January Pantry Challenge-Week 3 Update

I had the best week! I spent Monday - Thursday with these people as their parents went on a well deserved mini vacation with friends. My daughter and her 2 besties have been a trio since grade school and they all turned (ugh) 40 with in a few months of each other. In September they celebrated in Vegas and this time in Palm Springs.  How fun and memorable for them!

It was fun using someone else's pantry. Normally we have our meals planned and Momma has everything ready for us to just fix our dinner. This time we did it all ourselves. Tuna and noodles, burritos and baked chicken. There were some bananas that needed attention so there was talk of bread. I started telling them about my sister's fabulous banana cake and cake won out. Only 1 turn up his nose but we didn't care...more for the rest of us. 😏

When I came home Thursday afternoon, Ernie cooked steaks for dinner. I parked myself on the couch and barely moved. Friday I woke up thinking about Leisa's fiesta chicken (I used ricotta cheese and added an egg to my home canned chicken) and decided to try it in jumbo shells with a cheesy cream of chicken soup sauce over the top, then baked for 30-40 minutes.  I loved it, Ernie thought it was too spicy.  Again, that's ok, I'll put serving size portions in the freezer today for lunches. Last night was homemade pizza.

Not one trip to the store! I think maybe Ernie may have gotten take-out one night but mostly he ate from what was in the fridge.

Today there will be some chicken in the instant pot, the rest of the week includes meatballs, turkey tortellini soup with homemade bread, breakfast for dinner and some stinky clams for my man cuz I'm nice like that.

I will look through the grocery ads and only get what's on sale for pantry stock. Last week there was nothing! I'm sort of hoping there is nothing this week too.

We are planning a trip to our beach place soon. The menu plan and items needed will go with us. I brought most of the pantry items home last time we were there. I didn't want to risk anything freezing...you can't trust Mother Nature. When we first bought our place, Ernie thought we should support the local stores. But that got too expensive too fast. We do support them a little, but just for snacks and treats...mostly ice cream. 💗💗💗

We are planning to continue this challenge into February. I'm going to need to get a few staples. I have a great list of menu ideas from other friends in our group. I can't wait to try some of them. I need to sit down and figure out the menu for the last week of the month. I slacked not knowing what would be left in the pantry but I'm fine with what is left.