Fridge, Freezer and pantry Challenge

[dreamin_disney]

Life has been busy and when i do have time i've been lazy. We've been eating out a lot. I decided enough is enough. I Went through my fridge, freezer and pantry. Heres a few items that i found and I will be using. I will only have to get a few things to complete meals.There might be a few other things i can make but heres the list i will start with

pork butt, shrimp,Tyson jumbo popcorn chicken,Talapia,buffalo bites,orange chicken, frozen pizza

pastas- 1/2 angel hair pasta, 1/2 rigatoni, pack of fettucine, 1/2 pack of spaghetti, pack of spiral pasta, rice,

tuna fish cans, canned chicken, box scallop potato, 2 boxes of rice o roni, cans of olives, can of enchillada sauce, 2 jars of fettucine sauce, salad dressing, BBQ sauce, texas toast, cheese, bacon

large bag of salad, tomatos, cucumbers, celery, cabbage, onion, cilantro, chiles

Wed. dinner- carnitas mini tacos with onion, cilantro and salsa, mexican rice

Th.- shrimp angel hair pasta, side salad

Fri.- Tyson jumbo chciken

Sat.-orange chicken and fried rice

Sun- going to Bday Dinner

Mon.- Talpia fish, salad, veggie

Tues.Buffalo ranch, bacon salad

Wed.. Spaghetti, salad and texas toast

Th.- frozen pizza

I still have the pasta salad and mac salad left.

atleast my shopping list will be smaller.

Hopefully I can stick to it

Whats in your pantry-lol!

 

[Zhoen]

I actually did an big inventory over the weekend and... IMHO, my pantry and freezer are borderline ridiculous... then did a deep-clean on my fridge, which was deliberately nearly empty at the time, then went to the store and spent a ton more!

On the one hand, except for perishables, my family could eat from the pantry for the rest of this year... on the other hand (and on another site I hang out on) my pantry is rather paltry compared to others I chat with... and there are folks who have triple what I have and say they wish they had twice as much...

That said, there is nothing much you could name that I don't have in my pantry right now, unless it's something we don't eat... I *DON'T* have any whole chickens in the freezer right now, because (a)I hate how long it takes them to thaw, so I buy them fresh when I want them (b)chicken is so cheap it's usually not worth stocking up on... (c) when I DO buy whole chickens, it's usually with the intention of cutting them up and freezing the different parts (it's cheaper that way and I use the carcass for broth/soup/stew)

While on the one hand, I know academically that the point of a pantry is to use what you buy... on the other hand, I'm guilty of panic-buying with all this talk about prices going up.

Last night we did eat from the freezer-- I regret to admit I don't remember when we used the first halves of those bags of fishsticks and french fries... but they're gone now... leftovers have already been devoured by the chickens... tonight we're having chicken scallopini, using chicken breasts from our freezer (those I *DO* remember putting in, thank goodness), "real" butter leftover from some weekend baking, and rice that I bought in a huge bag last year and am still working through.

So, that's two meals that will have come completely from "stock," along with lunch, that is leftovers from the weekend, and breakfast, that was hard-boiled eggs I made last night. At work I keep a few frozen meals, some frozen veggies, bagels, etc in the freezer... I also have a few canned things, but my can opener disappeared, so they aren't much good until I bring in a new one from home...

 

[scrapquitler]

I can definitely feed my family from the pantry for several weeks without a problem (they might not like some of it or they might get tired of some things, but they wouldn't starve), but I'd still need to shop for perishable items like milk, butter, fruit, veggies, and some snack foods. I try to keep things pretty well stocked around here.

 

[encinc]

I can definitely feed my family from the pantry for several weeks without a problem (they might not like some of it or they might get tired of some things, but they wouldn't starve), but I'd still need to shop for perishable items like milk, butter, fruit, veggies, and some snack foods. I try to keep things pretty well stocked around here.

I'm in the same boat, except that we have plenty of snack foods. I might need to buy some chickpeas to make hummus, but I might even have enough of those. I stocked up on snacks at back to school time in individual serving packs, but my kids got Bento lunch boxes this year, so they're not eating nearly as many of the pre-packaged snacks.

I feel like I'm constantly stopping at the store for perishables ... milk, bread and eggs disappear quickly around here!

I have about 10 dinners in the freezer at the moment and 4 pounds of ground beef that I'm about to fry up and freeze. That would get us through more than 2 weeks, because there are always leftovers and then there's breakfast for dinner and things like that which go over really well too!

 

[Betsy82]

Ridiculous, ridiculous amounts of food.

I'm really interested in doing what I can to thin it some, or a lot. I tossed some ribeye this evening that I found lurking in the freezer from way too long ago. RIBEYE! I was so upset, but not worth getting sick over so I threw it away.

Tomorrow we will be thinning out our fridge from leftovers. I'll dig around some tomorrow to see what we might do Friday and Saturday. Sunday we will be out of town and will eat there.

 

[dreamin_disney]

That said, there is nothing much you could name that I don't have in my pantry right now, unless it's something we don't eat... I *DON'T* have any whole chickens in the freezer right now, because (a)I hate how long it takes them to thaw, so I buy them fresh when I want them (b)chicken is so cheap it's usually not worth stocking up on... (c) when I DO buy whole chickens, it's usually with the intention of cutting them up and freezing the different parts (it's cheaper that way and I use the carcass for broth/soup/stew)

While on the one hand, I know academically that the point of a pantry is to use what you buy... on the other hand, I'm guilty of panic-buying with all this talk about prices going up.

Last night we did eat from the freezer-- I regret to admit I don't remember when we used the first halves of those bags of fishsticks and french fries... but they're gone now... leftovers have already been devoured by the chickens... tonight we're having chicken scallopini, using chicken breasts from our freezer (those I *DO* remember putting in, thank goodness), "real" butter leftover from some weekend baking, and rice that I bought in a huge bag last year and am still working through.

So, that's two meals that will have come completely from "stock," along with lunch, that is leftovers from the weekend, and breakfast, that was hard-boiled eggs I made last night. At work I keep a few frozen meals, some frozen veggies, bagels, etc in the freezer... I also have a few canned things, but my can opener disappeared, so they aren't much good until I bring in a new one from home...

I dont know why but i'm very picky about my meats. I prefer fresh. If I do freeze it I cant leave it in the freezer more than 1-1 1/2 months. We have a freezer in the garage and I hate it because we forget about things in it .

I heard bacon will be going up in price but not sure what else.

I can definitely feed my family from the pantry for several weeks without a problem (they might not like some of it or they might get tired of some things, but they wouldn't starve), but I'd still need to shop for perishable items like milk, butter, fruit, veggies, and some snack foods. I try to keep things pretty well stocked around here.

I will be buying fruit and veggies fresh. I do buy some frozen veggies but prefer fresh.

My grocery bill be will be less expensive since i will only need a few things to complete the meals.

My carnitas will almost be done and there will be meat left over. So mexican mini tacos tonight and tomorrow I can make tosadas . I might even be able to take leftovers for lunch. I also made salsa so That will last 3 days. WIth left over tortillas I'll fry some and make chips for the salsa.

Once my pantry is empty I plan on filling it with healthier choices.


So how many of you looked in your fridge, freezer and pantry??? I would love to hear what you will be making

 

[irishsharon]

So I went and cleaned out the fridge and checked our freezer chest.I have ground turkey that I will use for slowcooker chili.I have enough chicken nuggets and fish sticks for about six months.I had stuffed shells and meatballs last night and still have enough of that for two more meals.I have premade angus burgers(buns&cheese included)easy microwave lunch for ds before weekend activities(saves a trip for fast food) I have frozen stir fry veggies and a huge bag and a half of organic mixed veggies.I have frozen pizza.porkchops.ravioli,and little bits of this and that.I just figured out that I have everything for shepards pie so that will be dinner tonight.Thanks for reminding me to take inventory before I go to my favorite place, costco Almost forgot dh will use the leftover chicken and make chicken salad for our lunch today.

 

[dreamin_disney]

So I went and cleaned out the fridge and checked our freezer chest.I have ground turkey that I will use for slowcooker chili.I have enough chicken nuggets and fish sticks for about six months.I had stuffed shells and meatballs last night and still have enough of that for two more meals.I have premade angus burgers(buns&cheese included)easy microwave lunch for ds before weekend activities(saves a trip for fast food) I have frozen stir fry veggies and a huge bag and a half of organic mixed veggies.I have frozen pizza.porkchops.ravioli,and little bits of this and that.I just figured out that I have everything for shepards pie so that will be dinner tonight.Thanks for reminding me to take inventory before I go to my favorite place, costco Almost forgot dh will use the leftover chicken and make chicken salad for our lunch today.

When i have lolts of fish sticks I make fish sticks or i make fish tacos.

Chicken nuggets I make nuggets, chicken salad with nuggets, lettuce and ceasar dressing .

 

[Betsy82]

I bought eggs and made my husband breakfast burritos with all the packages of flour tortillas we had in the pantry and sausage/cheese from the freezer. Of course I froze them (30!) but theyll be eaten quickly enough since he can grab and take them to work.

I have a bunch of sauces and salad dressings I'm going to try to work in using at least 1 bottle/week, lots of Pasta/RiceARoni type mixes also planning to use at least 1/week. They're typically my "really need another side" fallbacks but I wasn't aware I'd accumulated so many.

We have a deep freeze with a lot of meat. I'm going to try really hard not to let myself buy anymore meat, no matter how good the deal is, until we've eaten through the vast majority of what we already have- any kind of meat! We also have a lot of frozen veggies but I will continue to buy if the price is right. I am not afraid of those going to waste!

We have various cake, brownie, cookie etc mixes. Planning to make something every week or so to use them up. Lots of canned soups for the winter but my husband packs a lunch. Other various canned items and some items canned frm my garden this fall.

Wednesday I made nachos. Leftover lettuce from salad, onion, cheese from the freezer, gr beef from the freezer, taco seasoning from pantry, half bag of tortilla chips I found lurking as I searched just what all I had in there.
Tonight we raided the fridge. I had a salad with leftover steak and my husband had a salad with leftover chicken. I made a taco salad for his lunch tomorrow with the leftover nacho toppings.

Tomorrow will be a brisket I scored for free at our local grocery, canned green beans (pantry, but were also free!) and au gratin potatoes (box mix from pantry.. Also free!).

It feels good to have encouragement to use what we own! I did make a trip to the store this week but mostly produce and meat. Like the brisket.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

I have been doing this for the past 2 months or so and now my pantry, fridge and freezer are looking empty. Last night I cleaned out everything that was expired as well (raman noodles that expired in 2009 and other things I really should not admit that I had in there). Options are now very limited so I guess it is time to actually go grocery shopping

 

[dreamin_disney]

I bought eggs and made my husband breakfast burritos with all the packages of flour tortillas we had in the pantry and sausage/cheese from the freezer. Of course I froze them (30!) but theyll be eaten quickly enough since he can grab and take them to work.

I have a bunch of sauces and salad dressings I'm going to try to work in using at least 1 bottle/week, lots of Pasta/RiceARoni type mixes also planning to use at least 1/week. They're typically my "really need another side" fallbacks but I wasn't aware I'd accumulated so many.

Tomorrow will be a brisket I scored for free at our local grocery, canned green beans (pantry, but were also free!) and au gratin potatoes (box mix from pantry.. Also free!).

It feels good to have encouragement to use what we own! I did make a trip to the store this week but mostly produce and meat. Like the brisket.

Making frozen burritos - thats a great idea! We dont eat a lot of tortillas and i usually have to toss the package out. Please tell me how to freeze . Do you us make the burritos and place in freezer bag?wrap in plastic? Does it taste pretty good when microwaved?

If anyone has made frozen egg, potato, chorizo with cheese burritos. let me know how the chorizo tasted after warmed up.

BTW how did you score a free brisket and how do you prepare it?

I have been doing this for the past 2 months or so and now my pantry, fridge and freezer are looking empty. Last night I cleaned out everything that was expired as well (raman noodles that expired in 2009 and other things I really should not admit that I had in there). Options are now very limited so I guess it is time to actually go grocery shopping

Last year i cleaned out my pantry and cabinets and found stuff that were pretty old and expired -YUCK!

 

[njmom47]

Since I am now actually cooking, but didn't food shop this past weekend, I have used up just about everything I possibly could. The only thing I really have to do is clean out the freezer because we have a fundraiser (cookie dough) that I will need all that room for. That's not a bad thing though...there's some mystery items in the way back.

 

[dsneprincess]

Also wondering how to make and freeze & reheat breakfast burritos?

 

[limace]

I cooked up a leftover half bag of hash browns-at the end, mixed in a few raw eggs and the last of some green chile sauce and cook til eggs are sone and scrambled Add leftover beans if you have em-obviously, sausage would be great, too Wrapped corn tortillas in foil and warmed em at 200. Add cheese for breakfast burritos-frugal and kids love em. I'd wrap each one tightly in Saran wrap and then throw them in a ziplock freezer bag to freeze-then reheat in the microwave.

 

[Betsy82]

I cooked the sausage, removed it and cooked a package of simply potatoes in the same skillet, then added the sausage back in and mixed.

Whisked 10 eggs with some milk and dumped them in. Cooked the mixture and then spread on a flour tortilla and sprinkled some cheddar ontop, rolled and placed them in Ziploc bags. I didn't wrap in Saran wrap.

DH microwaves 60 seconds. But he takes them to work and their microwaves are commercial so you might need to play with a home one, and they are also likely somewhat thawed by the time he gets there and gets them cooked.