I’ll be more diligent about checking my fridge in keeping with Jessica’s advice!
D: crust less quiche using those eggs, bacon from freezer, peppers and onions, LO potatoes, baked apples
Heather M
Love this story, Lynn! I kind of felt the same when I was cleaning out my fridge after we got back from NY. December was chaos and i did not do like usual (i also keep an eye on things to avoid waste). I only froze the peppers and two bananas that were getting old, and left the rest to chance when we left town for NY. Needless to say, i had food to toss, which made me sad. But it could have been worse, as more produce survived than I expected. Ah well. Back to good habits again.
Kathy in Denmark
Nice save on the eggs! Eggs are usually good several weeks past their sell by date. I frequently buy eggs on mark down because of the sell by date, and I never have a problem. We also get eggs from a neighbour. They are incredibly fresh and delicious, not to mention cheaper than the ones in the store! I am glad you did the egg test, so you felt comfortable eating those eggs.
I think it is totally understandable that you didn’t notice everything in your fridge with the December you have had.
Hope January is treating you better 🙂
Kim from Colorado
Late start on the first day back to school due to snow and ice wreaked havoc on my day and dinner plans. Then the grocery was out of my backup plan chicken. Bought deli roast beef and third idea for the win
B- bagels with cream cheese
L- hubby brought lo chicken parm, PB&J plus school lunch for the boys,
D- French dip with an au jus packet from the pantry, banana peppers added to mine. Salad and/or smoothie on the side.
Found some Rolos I had stashed from the Halloween candy so warmed them in the oven on pretzels then topped with a pecan for HM turtles, yum!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
What a yummy pantry challenge snack-turtles! So clever.
Heather M
OK yum for that desssert! Good job with the pivoting, too! A win!
SarahLiz
I found SIX brown gravy packets in the pantry. I have no idea how that happened, but lots of roast and meatloaf in our future!
Maureen
I had leftovers for lunch. We had some bacon bits leftover in the fridge, so I made potato soup and homemade bread for dinner to use some of those. I’m not feeling very inspired, so I’m focusing on not wasting and not shopping. Hopefully, I’ll get more ambitious and creative soon. I have been prepping a little fruit and veggies each day and setting them out for snacking. That’s going well. And I baked some apple cinnamon mini muffins with two less-than-crunchy apples. I might have to freeze some of those for later, though. We have a mostly quiet weekend coming up, so maybe we can clear out some bits from the freezer soon.
Heather M
Sounds to me like you’re doing great! Even making muffins! 🙂
Karen J
Jessica, I totally understand getting caught up in a book! I like the eclectic list of books you plan to read in 2025.
I went to the bread outlet and bought a wonderful loaf of marbled rye and a loaf of honey wheat 2/$3. Can’t beat the prices at our outlet.
B-rye toast and coffee
L-wrap with chicken, shredded cheddar, red onion, lettuce and bbq sauce
D-tilapia, green salad and baked potato
I had some milk about ready to turn so made Jessica’s Homemade Chocolate Pudding. So, so good! I had some squirt whipped cream left from Christmas. It was the perfect after dinner snack.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
We used to have access to a bread outlet. I was so sorry when it closed.
The pudding sounds delish. I like these PC desserts!
Heather M
How nice to have that outlet! And wow, that pudding…. YUM!!