Pre-holiday pantry challenge

[Priorityonecb]

I've never done this before, but would like to give it a try! My Christmas shopping is done, but I'd like to reduce my grocery bill to afford to do some fun extra fun things for the month, and 2 week of Christmas break!

I am trying to get to Wednesday before doing my first grocery trip for the month. That is my first "mini goal" with this thread!

Last night we had:
Hot dogs on grill (used up the last ones in the fridge)
Mac and cheese (.10 Kraft deal, I stocked up and have a ton!)
Baked beans (.25 deal, have one can left!)

Tonight will be:
Crab cakes (freezer, great deal at BJ's)
Seasoned fries (freezer, last of a big bag)
Corn (freezer, will use 1/2 of a bag)

 

[DawnM]

We went to Boston Market after church yesterday to get their 50% off Family meal deal. It was $18 for a meal for 6 and we had more than enough for dinner last night too.....and some left over from that! Jim took it to work today.

I also have loads of turkey left over from Thanksgiving. I plan to make a Turkey casserole today.......turkey and cream of mushroom soup in the bottom of the pan, topped with stuffing and shredded cheese......bake for 30 min. or until browned!

Dawn

PS: I can't get smilies to work.....I rebooted the computer too.....what is wrong? It is driving me crazy!

 

[tinkarooni]

I've never done this before, but would like to give it a try! My Christmas shopping is done, but I'd like to reduce my grocery bill to afford to do some fun extra fun things for the month, and 2 week of Christmas break!

I am trying to get to Wednesday before doing my first grocery trip for the month. That is my first "mini goal" with this thread!

Last night we had:
Hot dogs on grill (used up the last ones in the fridge)
Mac and cheese (.10 Kraft deal, I stocked up and have a ton!)
Baked beans (.25 deal, have one can left!)

Tonight will be:
Crab cakes (freezer, great deal at BJ's)
Seasoned fries (freezer, last of a big bag)
Corn (freezer, will use 1/2 of a bag)

Welcome! I too am working on a "mini-goal" Big grocery shopping on December 5. Meals are getting very interesting around here as we run out of some things but have too much of other things. If I call them something funny everybody eats without complaint. "International Smorgasboard Night", First guy to the freezer gets first dibs night", "Everything Beige and Green Dinner".

Admittedly, some nights are better than others.

 

[tavettava]

Today monday 11/30
breakfast-boiled eggs, OJ
Lunch ds gets free. Dd is having egg salad sandwich, an orange, juice, and yogurt. I am having leftover spaghetti. Dh I have no idea.
Dinner we are having leftover spaghetti.

 

[tinkmom2]

My grocery shopping bill for the week was $90.05 I saved $10.00 in coupons. This was also including about $10.00 in soda purchases.
This is the menu for the week:
This is for a family of 4 but I usually have leftovers...

Chili
braised oxtails (got the recipe from Paula Deen and family loves it!)
pulled pork sandwiches (buns on clearance and pork butt for only $4.88)
baked breaded tilapia
Buttoni tortollini and sauce (coupon item)
sweet and sour chicken
breakfast for dinner

I found a lot of stuff marked down or on clearance this week like a huge bag of apples for .79 and a 6 pack of rolls for .99.... You can eat pretty well on a budget!

 

[momto1]

I am in for December, too! One of my weaknesses is day old bakery I can get for 50 cents. I only make it to the store on Saturdays and it is hit and miss what is there. This week I scored a cherry pie and 2 pudding cakes. The cakes are in the freezer and will be used for coffee hour at church next week. The pie is snacke for dh and ds. I still have a ton of baked good in my freezer than I need to concentrate on.

Then...dh owns a specialty food business. He did a show this weekend drumming up the holiday sales. He was next to a bakery. At the end of the 2 days he comes home with a huge bag of baked goods that he bartered for - pretzel bread, pumpkin chocolate chip bread, 2 kinds of jelly bread, a coffee cake, pepperoni bread and I am sure I am missing something.

So...December is going to be all about using up the baked goods!

Lori

 

[tinkarooni]

I am in for December, too! One of my weaknesses is day old bakery I can get for 50 cents. I only make it to the store on Saturdays and it is hit and miss what is there. This week I scored a cherry pie and 2 pudding cakes. The cakes are in the freezer and will be used for coffee hour at church next week. The pie is snacke for dh and ds. I still have a ton of baked good in my freezer than I need to concentrate on.

Then...dh owns a specialty food business. He did a show this weekend drumming up the holiday sales. He was next to a bakery. At the end of the 2 days he comes home with a huge bag of baked goods that he bartered for - pretzel bread, pumpkin chocolate chip bread, 2 kinds of jelly bread, a coffee cake, pepperoni bread and I am sure I am missing something.

So...December is going to be all about using up the baked goods!

Lori

"All you can eat pastry dinner", that's something I could get into!

 

[tavettava]

I am changing what we are having for dinner. Ds will get the leftover spaghetti (his fav). Dd, dh, and I will have pork chops (freezer), and cheesy potatoes (all from the fridge or pantry.)

 

[smiller]

Meals are getting very interesting around here as we run out of some things but have too much of other things. If I call them something funny everybody eats without complaint. "International Smorgasboard Night", First guy to the freezer gets first dibs night", "Everything Beige and Green Dinner".

Admittedly, some nights are better than others.

You are too funny!

Thankfully, Sunday Cooking Extravaganza was a big success!

Turkey Soup turned out yummy, as did the Beef Stew (both make excellent lunches). Haven't tried the Sloppy Joes, but they sure smelled great. I roasted, pureed, and froze 3 kinds of squash to be jazzed up other nights as quick side dishes to roasted chicken. Even the simple Apple Crisp was a hit - between the 3 of us at work today, we polished off the whole 9x13 pan!

Tonight's plan is rye toast (fresh) topped with bbq pork (freezer) and pepper jack cheese (freezer - anyone remember that Kraft deal forever ago?). Maybe I'll cut up a few carrots (fresh) for a side and a bit of mac & cheese (pantry).

 

[njcarita]

we'll I am in for December..... my husband is self employed and is down to 3 days work left.... luckily I started couponing big time in September and Managed to fill a chest freezer and fill my pantry ..... I think I have enough food to last at least 2 months..... so I am only going to buy only stuff that is free or almost free( after coupons) and add fruit , milk eggs breads etc.....

today was leftover bean , meat and chicken tacos and rice from yesterday

 

[stahshee]

TONIGHTS DINNER WAS SOOOOO NASTY!!!!

Ok this was just so gross. I used left over turkey, rice with Italian salad dressing ,Cauliflower all mixd and baked...It was so nasty!!!!


on the good side I did use up all the white rice, Italian dressing and Cauliflower

 

[smiller]

TONIGHTS DINNER WAS SOOOOO NASTY!!!!

Ok this was just so gross. I used left over turkey, rice with Italian salad dressing ,Cauliflower all mixd and baked...It was so nasty!!!!


on the good side I did use up all the white rice, Italian dressing and Cauliflower

How true! I'd rather cook something inedible than just toss the food out. At least you tried!

 

[figment3258]

I'm in for December. This has been great. While I have been saving a little money each week I have not been over spending and that's a good goal for me.
Tonight for diner I made a beef stew bake. here the rest of the week

Tues mac and cheese for the little ones and stuffed mushrooms for us
Wed Hamburgers with salad
Thurs Chicken bake
Fri frozen Cali pizza and Spaghetti for the little picky ones
Sat leftovers

This challenge has been great though my freezer is looking bare and we are 16 days strong of not eating out at all no take out fast food or coffee. And that's big for us when you work seasonally and are in debt but we are making strong headway and 2010 is looking to be a wonderful year.

 

[charming23]

Last night's Lemon Chicken was so yummy. The Leftovers will be today's lunch.

Not sure if I will stick to what was orginally planned for tonight or find something else. I am in the mood to experiment a little.

 

[DawnM]

Turkey sandwiches last night!

Tonight is a dinner party......we are taking some sort of appetizer.....maybe veggie tray.

Dawn

 

[tzolkin]

I'm a little late to the party, but this is actually really amazing!

A few weeks ago, I emptied out my entire chest freezer into my kitchen to write down everything that was in it. My parents have a small farm and give us organic, grass-fed meat--which is great-- but several times I have wound up throwing some of it away. Some of the things I just never used like the giant beef steaks/roasts, so they sat in there forever. I looked for recipies with the sole purpose of using all the meat I have and have already used 3 of the big pieces of beef plus a bunch of other stuff. The freezer is always my biggest problem. It's great to have, but I never go out there and I've been pretty lax about planning menus, so I would think of a dinner idea around lunch time but the food was frozen so I'd make something else instead.

For reference: We are a family of 5. Kids are 10, 5, and 3. Everyone eats all meals from the groceries I buy (DH and the kids bring their lunches every day.) We rarely go out to dinner (once a month?).

For November my highest priced trip to the grocery store was $67. I spent a total of $243.

I just added up my expenses from the previous months.
In October I spent $616 on groceries.
In September I spent $703.
I spent even more in August, but I stocked up on a lot of school items that I'm still using.

I think I can do even better this month. My MIL is coming for 10 days, but she'll just have to go along with my menus.

 

[stahshee]

tonight. Im going to do a steak in the crock pot with carrots

 

[acename]

I fell off the wagon last week with the holiday and Dh's grandmother passed away. It was a crazy week. But, I'm recommited now since I have quite a bit of Christmas shopping to do and it would be nice to have a lower grocery bill to offset that.

Tonight I'm using up the last of the leftover turkey to make a turkey pot pie. We'll eat the last of the left over corn, green beans and sweet potatoes too.

I've also got some pear/apple sauce in the crock pot for snacks for the next couple of days.

 

[tinkarooni]

I'm a little late to the party, but this is actually really amazing!

My MIL is coming for 10 days, but she'll just have to go along with my menus.

Welcome to the game!

You are so lucky, an unsuspecting participant to help you guys eat some unusual freezer fare......maybe I'll invite my MIL to stay for ten days.....hmmmmm.....maybe not.

Last night was everybody fend for themselves....finished up some odds and ends out of the fridge.

Today my kids are still home on Thanksgiving break, we all picked something out of the freezer and nuked it for lunch.

Dinner will be meatloaf, 1/2 beef and 1/2 pork. Mashed potatoes, baked spaghetti squash. Uses up ground pork from the freezer and my cellar storage of squash and potatoes.

 

[Priorityonecb]

I didn't make my "mini goal" of waiting to grocery shop until tomorrow. But, it's because I had errands to run anyway right by the grocery store so to save gas I went today! We are a family of four, and I usually spend $100 a week on groceries. Today, I only spent $83 and I hope to spend less than $75 per week after this (I was out of a lot of cleaning/toiletry stuff, that adds up!).

Anyway...tonights dinner is:
Burgers on the grill (using last of hamburger, after this we are going no beef or pork)
Broccoli slaw (I did buy the premade slaw for $1, but it was to use up the bottled cole slaw dressing we had in the fridge instead of throwing it out!)
I have a .75 cookie mix in the pantry that I will bake for dessert.