Pantry Challenge Week 1 (1/10/10)

 So far, things are going well in the Pantry Challenge. I did have to travel for work this week, Mr. Mamie went with, and the result was a bit too much money spent eating out.  While that'll cut into the budget for the month (and this is a loooooong month for us, financially), we do have lots of supplies on hand.  Last week's and this week's meals ALL came from the pantry/freezer - no specially-purchased ingredients, with the exception of some shredded cheese. I had pork chops on the menu for this week, but upon realizing that there are only two small ones in the freezer, I changed my plans.

We did FINALLY get around to inventorying the freezers yesterday, and I discovered that I had MORE chicken than I thought, but less shredded cheese. There were a few other surprises as well, and I'm glad we did it, as there's lots of stuff that really does need to get used up.  I've got a plethora of breads and muffins, so I'm really trying to hold back on the baking until we eat our way through some of the back-log.  There are lots of homemade waffles and pancakes in the kitchen freezer, so my goal is to have some of these for weekday breakfasts at least 2 - 3 times weekly.  The upright freezer in the garage is STUFFED with containers of leftovers, to the point where there's not much room to add more.  Given that a couple of my New Year's "resolutions" (such as they are) are to eat better breakfasts and take lunch to work FOUR DAYS per week, I ought to be able to make a good dent in the stockpile.

We went to the grocery store on December 31st, purchasing a few items for upcoming dinners and  and for the picnic lunch we took with us on our Snow Fun Trip on New Year's day.  In 2010, the only store trip we've made was yesterday.  We purchased:

• 1 gallon milk ($1.88)
• 5 pound bag of apples and oranges ($5.77)
• Box of saltines - we were totally out ($2.00)
• 1.63 pounds of carrots ($1.04)
• 1 lb of shredded cheese ($1.96)
• 3.57 pounds of bananas ($1.75)
• 2 boxes of everyone's favorite almond-yogurt granola bars ($4.00)

With tax, the total was $18.95.

The biggest need I see coming up is shredded cheese - we use a fair amount, and while there's mozzarella in the freezer, we're now out (again) of our staple cheddar/jack mix. We're on the last 1/2 gallon of OJ, and there's only a little apple juice left. Along with milk and produce, these items will hopefully be our only purchases for the rest of the month.

Next report will come on Sunday, 1/17/10.  Good luck in your own pantry challenges!