Pantry Clean Out!

[dlavender]

Thanks for reviving this thread!

We are back to square one ourselves. We did so well for a few months, I placed 3rd in my company's biggest loser challenge, and we thought we had rounded the last corner. Well, I've gained back most of my weight and our pantry is full while our budget has suffered But, back to it! I work for a new company now, and if DW and I can meet certain medical metrics by November 1, they have a wellness program that will pay out a $2000 bonus! That's a huge incentive!! We have decided that if we can hit our metrics, and receive the reward, we will be going to WDW next Feb/March. We originally pushed our trip this year out to 2017's fall with my starting a new job, but this bonus will make it possible to bump it up. I feel like its finally our time to buckle down and make permanent changes, everything leading up to this was practice

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

I think this thread is brilliant. I'm determined to eat healthier and cheaper and to waste less. I hate having things go off which I then have to throw out It's usually an unplanned buy. I've been doing really well this week. Roasted a ham on Sunday for dinner with mash and carrots and sweetcorn then roasted a whole chicken yesterday and had homemade chunky fries and sweetcorn and peas. Today I made chicken and ham pie with the leftovers if both. I'm making chicken soup with the carcass and final drumstick tomorrow and can honestly say that chicken has been the best value ever
I have mince Beef in the freezer so probably spaghetti and meatballs for me and the husband and homemade burgers for my 2 sons who don't like pasta. Really feeling good about cooking from scratch and saving money. Eating really tasty food into the bargain

 

[ariel1025]

We're about to move in a month so I've begun the project of having us clear out the fridge/freezer. If he could, I suspect DH would cheerfully eat 90% of his meals in restaurants so it's a bit of a challenge to get him on board with eating at home for long stretches, but he's been pretty cooperative. I think the fact he's excited about the move is helping.

I'll be using up the last of my frozen ground beef in a shepherd's pie today. Tomorrow is the last of the frozen chili with arepas. I've got to come up with a plan for cheese ravioli when I've got no more pasta sauce left (maybe a garlic/olive oil sauce?), one last chicken breast, and some frozen chicken tenders.

As I've been doing these I've been amazed to realize how much grocery shopping I'd actually been doing. I probably wound up in a store 3-4 times a week and that $20 here and $30 there really added up!!!

Moving is a great motivator to get things cleaned out! The less you have to transfer between homes the better!

My husband would also choose to eat the majority of meals at restaurants if I didn't institute this project every once in a while. It's no good for our health or bank account though.

glad to see this getting revived I thought about this group the other day. the goal was to spend a lot less this shopping trip and use heavily from the freezer because I had been stockpiling like a nut. yea we still blew the budget on nonsense getting extra things that we wanted but didn't necessarily need. ugh....oh well move on do better next time and get the freezer cleaned out!

I'm so happy you're back for the revival If only it was as easy to resist excess as it is to build it up. Best of luck to you going forward!

Glad to see this thread! Sticking to budget and using up the pantry and freezer is my main goal lately! It's been kind of hard with a new room mate moving in (big eater) and hubby's Birthday yesterday, but I'm doing pretty good! We hosted a bbq for friends and family where we smoked some ribs and grilled hot dogs. I had other people bring sides and it worked out well- not too much out of the budget on our end. I'm pretty happy that hubby chose to stay home and grill steaks yesterday instead of going out for dinner! I spent $40 on steaks, and used potatoes and green beans (green bean casserole at hubs request) from the pantry so we did good, especially for a b-day dinner!

Happy to have you aboard! Great job on having big events at home instead of out. I love BBQs as an easy get together!

Thanks for reviving this thread!

We are back to square one ourselves. We did so well for a few months, I placed 3rd in my company's biggest loser challenge, and we thought we had rounded the last corner. Well, I've gained back most of my weight and our pantry is full while our budget has suffered But, back to it! I work for a new company now, and if DW and I can meet certain medical metrics by November 1, they have a wellness program that will pay out a $2000 bonus! That's a huge incentive!! We have decided that if we can hit our metrics, and receive the reward, we will be going to WDW next Feb/March. We originally pushed our trip this year out to 2017's fall with my starting a new job, but this bonus will make it possible to bump it up. I feel like its finally our time to buckle down and make permanent changes, everything leading up to this was practice

Isn't it frustrating how easy it is to get back to where we started ::sigh::

Great job on the 3rd place finish and best of luck on succeeding with your metric goals. A $2,000 bonus AND a Disney trip seem like the perfect motivators to me

 

[ariel1025]

Hey all!

It's been a few days so I'm here for my accountability post

Monday we did great with eating at home. Breakfast was toast with choice of toppings (cinnamon, cookie butter, peanut butter, sunflower butter) and a side of strawberries and watermelon. Lunch was a mish-mash of leftovers which included spaghetti, chicken nuggets, fries and watermelon. Big surprise on the leftovers. I know. What can I say? They're easy and Momma likes easy Dinner was a delicious home cooked meal of BBQ ribs, green beans, mashed potatoes and strawberries. Snacks throughout the day included Chex mix, saltines and pirate booty. Not the healthiest, but it is helping to clean out the pantry.

Yesterday (Tuesday) we were not quite as successful on the eating at home front. Breakfast was tortilla roll ups with choice of filling (same options as the toast on Monday) with chocolate milk. Lunch was homemade pizzas which required a trip to the store for ingredients (crust, pepperoni, bell pepper, sauce and cheese). This was the kid's idea using money they had been given from Mom to use on anything they wanted (within reasonable limits, of course). I asked multiple times to make sure they wanted to use their money on buying food and they were certain. It was a fun, albeit messy, afternoon with a yummy payoff. Then dinner it went downhill. Daughter (who is cutting her last molars) got a small fever, very fussy and fell asleep in my lap around 4:30 refusing to let me put her down. Hubs was over an hour late getting home from work, arriving with bad news and piles of stress. In the end we said forget it and went through the drive through. The kids got McDonald's (Blech but we did have a gift card) and we got Chick-fil-a. Not only did this set us back $14.14, but our meal was also absolutely awful. Hubs fries were ice cold and my bun on my chicken sandwich was rock solid stale. We didn't notice until we were already home and didn't feel like going back to complain and get fresh food. We improvised with a bun at home and microwaving the fries. Frustrating all around. Food budget is down to $8.27 for the week / $33.27 for this payroll.

And in full disclosure at one point we ran to Target to check on the toy clearance for possible gifts for my daughter's upcoming birthday. While there we picked up strawberries (buy 1 get 1 free!), bananas, and Hubs suckered me into buying Cokes Total spent on food $14.80. Accounting for this, we are out of food money for this week and left with $18.47 for this payroll.

How is everyone else doing?

 

[MrsTurnerLovesDisney]

I'm very determined to get our nearly overstocked freezer back into shape.
2 weeks ago I bought a lot when stuff was on sale for the 4th since I knew we would be house sitting for my in laws last week and grilling some. Well fast forward to last week my wonderful in laws left us funds for eating out & told us to eat out of their freezer so we ended up only cooking 1 meal from our stash. I have to swing by this evening and pick up my lunch meat from them lol

But now we have a pretty well stocked freezer plus more deer meat than I care to look at as I had gotten so burned out on it.

Monday I made a chicken/shrimp alfredo. I only had a small handful of shrimp left in the freezer so I paired it with some already cooked chopped chicken & jarred sauce. Seriously took like 25 minutes to throw it all together and served it with corn on the cob also from freezer.

Tuesday was a honey mustard pork roast done in the crock pot, mashed potatoes, spaghetti squash & purple hull peas.

Lunches have been leftovers and breakfast our standard cereal or toast options.

Tonight we are getting pizza to go as we have friends coming over to hang out.
Tomorrow my husband Aunt & Uncle arrive in town for a wedding this weekend so I figure we will all go out to eat for that.
Friday rehearsal dinner (DH is a groomsman)
Saturday wedding

Sunday we will get back on track
We have options for smothered deer steak with rice & gravy, hamburger helper, chicken helper, chicken cheesy rice casserole, grilled pork tenderloin, teriyaki beef & noodles, chicken nuggets & mac & cheese (toddler special), beefy spaghetti, and I'm sure I'm forgetting at least 2-3 things on the menu.

 

[dlavender]

Not only did this set us back $14.14, but our meal was also absolutely awful. Hubs fries were ice cold and my bun on my chicken sandwich was rock solid stale. We didn't notice until we were already home and didn't feel like going back to complain and get fresh food. We improvised with a bun at home and microwaving the fries. Frustrating all around.

Even though its terrible when this happens, it can also be a blessing in disguise, as its a reminder of why fast food, even Chick Fil A, is terrible all the way around. Still, sorry that happened, nothing worse than wasted money.

We have options for smothered deer steak

Totally jealous!

We have done great this week. Yesterday for dinner we had chicken enchiladas, the recipe from a 21 day fix website. You can eat two of the enchiladas and still only have consumed about 250 calories. Kids love them, and so do we. For lunch I had cheese and cashews, family had macaroni. Breakfast was a banana for me, pancakes for the family.

Today will be the same for me for breakfast and lunch, but dinner will be a protein smoothie (DW makes the best!)

Family had cheerios for breakfast, and will have PB&J's for lunch. Dinner will be Tilapia for them.

ETA: If we stay on our plan, we shouldn't have to shop for anything with the exception for Milk next week.

 

[dlavender]

We did great yesterday! Had to do a quick change up on dinner, as we did not pull the tilapia in time to thaw. We had some popcorn shrimp in the freezer and just popped those in the oven along with some fries. The kids enjoyed it while we had our after workout protein smoothies for dinner.

Today's menu: Breakfast - Pancakes for fam, banana for me
Lunch - Mac and Cheese for fam, Soup for me (we somehow always amass at least 10 cans of soup in our pantry)
Dinner - Tilapia for fam, Protein smoothies for us.

Just in this week I am down 2 lbs! 5 days of eating right and working out really pay off! We are making this a permanent change and I'm looking forward to getting our pantry cleaned out and taking our family to the World! Good luck to all this weekend, sometimes the hardest two days to stick to the plan!

 

[LilyWDW]

I need to try and do this after Gen Con... especially the pantry part! I don't have much in the freezer (2 packs of chicken legs, 2 chicken breasts, and a pack of pork chops) so I may have to buy meat, but I know I have sides in the pantry that I need to use up.

 

[dlavender]

Happy Monday!

We had a great weekend. Stayed on plan the entire weekend with one deviation. DW has put us on a healthier track, so we had to spend $108 Saturday night on groceries. Some of these were essentials like dog and cat food. However, despite my mild protest, we had to buy things like avocado oil ($11!), almond milk, and some other ultra healthy stuff we did not already have. Even though the $108 was more than I wanted to spend this week because we didn't really need it, it will go a long way in helping us stay the course. We resisted temptation at the movies yesterday (finally saw finding Dory). We were proud of ourselves for that. Small victories

Yesterday we made a breakfast casserole for breakfast, ham and cheese for lunch with cheesits, and mac and cheese for dinner (DW and I had a smoothie)

Today we had leftover casserole for breakfast, family will have PB&J's for lunch (DW and I will have taco salads), and fettuccini alfredo for the fam for dinner (DW and I are having some crazy chicken cooked in avocado oil dish that I've never had before and I don't recall the name).

So in 8 days we have now spend $108, using what we had and buying some new things. This weekend should be another light trip to the store. Hope everyone is well!

 

[froggibabey]

I was just looking at our pantry and freezer(s) and thinking this was something we had to do!

Started tonight, my nieces stayed over unexpectedly, and my grandmother and brother asked me to make them dinner too.. so I emptied out 4 different bags of different types of chicken nuggets, 3 different boxes of mac and cheese, and 4 bags of brussel sprouts. Not super healthy, but enh! We only eat chicken nuggets OR mac and cheese every few months, so I'm surprised by the amounts we had in the pantry.

Looking forward to being able to close the pantry door without crossing my fingers and then slamming it

 

[verleniahall]

we need to get our freezer cleaned out

 

[dlavender]

Well......We did it! Pantry is cleaned out! We went to Sam's yesterday and restocked up for the next two weeks. We only spent $101 over the last two weeks just buying that healthy stuff. Thanks for reviving and I hope everyone is doing well. DW and I both lost weight, and we are happy we saved some money! We did not buy any soup this trip Going to make sure we use all we bought over the next two weeks and not keep such a surplus.

 

[verleniahall]

we are trying to do this as well - we are only buying fruits, veggies, milk, eggs, cheese, and bread items (bagels, sandwich bread, etc...) and some lunchmeat

 

[lisam427]

Bumping this thread up in the hopes of reviving it. I have two tops freezers plus a large freezer. Also have a decently stocked pantry. I am going to use this thread along with the eat at home thread. I hate having stuff stockpiled and then having to toss it. My goal is to use everything up and avoid waste. We just don't h ave the money right now to toss all this food out and buy more. Hope you guys join me. I am looking forward To reading your posts.

 

[ski_mom]

It's timely for me too. We are building a house and will probably be moving later summer. I have quite a bit stockpiled and would hate to move it all, so we're going to try to work on eating what we have and I'm going to try my best to stop buying in bulk lol.

Last night we grilled frozen hamburger patties. We had 3 left in the bag - 2 for DH and 1 for me. One thing gone, lots to go lol!

 

[lisam427]

It's timely for me too. We are building a house and will probably be moving later summer. I have quite a bit stockpiled and would hate to move it all, so we're going to try to work on eating what we have and I'm going to try my best to stop buying in bulk lol.

Last night we grilled frozen hamburger patties. We had 3 left in the bag - 2 for DH and 1 for me. One thing gone, lots to go lol!

Skimom sounds like youare off to a good start!! I understand where you are coming from. I am not a big fan of moving. I wouldnt want ro move my stockpile either. So glad to see your post and looking forward to reading more. Keep us posted on how howyou are doing!!

 

[Debbie]

LOL We're moving in 10 days, so I'm amping up my "don't buy, use what is on hand" pantry clean out. I'm very happy with the way that the freezer is going, although I'm getting tired of pierogies, which I apparently bought every time they were on sale. And on the shelves....it's pasta sauce. A bit of pasta, but ooooodles of pasta sauce.

 

[ski_mom]

LOL We're moving in 10 days, so I'm amping up my "don't buy, use what is on hand" pantry clean out. I'm very happy with the way that the freezer is going, although I'm getting tired of pierogies, which I apparently bought every time they were on sale. And on the shelves....it's pasta sauce. A bit of pasta, but ooooodles of pasta sauce.

Wow, 10 days! Good luck with your move!

 

[Judique]

I do a fridge cleanout every Thursday before garbage pickup on Friday. Anything good in there has to have a firm commitment that we are going to eat it very soon.

I used to stock a lot of stuff such as cereal. Now I hardly ever buy it, because we have thrown it out too often.

Canned goods fair a little better. They normally have longer shelf life.

And, back to the pantry - anything still good such as spaghetti sauce, veggies and other products will really be appreciated at the numerous food pantries that are helping folks through difficult times.

 

[barkley]

And, back to the pantry - anything still good such as spaghetti sauce, veggies and other products will really be appreciated at the numerous food pantries that are helping folks through difficult times.

make sure to check what the policies at individual food pantries are on accepting shelf stable foods that are near/at/beyond the 'best by' date. although the usda website says that it's perfectly fine to use a variety of items beyond the best by date and specifically talks to food pantries accepting them within a reasonable time range, some pantries like the ones in my neck of the woods will not and once discovered they will dispose of them (in some cases with a year or more of entirely safe use remaining).

as for trying to figure out ways to use up your own pantry/freezer supplies-yummly is a great website you can plug the ingredients you have on hand into and get recipe suggestions.