Eat from the Pantry Challenge

This week officially concludes the January "Eat from the Pantry Challenge." Whew!! What a challenge it was, too! I did have a lot of fun being creative with what ingredients we had on hand and trying new recipes like the delicious Sweet & Sour Shrimp and Creole Pork Chops, both from the Southern Living cookbook. Plus, we now have a normal looking pantry and freezer. See!









I think we could have even used up more stuff in the pantry, but the freezer is pretty bare! We definitely need some meat this week!

I did a final calculation of our expenses for the month, and we did exceed the $75 goal I had set, spending a total of $111.31. While we were over by 48% (OOPS!), considering that our regular monthly grocery budget is about $275, we actually did pretty well! We saved $163.69! YEA!!!

I will definitely be doing this challenge again, but next time I will either have to set a more reasonable goal...say, $100 for the month...or I will have to work harder to stay closer to that goal than I did this time. This challenge was certainly a learning experience!

Menu Plan for January 24-30

Sunday: Homemade pizza
Monday: Roasted Vegetable Pasta (whole wheat pasta) with salad
Tuesday: Sweet & Sour Shrimp with brown rice
Wednesday: Pintos & Cornbread
Thursday: Pork Chops, mashed potatoes, & broccoli
Friday: Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Saturday: Cream Cheese Danish (Ladies' Planning Meeting at church); Leftovers for dinner

This is the last week of the "Eat from the Pantry Challenge" and boy am I ever glad! We have run out of many of our staples like black beans, refried beans, and ground beef, and will have used up the shrimp, pork, and chicken this week. Plus, I miss doing some serious grocery shopping! However, we have saved money by not spending the allotted $60 a week on groceries. Unfortunately, I was unable to meet the $75/month budget for this challenge. I'm not sure what my numbers are right now but will post them at the end of the week. I am curious how we did overall.

I know this challenge has been an excellent opportunity for me to buckle down and control my impulse to stockpile, a discipline I was really needing! And I have had to be creative on many occasions, which has led me to find some great new cooking ideas! Since I ran out of pizza sauce early in the month, I found that using regular canned tomato sauce with canned diced tomatoes with basil and oregano added, which I had a lot of, is actually as good, even better to me, than regular pizza sauce. Try it sometime! Also, I tried a lot of new recipes, some good like quinoa and black beans, and others that were just mediocre. I know that I will definitely do this challenge again in a few months because I have gotten to clean out my cabinets and freezer, which is very nice!

Menu Plan for January 17-23

This is week 3 of the "Eat from the Pantry Challenge," and I have not been very good about sticking to the $75 grocery budget for the month. So far this month, we have spent $61.22, which means in these last 2 weeks of January we can only spend $13.78. I am going to do my best to keep as close to $75 as possible.

The menu plan for this week includes the following:

Sunday: Roast beef (previously cooked, in the freezer), mashed potatoes, peas & carrots

Monday: Breakfast for Supper (Veggie & cheese omelettes, sausage, biscuits & jam)

Tuesday: Fettuccini Bolognese (ground beef) & salad with tomatoes & carrots

Wednesday: White beans & cornbread

Thursday: Quinoa & black beans with corn, roasted broccoli

Friday: Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Saturday: Leftovers

Menu Plan for January 10-16

As promised here is my menu for the week of January 10th:

Sunday: (Lunch) Daniel fixed broccoli & cheese stuffed chicken, rice, green beans, & honey-glazed carrots; (Dinner) Bean & rice (leftovers from last week) quesadilla

Monday: BBQ chicken, corn, sauteed zucchini, thumbprint cookies w/ jam

Tuesday: Salmon w/ mustard cream sauce, steamed broccoli, carrot salad, & quick rolls

Wednesday: Bean Night! Pinto beans, fried zucchini, & cornbread

Thursday: Chili from leftover pintos -- or Taco Salad

Friday: Pizza Night! Buffalo chicken pizza w/ whole-wheat crust

Saturday: Leftovers

I don't know about you but planning and writing out my menu each week really cuts down on the stress of worrying: "What will we have tonight?" Plus, it helps me vary my meals and make sure we get plenty of "colors" in our diet. I try to have a "green" (zukes, cukes, brocc, spinach, lettuce, peas, green beans) and a "red" ('maters, peppers), "orange" (carrots, peppers), or "yellow" (corn, peppers) every night although some nights that does not happen!

If you don't care about my menu plan, then, for your amusement, here are some cute pictures of Kate eating.

Week 1 Recap

Well, today marks the conclusion of the first week of the "Eat from the Pantry Challenge," and let's just say that it's been a challenge for me. There were so many good deals at the grocery stores that I had to forego, and I was so tempted!! However, we did survive and were able to make some yummy meals with what we had on hand:

Sunday (1/3): We had leftovers from the previous week.
Monday (1/4): Chicken Parmesan (leftovers in the freezer), corn, & salad
Tuesday (1/5): Fried tenderloin (deer), hashbrowns, & fried cabbage (not the healthiest meal, I know!)
Wednesday (1/6): Black beans & rice w/ tomatoes on flour tortillas & guacamole
Thursday (1/7): Black-eyed pea soup (with turkey sausage, carrots & celery)
Friday (1/8): Homemade pepperoni & mushroom pizza w/ whole-wheat crust
Saturday (1/9): Leftovers

Lots of beans equals lots of fiber...yea! I do need to work on getting more greens in our diet though.

I spent $30.66 at the store on yogurt, milk, creamer, fruit, vegetables, and granola bars, which was more than I had expected. However, I was under-budget on my household expenses by $10.67. Yee-haw!! So far so good but I do need to be careful not to exceed my $75 budgeted grocery allowance for the MONTH.

Tomorrow I will post our meals for next week: I am still waiting to see what produce Kroger will have on sale. I know the menu will definitely include zucchini since we have so much in the fridge and undoubtedly some more beans and fish. Until tomorrow...

Booking It!

One of the "mommy blogs" that I follow--Life as Mom--has inspired me to plan my reading schedule for the next few months. I am always reading at least 4 or 5 books at a time, but this schedule will ensure that I am reading a variety of books and help me keep track of what I have read. I have created five categories:

(1) Homemaking/Mothering
(2) Cookbooks/Food
(3) Spiritual/Devotional
(4) Classics
(5) For Fun

For the month of January, I am reading the following:
(1) The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer (Jessica at Life as Mom recommended this book and it is an excellent resource for Christian moms looking for ways to uncover and put into practice "hidden arts" such as Music, Gardening, Interior Decoration, Drama, and Art.

(2) The Use-it-Up Cookbook: A Guide to Perishable Foods by Lois Carlson Willand (I picked this book up at the library and it has given me some great ideas for different ways to use, not waste, the food I have in the freezer and pantry.)

(3) The Gospel According to Lost by Chris Seay (Thomas-Nelson sent me this book to read and review. I love the TV show but so far am not too impressed with the book. We'll see!) I am also reading two daily devotionals: Sarah Arthur's The One Year Daily Grind and Gary Chapman's The One Year Love Language Minute Devotional (So far...Awesome!)

(4) Charles Dicken's Great Expectations (I have never read this classic work, so I am excited about getting into it!)

(5) Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie (Last year I started reading Christie, and let's just say, I'm hooked! I think I've read 20 of her mysteries so far and my goal is to read them all.)

What are you reading this month? Do you have any reading goals for this new year?

My Goals for 2010

1. Be in the Word and in prayer with God daily. Daniel and I plan to start each day together reading the Bible; I bought Gary Chapman’s The One Year Love Language Minute Devotional as a starting place. I am also in two other amazing studies (1 in Revelation, the other in I Corinthians) and want to devote more time to studying, listening and learning about the Lord and His plans for me.

2. Find opportunities to serve others. One aspect of my own life that needs work is in my service to others outside my family. There are numerous widows/widowers and shut-ins at my church and many in our community who need to experience God’s love firsthand. What else are we called to do but to serve?

3. Exercise more. In December we slacked off on our daily walks at the park but have started back and plan to walk for at least 45 minutes every Monday through Saturday.

4. Eat better. More whole foods (whole grains, whole veggies and whole fruits) and less sugar. No more nitrites, MSG, or other fillers and artificial sweeteners. I want to instill healthy eating habits in Kate, and Daniel and I both need to watch our fat and sodium intake to keep our weight, cholesterol and blood pressure in check.

5. Read & write more. Take time every day to read, even if for just a few minutes, but ideally for an hour. Write: in my journal, on my blog, wherever. Just write!

6. Save more money & stick to our budget. We want to pay cash for land so we can build one day, and to realize that dream we need to be frugal with our income. My goal is to keep the grocery budget under $250 a month. We are currently debt-free and want to stay this way for as long as possible! This month we will be taking the “Eat from the Pantry Challenge” in an effort to clean out our freezer, fridge, and cabinets, creatively use what we have on hand rather than run to the grocery store, save money, decrease spending, and eliminate wastefulness. If all goes well, we may repeat this challenge several times throughout the year.

7. Find teachable moments with Kate. Of course we have been reading together since before she was born—although Kate does not like to sit still for very long—but I want to focus more on letters, numbers, Bible stories, art and music. Kids are sponges and I want to get that little brain of hers thinking and learning!

8. Clean, clean, clean! I love to cook but honestly I hate cleaning, and our house needs a major overhaul. I plan to focus on one room at a time to thoroughly clean and de-clutter.

9. Enjoy life. Spend more time together as a family. Love my husband and daughter, laugh, have fun, and not worry so much. Kate is growing so fast, and I don’t want to miss a moment!