Pantry Challenge

Two bloggers I read regularly - Life as Mom and Money Saving Mom are sponsoring the "Eat from the Pantry Challenge" for January 2010.  I'm thinking that this would be a GREAT thing for us to try, as money will be very tight this month, and our pantries and freezers are pretty well-stocked. You can read more about the challenge by clicking on either of the above links, and you can also join in via their Facebook event page.

I will need to buy chicken (giant bag of frozen boneless/skinless breasts, $20 at Costco), a few more pork chops, and possibly some stew meat and/or a beef roast (hopefully on a goooooood sale for the last three) to be fully prepared to take this on.  With some changes in the work situation of the Igor Family's parents, Niece and Nephew will be here for dinner 2 - 4 nights weekly for the next six weeks.  As such, we need to stockpile just a bit more meat.  Of course, the Igor Children love "breakfast for dinner," so that's a viable option to keep the meat expenses down.

An important aspect of the challenge is having defined goals.  Here are mine:

1. After replenishing the freezer with the above meats and purchasing a few additional items already on my list, purchase only necessary perishables such as milk, eggs, and produce during January.
2. Take lunch to work daily, except for Thursdays when Mr. Mamie and I have a standing lunch date.  Use two-fer coupons whenever possible for those lunches!
3. Eat a good breakfast daily, using the pancakes, waffles, bread, muffins, etc. (all homemade!) already stashed in the freezer as well as the ginormous supply of cereal in the pantry. Eating a good breakfast cuts down on the snacking, and keeps me from buying junk at Maverik or Judd's.
   
4. Cut back on the soda (Diet Coke and Diet Sprite, in my case) intake - drink water, iced tea, hot tea, hot cocoa, and Crystal Light that we already have on hand.  Ration the existing soda supply so that it lasts until February.

I do have two work trips to go on in January, the 4th - 6th and the 27th - 30th.  I get paid a per diem for meals for these trips, and should have that check mid-month. So technically, any eating out I do while traveling doesn't cost me. However, Mr. Mamie is going on the first trip for sure (and maybe the second), and work doesn't pay a per diem for him - so that's an expense we'll have to either bear or try to mitigate (canned soup/chili in the hotel room microwave - we've done it before!).

I feel pretty confident that we can do this challenge - the toughest thing for me will be to restrain myself from trying new recipes that might require "special" ingredients.