So far, so much food...

Two weeks in and the pantry challenge is challenging me. While I have had to shop, and pretty much used up the month's budget I set for myself (and then some...), I've also pulled from the pantry/freezer as much as I could.

1. Last week I tested recipes for a freezer cooking website. That opportunity came up suddenly after starting the pantry challenge, and while I was able to pull about half of the needed groceries from the freezer/pantry, I did have to shop for several things. The plus side to that is there are freezer meals now. 
2. Yesterday was Layla's 4th birthday, and while there were cake mixes in the
   pantry (leftovers from wedding baking that Jess's best friend shared with us), and buttercream frosting in the freezer from November, I did have to purchase fondant and gel food coloring. We celebrated with a breakfast brunch, but I only needed to purchase eggs. For the eggs, I used up the rest
   
   of a container of cottage cheese (I add that instead of milk or cream). I had the bacon, and used a gallon of milk from the garage frig to make yogurt. We flavored the yogurt with blueberry jam from the frig and a tiny container of honey found when I cleaned out the cupboards. Bradley also asked for lemon in his, so between the two of us, we finished the last several drops of  a bottle of lemon vitality oil. I didn't include our essential oils in the pantry inventory, but there are several bottles of vitality oils that I use in cooking. If you want to know what a vitality oil is, let me know. That's a whole different post. 
3. Bountiful baskets. This is a produce co-op that offers baskets and add-ons in
   
   our area every two weeks. It's been a few months since we got a basket, and the fresh produce was getting pretty low, so I took advantage of this week's offerings to replenish our supply. Since we share what we get, I ordered two baskets along with an add-on of cauliflower, and an add-on of avocados. I'll be freezing much of those over this week. Buying them this way means the cauliflower was $1.83 each, which is a very good price for this area, and the avocados were 38¢ each, about half of the store price. Jess took home a big box of produce yesterday, and Greg took some over to his parent's as well. 

So those have been the budget-busters this month, though according to the guidelines I use for the pantry challenge, the produce and eggs are okay to purchase. We seriously won't need groceries for at least a couple of weeks, with the exception of skim milk and more eggs. 

I have to work today at the theater, but will have a little time to work on some of that gorgeous produce from yesterday. I'm going to chop some lettuce for salad, bag some of the leaves for wraps, and cook some sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot so they're ready to grab and heat. The bell peppers will be sliced and diced and popped in the freezer for use in fajitas and meatloaf. 

We have to thaw, warm, and eat some of those freezer meals so I can fill out the feedback form, so suppers for the next few days are ready. 

Tomorrow is kitchen day, so with the head start I hope to get today, it should be very productive. It'll probably be kitchen day every day this week as that produce ripens and needs to be taken care of. 

What are you doing in your kitchen this week? I know there are others who are doing their version of the pantry challenge. I'm heading over to Instagram to check out the #pantrychallenge hashtag and see what's happening over there. See you later this week!

Pantry Challenge

Just a couple of days into the challenge and I’m already making a mental grocery list. LOL. Actually, I still need to do an inventory of the freezers and pantry, but won’t get to do that until the weekend since the grandboys are here a few days this week. Even though I don’t have the written inventory with which to write out some plans, I’ve still been pulling out the odd things to use up.

We really started this challenge on New Year’s Eve when Greg used some of the leftover Christmas prime rib to make us open-faced prime rib sandwiches for supper. He also took the last few crab legs, picked out all the meat, and made some delicious crab cakes to go along with the sandwiches. He doesn’t have a recipe for me to give you – it was a combination of a few recipes he found online. I like crab, but eating crab legs is a very labor-intensive process for a little meat, and it’s usually cold before you get much of it eaten. These crab cakes were a much more satisfying vehicle for me to enjoy that treat.

Yesterday I pulled this and that from the freezer and frig for lunch for the grandboys, then while Silas napped, Bradley and I made muffins for snack. We used up the last of a bag of frozen blueberries, and there were a few more than the recipe called for, so we got very fruity muffins! The recipe is a basic one from my old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook I got when we were first married (31+ years ago), and is a great way to use up tiny bits of fruit.

Blueberry Muffins

1 egg

½ cup milk

¼ cup oil

2 cups flour (we used half white whole wheat, half all-purpose)

1/3 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup blueberries (or fruit of your choice)

Preheat oven 375°F. Beat the egg, add oil and milk. Stir in dry ingredients all at once, then add blueberries. Bake 20-24 minutes, til golden brown. Makes about a dozen muffins.

Each boy ate two whole muffins for snack and Silas ended up with a purple leg after smearing a blueberry all around.

I guess that’s one way to use them up…

 

 

2013 – Challenging Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I was sound asleep in my bed when midnight rolled around last night, but my honey and I did have a nice supper of prime rib sandwiches, and then we went to a movie. We enjoyed “Jack Reacher”, did a quick trip to the store, then home to peruse Pinterest for a bit before snuggling in for the night. As far as I’m concerned, that’s an okay way to finish out the old year and usher in the new!

No resolutions for me to fail at, but let’s talk about some challenges I want to work on this year. I belong to a couple of Yahoo email lists, and one of those groups is having a 13 in ‘13 challenge. Each participant chose 13 “things” to work on this next year. Some of the “things” are projects to complete, some are skills to learn, some include budgeting goals or family time. Each list is different. One lady made her list from her “someday” projects – things she always said she’d get to “someday”.

My list is kind of a combination of finishing some things I started but let languish, learning a few new things, and making things for frugal, but meaningful, gift-giving. I’ve been working on this list for several weeks, and actually have more than 13 things I’d like to accomplish this year, but these are the first ones I’ll work on.

Here they are:

1. finish redecorating the playroom - this includes painting the doors and a bookshelf, fixing the bed skirt, binding the quilt on the daybed, and framing the chalkboard                                                                                                                                            2. finish painting/redecorating kitchen and sunroom - this includes painting walls, putting new trim around kitchen window, curtains of some sort, adding some live plants
3. scrapbooks - make corrections/additions to niece's scrapbook from high school graduation; update Bradley's; start Silas's
4. crochet projects - finish the two afghans I have started; learn to crochet hats
5. expand vegetable garden by adding a few more raised beds; involve grandsons in gardening this year
6. re-do all four closets in the house - empty, paint, add new shelving, reorganize (I know – there are only 4 closets in this house…)
7. remove cupboards in laundry room; replace with open shelving for added storage
8. sew blankets/quilts for grandsons
9. make all birthday gifts 
10. make new Christmas stockings for everyone in our immediate family (seven total)
11. make gifts for Christmas 2013 over the summer
12. try some new recipes/cooking skills by following my Joy of Cooking cookbook section by section (kind of a Julie/Julia thing...)
13. learn to use woodworking tools and finish my own projects without needing help from DH

I will report on my progress periodically.

The other challenge is one I give myself and Greg a few times through the year. Click on the button to go to the original post with the challenge.

I know I’ll have to get fresh dairy and produce through the month, but there’s plenty of meat and sides in the freezer to use up. Who knows – I may even dig out the pasta machine this time. That’d be fun with the grandboys, wouldn’t it?

There are more things I want to work on, but I think this is enough to list here for now. Time to go scrounge that frig and pantry for some lunch…

How are you welcoming this new year?