Thursday, October 1, 2009

Eating from the Pantry this month!

We have hit gridlock in our tiny house! Daniel has asked me to try to use up some of what we've got this month to make room to walk through the construction zones:). So... to make it more fun I thought I would make it an eating from the pantry month. I won't bore you with everything in my pantry/freezer, but let's just say I can do this without a major hardship:) Friends and family have been giving us produce and a friend who is moving has been giving us her extra foodstuffs, so we are well stocked.

I will still need milk, eggs, a few pounds of meat and produce (near the end of the month). I'll be "buying" other things only if is free (or better:) and doesn't fall into the category of cereal or most snacks-we have plenty of that:)

Here are the meals I've come up with so far:

Breakfast:
Cold Cereal X 10
Muffins (from mix with some healthier substitutons/additions) X 8
Pop-tarts and scrambled eggs w/fruit X4
Hot Cereal-cream of wheat X 5
Baked oatmeal or "other" X 2

Snacks:
Crackers
Chex mix
Cold Cereal
Popcorn
Cheese
Fruit/Veggies
Muffins

To preface dinners/lunches, each of these meals will have some sort of veggie with it. The first half of the month we should be able to eat up fresh stuff from family friends, then after that I have a week or so worth of frozen veg. If I can get good sales I will buy some fresh after that before I break into the canned, but I might use some of that too.

Dinners/Lunches (we typically eat leftovers for lunches)
Tuna Pasta w/Marinara (we had this last night- yum!)X 2
Spagetti and Meatballs X 2
Pasta Alfredo X 2
Carbonara Pasta
Cheesy Pasta Bake
Ground Beef and Pasta Roni
Soup and Tuna Sandwiches X2
Soup and Grilled Cheese X 2
Chili and Bread
Crockpot Pinto Beans & Bread X 2
Tacos or other mexi type roll up X 2
Thai Peanut Butter noodles with chicken
Lentil Rice Meal (my mom in law gave us this-thanks Karen!)
Hamburgers/Veggie burgers and potatoes X 2
Hot dogs and whole wheat buns w/chips
Beans & Rice
Pizza X 2
Leftovers X 2

Not exciting, but I am hoping to use the $100 + we will save this month by doing this on a night in a hotel for our anniversary next month (5 years!!) :)

Any one else cleaning out the pantry this month?

2 comments:

The Keevy Family said...

What a great idea, and what a fun thing to look forward to!

Unknown said...

I am! Yesterday, I stared at the pantry, in less than an hour I had potato, bacon soup and tuna noodle casserole ready to go in the freezer. I did several containers cuz my Dad lives close by and we supply his lunch and dinner several times a week.. It was really fun creating dinners with what was in the cupboard! Keep up the good work; I really enjoy your ideas.. Peggy