Category Archives: Pantry Challenge

Monday Menu Plan

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This week may just be one of the most full for the Spring season. We have four baseball games to attend!  I am really starting to think about what I want to accomplish over this summer in regards to food preparation but this also means I need to make an effort to clean and organize the foods we have in order to make room for new items.

Breakfast- Saturday-Pancakes and sausage balls.  Sunday-biscuits and gravy.   Monday- Mini muffins- used up the last 3 packs for this.  Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (breakfast burritos,bagel thins (previously purchased on sale) oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, , sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs.

Lunch- Saturday- pick a convenience food or left-over Sunday-Mexican at a small place in Welcome  Monday- crackers  Tuesday,  Wednesday, Thursday- left-overs.  Friday- eat out.

Dinner- Saturday- Flatbread pizzas Sunday- Salisbury steak, gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans Monday-  Spaghetti and garlic bread.  Tuesday- Chick A Filet ,  Wednesday-  Hamburger and French Fries, using homemade buns. Thursday- Pepper Steak and rice.  Friday-  Cheeseburger pizza

Pantry Challenge

1. Use at least one “meal/meat portion of the meal” from the stand-up freezer each week. (This is where most of the meals are)   hamburger patties and pizza filling.
2. Use at least 3 jars a week from the canning pantry. We will use several jars including spaghetti sauce and green beans this week.
3. Use one item a week from the connivence freezer in my room.  We used sausage and convience items this weekend from this freezer.
4. Each Monday after menu planning provide a list of how I followed the guidelines for the week.  Done!

5 Things Friday

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  1. The weather has absolute beautiful with highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s.  I have decided to turn off the heating and air unit in order to save money. In the past I can typically turn this off the first of April but even if I need to turn it back on then we are still saving money!
  2. Zach has been having baseball games or practice 5 days a week which means that our evening are even more pushed and busy.  I am learning that for away games we need to have a food option with us and home games we can typically eat at home if something is ready.  Unfortunately, this was an expensive lesson as we ended up spending $65 on a game day for food and entry.
  3. I am hoping that we are able to complete some outside upgrades and maintenace this weekend as we have 5 weeks till our typical last frost date.  I am planning on continuing with my weekly garden updates on Sunday.
  4. Zach’s truck sold this week.  I have decided that we will not be on the lookout for another vehicle until the end of May.
  5. The pantry challenge is starting to work. I heard from kids yesterday that “there is nothing to eat at home”   In reality we have plenty of food but things have to be prepared and made ahead. I have plans to also do some of this prep work this weekend.

Saving on Saturday- Food Edition

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Food is always a huge expense for us, and I am constantly trying to find ways to save money on this expense. The biggest way to save money on groceries is to not throw away food.  We are fortunate to have chickens that pretty much like anything and what they don’t eat they poop on which can be used for fertilizer to grow more food.   I should also mention that yesterday was Valentine Day which added a bit of “celebrating” to this post.

We typically have a special or meal out for Valentine’s Day, but I did not want to deal with the crowds yesterday. Matt offered to pick up take out, which was a great idea. We have been going to the same local Chinese restaurant for at least 20 years so that was my choice for dinner.  We have discovered that recently, ordering out actually gets you more food than eating in. We ordered a Sesame chicken combo dinner which included rice and a soup, and a large shrimp lo mien, total $21.75.  This actually was enough food to feed 4 people dinner and one lunch!  Matt and I headed out early this morning to attend Braxton’s basketball game, we planned to head to Costco to do a stock up trip as I had over 15 items on my Costco list.  I had purchased gift card for a couple of restaurants last year with my Costco reward certificate, so this was a perfect time to use the remaining $25 one for Bad Daddy’s.  Matt and I ate for $8 including tip after the gift card, and we decided to add a Starbuck’s just for fun. Total cost for “Date Day” not including Costco $25! ($8 was to enter the ballgame).

Now on to more food content, I purchased a rotisserie chicken for $4.99 at Costco.  For dinner today, we chopped up some and made chicken and rice, this will also probably be enough for at least 1 more meal and a couple of lunches so that is enough for 10 people to eat, I also will be making a double batch of chicken enchiladas, one for this week and one to freeze, another 10 meals.  That means we spent approximately 25 cent a meal on meat.  But to make this an even better deal, I currently have my roaster oven going with a huge batch of chicken stock with I will can tomorrow!

We have some mini cinnamon and raisin bagel that we purchased a couple of weeks ago and 5 are left, which are beginning to become stale, I have cut these up and will be using for a French toast casserole for breakfast in the morning!

Finally, I have a couple of ears of corn left in the fridge along with a small portion from a can, this will get used for a new honey corn hamburger casserole this week!

I don’t mind food going to the chickens but I prefer to use what we have!

Monday Menu Planning

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This week the focus is on cleaning out the refrigerator in preparation for Junk Food Sunday.  I will be continuing the pantry challenge this month and plan a separate post tomorrow to discuss the results in January.  I am excited that Lily wants to help with cooking on the weekends.  This should also be the least busy week for the remainder of the school year.

Breakfast- Saturday-  Biscuit King . Sunday- Beef and Egg casserole (my recipe, not a hit but it used up several items from the fridge. . Monday-  Apple sauce cake/bread. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (breakfast burritos, oatmeal, omelets cereal and milk, French toast sticks, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs, My goal is to make a baked oatmeal at least once this week but we shall see.

Lunch- Bad Daddy’s   Sunday- Kiminons    Monday- Corn chowder   Tuesday,- soup   Wednesday- eat out or leftovers Thursday- left-overs.  Friday- eat out.

Dinner- Saturday- Lily cooked    Sunday- Left-overs with cheddar bay biscuits and Peanut butter pie. Monday-Gyros Tuesday- Taco Bombs in the Air Fryer   Wednesday- No peek beef stew and rice  .  Thursday- Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza  Friday- Sloppy Joes on Hawian rolls

Pantry Challenge
1.Purchasing items that we are completely out of that are staples such as diary as well as buns or other items that will help use items we already have. Total spending for the three months of the 2025 will be less than $1200   Current total $11.30   I will have more thoughts on this tomorrow.
2. Use at least one “meal/meat portion of the meal” from the stand-up freezer each week. (This is where most of the meals are) I pulled out a pack of beef tips for Wednesday and the Pizza filling for Thursday was pulled several weeks ago.
3. Use at least 3 jars a week from the canning pantry.  Sloppy Joes on Thursday are from the pantry. I also will be using broth and salsa for Junk Food Sunday. Last week we used a total of 7 jars so this is actually going well.
4. Use one item a week from the connivence freezer in my room. Hawian rolls are out of this freezer.
5. Each Monday after menu planning provide a list of how I followed the guidelines for the week.  Done!

Monday Menu Post

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Last week turned out to be different than expected with lots of weather involved.  I did not cook on Thursday, so the Bacon Cheeseburger pizza is moved to this week. I wanted to use up more of the leftovers so we could stay on track.  Both the kids and I are out of school today for the holiday, so I did a bit of extra cooking today.  I also went to the grocery store this weekend and started to purchase food for our annual junk food Sunday.

Breakfast- Saturday-Lily brought home bagels from Panera. Sunday- Dad’s Breakfast Casserole Monday- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (breakfast burritos, muffins, oatmeal, cereal and milk, French toast sticks, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs. We are really low on eggs, so I have purchased some instant oatmeal and grits to add to breakfast.

Lunch- Saturday-leftovers   Sunday-Dinner out with Friends (CHRISTOS) Monday- corn on the cob and bacon Tuesday, – soup Wednesday- eat out or leftovers Thursday- soup. Friday- eat out.

Dinner- Saturday- Copycat Olive Garden Chicken gnocchi soup and breadsticks.   Sunday- Left-overs    Monday- Corn chowder (using frozen corn from our freezer) Pear sauce cake in the crockpot.  Tuesday- Burritos using Taco Rice in the fridge.    Wednesday- Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza (everything from the freezer) Thursday- Eat on the way to swim meet Friday- Parmesan Chicken (we have an excess of chicken in the connivence freezer)

Pantry Challenge
1.Purchasing items that we are completely out of that are staples such as diary as well as buns or other items that will help use items we already have. Total spending for the three months of the 2025 will be less than $900   Current total $514.46. This week we received an Azure order (first one in 18 months) and I started to gather items for our Junk Food Sunday. I also pulled out cash to use for groceries for the remainder of the challenge. I currently have $220 left to meet the goal of $900. Not sure this is entirely possible but even keeping that budget for 2 months would mean $800 in savings.
2. Use at least one “meal/meat portion of the meal” from the stand-up freezer each week. (This is where most of the meals are) Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza. I also pulled out 3 packs of frozen corn on the cob, 2 of which I will use this week for meals. This corn is from at least 2 years ago so I am very proud to be using it up.
3. Use at least 3 jars a week from the canning pantry. I pulled a pint jar of pear sauce and will be using at least 3 jars of chicken broth this week for cooking. My plan is to also use a jar of spaghetti sauce for the chicken parm on Friday.
4. Use one item a week from the connivence freezer in my room. I ended up giving my mom a bag of Chicken nuggets this week and I hope to use some of the chicken patties to make the chicken parm. on Friday.
5. Each Monday after menu planning provide a list of how I followed the guidelines for the week.  Done!

5 Things Friday

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  1. The weather has remained extremely cold. Today is the first time in a week the temperature has been above 45 degrees.  We are actually expecting even colder weather next week with the temperature to remain below freezing from Sunday night until Thursday. There is also a chance for snow as well.
  2. Zach and Kendall have attended school 4 days in 2024 and if they are able to continue with the schedule they plan. Then they will go 2 out of 5 days next week which will put them at 5 full days in the month of January.
  3. On Wednesday this week, I picked up a foster dog who may become a permanent part of our family. He appears to have some hound dog in him and some pit bull.  We decided to go the foster route just to make sure that he will be a good fit for us. So far, he appears to be very sweet but is having trouble remembering to pee outside.
  4. I am continuing to work on some budget items and plans.  I want to make a significant dent in our overall debt but I also realize that we can’t cut back to a bean and rice budget due to the kids and I want my kids to enjoy their high school years not think about what they can’t do.  Look for a post in the next week or so with some more specific details.
  5. I am staring to look ahead to our junk food Sunday!  I plan to purchase at least the chicken wings we need this weekend along with some bacon and sausage that we are currently out of.   The pantry challenge may be a bit more of a challenge as we look and plan ahead.

Monday Menu Plan / Pantry Challenge

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Things are starting to get back on track.  I am so thankful for the extra time at home due to weather over the past week!  I am actually feeling almost better and ready to dive in to a more normal routine.  You will notice that we did not eat out this weekend due to the weather as well.

Breakfast- Saturday-Pancakes or French toast from freezer. Sunday- Baked oatmeal Monday- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (breakfast burritos, muffins, oatmeal, omelets cereal and milk, French toast sticks, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs. I have added a rice cake with peanut butter to my list of things to eat.

Lunch- Saturday-Lily made meatballs Sunday-My Dad’s chicken stew Monday- leftovers Tuesday, – soup Wednesday- eat out or leftovers Thursday- soup. Friday- eat out.

Dinner- Saturday- Chicken and rice or meatball and rice.   Sunday-Hamburger and French Fries   Monday-Cowboy beans and cornbread    Tuesday- Chicken Fried Rice and eggrolls   Wednesday- Million Dollar Spaghetti Pie Thursday- Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza Friday- Eat out before the swim meet.

Pantry Challenge
1.Purchasing items that we are completely out of that are staples such as diary as well as buns or other items that will help use items we already have. Total spending for the three months of the 2025 will be less than $900   Current total $289.89
2. Use at least one “meal/meat portion of the meal” from the stand-up freezer each week. (This is where most of the meals are)  Million Dollar Pie, Hamburgers and Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza.
3. Use at least 3 jars a week from the canning pantry. We have used 10-pint jars for meals so far this week and probably another 10 cans from the store pantry.  I did add 8 pint jar of chicken stock to the closet.
4. Use one item a week from the connivence freezer in my room. We used hamburger buns from the connivence freezer and a couple of rolls of sausage. Lily found some shells to use for her lunch.
5. Each Monday after menu planning provide a list of how I followed the guidelines for the week.  Done!

Snow Weekend/Pantry Challenge

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With all our sickness this has been a great week for weather related events.  I had a 3-hour delay for a workday on Monday, a two-hour delay on Tuesday and a remote learning day on Friday. This allowed me some extra time at home to start to get things back in order and prepared. On Friday, after finishing work I was able to immediately get started on getting things done around the house.  Dinner was already going as I had started in the crockpot during my lunch.

The soup on Friday was a new one to us. Everyone enjoyed and we placed some in the fridge for later meals.  One of the things I am trying to do is when I make a pot of soup, put some in containers for easy lunches but also freeze a container that can be used for a quick and easy meal later.  But this did not allow us enough for the freezer.  I was also able to pull out and make a breakfast casserole for Friday morning, using up things that we already had. It actually was a hit and will be a do over!   I even pulled out eggs from the freezer so that we did not use our precious egg supply right now.

One of the hardest parts of starting straight back to work after returning from a trip is the lack of food preparation that is done. This week, I knew I had canned a couple of soups so I used that for my lunches. We also had very simple dinners that basically included heat and eat. Lily also cooked on Thursday night and Saturday lunch which was a huge blessing! My goal for the weekend which I knew ahead of time was to try and get some meals made that first used up ingredients from our pantries and freezers but also that provided options for lunches for the next week.

Lily made meatballs for lunch on Saturday, which were great!  Hot dog buns were used for sub rolls and we pulled out a jar of spaghetti sauce along with BBQ Sause to use as a topping.  I ended up making cranberry meatballs for my dinner on Saturday night with enough left for at least one lunch this week.  Matt and Lily headed to Costco for some car stuff on Saturday as well. They brought back a rotisserie chicken which was enjoyed for dinner by others as well. I had also made a pot of rice for a dinner later this week which most of us added to the protein.

I pulled all the chicken off the bones and put in the fridge to use for our soup today. My Dad’s chicken stew which is most like a Brunswick stew has been on my short list.  I threw the bones and skins in the crockpot with water to make chicken stock. This cooked overnight and was ready for use this morning.  I was able to pressure can 8 pints of chicken stock which are now shelf-stable for future use.

I was able to use frozen onions and celery, along with a couple of expired cans of mixed vegetables along with cans of corn, tomato and green beans to start a big pot of chicken stew. We will be eating this for lunch as well as freezing one portion for future use and having 4-5 bowl available for next week as well.

My current plan is to have hamburgers for dinner, using buns from the freezer!  I am going to start a batch of cowboy beans in the roaster in the morning which will be another lunch options along with a batch in the freezer and other lunch choices as well.

I think we are good for both using pantry items and having prepared meals now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saving on Saturday- Pantry Challenge

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January has been a little rough overall for us.  For more details see this post from yesterday!  But today is the most “normal” day so far this month. It is a Saturday; we have snow on the ground and everyone is home. The goal for today is to finish putting away Christmas, unpack the camper and general catch up from the month of December.

I want to focus on the pantry challenge for this post.  This is the third year that I have attempted to participate in the pantry challenge.  I watched others do the pantry challenge in 2022.

I am going to continue or use the same rules this year for spending that I have in the past.  I am only going to buy things as we run out of them and need them.  I will continue to receive our subscribe and save items that are the best price from Amazon.   To be completely transparent, here is what I have already spent in the month of January, $10 at Aldi’s, I have a current order for pick up at Walmart for around $80 and finally Matt and Lily, will be picking up items from Costco today. I am going to estimate those at around $50. My subscribe and save is $105.46. I also had already purchased an order from Azure Standard as well.  So now that I see all the numbers on paper, my overall goal for the three months of the pantry challenge will be to spend less than $900 on groceries which is one month of our current budget.
I have decided to provide a little more structure to what food we are eating so that we can work on eating what food we have instead of just eating what we normally do and then buy more.  I worked hard over the summer to get lots of food in the freezer and to fill the canning pantry. I am working on keeping my kitchen pantry stocked and organized.  I was able to move items to the kitchen pantry so now I have a better idea of what we have and what we are using.

Here is a final list of the guidelines I would like to stick to during the months of January, February and March

1.Purchasing items that we are completely out of that are staples such as diary as well as buns or other items that will help use items we already have. Total spending for the three months of the 2025 will be less than $900
2. Use at least one “meal/meat portion of the meal” from the stand-up freezer each week. (This is where most of the meals are)
3. Use at least 3 jars a week from the canning pantry. (This can include lunches)
4. Use one item a week from the connivence freezer in my room. (This will also help me get a good handle on what exactly is in this freezer as well.
5. Each Monday after menu planning provide a list of how I followed the guidelines for the week.

Since the pantry challenge has been going on for a total of 11 days but we have only been home the past 6 days here is the list for that time period.
1. Current spending is at $206 with Amazon order and pick up order from Walmart. I will add Azure and Costco to the report on Monday. ($694 left for three months)
2. Fail for the week but we will be using several prepared meals for next week.
3. 7 jars from the canning pantry this week.
4. We pulled out and used 2 rolls of sausage from the connivence freezer this week.

Are you participating in the pantry challenge?  What are your rules?