January Pantry Challenge Wrap Up

It was a good month for the pantry challenge. 

I feel like I accomplished what I wanted to.

I have a good handle on what I need, what we use most

and what we are out of. 

I planned to continue into February 

but not as strict as I was in January.

I need to restock some things.

My true test was getting ready for the beach trip.

I normally menu plan for our time there and

I had no problem making a grocery list to supplement what I had.

This time I didn't want to shop.

I wanted to stick to the challenge.

I did really good except I forgot to take potatoes.

So Ernie "had" to go to the store.

His favorite is Jack's Country Store

and always finds a reason to go there.

 And Momma wanted Cinnamon Bears!

The real reason for the beach trip was it was open for clamming.

I didn't go.

I don't like the cold rain and digging in the dark.

So a few more clams have been stocked in the freezer.

I will use any excuse to go to the beach. 😀

January Pantry Challenge--Week 4

For me, a pantry challenge is a good thing. For the most part, I have always kept a well stocked pantry. I admit to getting lazy sometimes about going to the store to stock when the prices are good. I also admit to hating to shop!  I use what I have in the house and the stock gets low and I get panicky.  Then I have to work, work, work to get back into my comfort zone.

I feel I am in a good place right now with what I have remaining in the house. There are somethings I need to replenish...I am out of tomato product of every kind! I am running low on pasta. I'm running very low on beef in the freezer! But there is enough other meat that I'm not worried about that at all.

I love having a menu plan but find it difficult to plan for a whole month. I prefer a week or 2 at a time. I did a menu plan for January but have strayed at times. No big deal. I kept a list of what we actually had for dinners. I've also kept a list of what others have shared on our group and have some pretty good new ideas for us.

So enough babble...my week went like this. Monday was an on your own day-aka leftovers. We had a meeting in town and went to Costco--may as well, we were in town!  Tuesday we had dijon mushroom pork chops, Wednesday was turkey tortellini soup.  Thursday was breakfast for dinner-my favorite! and Friday Ernie wanted Chinese so I ordered and he picked it up. The serving sizes are so large that we had enough for Saturday dinner too.  It was like date night 2 nights in a row. 😉😉

I used pantry stock to make some Vanilla Chai Tea Mix. A doubled recipe makes 2 1/2 quarts. Granddaughter Taylor loves this so I had promised to make her some. Will she get a full quart? Probably.

With 4 days left of this challenge, I'm calling it a success for me. I need to take my list and go to the store. I am planning to continue into February with the challenge. I will watch the sales but as far as just going to get groceries..no thank you. I don't want to. I'll just use what I have. I  has to be a good sale to get me into the store. 

Thanks Leisa of Suttons Daze on you tube.  I look forward to what will happen next month. 

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.

January Pantry Challenge-Week 2

I asked my amazing woodworking son in law to make me a tower for my canning rings. I drew what was in my head and he made it for me. I need another one but haven't asked yet. 😏

The prototype is short--I think 6" tall. That will work great for bringing what I need from the pantry room to the kitchen. You can barely see it on the right.

I had a great pantry week. Most days I followed my menu plan pretty good.  Sunday we had an unplanned family potluck--2 big packages of fish out of the freezer. Monday was a no cook day, hubby had a meeting so I had leftovers. Our oldest granddaughter is here from Baltimore so we did another family potluck. Baked Ziti from me, all ingredients from the pantry. Wednesday was chicken and rice soup, Thursday was lunch out with Granddaughter so no cooking, Friday was a delicious meatloaf with cheesy potatoes. Today will be chicken enchiladas.

I did add more on sale cheese to the freezer. When the new ad came out, the only good sale was bacon so 3# were added to the freezer. I had to buy creamer but I knew I would and it was on sale for a really good price so I bought 2. That's it.

With all my grocery money savings, I went ahead and ordered 80# of chicken breast from Zaycon for March delivery. I'll have a huge canning session when that comes in. Most of it is destine for jars.

I consider this week a success. Next week will be easy peasy since I'll be using daughter's pantry while they are on a trip. She will have her menu planned and everything I need at the ready. The rest of the week for my house is super simple. Hubby will join us for dinner so no worries for him.

I love having my menu planned out for the month and everything I need in the house. One of these days I will have to go real grocery shopping but I have a good list started and I have some incredible new menu ideas already planned out for February. 

January Pantry Challenge-Week 1

In December, I told you about the January Pantry Challenge that I planned to participate in. 

Here is my week 1 recap.

I had previously made a dinner menu plan for the month.

Dinners on days 1-4 were not what I had planned.

There were things in the fridge to get used up.

A Taco Soup craving happened. 😀🙋

No big deal.

We still ate from what was in the fridge and pantry.

I had said that I was only going to shop to stock the future pantry.

On Tuesday the grocery ad comes out for Safeway.

They have cheese on sale-2# for $5, limit 4.

Since my Wednesday group was cancelled, 

Ernie volunteered to go shopping for me.

Armed with his detailed list and asked to check for on sale beef, off he goes.

He came home with all the list items plus

2 big packages of hamburger and

4 big packages of chicken thighs.

Good shopping!

We got that all packaged up for the freezer.

Thank goodness he likes to vacuum seal.

(I kind of want to go get more cheese and thighs to can.)

On Tuesday evening I had taken 4 pork loins out of the freezer.

We got them on sale last year for a really good price.

I think the price was so good because they were the toughest pork I had ever had!

So after they finally thawed,

I cut the meat off into chunks and we ground it up into sausage meat.

I had watched this video about making Sausage Eggs cups

and knew I wanted to try canning sausage.

Don't turn up your nose until you've tried it.

(I did make some egg cups using diced ham...yummy yummy!)

I got 22 1/2 pints canned up and yesterday tested it making gravy.

OMGoodness! Sooo good.

I still have more roasts to thaw and grind.

So I consider my week a huge success.

I bought no real groceries,

I stocked the pantry and freezer with some yummy food.

 I have my husband on board with my challenge.

I don't mind being flexible with my menu plan.

It's working for us.

My plan for next week is looks really yummy and exciting!

Do you do kitchen and cooking challenges? 

Here are a few of my past freezer challenges.

I'm so easily entertained. 

2018 Pantry Challenges

I love my pantry. 

I love using my pantry.

I love a challenge.

 When Leisa at Sutton's Daze on you tube announced her January Pantry Challenge, 

(She has so many fun videos and awesome, simple recipes.)

I knew I wanted to do this.  

I've done my own challenges in the past,

but I think it will be more fun doing it with others.

I don't make you tube videos,

I'd rather blog about my results.

I'm hoping to do some sort of pantry challenge every month,

whether it's on my own or with someone doing something like Lisa is doing. 

I do have my own guidelines for this challenge.

I will shop if it's a good sale and I'm near the store.

(Because in my head, it's silly not to shop the sales.

That's what I do. 😀)

 Mostly I will use what I have in my pantry and freezer.

Of course if Ernie wants to fix dinner, 

(which means he'll go get take out)

I will not refuse.

It's kind of like date night. LOL

I'm excited to make my meal plan.

I'll probably do that a week or so at a time like I already do.

I'm excited about not grocery shopping. 

This is going to be so much fun!