Well. The January Pantry/Freezer Challenge is almost over. It’s proven to be quite the challenge, and gets tougher with each week. We’ve still got quite a bit to work with, but it’s gonna take a little more creativity now!
Sigh.
We’ll see how the final shopping trip goes later in the week????? (I’m nervous I won’t make it under my $100 budget…as I need to get a few packs of diapers…but I’m counting on the deal at Walgreens this week!!!)
Dinners
Monday - Slow Cooker Beef Roast with Balsamic Onions
Tuesday – Firecracker Salmon
Wednesday – Spicy Tomato Chicken Bake
Thursday – Ranchero Black and Pinto Beans
Friday – Pasta with Dried Tomatoes from the Garden
Saturday – Leftovers
Sunday - Spaghetti
And for snacks: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
I will post the recipes each night after I make the meal. If you see a meal you are interested in, please check back for the recipe later in the week!
Check out the current Monthly Meal Plan…
Thanks to Andrea at Mommy Snacks and Marcy at Stretching a Buck for posting the best deals and coupon matchups at my stores each week!
All the BEST menu plans can be found every week at OrgJunkie.com!
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I gotta get hooked up with that beef!
I can’t wait to try the pumpkin muffins — thanks for sharing this one!
The nice things is, you know you can go shopping next month–and even a little this week.
This is not my first expreience with living from our pantry for an extended period of time; we did it for 2 years before.
We’ve been doing it now since mid-December, and though I would LOVE to go get diapers, eggs, and some other things, my husband’s income has come to a standstill.
So, we know we’ll be continuing to stay home from the stores completely for the next couple of months, at least, and possibly longer, unless our income changes. We’ll miss some things, but we also know how to eat without them; I have 4 1/2 months of menus written from pantry items to help us. We’ll also have a garden to help us continue to have fresh food.
I would encourage you to continue to build up your pantry so that you can go even longer than a month, so that should you ever have a need, you could do it!
Great menu lined up. I’m interested in your dried tomatoes. Do you have a dehydrator or do you dry them in the oven? We’re planning a second attempt at a vegetable garden this summer and will be freezing most of the produce it yields, but if drying is easy, I might give it a try.
Thanks!
@Candi,
I have a dehydrator. Dehydrated and froze them!
I did pantry challenge, need to use my canned pumpkin up. Your recipe for the muffins sound great. I’ve used up Bush beans, (cooked up with breakfast sausage and tomato sauce for lunch,) Black beans (in chili), meat from freezer and not buying more til gone of hamburger. Used up onion stock and chicken stock for soups, only 1/2 in 2 soups. Been fun but am getting low on a few things. Need to keep it stocked and do so when there’s a good sale. Just don’t over buy but need a good supply for who-knows-what-may-happen-when!? :p