Pantry Clean Out!

[shnoukys]

We are going to do it also. DH is really good at coming up with ideas with what we have in the fridge. Hoping to stay around the 60$ a week.

 

[jiminykrikkit]

Carrots (1)
Celery
Baby carrots (.25 bag)
Tomatoes (3)
Yellow squash (1)
Serrano peppers (4)
White onion (1, small)
Small tomatoes (5)
Salsa (.75 jar)


Oh my vegetables...time to get creative!

Chop up and throw all those ^^ veggies in the crockpot with some broth if you have it (or water) and chili powder, cumin, and paprika. You could add chicken or beans and corn (or both) if you have those lingering somewhere. Cook for like 6-8 hrs on low. Shred the chicken if you added some. Top with scallions, cilantro, lime juice, and torn up corn tortillas. Tortilla soup! So good and super healthy and freezes well (without the toppings)

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?

Oh I've thrown away so much produce, I've banned myself from buying anything extra. I used to go crazy in the produce department. Now I only buy a little bit, figuring if we're truly out of produce, I can just grab some more (or DH can bring some fruit home from work, they always have salespeople bringing food in for them).

Produce storage tips:

• greens & herbs go in the humidity controlled drawer. If you have a slider, slide it all the way to high humidity. A way to remember that "rot - low, wilt - high". If it rots (mushy strawberries!) it needs low humidity. If it wilts (lettuce, parsley), it needs high humidity.
• don't wash berries until immediately before eating
• don't refrigerate tomatoes at all (for best flavor), keep them on the counter
• keep apples away from carrots (well, keep fruit away from veggies - fruits emit a gas that makes things rot faster)

 

[jiminykrikkit]

I looked over our pantry and freezer and definitely have almost enough to make dinner all week Mon-Sat (probably have leftovers on Sunday, or maybe rice and beans if there are no leftovers). I found some chicken breast in my freezer that I forgot about to use for the pasta dish. And DH brought home a stuffed full quart size freezer bag of Chick Fil A nuggets from work (a salesperson brought a bunch of trays in). I put the bag directly into the freezer so DH and DS couldn't eat them just because they're there! That's a mostly free dinner for when we need it!

We're at the end of our stash of proteins, so this will be the last week I can get away with a pretty small grocery bill. I think this week's bill should be under $60! I can easily spend about $150 on a "regular" trip so this is a huge win considering that I'm buying stuff for the next week too. I'm going to try to shop at 2 different places right across the street from each other. One store has that deal on pork chops, the other has a deal on chicken breast (we use 3 lbs a week just for DH lunch, so it's worth it). When meat we use often is less than $2/lb I try to stock up a little. I don't want to get carried away though, because then I'll end up with another stuffed freezer with stuff I forgot about!

Happy weekend y'all! It's hard to stick to the plan on the weekend, but I know we can all do it!

 

[funkymom]

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!

Some ideas:

Potato, Egg & Veggie Scramble..saute everything till cooked through then add eggs and scramble, top with cheese and salsa

Tortilla Pizzas

If you have Chicken you can marinate it in lime, olive oil and chopped cilantro. Grill and serve with lime and cilantro rice. Oh and enjoy your pina colada drink!




I'm also going to join in this challenge. We are in the midst of moving from a temporary rental(after a cross country move) to a house we will close on this Thursday. Because it was temporary, we didn't unpack everything so it's been challenging to cook without all my essentials. Plus we are new, know nobody so going out to eat has been a way for us to do something. But with the move coming up, school starting and some financial goals we have set, I need to get back on track.

I had to cull my pantry greatly before the big move and I haven't gotten the pantry to where I usually like it so there isn't a ton on hand, but there is certainly enough here for us to eat at home for the next week so that's my commitment- 1 week of meals at home with a total of $25 for milk, bread and anything else I've forgotten.

 

[ariel1025]

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.

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

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.

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

Thanks so much for the encouragement! I already feel so much better just with the inventory I have done and meals I've listed as possibilities. I can honestly say bananas are one thing we've never thrown to waste - I have to "hide" them just so the kids don't eat them all in one sitting

Have a great weekend!

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?

Don't worry, we will be "cheating" again next week for a school fundraiser dinner. But I do think there are times when it's reasonable to stray a bit, just so long as you get right back on track

And, thanks, I will look into the fridgesmarts when our budget loosens up a bit

We are going to do it also. DH is really good at coming up with ideas with what we have in the fridge. Hoping to stay around the 60$ a week.

Welcome aboard! Good luck with your goal - make sure to let us know how you do!

Chop up and throw all those ^^ veggies in the crockpot with some broth if you have it (or water) and chili powder, cumin, and paprika. You could add chicken or beans and corn (or both) if you have those lingering somewhere. Cook for like 6-8 hrs on low. Shred the chicken if you added some. Top with scallions, cilantro, lime juice, and torn up corn tortillas. Tortilla soup! So good and super healthy and freezes well (without the toppings)

Oh I've thrown away so much produce, I've banned myself from buying anything extra. I used to go crazy in the produce department. Now I only buy a little bit, figuring if we're truly out of produce, I can just grab some more (or DH can bring some fruit home from work, they always have salespeople bringing food in for them).

Produce storage tips:

• greens & herbs go in the humidity controlled drawer. If you have a slider, slide it all the way to high humidity. A way to remember that "rot - low, wilt - high". If it rots (mushy strawberries!) it needs low humidity. If it wilts (lettuce, parsley), it needs high humidity.
• don't wash berries until immediately before eating
• don't refrigerate tomatoes at all (for best flavor), keep them on the counter
• keep apples away from carrots (well, keep fruit away from veggies - fruits emit a gas that makes things rot faster)

Thank you so much for the tortilla soup idea, it sounds fantastic! And thank you for the produce tips as well, I had no idea about the fruit causing faster rot

I looked over our pantry and freezer and definitely have almost enough to make dinner all week Mon-Sat (probably have leftovers on Sunday, or maybe rice and beans if there are no leftovers). I found some chicken breast in my freezer that I forgot about to use for the pasta dish. And DH brought home a stuffed full quart size freezer bag of Chick Fil A nuggets from work (a salesperson brought a bunch of trays in). I put the bag directly into the freezer so DH and DS couldn't eat them just because they're there! That's a mostly free dinner for when we need it!

We're at the end of our stash of proteins, so this will be the last week I can get away with a pretty small grocery bill. I think this week's bill should be under $60! I can easily spend about $150 on a "regular" trip so this is a huge win considering that I'm buying stuff for the next week too. I'm going to try to shop at 2 different places right across the street from each other. One store has that deal on pork chops, the other has a deal on chicken breast (we use 3 lbs a week just for DH lunch, so it's worth it). When meat we use often is less than $2/lb I try to stock up a little. I don't want to get carried away though, because then I'll end up with another stuffed freezer with stuff I forgot about!

Happy weekend y'all! It's hard to stick to the plan on the weekend, but I know we can all do it!

Awesome news on having enough to make it through another week And, yay for free Chick-Fil-A!

Even though you have a larger grocery bill to look forward to, I bet it will be easier not to overstock and/or buy things that don't really get used now which will help in the overall picture

Good luck to you this weekend as well. We have a birthday dinner for my Mother-in-law tonight, so I get off the hook for one meal

Some ideas:

Potato, Egg & Veggie Scramble..saute everything till cooked through then add eggs and scramble, top with cheese and salsa

Tortilla Pizzas

If you have Chicken you can marinate it in lime, olive oil and chopped cilantro. Grill and serve with lime and cilantro rice. Oh and enjoy your pina colada drink!


I'm also going to join in this challenge. We are in the midst of moving from a temporary rental(after a cross country move) to a house we will close on this Thursday. Because it was temporary, we didn't unpack everything so it's been challenging to cook without all my essentials. Plus we are new, know nobody so going out to eat has been a way for us to do something. But with the move coming up, school starting and some financial goals we have set, I need to get back on track.

I had to cull my pantry greatly before the big move and I haven't gotten the pantry to where I usually like it so there isn't a ton on hand, but there is certainly enough here for us to eat at home for the next week so that's my commitment- 1 week of meals at home with a total of $25 for milk, bread and anything else I've forgotten.

Thanks for joining all of us on this adventure!

Love all the ideas, but the marinated chicken is definitely on my quick list, yum!

Oy, moving is the worst, wishing you lots of luck for getting back on track!!

 

[pigletto]

I'm in! I did a large shop today. I had a good amount of food on hand already, so there is quite a stockpile around here. I made my menu from the flyers and went for a two week dinner menu this time so my goal is $30-$40 in produce until the end of the month. I even bought extra milk to freeze (we use Skim and don't mind freezing it at all) so there shouldn't be much taking me in to the stores for the rest of the month. I have three loaves of bread in the freezer which should last until September for us as well. If I need more than that I'll use the bread maker. Doing this will allow me to put the leftover grocery budget into the vacation budget this month .

 

[jiminykrikkit]

Awesome news on having enough to make it through another week And, yay for free Chick-Fil-A!

Even though you have a larger grocery bill to look forward to, I bet it will be easier not to overstock and/or buy things that don't really get used now which will help in the overall picture

Good luck to you this weekend as well. We have a birthday dinner for my Mother-in-law tonight, so I get off the hook for one meal

Yay birthday dinner! We had McDonald's for lunch today. We had planned to eat out since we were a long way from home, but not at McD's. I ended up suggesting it since it's cheap and I was able to track everything easily for WW. But wow, it was a lot of points! I should have gotten a kids meal. Haha

I also had my husband and son come with me to the grocery store and it ended up being $99! While I barely stayed under my weekly grocery goal of $100, I could have come in at around $60. Oh well, live and learn - no more group grocery trips.

I'm in! I did a large shop today. I had a good amount of food on hand already, so there is quite a stockpile around here. I made my menu from the flyers and went for a two week dinner menu this time so my goal is $30-$40 in produce until the end of the month. I even bought extra milk to freeze (we use Skim and don't mind freezing it at all) so there shouldn't be much taking me in to the stores for the rest of the month. I have three loaves of bread in the freezer which should last until September for us as well. If I need more than that I'll use the bread maker. Doing this will allow me to put the leftover grocery budget into the vacation budget this month .

Hurray for more Pantry Pals (Ha!)! I'm also putting my extra grocery budget into the vacation fund.

 

[westcoastfldisneygirl]

I love this idea! We leave for vacation soon, and I want to use up what we have!

Tonight I am doing Italian Wonderpot. It all goes into one pot and BOOM 10-15 minutes, done! The recipe calls for frozen spinach, but I have some fresh to use up (I'll just throw it in at the end) and it also calls for feta cheese. H hates feta, so I'm using Parmesan we have on hand. We will have the leftovers tomorrow for lunch at work.

Tomorrow will be a frozen pizza (after cooked of course!).

I need to plan the rest of the week.....

 

[Disneylover803]

I think this is really a great idea. With the amount of excess we have in our pantry, I'm sure we could do it for a week! Thanks for the idea!

 

[tinkermom_of_two]

We have been using menus at home all summer, because it helps keep us from going out to eat so much because no one knows what they want to eat, but things always come up and we end up not making some of the foods. Between that and stocking up during sales at stores, splitting a butchered cow with relatives, and just menu planning all summer on what sounded good vs what we had on hand, I did a large pantry/freezer look over, and managed to make eight, yes eight, weeks of menus without having to supplement more than $150 for non-weekly ingredients, like produce, milk, bread, etc. It really helped us realize how we had been overstocked on some items, and we now know that we should keep doing this more often. However four weeks into the clean out, it is getting harder to stick to it....but we aren't doing too badly, especially when we keep in mind we get to spend that money on dole whips and Mickey bars instead of another pizza or burger at home

 

[stayhomemom77]

Whew! We are getting low, low, low on everything! We leave for vacation at 1 pm tomorrow, so only have breakfast and lunch to cover. We have enough cereal and milk for the kids to have breakfast, 5 eggs so DH and I can have omelets and then for lunch there are two hot dogs, a bowl of pasta (one person worth), some leftover rice and a couple of tortillas (for peanut butter roll ups). We have three apples, three yogurts, a couple of kraft singles and a few slices of cucumber and that's it for the fridge!! If we open up a can of beans in tomato sauce, the hubs and I can have franks and beans with a side of rice, DD can have the pasta and DS can do the PB roll ups.

I look forward to restocking the fridge when I get back!!

 

[ariel1025]

I'm in! I did a large shop today. I had a good amount of food on hand already, so there is quite a stockpile around here. I made my menu from the flyers and went for a two week dinner menu this time so my goal is $30-$40 in produce until the end of the month. I even bought extra milk to freeze (we use Skim and don't mind freezing it at all) so there shouldn't be much taking me in to the stores for the rest of the month. I have three loaves of bread in the freezer which should last until September for us as well. If I need more than that I'll use the bread maker. Doing this will allow me to put the leftover grocery budget into the vacation budget this month .

Hello, hello, thanks for joining! Good luck on meeting your monetary goal for produce

I always hear people talking about freezing their milk, but it freaks me out for some reason

Oh, how I wish I had a bread maker - it's on my wish list for sure!

Yay birthday dinner! We had McDonald's for lunch today. We had planned to eat out since we were a long way from home, but not at McD's. I ended up suggesting it since it's cheap and I was able to track everything easily for WW. But wow, it was a lot of points! I should have gotten a kids meal. Haha

I also had my husband and son come with me to the grocery store and it ended up being $99! While I barely stayed under my weekly grocery goal of $100, I could have come in at around $60. Oh well, live and learn - no more group grocery trips.

Hurray for more Pantry Pals (Ha!)! I'm also putting my extra grocery budget into the vacation fund.

Yep, sometimes the plan just has to be to eat out. My issue is just breaking the habit of it being constant and/or out of laziness. And, I totally remember how much McD's used to break the WW point bank

Good luck this week!

I love this idea! We leave for vacation soon, and I want to use up what we have!

Tonight I am doing Italian Wonderpot. It all goes into one pot and BOOM 10-15 minutes, done! The recipe calls for frozen spinach, but I have some fresh to use up (I'll just throw it in at the end) and it also calls for feta cheese. H hates feta, so I'm using Parmesan we have on hand. We will have the leftovers tomorrow for lunch at work.

Tomorrow will be a frozen pizza (after cooked of course!).

I need to plan the rest of the week.....

Welcome aboard! Yay for vacation coming soon, and such a good reason to work on using up the food you have!

My sister does Italian wonderpot all the time, I think I need to get on the bandwagon, a single pot to wash at the end sounds fabulous

I think this is really a great idea. With the amount of excess we have in our pantry, I'm sure we could do it for a week! Thanks for the idea!

Welcome to the group and good luck!!! Let us know how you do

We have been using menus at home all summer, because it helps keep us from going out to eat so much because no one knows what they want to eat, but things always come up and we end up not making some of the foods. Between that and stocking up during sales at stores, splitting a butchered cow with relatives, and just menu planning all summer on what sounded good vs what we had on hand, I did a large pantry/freezer look over, and managed to make eight, yes eight, weeks of menus without having to supplement more than $150 for non-weekly ingredients, like produce, milk, bread, etc. It really helped us realize how we had been overstocked on some items, and we now know that we should keep doing this more often. However four weeks into the clean out, it is getting harder to stick to it....but we aren't doing too badly, especially when we keep in mind we get to spend that money on dole whips and Mickey bars instead of another pizza or burger at home

WOW on the eight weeks of meals! Great job on planning it all out, that's some serious dedication!!!

My FIL is a recently retired rancher, so we have a deep freeze literally stuffed to the brim of beef. It seems like SO much now, but I know how much I am going to miss that free perk once it's all gone. Meat is so expensive - I'll have to take your lead and look into splitting the cost with a group of people when we get to that point

I think trading a meal at home for a Mickey bar at the World (Land?) is a perfect goal line

Whew! We are getting low, low, low on everything! We leave for vacation at 1 pm tomorrow, so only have breakfast and lunch to cover. We have enough cereal and milk for the kids to have breakfast, 5 eggs so DH and I can have omelets and then for lunch there are two hot dogs, a bowl of pasta (one person worth), some leftover rice and a couple of tortillas (for peanut butter roll ups). We have three apples, three yogurts, a couple of kraft singles and a few slices of cucumber and that's it for the fridge!! If we open up a can of beans in tomato sauce, the hubs and I can have franks and beans with a side of rice, DD can have the pasta and DS can do the PB roll ups.

I look forward to restocking the fridge when I get back!!

Woohoo for the end being in sight! Best of luck on getting the last few food items cleared out. Have a safe and wonderful vacation!!!

 

[ariel1025]

Hey ya'll, sorry I've been MIA this weekend. I was, unfortunately, under the weather for the bulk of it...I spent an entire day and half in bed barely able to move That means there were some "cheats" happening to make things easier on the Hubs who took over all the home and kiddo duties, as well as took care of his work duties since he was on call all weekend #hesakeeper Because of that I don't feel bad for the purchased meals that took place, but it did teach me that I need to get some frozen meals made to make things easier when another event such as this happens. Who has some good freezer meal suggestions?

I will say, it looks like you are all doing amazing on your pantry clean out journey. Way to go!! And welcome to all the new people I see jumping aboard here

Just to keep things visible here is how my weekend went down

Saturday
Breakfast: Cereal for the kiddos, cream of wheat and coffee for the adults
Lunch: Applebee's curbside for the family, nothing for me
Dinner: MIL's birthday dinner for the family, soup for me in bed

Sunday
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs for kiddos, omlette for Hubs, chicken broth in bed for me
Lunch: Taco bell for family, soup in bed for me
Dinner: Tomato basil pasta and buttered bread for all (yay, for starting to feel better!)

Wishing a great and successful week to everyone!!!

 

[dpswift]

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.

It is hard not too. In fact last night after a long day at work I found DH sitting in bed playing video games. I gave him every chance to suggest going out. I even told my 23 year old son to suggest it to him. I think I was mostly annoyed that he wanted long cooking food and it was late



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

Yes it kills me to throw away food. Yesterday I found sausage and peppers that I would have loved to eat but could not remember exactly when I cooked it. I gave it to the dogs because it was within the last week or so, however it would have been great for work lunches.

 

[dlavender]

Hey ya'll, sorry I've been MIA this weekend. I was, unfortunately, under the weather for the bulk of it...I spent an entire day and half in bed barely able to move

Sorry to hear that you were ill, at least it was just a weekend bug. Glad to hear you are on the mends!

I have to brag on myself really quickly. WE DID IT!! Two complete weeks of eating all meals at home with mostly our pantry items (except for milk, bread, and produce that we purchase for a total of $60)! I'd take a $60 weekly grocery bill, but for two weeks!! We are really proud. We went through alot, so yesterday's trip to the store rang in at $120, but still fantastic! Thanks for all of your ideas and encouragement.

I would love to see some freezer meal recipes, as well as to know about this freezing milk idea. I didn't even know that was a possibility.

 

[secretpantssam]

I haven't been on all weekend

Friday night I made Ratatouille form the veggies from the CSA and tomato paste and rice from the pantry.

Saturday
Breakfast: pancakes from a mix in the pantry and frozen strawberries
late lunch- we did cheese steaks and fries
we did splurge a bit that night and had ice cream at a carnival but we specifically timed our lunch late so we wouldn't really be hungry
late snack: popcorn at home

Sunday
Again I cheated and had brunch with a friend I hadn't seen in a while but I figured it was worth the splurge. I did end up ordering the cheapest item because that as what I was in the mood for. And this meal was timed out that it covered breakfast and lunch- so I can feel okay about it.

Dinner- Tacos with items from the freezer and pantry.
Late snack- fresh pineapple covered under the CSA

Today
Breakfast- a banana
lunch- leftovers
dinner- Eggplant stirfry

I'm still planning my meals for the rest of the week. But I will say I feel more focused just because of this post!

 

[jiminykrikkit]

Hey ya'll, sorry I've been MIA this weekend. I was, unfortunately, under the weather for the bulk of it...I spent an entire day and half in bed barely able to move

Oh no! Being sick is no fun, and that sure throws a wrench in the plans. Good call on getting some easy meals in the freezer for when stuff like that happens. Hope you're feeling much better now!

I have to brag on myself really quickly. WE DID IT!! Two complete weeks of eating all meals at home with mostly our pantry items (except for milk, bread, and produce that we purchase for a total of $60)! I'd take a $60 weekly grocery bill, but for two weeks!! We are really proud. We went through alot, so yesterday's trip to the store rang in at $120, but still fantastic! Thanks for all of your ideas and encouragement.

I would love to see some freezer meal recipes, as well as to know about this freezing milk idea. I didn't even know that was a possibility.

Yeah!! That is awesome!

I tend to freeze almost everything I make, except pasta (I feel like it gets too mushy when reheated). We're a family of 3, and our DS is going through a picky phase where he doesn't eat much, so most meals I can freeze half or more. This works better for us than saving it for leftovers for the next couple of days, those tend to get thrown out.

I haven't been on all weekend

Friday night I made Ratatouille form the veggies from the CSA and tomato paste and rice from the pantry.

Saturday
Breakfast: pancakes from a mix in the pantry and frozen strawberries
late lunch- we did cheese steaks and fries
we did splurge a bit that night and had ice cream at a carnival but we specifically timed our lunch late so we wouldn't really be hungry
late snack: popcorn at home

Sunday
Again I cheated and had brunch with a friend I hadn't seen in a while but I figured it was worth the splurge. I did end up ordering the cheapest item because that as what I was in the mood for. And this meal was timed out that it covered breakfast and lunch- so I can feel okay about it.

Dinner- Tacos with items from the freezer and pantry.
Late snack- fresh pineapple covered under the CSA

Today
Breakfast- a banana
lunch- leftovers
dinner- Eggplant stirfry

I'm still planning my meals for the rest of the week. But I will say I feel more focused just because of this post!

Tacos sound yummy! Good choices on your splurges.

I have to say, this thread is really helping me focus as well. Not just for groceries, but for WW. DH had to go to the store to get dog food, and most of the time he'll get us snacks and other junk to eat while watching tv in the evening. This time I told him not to do that (usually I'll cave because I love snacking).

I did have to throw out some produce. The yellow summer squash I had went bad, I guess I underestimated how long it was in there. And I never go the strawberries in the freezer in time. Womp womp.

Monday's Menu:
Breakfast: yogurt with granola and some watermelon for me, blueberry waffle and yogurt for DS, DH had his usual protein shake
Lunch: last of the leftover beef stew (the portion I didn't freeze) for me, corn dog and grapes or applesauce pouch for DS, grilled chicken, rice & broccoli for DH (his usual lunch)
Dinner: Pasta with roasted red pepper sauce (pureed from a jar of roasted red peppers) and spinach topped with parmesan, grilled chicken breast
Snacks: Goldfish for DS, apple slices with cinnamon for me

 

[jiminykrikkit]

Oh! I forgot to add.

I got some good deals on pork chops and chicken breast this weekend. For a total of about $20, I have 10 meals worth of meat in the freezer, plus a full week of chicken cooked for DH to take to work. I'm actually tempted to go buy more chicken... It's only $1.49/lb for boneless and skinless chicken breast. Another store has dark meat for $1/lb but DH doesn't care for dark meat so I try to avoid that when possible.

 

[ariel1025]

Mmm, love sausage and peppers! At least it didn't have to go directly to the garbage can and I'm sure your dog was appreciative

Sorry to hear that you were ill, at least it was just a weekend bug. Glad to hear you are on the mends!

I have to brag on myself really quickly. WE DID IT!! Two complete weeks of eating all meals at home with mostly our pantry items (except for milk, bread, and produce that we purchase for a total of $60)! I'd take a $60 weekly grocery bill, but for two weeks!! We are really proud. We went through alot, so yesterday's trip to the store rang in at $120, but still fantastic! Thanks for all of your ideas and encouragement.

I would love to see some freezer meal recipes, as well as to know about this freezing milk idea. I didn't even know that was a possibility.

WAY TO GO!!! Two straight weeks is an awesome accomplishment! Thanks so much for joining us all on this journey. You've definitely inspired me

I haven't been on all weekend

Friday night I made Ratatouille form the veggies from the CSA and tomato paste and rice from the pantry.

Saturday
Breakfast: pancakes from a mix in the pantry and frozen strawberries
late lunch- we did cheese steaks and fries
we did splurge a bit that night and had ice cream at a carnival but we specifically timed our lunch late so we wouldn't really be hungry
late snack: popcorn at home

Sunday
Again I cheated and had brunch with a friend I hadn't seen in a while but I figured it was worth the splurge. I did end up ordering the cheapest item because that as what I was in the mood for. And this meal was timed out that it covered breakfast and lunch- so I can feel okay about it.

Dinner- Tacos with items from the freezer and pantry.
Late snack- fresh pineapple covered under the CSA

Today
Breakfast- a banana
lunch- leftovers
dinner- Eggplant stirfry

I'm still planning my meals for the rest of the week. But I will say I feel more focused just because of this post!

Oh, cheese steaks and fries sound like an awesome lunch! And I'm completely envious that you are getting fresh pineapple in your CSA

I'm so glad this post is helping you stay focused!

Oh no! Being sick is no fun, and that sure throws a wrench in the plans. Good call on getting some easy meals in the freezer for when stuff like that happens. Hope you're feeling much better now!

Yeah!! That is awesome!

I tend to freeze almost everything I make, except pasta (I feel like it gets too mushy when reheated). We're a family of 3, and our DS is going through a picky phase where he doesn't eat much, so most meals I can freeze half or more. This works better for us than saving it for leftovers for the next couple of days, those tend to get thrown out.

Tacos sound yummy! Good choices on your splurges.

I have to say, this thread is really helping me focus as well. Not just for groceries, but for WW. DH had to go to the store to get dog food, and most of the time he'll get us snacks and other junk to eat while watching tv in the evening. This time I told him not to do that (usually I'll cave because I love snacking).

I did have to throw out some produce. The yellow summer squash I had went bad, I guess I underestimated how long it was in there. And I never go the strawberries in the freezer in time. Womp womp.

Monday's Menu:
Breakfast: yogurt with granola and some watermelon for me, blueberry waffle and yogurt for DS, DH had his usual protein shake
Lunch: last of the leftover beef stew (the portion I didn't freeze) for me, corn dog and grapes or applesauce pouch for DS, grilled chicken, rice & broccoli for DH (his usual lunch)
Dinner: Pasta with roasted red pepper sauce (pureed from a jar of roasted red peppers) and spinach topped with parmesan, grilled chicken breast
Snacks: Goldfish for DS, apple slices with cinnamon for me

Thank you for the well wishes, I don't feel 100% but I am able to be up and around...and eat!

Oh, the picky phase - I feel like we are never gonna leave it. My son is 4.5 and has been riding that train since he was about 2

Throwing out a couple of things is better than throwing out bags full - keep up the great work!

Oh! I forgot to add.

I got some good deals on pork chops and chicken breast this weekend. For a total of about $20, I have 10 meals worth of meat in the freezer, plus a full week of chicken cooked for DH to take to work. I'm actually tempted to go buy more chicken... It's only $1.49/lb for boneless and skinless chicken breast. Another store has dark meat for $1/lb but DH doesn't care for dark meat so I try to avoid that when possible.

Woohoo for meat deals!!!

 

[ariel1025]

Thank you everyone for the well wishes I don't feel completely back to normal, but I am able to function which is most important since it's a new school week and responsibilities are waiting

Even though I was only offline for 2 days I have lots and lots to update on.

First, as promised I completed a full inventory of our indoor freezer (it's part of a side by side with the fridge, with the fridge part being much larger). Here is what we are working with:

Blueberry Eggos (5)
Buffalo chicken pizza bites (2, single serve)
Meatloaf lean cuisine
Kid's Plum brand pizzas
Hot dog buns (8)
Cranberries
Ice cream (.5 container)
Pineapple bars (2)
Strawberry yogurt bar (1)
Fudge bars (4)
Freeze pops (14)
Fish sticks (.25 box)
Sweet potato fries (.5 bag)
Spinach tortillas (10)
Chicken nuggets (.25 bag)
Cheese ravioli (.5 bag)
Chicken tenders (.5 bag)
Pork brisket
Turkey bacon (.5 a pack)
Pork bacon
Turkey sausage (.5 lb)
Turkey sausage links (6)
Chicken breasts (3)
Chicken fajita strips (.5 bag)
Salmon (1)
Tilapia (1)
Ground beef (.5 lb and .25 lb)
Some sort of steak (4)
Corn (.25 bag)
Summer vegetable steamer pack
Soup vegetable mix (.75 bag)
Broccoli (.5 bag)
Peas (.75 bag)
CA blend veggies
Country trio veggies
Ribeye steak (2)

In addition to all that, we received our CSA box for the week, and got a surprise blessing in finding out we only had to pay the delivery fee since they made an error on our last order. I was completely blown away by this. The "error" was the way they packaged the box caused all the peaches to get damaged. I wrote them about it just expecting they would make note so that it didn't occur again, and maybe they would give us additional peaches in our next box. Nope! They gave us the next box free

Anyway, that box included a head of romaine, a dozen flour tortillas, a container of cream cheese, 7 carrots, 4 zucchini, 5 tomatoes, 4 yellow onions, 10 gala apples, 14 white potatoes. Needless to say, we are set on potatoes for a while if you combine those with what we already had on hand. In addition to that produce I harvested 3 green bell peppers, a ton of basil and 2 yellow squash from our garden on Friday evening. Combining all of that with what was already in our fridge I have decided I am going to put a freeze on our CSA delivery for this week, because I want to make sure to get through everything we have to avoid anything going bad.

And remaining completely honest, I'm not even going to bother with doing an inventory on the deep freeze in the garage right now. What's inside the house is more than enough to make a week's worth of meals (easy!). Once the inside freezer is pretty cleaned out my plan is to do an inventory on the deep freeze. Then use the inside freezer as the holding zone for necessary ingredients for that week's meal plan

I do need to complete inventory on our "pantry" and am absolutely dreading it. We don't have a full size pantry, but instead the pantry area was built as 5 sets of regular 2 sided cabinets. It makes storing a pain and keeping it somewhat organized and separated even worse. I think I will commit to doing 1 set of cabinets each day this week, that way it won't seem so overwhelming.

And with all that babble I will end with our meal plan for the week:

* Fajitas with Spanish rice
* Posole with Spanish rice (making extra of both to have for lunch)
* Cilantro lime chicken and calabacitas (making extra chicken to make salads with for lunch)
* Baked pork chops with mac & cheese and roasted or mashed red potatoes
* Dragon noodles with meatless fried rice (making extra of both to have for lunch)
* Tomato basil pasta with salad (making extra pasta to have for lunch) - I think I listed this earlier as our dinner for last night. It wasn't. Last night was summer spaghetti.

Have a great Monday!!