Spring Pantry Challenge

[momto1]

Since the weekend, I think the only thing I have worked on "cleaning out' is a jar of Tastefully Simple Pesto. I made some pesto noodles on Monday.

I changed my menu slightly this week. Last night was salmon and rice that I had. I ended up buying some frozen veggies to go with it.

Tonight is stuffed chops that I bought off the discount section yesterday when buying the veggies, squash which is on hand and probably salad.

I really need to work eating up my canned veggies. I just don't use those for veggies at meals. Sounds like I need to look for some soups or casseroles. Actually, I need to survey the lazy susan to see what I have!

Lori

 

[tinkmom2]

Hi everybody!
Well just got back from shopping at two grocery stores. My favorite store only has a brotosarus sized filet of beef so I had to go to a second store to get some! I spent around $120.00 this week because it's a meat week. That's for a family of four including cat stuff, a bottle of Riesling, soda, and snacks.
My poor DD has been really sick and finally went back to school today. We are off to the specialist tomorrow for her.

I accidently bought a bag of boneless chicken thighs instead of bone in so we had those for dinner last night with some chicken rice.

This week we are having:
5 Ingredient fix: Beef Wellington Bites (turned out awesome!) made 9 instead of the 12 in recipe.
Twice baked loaded potatoes with some kind of meat lol
mexican night soft tacos (still haven't made)
arroz con pollo and chicken thighs(made last night and again for lunch today)
the old stand by speghetti (still haven't had)
steak and potato (making two meals with the beef filet)(still haven't had)
chicken and Riesling from Epicirous. (still yet to make)
beef stroganoff with the left over steak and mushrooms plus used leftover frozen french onion soup

My shopping day is Wednesday and I still have many meals to make yet. Sunday is my planning day so I will let you know what I come up with.

 

[50sjayne]

Thank you--I had thawed a small amount of ham out and was wondering what to do with it that sounded good and am going to make twice baked potatoes with ham and swiss. I have some swiss I need to use up too. I had some pasta stuffed with portabella mushroom last night. It was only enough for one person and when I got home from costco last night about 7:30, husband was asleep already so it was just me. I just put the Johnny's garlic on 'em and with a nice glass of wine sat down to watch Olympic skating. Can't even remember how long those had been in the freezer lol. Think I'll thaw out some salmon-it needs to be used. Used 2 more packs of pasta side dish packets for the Turkey. Slowly but surely. Will definitely do some more baking this weekend.

 

[charming23]

Tonight we are having macaroni and cheese with spinach salad on the side.

I have really started to make a dent in the downstairs freezer. I do need to stock back up on chicken and one of the local stores is having a sale so I will get some this week. Other than that we have everything we need.

 

[50sjayne]

Well I made the twice baked potatoes and I will say they were fantastic. I doubled the recipe to use up all of the ham and have great leftovers. I had a small Hickory Farms block of swiss from last year that I needed to use so I grated all that and used it. I forgot to buy green onions so I added a cube of vegetable bouillion and it was so good. Using fat free sour cream sort of made it healthy too lol. I think I'll take the salmon out tonight. As I don't have anything else planned today I think I'll make the Disney pumpkin muffins. I am really getting into this thing. It is so satisfying every time I use something up--kind of addicting. I've been eating more oatmeal too for breakfast which is healthy and filling. Almost used up a canister, then I'll be down to one big one I think.

 

[charming23]

We have had a busy couple of days around here but have stayed on track. Thursday night we had leftovers as I was still under the weather and did not feel like cooking. Last night my Grandma took us out to dinner.

Today for breakfast is a bagel with cream cheese. Lunch will be chicken fajita's out of the chicken I found in the freezer (small bag of frozen breasts from Target that we starting to get ice and slight freezer burn so I cooked them up and shredded them to use in dishes) and dinner is going to be crockpot pot roast with salad.

I am doing pretty good on groceries this month as well. I have restocked up on a few items. Like I went to Save-a-lot to get some sour cream and they had their packaged ground beef on markdown to be sold that day, so I got a few packages and cooked them up when I got home and i know have 5 bags of pre cooked crumled meat to use for tacos, spaghetti, etc....

 

[lisam427]

im not doing good this month. the past two weekends we have been ordering out on friday pizza and wings.even though im still dealing with my knee injury and have been working overtime i havent been planning meals or using the crockpot. i usually use the crockpot at least twice a week. i really need to regularly post in this thread again. it just really helped. my freezer is not as packed on the bottom shelf but the top shelf is still crammed. im going to go through what i have, look at the kraft website, and plan for the week. spending on eating out is a waste of money when we have so much in the house.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

im not doing good this month. the past two weekends we have been ordering out on friday pizza and wings.even though im still dealing with my knee injury and have been working overtime i havent been planning meals or using the crockpot. i usually use the crockpot at least twice a week. i really need to regularly post in this thread again. it just really helped. my freezer is not as packed on the bottom shelf but the top shelf is still crammed. im going to go through what i have, look at the kraft website, and plan for the week. spending on eating out is a waste of money when we have so much in the house.

Make sure to go over to the crockpot thread when you get your list from your freezer. There are some great recipes over there. It really will help. Good Luck, and heal soon.

 

[charming23]

Today we are having leftovers for dinner as I am busy working on my homework and my mom has caught the cold I have. Last night we had pot roast in the crockpot with cheddar garlic biscuits (from a packet in the pantry). I have been utilizing the crockpot a lot more this month and it has been working really well.

The rest of the week is:
Monday: Crockpot Lasagna
Tuesday: Roast Turkey with mashed potatoes and corn
Wednesday: Pork Stirfry with veggies over rice
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Macaroni and cheese
Saturday: Hamburgers and french fries

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

So I did my shopping today, $70.00. This is a little higher than I wanted but I bought $20.00 worth of chicken breasts so that is a little more than normal, but I am afraid they will not be on sale next week.

Sunday: Pork roast, garlic smashed potatoes, homemade apple sauce and green beans
Monday: Sloppy Joes, cottage cheese w/fruit
Tuesday: Spaghetti w/garlic crisps, salad
Wednesday: Chicken enchilada casserole, corn, and mixed fruits
Thursday: Sausage w/peppers and onions, rice or potatoes, and stewed tomatoes
Friday: Grilled cheese w/Tomato soup or Cream of Mushroom soup, chips

Saturday: as always will be dictated by the kids plans for the weekend.


I am still working on my pantry, but it is getting a bit bare. I will be doing a large shopping trip to stock up, just need to find a day when I feel better. I am looking at a Sam's trip at around $150.00, Aldi's stockup at $100.00 (that is really, really a lot for canned goods and a few other staples I get there), and a meat trip at various stores at $75.00 (just sales for the next 3 weeks). This will totally cram the cupboards, extra area in the cellar, and the freezer. It should also eliminate large shopping trips for at least the next 3 months.

Hope everyone has a great week and for those with this lovely cold going around, make sure to up your liquids and steam a lot and enjoy your chicken noodle soup!!

 

[lisam427]

ok heres the plan
tonight goulash and salad
monday crockpot beef stew
tues italian sausage, oven fried potatoes corn on the cob
wed crockpot beef roast, mashed potatoes, vegi from freezer
thursday pork stir fry with vegis from freezer, rice
friday chicken cutlets rice, vegis from freezer
sat spagetti meatballs and salad

lunches will be leftovers, egg salad, pbj

my goal this week is do the prep work for the following night's meal the night before.tonight i will have all of the ingredients for the stew in the crockpot base. that way all i have 2 do tomorrow am is place the base in the crockpot and turn it on. on thrusday i will make a double batch of rice for friday. if i don't do this, i will not want to cook when i get home and then ill be tempted to do takeout. ill post later on in the week and let you know how i did.

 

[lisam427]

Make sure to go over to the crockpot thread when you get your list from your freezer. There are some great recipes over there. It really will help. Good Luck, and heal soon.

tinkernfun-thanks so much!! i think i will follow your advice. the crockpot makes life so much easier. i wish i had 2 of them.

 

[nena]

We went a little off track last week. We did get In-N-Out yesterday, but the rest of the week was great.

Here are the dinners for the week:
Sunday: Tri-Tip, Mashed Potatoes and Cornbread.
Monday: Chicken Burgers and fries.
Tuesday: Spaghetti, Broccoli and Garlic Bread.
Wednesday: Chicken Taquitos, Spanish Rice and Refried Beans.
Thursday: Chicken Soup
Friday: Fish Sticks, Fries and Corn on the Cob.

I'm off to the store to get the bread and veggie items.

 

[momto1]

I really need to get refocused on cleaning out the pantry, cabinets and freezers!

Last night we had roast, cottage cheese, potatoes and rolls.

Tonight - Leftovers of above meal excpet a veggie instead of the cottage cheese.

I dug some bagels and english muffins out of the freezer for breakfasts this week. I am trying to get ds to eat a can of pineapple that is lefover from holiday cooking. He doesn't seem to thrilled with the idea.

Keep up the good work everyone!
Lori

 

[charming23]

I went and did my weekly grocery shopping today and spent $25 for fresh fruit, veggies, bread and some pop. I am going to go to Trader Joe's tomorrow to stock up on a few items since we only go about every 2 months.

Dinner tonight is going to be pasta bake. I was going to do crockpot lasagna but I forgot to buy ricotta cheese so I will just use the rest of the ingredients for a bake.

 

[sau418]

I am doing great with keeping to the menu I had planned for the month. Although we got a little out of sorts last week with Ash Wednesday and no meat Friday, I screwed up early in the week and ended up with ALOT of pasta meals last week.

Tonight the girls and I are finishing some meatloaf I had thrown in the freezer and using some of the potatos I got from the CSA last week. I will probably cut up some carrot sticks from the CSA as well. I was not expecting such a bounty from them so I have a few extra meals now and will need to grab a few little things at the store so I can do some roasted root veggies and Ham and Cabbage, in order to not waste the beautiful cabbage we got.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Sunday: Pork roast, garlic smashed potatoes, homemade apple sauce and green beans
Monday: Onion Hamburgers, cottage cheese w/fruit
Tuesday: Spaghetti w/garlic crisps, salad
Wednesday: Chicken enchilada casserole, corn, and mixed fruits
Thursday: Sausage w/peppers and onions, rice or potatoes, and stewed tomatoes
Friday: Grilled cheese w/Tomato soup or Cream of Mushroom soup, chips

Saturday: as always will be dictated by the kids plans for the weekend.


Changed Monday a tad. Stupid dizzy spells are throwing me for a loop!

 

[charming23]

Well I caved yesterday and stopped for mexican on the way home from my last class for my mom and I. She was not feeling well and slept most of the afternoon and I had class. I hope to get back on track today by making the pasta bake tonight and the roast turkey tomorrow.

 

[tinkmom2]

Hiya,
I am going shopping a day before my normal day. So far the menu looks like this for the week...
Pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw
mini muffin meatloafs with mashed potatoes
beef stew
taquitos with beans
still have to make chicken recipe with left over chicken
chicken pot pies with left over puff pastry
chicken gumbo from Foodnetwork.com

UPDATE: My grocery bill this week was $106.00/family of 4 including about $5.00 in coupons. I would have had $10.00 in coupons but some expired. This is including soda, cat food, and extra like ice cream and snacks. I got a huge pork rib roast I plan on dividing in two for next weeks dinner and this weeks. And I got a huge bag of apples for .79. My pantry is super stocked. I should have a lower food bill next week

 

[kristinw3girls]

Had great intentions yesterday, but time slipped by. On the bright side, I did make a pasta uno frozen dinner. It was really taking a lot of room up in the freezer, so see ya!!