I actually started watching YouTube regularly last February with “Three Rivers Pantry Challenge” begin one of the ways that I was able to find several of the channels that I now follow regularly!

Groceries remain one of our biggest expenses overall. In fact, this month in December I have spent $1085 in groceries. This did include feeding extra people around the holiday but man alive that is a lot. Our average grocery spending for 2022 was $975 a month. This is at least $100 more per month than other year.  After a bit of research, I have attempted pantry challenges several times in the past with limited to no success.  This is the year that I hope to change that. There are a couple of other things that should improve my overall success as well.
First is my electric pressure canner.  I am absolutely loving this appliance.  I have been able to do a couple of batches at a time and the goal is to use all the jars I have purchased. I am going to add and hopefully complete this goal this weekend after canning pinto beans and taco meat.  Yesterday I was able to can up some ham soup that will make for an easy lunch for me if needed.
Another reason is that we have about half the cow we purchased in the freezer still and the garden this year was very plentiful.  One of the goals I have made for myself is to fill the freezer this summer with “prepared meals” including casseroles and slow cooker options that for next school year, all I need to do is simply decided what we are eating for the week and pull it out.  In order to make this happen, I need an almost empty freezer to start with Currently all three of our dedicated freezers are about 3/4 of the way full.

Now to the specifics! I am giving myself only one rule to follow during the pantry challenge and that is that I can only buy things we are completely out of.  For example, we were completely out of cream yesterday so $22 later we should have cream for at least part of the month of January.   In my head, my plan is to stick to the pantry challenge for both the months of January and February.   We receive our “Costco check” in March which would make restocking fairly easy.

I have even made a new category, for this challenge!  I am very hopeful that is the “reset” we need around here in regards to food management.  I am also wondering if this becomes a yearly challenge in order for us to use the items we have! Today, I am getting a jump start on the challenge by assembling breakfast burritos which have become one of my favorite go to meals!