The Pantry Challenge has begun! To start with, I took inventory of all the food that I had in the house: the pantry, refrigerator and freezer. This helped me to see exactly what I had to work with. Having it all written down will assist with meal planning. On one hand, I don't feel like I have that great of a variety but on the other hand, I found out I had more than I thought. After doing the inventory, I feel more confident that I can do the challenge for a full month. Time will tell!
Each person gets to set their own rules for The Pantry Challenge. I'm aiming to only purchase dairy, eggs and produce and therefore would like to keep my grocery spending to $50 or less for the whole month. This may be a bit unrealistic, I don't know. But I'm willing to give it a try! In fact, I went ahead and took out $50 to put in my grocery cash envelope and stashed the rest away so I'm not as tempted to overspend. The money I save this month will be put aside for bulk food purchases.
I will still shop at CVS at least once using ECB's and as little as possible out of pocket expense. Most of that will not be food purchases. But it will still come out of my monthly goal of $50. I have yet to decide if I will take advantage of any coupon sales.
My goal is not to use everything up that's in my pantry but to create as many meals for a month as I can from what I have on hand to minimize shopping and spending.
So without further adieu, here's my pantry, freezer and refrigerator inventory and the main cast of characters in what we'll be eating this month! I'll be crossing things off as we use them.
I'll be posting about what we're eating and how I'm doing with the challenge and my goals at the end of each week during the month of January, so stay tuned!
Refrigerator:
1 pound Parmesan cheese
1 pound mozzarella cheese
ground flax seed
yeast
gluten
1/2 bag coconut
3 celery stalks
Most of 10 pound bag carrots
1/2 jar applesauce
peanut butter
Condiments
ketchup
mustard- several kinds
pickles
apple butter
hot sauce
soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
mayonnaise
maple syrup
horseradish
salsa
Leftovers
Pantry (includes contents of kitchen cupboards):
Basic baking/ cooking ingredients including vinegars, spices, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, etc.
2 containers honey
olive oil
coconut oil
unbleached flour
dried elderberries
fruit basket- apples,
pumpkin seeds
raisins
millet
bag of garlic
sunflower seeds
popcorn
kidney beans, white beans, lentils- approx. 1 pound of each
sucanat
mashed potato flakes
rolled oats
brown rice
whole grain pasta- approx. 2 1/2 boxes
2 boxes lasagna noodles
brown rice
arborio rice
bucket of hard wheat berries
bucket of soft wheat berries
1 box chocolates
variety of teas
2 sea salts
2 baking cocoas
6 boxes gluten
baking powder
cornstarch
2 cans coconut milk
1 can pumpkin
2 Worcestershire sauce
3 mustard
2 cans mushrooms
2 hot sauce
1 jar roasted red peppers
1 bean soup mix
3 A1 sauce
3 tomato sauce
instant cappuccino mix
microwave popcorn
saltine crackers
3 cans pineapple
1 can mandarin oranges
2 peanut butter
3 cans salmon
Ritz crackers
Betty Crocker Warm Delight
graham crackers
7 boxes cold cereal
Freezer
Freezer Meals/ prepared foods
1 lasagna
1 chicken pot pie
1 hummus
1 meal fish packets
1 spaghetti pie
1 spinach quiche
1 meal chili
3 bags spaghetti sauce
1 sweet cheeseball
Meat
chicken bones for broth
6 burger patties
2 sirloin steaks
2 strip steaks
2 filet mignon
1 ground beef
ham bone
1 beef ribs
1 whole chicken
several containers chicken broth
pepperoni-enough for 1 pizza
1/2- 5 pound bag white fish
1 eye of round roast
Baked Goods
2 bags pancakes
2 bags pie dough(approx. 2-3 crusts each)
3 pizza crusts
3 slices chocolate truffle cake
6 dinner rolls
2 mini pumpkin bread
3 mini whole wheat bread
10 unbaked biscuits
Produce
fresh lemon juice
3 bags peas
1 bag California blend
1/2 bag corn
2 bags green beans
1 big bag mixed veggies
2 baggies mashed sweet potatoes
2 cups pumpkin puree
3 baggie shredded zucchini
3 baggies chopped celery
cranberries
strawberries
blueberries
peaches
bananas
Misc.
2 cans o.j. concentrate
container veggie broth
2 cups freshly ground pastry flour
1/2 gallon milk
lots of spices
buckwheat flour
pecans
rye flour
cracked wheat
brown rice
rolled oats
yeast
cornmeal
sugars
3 comments:
It looks like you have plenty to work with. Good luck on keeping to your $50!
Good luck. I am interested to see how it goes. If anyone can do you can:)
Thanks ladies! It should be fun!:-)
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