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 9 of the Pantry Challenge!
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I miss sitting by my Christmas tree drinking tea in the morning, but I may have found a worthy substitute: candlelight breakfast!
Today was a shooting day, or at least my attempt at a shooting day. I shot one recipe in all of 2025, so it will take me awhile to get my chops back.
To be honest, the infiltration of AI into food blogging has been very discouraging. I’ve used stock photos a handful of times on Life as Mom, but never here. I can’t imagine letting AI make a food photo for you. Jerks.
Thanks for being here and cooking up our recipes!
What We Ate
Breakfast – I made a Yogurt Berry Parfait with fresh blueberries and the Vanilla Almond Granola I made yesterday. I also had a snack of pumpkin spice toast later in the day.
(Mix Pumpkin Pie Spice Substitute with granulated sugar, then sprinkle on buttered sourdough. So good!)
Lunch – Some shooting days make lunch easy because we can eat what I make. I knew that wouldn’t work, so I cooked salmon in a skillet and had that with veggies.
Dinner – Fridays are pizza nights, so we had a variety of Sourdough Pizzas.
How did Day 9 go for you?
Kathryn M
b- bowl of granola cereal with milk (finished the granola container up)
L – mystery soup. I pulled this container out of the freezer and heated it up. It was missing a label, but I identified carrots, rice, black beans, corn, and chicken in the soup. I tend to shove leftover soups in the freezer alot. I need to start finishing them up this winter….
D – bacon sandwiches, sunchips
S – a bowl of ice cream
Christine
Made dinner from my freezer. I had some leftover homemade frozen pizza that my son ate after hockey. I repurposed some frozen pasta with some frozen meat sauce, added some mozzarella and more sauce and that went over well. I also had a small portion of ground beef and rice that I will finish tonight. Pasta was finished today for lunch.
Kathy in Denmark
I hear you re AI, Jessica. I appreciate you taking your own photos and all your hard work developing recipes!
Day 9:
B: Yoghurt and HM granola for DH, rye porridge for DD2, chia pudding with fruit and chopped nuts for DD1 and myself.
L: Packed lunch for the kids, Rye bread with different toppings for DH, salad for me with the last of the baby spinach and assorted veggies, 1/2 a hardboiled egg and canned tuna for me. The dressing was a HM vinaigrette.
D: Naan pizzas made with LO tomato soup (quite thick, so worked fine as tomato sauce) and assorted cheeses from the fridge. I also made garlic oil. I didn’t bother with a salad, I figured the soup had a lot of veggies in it 🙂
S: Movie night. We had the last of the crisps LO from NYE and even more Christmas cookies. Almost gone now!
Kathryn M
I see you are in Denmark. I am visiting Copenhagen in June! I plan to eat out half my meals to try some of the food there, but I am going to cook the other half of meals in the hostel kitchen because I need to save some money too….
I hear the licorice is good in Denmark, so I will have to get some to compare to my favorite which is an Icelandic salted licorice. Do you have any other items that I must try while I am there?
Kathy in Denmark
Hi Kathryn,
So happy that you are coming to Denmark in June! I don’t live in Copenhagen, so I can’t give you any advise on restaurants, but I can tell you what I would try if I were you 🙂
– Have a hot dog at a traditional hotdog stand (Pølsevogn). They are very good and very different from hotdogs other places in the world. Good for lunch.
-I would also recommend trying “Stegt flæsk med persillesovs”, which was named the national dish of Denmark a few years back. It’s fried belly pork served with potatoes and a parsley sauce.
-“Tarteletter” is another dish, which is very good. It’s a white sauce with chicken and white asparagus served in puff pastry shells.
-“Smørrebrød” is open sandwiches with different toppings. There are SO many varieties, some with fish and some with cold cuts. You can get this at a restaurant, but you could also buy some in a butcher shop or a deli in a supermarket, which would be a cheaper option. They are generally of good quality. You could also just buy some “Rugbrød” (Rye bread), some cold cuts and some condiments (especially “Remoulade”) and make your own at the hostel 🙂 Some reastaurants serve “Koldt bord”, which is a buffet, filled with all the specialties. It’s a good way to try many things without breaking the bank.
-Fish and seafood. Try it, there is a lot to choose from!
-Naturally, you have to try “Wienerbrød”, which is Danish pastry. Again, there are many to choose from, but you never go wrong with “Kanelsnegl” (cinnamon roll” or “Spandauer”. I am partial to something called “Studenterbrød”. It is made with day old pastrys and the name translates to “students’ bread”, because it was a very cheap cake. In my opinion, you can judge the skill of a baker by the “Studenterbrød” they make, so give it a try. There are also many cream filles pastrys, so choosing may be the hard part!
– Buy a loaf of bread in a good bakery and splurge for some real butter. Most people know Lurpak, but I prefer an organic butter. Some brands are “Harmoni” and “Thise”. “Thise” is my absolute favourite for anything dairy. They are sold in Supermarkets called “Coop365”, “Kvickly” and “Superbrugsen”. Coop365 is a discount store, but the others are very good supermarkets.
– June is a very good month to be in Denmark, regarding veggies and fruits in season. You can get Danish potatoes, asparagus and strawberries to name a few. They are affordable and very good! Look for the Danish flag on the package, if you want what’s in season.
– We have a licorice in Denmark called “Piratos” and I’ve never met anyone not Danish who like it LOL
It is super strong and salty, and I love the stuff. It’s one of those things Danes really miss when they are abroad.
We also have licorice pipes, which are exactly what the name implies 🙂
Generally, I just think you should be brave and dive in. Some dishes may sound odd. For instance, there is something called “Karrysild”, which is pickled heering in a curry sauce. It may not sound very good, buth the richness of the fish, the mild curry and the acidity and sweetness of the sauce plays together really well. It’s a favorite of mine.
I hope you have a great trip and that you get to see and eat all the things you want to, while visiting Denmark.
Jessica Fisher
I wanna go!
Heather from Sacramento
B- coffee and the rest of the oatmeal batch with slivered almonds and dried cranberries
L- salad with chicken, spring mix, Swiss cheese, walnuts and lemon dressing
D- tortellini soup
Froze the rest of the tortellini soup for another time. I realize that I have too much cheese in my house for 1 person. It might be too much for 6 people haha.