Pantry Clean Out!

[ariel1025]

For several reasons, including but not limited to; excess, budget, and Disney savings, we are self imposing a Pantry/Freezer/Fridge clean out for the next 2.5 weeks in my household. I currently am following along on several other budget conscious threads and when reading along with @dlavender 's grocery budget thread I saw a few other people mention they were doing this. So as not to hijack the OP's thread there I thought I would start my own for others who are currently on the same journey. Moral support, ideas, and Disney encouragement are always a great thing to have on your side

Here are my rules and guidelines for myself:

1. Tomorrow (8.12.15) do a thorough inventory of what we have so I can make a general meal plan idea
2. Make the aforementioned general meal plan and post on fridge
3. Necessities are allowed (milk, bread, eggs, fresh produce) but are limited to a $75 budget
4. Pantry clean out started today 8.11.15 and will end Friday, 8.28.15

Today we made the following using nothing except for ingredients I had on hand:

Breakfast - turkey bacon, scrambled eggs and coffee (adults), chocolate milk (kiddos)
Lunch - BLT's (using turkey bacon cooked this morning) with cucumbers and cokes
Dinner - Bake garlic parmesan chicken (pinterest recipe) with scalloped potatoes, corn and lemon water

So, who's on board with me? What are your plans? I'd love to hear them!

 

[verleniahall]

Im in! (If nto for the fact that our next paycheck is in two weeks)
Here is the menu for the rest of the week (or so i think at this point)

Wednesday
Lunch - leftover BBQ Ribs (purchased a slab and done on the grill - yum)
Dinner - Chicken Something or other

Thursday
Lunch - Leftovers for DH, Lunchmeat sandwich + veggies for me
Dinner - Not sure yet

Friday
Lunch - Leftovers
Dinner - Hamburgers with potato salad

 

[ariel1025]

Im in! (If nto for the fact that our next paycheck is in two weeks)
Here is the menu for the rest of the week (or so i think at this point)

Wednesday
Lunch - leftover BBQ Ribs (purchased a slab and done on the grill - yum)
Dinner - Chicken Something or other

Thursday
Lunch - Leftovers for DH, Lunchmeat sandwich + veggies for me
Dinner - Not sure yet

Friday
Lunch - Leftovers
Dinner - Hamburgers with potato salad

Mmmmmm, we love making BBQ ribs on the grill! Chicken something or another is always on my meal plan too

 

[dlavender]

We are in the middle of our second week. Last week we only spent $12 on milk and bread. This week, we have spend $43, and purchased milk, bread, fruits, mayo, and carnation instant (which is for our ds 3's weight gain). Below is how the rest of our week looks:
Today
Lunch - PB&J's, bannana
Dinner - Jerk Chicken and long rice
Thursday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Frozen Pizza (after its cooked!) - PBJ for me at work
Dinner - Veggie Spaghetti
Friday
Breakfast - Oatmeal
Lunch - Leftover Spaghetti
Dinner - Alfredo Shrimp Pasta
Sat
Breakfast - Pancakes
Lunch - Grilled Cheese, grapes
Dinner -Chicken and scalloped potatoes
Sunday
Breakfast - Waffles
Lunch - Tuna Pasta
Dinner - Mushroom Swiss Chicken, and a pasta side

To be honest, last night we almost had a breakdown and went for fast food after DD's soccer practice. But we stayed strong! It's sad, but this is the longest we have been able to stick with a meal plan, and we are proud!

 

[ariel1025]

We are in the middle of our second week. Last week we only spent $12 on milk and bread. This week, we have spend $43, and purchased milk, bread, fruits, mayo, and carnation instant (which is for our ds 3's weight gain). Below is how the rest of our week looks:
Today
Lunch - PB&J's, bannana
Dinner - Jerk Chicken and long rice
Thursday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Frozen Pizza (after its cooked!) - PBJ for me at work
Dinner - Veggie Spaghetti
Friday
Breakfast - Oatmeal
Lunch - Leftover Spaghetti
Dinner - Alfredo Shrimp Pasta
Sat
Breakfast - Pancakes
Lunch - Grilled Cheese, grapes
Dinner -Chicken and scalloped potatoes
Sunday
Breakfast - Waffles
Lunch - Tuna Pasta
Dinner - Mushroom Swiss Chicken, and a pasta side

To be honest, last night we almost had a breakdown and went for fast food after DD's soccer practice. But we stayed strong! It's sad, but this is the longest we have been able to stick with a meal plan, and we are proud!

Congrats on making it to week two

We had to do the Carnation Instant for a while for our son's weight gain too, so I definitely can relate on that expense.

Veggie spaghetti sounds yummy!

 

[stayhomemom77]

We are doing this right now...but we are going on vacation from August 17th until September 4th so I will participate from today until we leave on Monday just after lunch! We got our milk and produce at the beginning of the week, but the fruit and veg are really going fast this week. I do have $10 in my wallet for emergencies, so I can run out for more if necessary, but I'd love not to use it!

We decided to empty the deep freeze and defrost and clean it so we can start filling it up again, once we get back from vacation. Yesterday I crammed the fridge freezer full of everything we had left and unplugged the deep freeze. I found several things I didn't remember were in there!! Score!! This is our third and final week eating nearly exclusively out of the pantry/freezer so we are starting to run low on some things.

I have to make the eggs and cheese slices stretch and we are out of bread but we do have lots of buns, some tortillas and a few english muffins. We could eat pasta daily (no thank you) so we have the mains covered but we're getting low on frozen and fresh veggies and fruit.

Last night I nearly broke down and ordered take out because pasta was scheduled and I wasn't feeling it, but DH offered to cook up burgers (which were scheduled for Friday night) so I jumped at that.

We may not have enough left overs for all four of us for lunches and in those cases, we have kraft dinner/soup/chili as back ups.
So...

Today
B: cereal for DH and the kids, egg and cheese on an english muffin for me
L: PB&J's for the kids, franks and beans for DH, turkey sandwich for me, bananas, baby carrots, yogurt, cuke slices
D: hot roast beef sandwiches, corn, peas

Thursday
B: cereal for DH and the kids, egg and cheese on an english muffin for me
L: leftover roast beef on a bun, veggies and hummus, yogurt
D: bbq chicken thighs, roasted potatoes, apple slices

Friday
B: pancakes for DH and the kids, egg and cheese on an english muffin for me
L: leftover bbq chicken, veggies and hummus, yogurt
D: pasta, whatever frozen veggies I can find, garlic bread

Saturday
B: cereal for DH and the kids, egg and cheese on an english muffin for me
L: leftovers or franks and bean, yogurt
D: pork chops, rice, frozen veggies

Sunday
B: cereal for DH and the kids, egg and cheese on an english muffin for me
L: grilled cheese sammies, soup, whatever veggies/fruit are left
D: chicken and noodles, peas and carrots

Monday
B: cereal for all
L: sandwiches and any leftover soup, apples/bananas if we have any left

 

[aprilchem]

We're on our fourth week of this, although I did buy a few things this week because I'm really sick and unable to cook. We've gotten by on $60 a week for my family of 5, which is for milk, eggs, and fruit. Other than that we're eating from the freezer/pantry. I think I'll be able to get another 2 weeks out of the pantry once I'm well enough to cook again!

 

[ariel1025]

We are doing this right now...but we are going on vacation from August 17th until September 4th so I will participate from today until we leave on Monday just after lunch! We got our milk and produce at the beginning of the week, but the fruit and veg are really going fast this week. I do have $10 in my wallet for emergencies, so I can run out for more if necessary, but I'd love not to use it!

We decided to empty the deep freeze and defrost and clean it so we can start filling it up again, once we get back from vacation. Yesterday I crammed the fridge freezer full of everything we had left and unplugged the deep freeze. I found several things I didn't remember were in there!! Score!! This is our third and final week eating nearly exclusively out of the pantry/freezer so we are starting to run low on some things.

I have to make the eggs and cheese slices stretch and we are out of bread but we do have lots of buns, some tortillas and a few english muffins. We could eat pasta daily (no thank you) so we have the mains covered but we're getting low on frozen and fresh veggies and fruit.

Last night I nearly broke down and ordered take out because pasta was scheduled and I wasn't feeling it, but DH offered to cook up burgers (which were scheduled for Friday night) so I jumped at that.

We may not have enough left overs for all four of us for lunches and it those cases, we have kraft dinner/soup/chili as back ups.
So...

Today
B: cereal for DH and the kids, egg and cheese on and english muffin for me
L: PB&J's for the kids, franks and beans for DH, turkey sandwich for me, bananas, baby carrots, yogurt, cuke slices
D: hot roast beef sandwiches, corn, peas

Thursday
B: cereal for DH and the kids, egg and cheese on and english muffin for me
L: leftover roast beef on a bun, veggies and hummus, yogurt
D: bbq chicken thighs, roasted potatoes, apple slices

Friday
B: pancakes for DH and the kids, egg and cheese on and english muffin for me
L: leftover bbq chicken, veggies and hummus, yogurt
D: pasta, whatever frozen veggies I can find, garlic bread

Saturday
B: cereal for DH and the kids, egg and cheese on and english muffin for me
L: leftovers or franks and bean, yogurt
D: pork chops, rice, frozen veggies

Sunday
B: cereal for DH and the kids, egg and cheese on and english muffin for me
L: grilled cheese sammies, soup, whatever veggies/fruit are left
D: chicken and noodles, peas and carrots

Monday
B: cereal for all
L: sandwiches and any leftover soup, apples/bananas if we have any left

Yay for finding things you didn't realize you had! Double yay for vacation!!!

I can completely relate to wanting to break down from the monotony of meals. When I was doing an inventory of what we had I was in shock over how much pasta and canned green beans we had. I mean, really, how much can one family eat of that?

Best of luck in finishing your clean out before you leave!

We're on our fourth week of this, although I did buy a few things this week because I'm really sick and unable to cook. We've gotten by on $60 a week for my family of 5, which is for milk, eggs, and fruit. Other than that we're eating from the freezer/pantry. I think I'll be able to get another 2 weeks out of the pantry once I'm well enough to cook again!

Four weeks, wow! That's amazing!

I hope you feel better soon!

 

[ariel1025]

Yesterday was only day two and I already wanted to "cheat." Ugh, why is it so hard to just eat at home?

Okay, whining over. For good.

Yesterday I had made it my goal to do a deep inventory of our fridge/freezer combo, big pantry, small pantry and deep freeze. But I just couldn't motivate myself. I did do a quick skim to have a list of items for the week, but then I called it quits.

Our meals were the following:

Breakfast: Eggo waffles, turkey bacon and chocolate milk (kiddos); english muffins with jam and coffee (adults)
Lunch: BLTs (with the remaining turkey bacon) on bagels (we ran out of bread) with cucumber slices and carrots
Dinner: Sub sandwiches and Cokes

How did everyone else do yesterday?

 

[dlavender]

We stuck to our guns for another day! Now, to resist temptation after DD's soccer practice tonight as we pass by "restaurant row" on the way home....

 

[verleniahall]

Yesterday was only day two and I already wanted to "cheat." Ugh, why is it so hard to just eat at home?

Becuase we are told by everything that eating at home means your are poor or you are doing something wrong

Had leftovers for lunch adn dinner lsat night - last day of the ribs - the couple that are left went in the trash - 3 days is a little too long for tha tin our house

Tonight will be HARD - we run market form 5-7pm so we won't get to eat until around 7:30-8ish wich is LATE for us, but it will save us $10.00 - we are going to grill some pre-done burgers (DH did them up and they are YUM!) - we have bread so we don't need to get buns, and we have the other "burger stuff" so we are set there

Friday will be the Chicken-Something-Or-Other

Saturday we will be in Ellsworth for tupperware event (yes, I sell tupperware) so we will eat out a couple times

Sunday - DH is making a 5 lb meatloaf with mashed potatoes and a green bean cassarole - plenty for lunches and some dinner leftovers for the week

Monday - (Payday x2 for me) - Dinner is covered at my tupperware sales meeting at pizza hut so eating out for free!!

Tuesday - Meatloaf leftovers (if there is any - guys eat ALOT!) - if no leftovers, we will bake some chicken stuff

Wednesday - Not Sure Yet

Thursday - Eating at Farmers' Market - It is Fajita night and they are AMAZING - totally worth the 13.00

Friday - Not Sure Yet

Saturday - BBQ Cookoff with Tupperware so a couple times eating out

Sunday - Bake a Ham (will create plenty of leftovers)

Monday - All Day Appointmetns at the VA hospital, so a couple times of eating out

And that is about as far as I am -

 

[secretpantssam]

I'm on board with this! I've been working on my pantry and freezer already when I looked and realized we had so much food and we're only 2 people. I'm a member of a CSA at a farm stand so I will get fresh eggs and produce each week. I need to take a solid inventory but I think I can go a few more weeks before I have to do any major shopping.

I'll just start with last night- I made spaghetti with sausage from the freezer and a salad with homemade croutons made from frozen rolls.

 

[ariel1025]

I'm on board with this! I've been working on my pantry and freezer already when I looked and realized we had so much food and we're only 2 people. I'm a member of a CSA at a farm stand so I will get fresh eggs and produce each week. I need to take a solid inventory but I think I can go a few more weeks before I have to do any major shopping.

I'll just start with last night- I made spaghetti with sausage from the freezer and a salad with homemade croutons made from frozen rolls.

Thanks for joining in. I honestly thing the more people that jump aboard the easier it gets to stay motivated!

We are CSA members too!! My Hubs grew up on a ranch/farm, so I love knowing that we are supporting other local growers by doing it. The one we joined this year wasn't an upfront annual fee. You pay per week and can skip any week you want. I went in and edited to make sure we were only receiving "essential" items so that I stick to our self imposed guidelines. But man oh man I'm gonna miss the homemade scones and jams this month

Mmmmm, homemade croutons!

We stuck to our guns for another day! Now, to resist temptation after DD's soccer practice tonight as we pass by "restaurant row" on the way home....

Wishing you lots of pixie dust to stay strong tonight

Becuase we are told by everything that eating at home means your are poor or you are doing something wrong

Had leftovers for lunch adn dinner lsat night - last day of the ribs - the couple that are left went in the trash - 3 days is a little too long for tha tin our house

Tonight will be HARD - we run market form 5-7pm so we won't get to eat until around 7:30-8ish wich is LATE for us, but it will save us $10.00 - we are going to grill some pre-done burgers (DH did them up and they are YUM!) - we have bread so we don't need to get buns, and we have the other "burger stuff" so we are set there

Friday will be the Chicken-Something-Or-Other

Saturday we will be in Ellsworth for tupperware event (yes, I sell tupperware) so we will eat out a couple times

Sunday - DH is making a 5 lb meatloaf with mashed potatoes and a green bean cassarole - plenty for lunches and some dinner leftovers for the week

Monday - (Payday x2 for me) - Dinner is covered at my tupperware sales meeting at pizza hut so eating out for free!!

Tuesday - Meatloaf leftovers (if there is any - guys eat ALOT!) - if no leftovers, we will bake some chicken stuff

Wednesday - Not Sure Yet

Thursday - Eating at Farmers' Market - It is Fajita night and they are AMAZING - totally worth the 13.00

Friday - Not Sure Yet

Saturday - BBQ Cookoff with Tupperware so a couple times eating out

Sunday - Bake a Ham (will create plenty of leftovers)

Monday - All Day Appointmetns at the VA hospital, so a couple times of eating out

And that is about as far as I am -

I love that you sell Tupperware! Our cupboards are stocked with it, I don't know why it doesn't appear to be as popular as it used to be. I still swear by it

 

[verleniahall]

I love that you sell Tupperware! Our cupboards are stocked with it, I don't know why it doesn't appear to be as popular as it used to be. I still swear by it

Let me know if you would like to do an online party!! I love meeting new people!!

 

[jiminykrikkit]

I love this thread! I've been doing something similar lately and I've got the freezer and pantry almost empty. I am at the point where I'm having to buy more and more to use up the rest. I'm also doing Weight Watchers, so I'm trying to make sure the meals are somewhat healthy so as not to use a ton of points.

I'm trying to save $200 a month off of my grocery budget to pay for the trip I'm planning for Sept 2017 (a long way away, but it should be a really great trip haha!). DH gives me cash 2x a month on paydays and I take $100 out of it and hide it away each time. I also add "extra" cash from selling things (garage sale, consignment, etc) and birthday money to this.

Snacks for the week PB cracker sandwich pack and/or yogurt for DS, apple slices with cinnamon for me, air popped popcorn for evening snack if needed
I need to cut up some strawberries and freeze them before they go bad. These will be for breakfast smoothies for next week.

Friday 8/14
B: bagel + egg sandwich for me (last bagel!), strawberry waffle for DS (last one!), canned peaches for us both
L: out as part of a pre-planned event
D: oven baked homemade chicken nuggets (using up a pound of cubed raw chicken breasts from the freezer), last of the instant mashed potatoes, last gravy packet, last can corn

Saturday 8/15
B: bacon & egg on toast sandwiches and canned pears for all of us (last can of pears)
L: out (driving to another city to pick up my sewing machine from the repair shop)
D: Crockpot Beef & Farro Soup with the ends of some bakery bread

Sunday 8/16
B: bacon & egg on toast sandwiches and canned peaches for all of us (last can of peaches, last of the eggs)
L: leftovers (beef soup and/or chili from 8/13)
D: honey spice chicken thighs, rice, sauteed yellow squash (I have everything to make this)

I haven't planned specific days after that, but here's what I can make off the top of my head:

Breakfasts:
Blueberry waffles (with a yogurt for DS)
grits with cheddar + sriracha
smoothies (ground oatmeal, almond milk, frozen mango, frozen strawberries, need to buy bananas)
honey almond granola (may need to buy more milk)
cream of wheat
oats

Lunches:
Frozen mickey shaped chicken nuggets for DS (half of a huge bag)
Pizza Rolls for DS (.75 bag)
Corn dogs for DS (half box)
Grilled cheese + tomato soup for me
White bean soup for me
Frozen chicken tortilla soup for me

Dinners:
salmon, baked sweet potatoes, frozen zucchini (using up the last of all these items)
refried bean tostadas + rice (have rice, beans and tortillas, buy lettuce and salsa) (DH will add a frozen burger patty for his)
need to buy flour to make pizza crust to use up the remaining pizza toppings in fridge
need to buy burger buns (or make them from flour?) to use up frozen burger patties, potato salad from potatoes + mayo + celery in fridge
some kind of pasta dish with parmesan, spinach, canned diced tomatoes, and jarred roasted red peppers (buy some chicken perhaps?)
pre-made & frozen chicken noodle soup casserole (need to buy some crackers to crush for on top)

Other items left:
Another pack of bacon that will get used on the weekend
Frozen butternut squash puree (1 box)
Frozen bell peppers (1.5 bags)
Frozen corn (.75 bag)
2 cups frozen (cooked from dried) kidney beans
1 lb carrots
half a bunch of celery
Pearl couscous, Quinoa, Whole wheat couscous <-- no one will eat but me so these will have to become lunches for me
Half a bag of wild rice mixture
White rice
2 cans great northern beans
1 lb dried pinto beans
random baking items (shredded coconut, cake mix, sugar, cocoa powder, nuts)

 

[dlavender]

Wishing you lots of pixie dust to stay strong tonight

Thanks! We made it past temptation road and added another successful day under our belts! Thanks for the encouragement! In three days, including today, we will have made it a full two weeks. But we aren't stopping there, I believe we have at least another week we can go using our pantry items. We did have to buy another gallon of milk last night, which puts our weekly total at $47. Not too shabby!

 

[ariel1025]

Thanks! We made it past temptation road and added another successful day under our belts! Thanks for the encouragement! In three days, including today, we will have made it a full two weeks. But we aren't stopping there, I believe we have at least another week we can go using our pantry items. We did have to buy another gallon of milk last night, which puts our weekly total at $47. Not too shabby!

Way to go!!! Both on resisting temptation road and for making it to the two week mark!!

Let me know if you would like to do an online party!! I love meeting new people!!

Things are crazy hectic right now, but I will definitely keep you in mind for later down the road

I love this thread! I've been doing something similar lately and I've got the freezer and pantry almost empty. I am at the point where I'm having to buy more and more to use up the rest. I'm also doing Weight Watchers, so I'm trying to make sure the meals are somewhat healthy so as not to use a ton of points.

I'm trying to save $200 a month off of my grocery budget to pay for the trip I'm planning for Sept 2017 (a long way away, but it should be a really great trip haha!). DH gives me cash 2x a month on paydays and I take $100 out of it and hide it away each time. I also add "extra" cash from selling things (garage sale, consignment, etc) and birthday money to this.

Snacks for the week PB cracker sandwich pack and/or yogurt for DS, apple slices with cinnamon for me, air popped popcorn for evening snack if needed
I need to cut up some strawberries and freeze them before they go bad. These will be for breakfast smoothies for next week.

Friday 8/14
B: bagel + egg sandwich for me (last bagel!), strawberry waffle for DS (last one!), canned peaches for us both
L: out as part of a pre-planned event
D: oven baked homemade chicken nuggets (using up a pound of cubed raw chicken breasts from the freezer), last of the instant mashed potatoes, last gravy packet, last can corn

Saturday 8/15
B: bacon & egg on toast sandwiches and canned pears for all of us (last can of pears)
L: out (driving to another city to pick up my sewing machine from the repair shop)
D: Crockpot Beef & Farro Soup with the ends of some bakery bread

Sunday 8/16
B: bacon & egg on toast sandwiches and canned peaches for all of us (last can of peaches, last of the eggs)
L: leftovers (beef soup and/or chili from 8/13)
D: honey spice chicken thighs, rice, sauteed yellow squash (I have everything to make this)

I haven't planned specific days after that, but here's what I can make off the top of my head:

Breakfasts:
Blueberry waffles (with a yogurt for DS)
grits with cheddar + sriracha
smoothies (ground oatmeal, almond milk, frozen mango, frozen strawberries, need to buy bananas)
honey almond granola (may need to buy more milk)
cream of wheat
oats

Lunches:
Frozen mickey shaped chicken nuggets for DS (half of a huge bag)
Pizza Rolls for DS (.75 bag)
Corn dogs for DS (half box)
Grilled cheese + tomato soup for me
White bean soup for me
Frozen chicken tortilla soup for me

Dinners:
salmon, baked sweet potatoes, frozen zucchini (using up the last of all these items)
refried bean tostadas + rice (have rice, beans and tortillas, buy lettuce and salsa) (DH will add a frozen burger patty for his)
need to buy flour to make pizza crust to use up the remaining pizza toppings in fridge
need to buy burger buns (or make them from flour?) to use up frozen burger patties, potato salad from potatoes + mayo + celery in fridge
some kind of pasta dish with parmesan, spinach, canned diced tomatoes, and jarred roasted red peppers (buy some chicken perhaps?)
pre-made & frozen chicken noodle soup casserole (need to buy some crackers to crush for on top)

Other items left:
Another pack of bacon that will get used on the weekend
Frozen butternut squash puree (1 box)
Frozen bell peppers (1.5 bags)
Frozen corn (.75 bag)
2 cups frozen (cooked from dried) kidney beans
1 lb carrots
half a bunch of celery
Pearl couscous, Quinoa, Whole wheat couscous <-- no one will eat but me so these will have to become lunches for me
Half a bag of wild rice mixture
White rice
2 cans great northern beans
1 lb dried pinto beans
random baking items (shredded coconut, cake mix, sugar, cocoa powder, nuts)

So glad to have you here! Way to go on getting most everything emptied, I can imagine it almost feels freeing to start with a clean slate

Those honey spice chicken thighs sound like something I need to add to our menu, yum! And I can't wait to see what pasta dish you come up with - those ingredients sound great. I'm always looking at ways to refresh pasta since I have so much of it on hand.

 

[ariel1025]

Okay, I'm just gonna start this with a confession. I totally caved in and agreed to Chili's to go last night I could give a list of 50 excuses why, but that's exactly what they are...excuses. These are the habits I need to change.

With that stated here was our menu yesterday:

Breakfast: Cereal (kiddos), english muffins with jam and coffee (adults)
Lunch: Leftover pizza (from Hubs work function) and Cokes
Dinner: The aforementioned Chili's (pork carnitas fajitas for the adults and corn dogs/french fries for the kids)

And because I clearly can't be left to "wing it" I started doing an actual inventory on our food situation so I can plan ahead #whataconcept I completed the fridge and sincerely felt disgust at the amount of spoiled food I had to throw away (3 containers of leftovers, and .75 trash bag of produce - it was easily over $100 worth of food ). My goal is to complete the indoor freezer this evening, but here is what I've got to work with so far

Bottled Mimosa
Welch's (non-alcoholic) pina colada stuff
Mountain Dew Shine (one bottle)
Chocolate wine
Snickerdoodle creamer
Hazelnut creamer
Wheat tortillas (10)
Eggs (15)
Carrots (1)
Jell-o (6)
Pudding (3)
Applesauce cup (1)
Pediasure (3)
Mango (1)
Butter
Ranch (small portion)
Flour tortilla (1)
Celery
Lettuce (.5)
Pizza sauce (.75)
Grapes
Baby carrots (.25 bag)
Corn tortillas (24ish)
Cherry tomatoes (tons!)
Tomatoes (3)
Shredded cheddar cheese (.5 bag)
Pepperoni
Mozarella (.5 bag)
Hot dogs (6)
Sweet potatoes (5)
White potatoes (9)
Yellow squash (1)
Serrano peppers (4)
Cilantro
Scallion
Yellow onion (4)
White onion (1, small)
Red potatoes (3)
Limes (3)
Small tomatoes (5)
Red chili sauce
Salsa (.75 jar)
Miracle Whip
Jam (.5 jar)
Sriracha
Ketchup and mustard
Pickle spears, hamburger pickles, relish
2 ribeye steaks (in the defrost bin, for tonight!)

Oh my vegetables...time to get creative!

How did everyone else do yesterday? Anybody else ever feel horrific at the amount of food they've tossed in the past?

ETA: Another confession, I'm clueless as to proper ways to store produce. Most of it comes in a chilled cooler from our CSA so I just kinda throw it all in the fridge. I'm sure this is wrong, am I completely ruining the longevity of things or ruining flavor doing this?

 

[dlavender]

Okay, I'm just gonna start this with a confession. I totally caved in and agreed to Chili's to go last night I could give a list of 50 excuses why, but that's exactly what they are...excuses. These are the habits I need to change.

Don't beat yourself up! We have given into temptation more times than I could count. You just have to start again still determined to change.

And because I clearly can't be left to "wing it" I started doing an actual inventory on our food situation so I can plan ahead #whataconcept

As I have mentioned, this has been our saving grace these last two weeks.

Anybody else ever feel horrific at the amount of food they've tossed in the past?

My wife and I were just talking about this last night. I remarked how this was the first week that I can remember not throwing away bananas because we let them go bad! We have probably wasted 1000's on food that we had to trash.

but here is what I've got to work with so far

You are loaded! Should be a great week. Stay strong!

 

[verleniahall]

Well, we caved too, and we justified it as it helps the school (LOL)

For your veggies, you need tupperware's fridgesmarts! They help reduce product throwaway by over 50%!

To use them up, why not make veggie soup?