The Pantry Challenge 2018- Use It Up

Ahh yes, tis the new year, and the pantry challenge starts anew!

One thing I did over the holiday break was clean out the pantry, fridge, and freezer. It seemed we always had so much food in there, but nothing I could quickly defrost or heat n' eat.

In the pantry I discovered three bottles of balsamic vinegar. Sooo many spices. Jars of sauces. Wheatgrass powder from 2008 (ugh yikes). Two containers of pancake mix - in which my best friend is always telling me to just whip up my own and not use a mix and it IS tastier and easier. Countless cans of soup. Olive oils and sprays.

The fridge was full of half-used condiments that said best by 2018..but I'm pretty sure I bought them LAST January. A side note- don't ever donate used or expired goods to a food pantry, non-profit or charity- they can't use them either and must toss, so if you do donate pantry goods, make sure they are well within usable range. 

All areas of the kitchen were getting cleaned and items evaluated.

I also made a resolution to myself- If I buy it, I must use it within the month. I am a huge lover of Crate & Barrel, Williams Sonoma, Dean & DeLuca as well as HomeGoods and Marshalls, with all their yummy kitchen items. 

Savory risotto- yes please. 
Mushroom sauce- oh yeah. 

I love to buy stuff from these stores! Olives, vitamins, smoothie mixes, teas, pastas, sauces. Oh yes, I do use them...eventually. But really....

No, I kinda of hoard then and feel fancy. Until I go searching for food and realize I have been 'saving' all these great items for a special time, and I never make that time happen.

So I vow to use an item within a month of purchasing. Pecan caramel pancake mix from WS? Check. Olives from HomeGoods? Check (ate them both on Sunday actually, when I wrote this post! Not done the package/ jar, but I will be within the week.)

I'll let you know how it goes- what are your food resolutions?

Pantry Challenge- Dollars a Day

It’s the pantry challenge once again..living and learning on dollars a day!

Monday
7:45am- breakfast is a bagel w coconut oil (like butter) and yogurt from Home. I had also made coffee, but the lid still smelled strongly of detergent even tho it was washed and rinsed so I didn’t finish it. $0

11am- suddenly starving so had a couple walnuts from my drawer stash and a curious Keurig Campbell’s chicken noodle soup mix. It was very good and filled with up with noodle flavor. $0

12:45- made salsa yesterday and added thawed cooked shrimp, thinking the lime would ‘cure up’ the shrimp a bit, but I opened to eat it and took it bite, it smelled and tasted fine but the texture was a bit mushy. Going to take it back home tonight and cook it up. Went downstairs to the deli and got a quesadilla, and only ate half. The rest I’ll eat tomorrow.  $7.37

2:15- an apple from home and Crown of Success tea from Blackthorn Hoodoo Blends. $0

7:15pm- husband is away so I made dinner from all kinds of goodies from the PANTRY! Go me! Got some pool time in before it stormed and watched #OITNB on Netflix with dinner.  I made my own version of pad Thai satay with brown rice noodles, frozen mushroom medley from trader joe’s, organic frozen shrimp, and onions, plus fish sauce, chili paste and peanut butter.
The verdict- it was ok. The shrimp tasted a bit freezer burned and the meal didn’t have enough spice and heat. I did however, discover not one but four jars of mostly empty peanut butter we were hoping to get the last bits out of, so I used up what I could and now we are down to a jar of all natural PB. And, it’s all part of the pantry challenge! Using it up!

I am discovering though…far too much in the pantry lets things go unnoticed and overlooked, and that can lead to waste.  $0.

Plus, I thawed meat cubes for a crock pot stew I’ll make tonight for lunch and dinner on Wednesday.  Once I get my organic food delivery order. I usually order over $80 just to get free shipping, but we don’t need $80 worth of food, ordered $35 and paid the $5 shipping cost, plus I left my shipping boxes out- they take them and reuse them, so zero waste on my part!

Tuesday
6:00am. Up and moving, had a slice of toast (from bread I won at an event, artesian bread weekly until January 2017) with Nocciolata Organic Hazelnut Spread. At work I made some coffee w a pod I had and the coconut milk I brought. $0.

10:30am- snacked on the leftover slice of quesadilla I had from yesterday with ACV water. $0.

12:22pm. Ordered a 64 count box of Vue Hazelnut pods from ebay for Green Mountain Coffee – last week I ordered this from Bed Bath and Beyond and was sent (wrongly) the Gloria Jean ones- too sweet. I enjoy the light roast and I rarely stop at Starbucks and Wawa (even tho I have apps on my phone w gift cards loaded on them). My Vue at home is the first place I go after I’ve woken up- and that’s 64 cups at coffe at $53. That is a an expenditure of around 82 cents a cup of coffee a day in a reusable travel mug. $53.

1:00pm. Lunch. ACV water and a burrito I brought from home in our organic food order. I made my own Taco Tuesday! $0.

5:00pm. Target for a few things then dinner. Which was popcorn (and a half glass of wine) from Target. $38.47.

7:00pm. Got our food delivery order and assembled the stew for tomorrow with carrots, meat, potatoes, and beans, then met a friend for ice cream at DQ. $4.24.

11:50pm Bed. Exhausted! 

Wednesday

6:00am. Gingerspice, the trusty alarm cat, wakes me up. Finally get moving.

8:00am. Bagel, coffee, and Annie’s Homegrown Cheddar Bunnies (single pack) from my stash. $0.

1:00pm. Lunch. Homemade stew and Annie’s organic summer strawberry bunnies. Pretty proud of my crockpot stew. It cooked while I was out last night, then lunches for us today!

5:00. Popcorn for snack when I got home, a little #OITNB before book club, altho I should have been at the gym, but it’s 88 I was just too hot to be out.

7:30pm. Book club night! I had gotten the book from the library ($0!) and our host made fish, Ceasar salad with chicken, pasta salad, basil, mozz and tomato mini skewers and for dessert, amazing little mason jar key lime pie cups! We had a great night laughing and joking and telling stories, and eventually chatting about the book!

Overall: $0.

Thursday (dear God will this week ever end)

5:45am- up and at end, dropped off books to the library, made cinnamon oatmeal w half a banana and walnuts from my work stash, plus coffee from my Keurig here at work. $0.

12:00pm. Lunch. Homemade stew and Annie’s organic cheddar bunnies. We both took the stew for lunches again today. YUM. ACV water. $0.

5:00pm- ahhh pool and some popcorn. Finally!

6:00pm. Still hungry…had a little plate of tortilla chips and salsa w a bit of cheese from Trader Joe’s

7:00pm. Dinner with honeypie. He’d been away, so this was this first night since Friday we were just relaxing. We got Thai food (he paid) and it was fabulous. We watched Orange is the New Black (#OITNB) and just relaxed.

Note: Having Thai food with my husband totally made up for the week of being mindfully frugal. If I had given in to my urges earlier in the week and gotten a sandwich for dinner, or a huge latte, it made spending money on dinner extremely satisfying (and I didn’t even to pay!!- even better).

Friday! Happy July 1! 4^th of July weekend! We made it!

5:00am. Up and cleaning, coffee in hand, then off to work. Ate a mouthful of yogurt that was in the fridge. Whoops expired three days ago. Toss.

9:00am. Hungry. ACV water, ½ cheese stick (it was meh) and ½ a banana (I’m sensing a trend; it was from yesterday) $0.

11:00am. Strawberry cottage cheese double. $0.

1:00. Time to clean out the freezer for the long weekend. Hey a burrito and lasagna! Which to choose…Lasagna! Plus, strawberries and ACV water.

Friday Night went out with one of my bestest friends Kristi- we had cocktails, dinner and ice cream. Spent around $60 after buying a round for each other plus apps. Then coffee later at Steel City. It was a glorious night to kick off the 4^th of July weekend! $65.

I think I’m doing better so far- what do you think?

The Serious Pantry Challenge - Part 1

We are now in the middle of the month! October 15! For some reason it sounds very important! 

I’m thirty-something and 3 months and also October 17 is a mini-anniversary of sorts- my Trimble and I have been married 6 months No doubt we will celebrate with cupcakes and naptime. Actually we’ll prob head to the farmers’ market.

To keep a check on myself, I do lots of mini-goals all month (all year!) long. 

This month I aimed for one more beach trip (Done!), pay down debt (um, getting there!), surviving the first-ever Pottstown Brewfest (of which I was PR & Marketing Chair, DONE! And avoided hurricane Joaquin and the Nor’easter!).

I also want to banish clutter (reading the Japanese Art of Tidying Up and it is making a difference) and use up what’s in my pantry. I do the pantry challenge every couple months but after reading a Refinery 29 article, I was inspired to try my version of the Serious Pantry Challenge! I say that I’m trying to cut out sugar and diet coke, too, but the above reference to cupcakes makes me look…well…ok, ok, I’ll try to have just one cupcake.

I can still go food shopping if I need too, but I am primarily working thru what we have in the pantry, fridge, and freezer.

Monday October 12- I had made WW banana bread over the weekend, and we had a potluck lunch on Monday at work, so I able to crock-pot some beans and mini-wienies and enjoy others’ homemade goodies. 

I didn’t eat dinner til I came home after teaching my social media and PR night class Sell That Sizzle© where my awesome husband made me a grilled cheese and I passed out in a happy stupor. (and no Diet Coke).

Tuesday October 13- 7:00am- I ate the rest of my banana bread plus a yogurt I had in the fridge at work for breakfast, and apple. I’m really trying to eat more fruits and vegs. Lunch I did go to the café in my building, but for the first time ever I skipped Taco Tuesday and got two slices of grilled chicken, slices of tomatoes and cucumbers, strawberries, a couple walnuts, and two small pieces of naan.
This good amount of protein kept me sustained til dinner, where I cooked up some rice with cheese and cracker and a banana. Steve had leftover ravioli, and then off we went to our CSA, where we got eggplants, turnips, tomatoes, kale, spinach, and beets. (and no Diet Coke).

Wednesday October 14- Breakfast was a smoothie I made at work. I had some frozen fruit in the freezer, plus I brought some strawberries and kale from home. I added protein powder, turmeric, flax, honey, nutmeg, cinnamon and bee pollen to the berries and green, and added some ice cubes from the lovely work ice machine. I got a small smoothie blender off groupon last year and I keep it here. My smoothie was grand!

oye! Lunchtime! It’s 1:00pm and I’m hungry!
Last night I quick threw together some frozen shrimp and green Giant veggies in a skillet and warmed them up, then packed for lunch today in my awesome Pyrex Halloween-batty glass bowl. I also grabbed my serious staple- Minute Rice Brown Rice Cups.

I cannot survive without these. Full of fiber and taste, I love to mix these into my protein. 

Today I had the brown and wild rice cup. And now I’m full and a bit sleepy as I write this and watch it cloud over outside. OK! Lunch Break over.

Later grabbed some ground beef at Target (plus some Noosa yoghurt and brown rice) and made nachos with a can of cheese sauce I had, tomatoes, and Trader Joe’s salsa with tortilla chips. Tasty but acid reflux-inducing as I found out, at 1am. And the cat kept knocking stuff over…

Thursday October 15- 5am. I’m up thanks to a neighbor’s batty girlfriend screaming at him at 4:30am and my creamsicle cat waking me. It’s usually completely silent here. Off to the gym I go…
Breakfast: Coffee with a dab of virgin coconut oil in the car, then after the gym I had Noosa pumpkin yoghurt. In a bit I’ll prob have my Belvita, apple and banana, around lunchtime. Lots of water and Belvita at 10:30am.

Lunch- steel cut oats I made last night in my little mason jar w walnuts and cranberries and a dash of milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and honey.

Dinner- a had a bit of leftover tacos and then went to book club with my girls, where our awesome host Cathy served butternut squash soup, veggies, and BBQ crockpot chicken. It was awesome. Plus apple crumb for dessert. I love these ladies! I host next month! A lot to live up too!
(not Diet Coke!)

Friday October 16- Up and at them! I slept great because I put the cat into the office and put the dog in one of the bedrooms. We all slept wonderfully!
Breakfast- oatmeal with a banana, cinnamon, honey and nutmeg, and coffee. Got into work nice and early, as always I want to get a jump on my weekend! Friday is usually omelet day, where I’ll splurge on a café breakfast, but not today.
Lunch- ack too busy!

Dinner- well, I have successfully gone the entire week with getting takeout or running to the café, and probably saved around $40. Which is great, because tonight I’m celebrating my best friend’s birthday by going to a movie and getting sushi. We noshed on popcorn, and boneless wine and fries (that was me because I didn’t eat lunch on Friday.) 

Plus sushi and clear mushroom soup a few hours later, shopping for Halloween costumes and HomeGoods. and no diet coke! 

To summarize...no Diet coke, no cafe lunches, no fast food or take out, Trimble and I did pretty well this week!

How did the weekend go...stay tuned!

Saturday- oh hello weekend!

More in the next post! Hope you have a great week!