Spring Pantry Challenge - Page 2

[Hollysmom]

weebitty2 - Wow, you are my inspiration. I can't even imagine being that good at this :LOL

[weebitty2]

I'm really not!

We moved last May, and instead of unpacking the pantry boxes .. i re-shopped. :LOL so i had double what's usual to work with

[Amys1st]

weebitty- I think you already did a pantry challenge for the past 4 months! :LOL

[Hollysmom]

Yikes...I spent another $150 today....I probably shouldn't have joined this thread this month. That brings me to $450 and we are in the middle of the month. I hope to only buy dairy and fresh produce for the rest of the month :

[Jennisee]

I'm going to try to get back into the swing of this. It's been difficult to get any cooking done lately (fussy, high-maintenace DD), but I'm going to try. I have a box of pasta and a jar of sauce sitting next to the stove for tonight's supper, so hopefully tonight will work out. :LOL

[Jennisee]

All right, I did manage to cook the pasta and sauce last night. Served it up w/ raw veggies and dip, canned mandarin oranges, and cottage cheese. Tonight is....*drum roll please*.....leftover pasta! Woo-hoo! :LOL

[Amys1st]

Well w DH remodeling I made up some good things to eat all week.
I made escorole and meatball soup, italian sausage, mannicottis, sauce, and pulled pork. Since I'm only 1/2 italian, I made the pork LOL. I made the soup and mannicotti for another family as well since they have a ill member but they enjoyed. But by last night, we had fast food : since we were tired and dd wanted to run around but needed a meal.

Tonight its burgers on the grill w grilled fries from some red potatoes. Also some leftover brick cheese and bacon so they will make great toppings. I also got some corn so that should be good. But dh needs a good surprise treat so we have strawberry shortcake for dessert.

We did leftovers the night before last. But so far I have cleaned out some canned tomatoes, mannicottis, chicken stock, frozen meat, and a few other things. This month has so many birthdays plus our remodeling, and of course the car needed to be fixed ($500 bucks) so we are going to be tapped out soon. So don't be surprised to see me next month more for a starving pantry challenge :LOL

[Hollysmom]

I'm with you next month Amy :LOL Between birthdays, Mother's day, the upcoming long weekend, new glasses (don't even ask how much I paid for those) etc. we are going to be busted by the end of the month.....

See you in June!

[Amys1st]

Thanks kristine! Good to know I'm not alone in my spend all my money time.
I should know for next year though. May is always more expensive than xmas time for us. Between birthdays (7 so far and 5 parties plus dd's next week) moms day, garden, anniversaries, plus paying for the stuff for the upcoming summer vacation its a lot.

We also are remodeling our bathroom so its adding up. In the end it will pay off when we sell our home in the next 6-12 months.

But being frugal, and watching money the rest of the time makes crunch times not as bad. I guess I just really hate spending money!!

but thats why we have the pantry challenge.

[isosmom]

Really, what is it about May? I am so busy, working extra, I've got something going on every weekend, both days. Yikes!
But we have been doing really well on our spending. I would guess that we've spent about $200 so far and next week is our eat out of the freezer week, so we won't be spending much at all next week.

[Jennisee]

A couple nights, I mixed up 2 packages of scalloped potatoes that were sitting in the pantry and put them in a 13 x 9 x 2 Pyrex dish. Then I set four pork chops on top of the potatoes and baked until they looked done--maybe 45 minutes at 350. Really yummy!

[Attila the Honey]

:

This thread is one I totally need because I am really out of whack when it comes to shopping. I stockpile and stockpile until my pantry is busting and I still feel like I can't find anything to make for dinner! I need some veggie pantry meals.

I always have grains, beans, staples, tofu... you'd think I'd be all set, but I just hit such a brick wall. I want to make X but I am missing something, so I run to the store to 'pick up a few things' and.. well, you know what happens next. So, the stuff sits and sits in my pantry while I am still running to the store a few times a week and making meals with the new stuff I've bought. It's crazy!

I overspent on our food budget in a big way last week (like, by 100% ) so I need to make the food I bought last a looong time.

[Hollysmom]

May is officially a write off....spent another $100 or so....up to like $550. : Oh well, June is a new month. On a brighter note I made the Green Chile Burritos off the Mothering website and they were amazing! I ate them at work and everyone kept saying how good they smelled.

[Hollysmom]

Amy,

I forgot to say Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday to dd! Hope they were both awesome!

[Attila the Honey]

Do you find you eat better when you are broke or doing this challenge?

When I am in spend mode we are more likely to buy what we want to eat or order out. When we are in savings mode and/or broke, we eat so much more healthfully and the food is usually better!

For example, this week if I could have I likely would have gone to the store and picked up some veggie burgers, buns, and a bagged salad and potato chips ( ) for dinner on thursday. (Sadly, and scarily, I had that $160 spending spree a week ago and there's very little left to show for it already.)

But I couldn't go shopping, so instead I made Meowee's veggie burgers (that I can't stop raving about, made from lentils and brown rice), made the buns from scratch, foraged for enough lettuce to eat from the anemic lettuce patch in the garden (incentive to start watering more often). Then I roasted chunked potatoes with olive oil, garlic and sprinkled on sea salt and nutritional yeast, and defrosted some homemade applesauce that has been languishing in the freezer for ages. that meal was 10x, no, 25x better than what we would have had if we just bought the stuff! We feasted!

Today is another example... I really wanted some pasta e fagioli from my favorite restaurant but instead I made a big, big pot from canned tomatoes, herbs, sugar, nutritional yeast, elbow macaroni (which I have roughly a metric ton of in the pantry) and soaked beans. It probably cost less to make the entire pot (with enough for dinner tonight and plenty of leftovers) than it cost to buy 2 bowls. I have homemade wheat bread rising and I whipped up a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. All from stuff I have had all along.

I am new to this pantry challenge so this is probably a big "DUH!" to the rest of you, but it's really amazing to me.

[Europeanmom]

Would love to join you. Are you starting a new thread for June?
I really need to get my groceryshopping back on track.

I made dinner from our pantry today.
A fish recipe.

Cod from the freezer, pasta, tomatosauce, carrots, spices, etc.
Planning on meat from the freezer tomorrow and potatoes and carrots from the pantry, I think I can mix up some sauce too.

[Amys1st]

Kristine- thank you!

I think we should just continue this into June since May was an uphill battle for almost everyone.

June we need to buckle down since May was $$$$ for us. Tonight shish kabobs, Cucumber salad, and Rice. I plan on doing at least one feed the freezer meal this week and maybe eating out of it as well.

[Hollysmom]

Continuing into June sounds good. I spent a bit more money today because I have a baby shower I have to bring food to tomorrow. I have given up keeping track for May....I know that June will be better.

[Amys1st]

Originally Posted by Attila the Honey

But I couldn't go shopping, so instead I made Meowee's veggie burgers (that I can't stop raving about, made from lentils and brown rice),

I am new to this pantry challenge so this is probably a big "DUH!" to the rest of you, but it's really amazing to me.

Never a DUH or dull moment here. You're a welcome addition!
But more importantly- do share the veggie burger recipe or brand or whatever. We are looking for a good veggie burger recipe in our house!

Well we officially start June today here. Went to the grocery what not and I told DH we are officially on a pantry challenge and checkbook challenge. I said of course unless you want to get rid of our debt free status and he readily agreed we are on BOTH challenges this month!

So this week- tuna sandwiches and tacos for lunch, shrimp rosetto for dinner, turkey burgers for dinner, grilled pizzas, and a chick pea salad of some sort.

[Attila the Honey]

The veggie burger recipes was originally posted in this thread

We make them a couple times a month, they are really good! Sweet, spicy, filling and CHEAP. :LOL