Eating from the Pantry

Jessica over at Life as Mom is hosting this month's Eat from the Pantry Challenge.  I have joined in twice before and found it a great way to clean out the freezer and pantry.

My goals are simple:  1)use up what I already have and 2)save money.  This doesn't mean I will pass up good grocery deals if I see them, but I won't be spending as much.  Last year during this challenge I fed myself and my son for about $125 for the month.

Summertime Pantry Challenge(Week 3)

I am joining in the Summertime Pantry Challenge hosted by Jessica.  Last week I got busy and didn't get around to putting out our menu.  You should know that it's only my 17 year-old son and me, so our food can be stretched pretty far.  Another thing you should know is that I am on Weight Watchers, so sometimes I *do* fix 2 meals, one for me and one for him, or a variation for each.

I had plenty of meat, rice, potatoes, and veggies on hand, but I am not staving off grocery shopping entirely.  I shop at Publix, and they have certain deals that come around every 4-6 weeks.  I had some too-good-to-pass-up coupons that matched some deals this week, so I *did* stock up.  You can see those here.

So, last week we ate these items from the freezer:  flounder, chicken, Boca crumbles in spaghetti (which son did not know), steamed veggie bags, and for son's lunches and snacks:  hot dogs and lunchmeat.  From the pantry we had:  packaged rice, jarred spaghetti sauce, and potatoes made a variety of ways.

This week's menu:
Monday:  Breakfast:  cereal and blueberries for me/son does not eat breakfast in the summer
                Lunch:  hot dogs or lunchmeat for the son/canned chicken to make chicken salad and Ritz
                            crackers
                Dinner:  chicken in the crockpot with Lipton onion soup mix

Tuesday:  Breakfast:  same for me
               Lunch:  fruit smoothie made with frozen strawberries, pineapple, and blueberries with Greek yogurt
                           in the fridge
              Dinner:  spaghetti with jarred sauce in pantry

Wednesday:  Breakfast:  none for me....liquid diet today in preparation for outpatient surgery Thursday
                    Lunch:  son:  hot dogs or lunch meat
                    Dinner:  son:  fish and chips

Thursday:  Breakfast:  none due to outpatient surgery
                 Lunch:  out somewhere
                 Dinner:  hamburgers and homemade fries

Friday:  Breakfast:  cereal and blue berries for me
             Lunch:  hot dogs or lunchmeat for son/chicken salad and crackers for  me
             Dinner:  chicken, rice or potaotes, veggie

That's as far as I've gotten for the week; I will re-assess later and plan the weekend.

Blueberries out of my ears

I have written before about my blueberries.  This week I went back to the farm and got almost another 5 gallons FREE.  You may not be able to tell from the bottom picture, but it's 13 quarts.  Coupled with what I had before, that may last me in the deep freeze til next summer!

Publix: Saved 49.71%

This was my shopping trip today:  $92.59 worth of groceries for $47.36.  I had $12.75 in internet coupons and Publix B1G1Free savings was $33.28.  This included 2 packages of Spenda 100 count for .29 each, 4 packages of President's feta cheese for about $1.09 each.

• Kashi pizza:  2 for $10/used .75 coupon
• President's feta cheese:  2 for $5.19/bought 4 and used 2 $3 coupons,, bringing them to 1.09 each
• Bubble bath:  3.49
• Spenda:  2 for 4.19/used 2 $2 coupons/bringing them to .29 each
• grated cheese:  3.59
• Pillsbury crescent rolls:  3 for $6
• Orville popcorn:  2 for 5.14
• Vlasic pickles:  2 for 2.48
• Diet Root beer:  B2G1F:  3 for 8.22(treat for my son)
• Cascadian Farms organic cereal:  2.69 each (used 2 1.00 coupons)

Total in coupons:  12.75/Total in PUblix savings:  33.28

Blueberries!

Blueberries are one of the BEST fruits; they are high in fiber and anti-oxidants.  Being a colon cancer survivor, I think that's really important for my diet.  I have a long-time friend from my childhood who has had blueberry bushes for over 25 years....and they are plentiful.  Last summer she told me to come get all I wanted, and the other day, she invited me back.  This is from that first picking, as I plan to go back 2 more times this month to get enough for my freezer to last a year.

That's a 5 gallon bucket almost full, though it doesn't look like it here.  Do NOT wash the blueberries before freezing them.  I learned years ago that makes them mushy.  I simply bag them up straight from the garden and wait to wash them as I take them out to use them.

Menu Plan Week of July 4

In keeping with the idea of Eating From the Pantry Challenge this month, here is my menu plan for the week:

Monday:  breakfast:  bagels
               lunch:  chicken salad
               dinner:  4th of July celebration with friends:  I'm making brownies with a mix I had in the pantry,  taking potato chips I had on hand, and pigs-in-a-blanket (made with crescent rolls and little smokies I had in the freezer)

Tuesday:  breakfast:  cereal and blueberries
                lunch:  at my parents' house after a morning of blueberry picking
               dinner:  baked chicken, wild rice, grilled mixed veggies

Wednesday:  breakfast:  cereal and blueberries
                     lunch:  lunchmeat sandwiches
                    dinner:  grilled shrimp, homemade french fries, corn on the cob

Thursday:  breakfast:  cereal and blueberries
                lunch:  sushi at our favorite restaurant
                dinner:  spaghetti

Friday:  breakfast:  Flatout foldout bread with 3 egg white/cheese omelet for a homemade Egg McMuffin (my Weight Watchers version)
             lunch:  hot dogs
             dinner:  steak, baked potato, corn on the cob

Snacks:  popcorn, grapes, homemade smoothies

**Everything this week (except the sushi) is either in my freezer, refrigerator, or pantry.

Eating From the Freezer/Pantry--July Edition

This month I'm participating in the Summertime Pantry Challenge hosted by Jessica. 

I went to Publix this morning to take advantage and stock up on some great deals to see how long they will last me this month.  I spent $118.55, but $50 of that was on a gas card.  Publix is running a deal through the 6th where for every $25 in groceries you buy, you can get $10 off a $50 gas card.  So....I am deducting that for this purpose. 

Grocery-wise I spent $68.55.  My savings was $47.05 (for the groceries only)

My goals for this month are as follows:

• see how creative I can be with the meat I bought today---to see how far I can stretch it
• spend less than usual
• use up what I have

I did not take pictures in the freezer because I didn't have that much in there.  I did take one of the cabinet where I keep rice, couscous, and canned tomatoes.  There are a lot of staples here to use up.  I did not get one of the 8 boxes of pasta in another cabinet.

Eating From the Freezer/Pantry---End of Month Totals

As the Eat from the Pantry Challenge winds down, here is how I did at the stores.  My goal was not to stop shopping entirely but to use up a lot of what I had and only buy produce, the occasional meat, and stock up on good sales coupled with coupons.



Total Shelf Cost: $348.39                                         

Monthly Budget: $200.00


Total Coupon Savings: $87.12                                Variance: $9.31

Total Discounts: $78.24

Total Savings: $165.36

Amount Paid (after rebates): $190.69 

Savings Rate: 47.46%                         Amount Paid (exc. Rebates) $190.69

So, I am in UNDER budget; for that I am REALLY excited!

Eating From the Freezer/Pantry: Mid-month Update

I decided since it is the 15th of the month, I would see where I stand in my Eat from the Pantry/Freezer Challenge.  This is my budget and what I've spent so far:

Total Shelf Cost: $182.55                              
Monthly Budget: $200.00

Total Coupon Savings: $44.50 
Total Discounts: $30.20



Amount Paid  $107.85 :  This includes a $37 trip to Petsmart for cat litter and a huge bag of dog food.  Do I count pet food?  I don't know, but I do.

 

Week 2 of the Pantry Challenge

I am beginning week 2 of the Pantry Challenge issued by Jessica.   I am thrilled to say I have not set foot in the grocery store in ONE WEEK!

We have used frozen fish, potatoes, fresh broccoli, leftover taco meat I had frozen, and tacos.  Keep in mind we are gone at lunch, so this is for dinner.  I take leftovers for lunch, and my son chooses not to eat lunch.

Sunday at lunch I pulled out flour tortillas, frozen brown rice, shredded cheese, and a partial can of nonfat refried beans.  I had never made burritos, but it took about 5 minutes to assemble and then nuke in the microwave.  We enjoyed them and there are plenty of the ingredients left to do it again later in the week. 

Are you in the Pantry Challenge?  If so, how is it going?

Eating From the Freezer/Pantry

Jessica over at http://www.lifeasmom.com/ is hosting this year's Eat From the Pantry Challenge.  Here are my freezer and pantry as I begin this quest to use what I have and spend very little this month.

I already have white chicken chili and potato soup in the containers.

Meat-wise I have flounder and perch.

Veggies galore

Eating From the Freezer/Pantry

So, my freezer and pantry (picture would not upload) are FULL.  Here's my menu plan for this week:

Breakfasts:  for me:  oatmeal, homemade egg mcmuffin, ceral/blueberries
                for son:  homemade egg, cheese, sausage burritos defrosted the night before and reheated for him to eat while I drive

Lunch:  I take leftovers; he doesn't eat by his choice

Dinners:  Monday:  London broil and roasted veggies in the oven/rice
              Tuesday:  Salmon, baked potatoes, veggie
              Wednesday:  Spaghetti
              Thursday:  Chicken tenders, mac and cheese, veggie
              Friday:  Hamburgers, homemade french fries

Eating From the Pantry:January 25

We have been eating from the pantry/freezer all month.  The last few days have been difficult as we are down to simply beef.  I am expecting a chicken breast shipment from here this week.  I got them on sale and with free shipping to boot.  Because of that order, I am at $96 for the month on groceries.  I didn't make a pledge about how much I would spend, but this is considerably less than my usual $40 a week.  To see what  my freezer/pantry looked like BEFORE starting the challenge:  go here.  Here they are now:

Eat From the Pantry Challenge: Halfway Point

This month we have only spent $29.00 at Publix and Walgreens on groceries.  I have had to buy pet food, but I am strictly counting people food.  That's pretty darn good!  I have found myself  GREATLY tempted to order from here because they have the BEST tilapia and chicken breasts.  But, I have ignored all their email sale notices. I want to deplete the meat I have before buying any more.  This is a personal challenge for me.

If you go here you'll see why I have bought so little this month.

Here's the menu for this week:

January 18:  Panko encrusted chicken tenders , Betty Crocker potatoes, veggie

January 19:  Chili over rice

January 20:  Spaghetti and salad

January 21:  Hamburger steak with herb/olive oil potatoes, veggie

January 22:  Sushi out

January 23:  Turkey tetrazzinni

Snacks: popcorn, leftover homemade pizza I froze, chocolate milk.

Since it is just my 15 year-old son and me, we nearly always have leftovers.  These leftovers are either eaten another night, or he eats them as a snack after school

Eating From the Pantry: Week 2 Update

We did really well eating from the pantry/freezer last week.  I did stop at Publix because the pets can't eat from the pantry.  I spent around $20 on cat litter and cat food.  Still, we did great because I have purposed to use up what we have, and the fact that Publix did not have great deals this week helped.

Here is what is on the menu for this week:

1. January 10:  steak on the grill with baked potatoes and leftover veggies
2. January 11:  Spaghetti made with whole wheat noodles and Ragu sauce and a salad
3.  January 12:  Burgers on the grill with homemade fries
4.  January 13:  Panko encrusted chicken for son and crab cake for me with rice and veggies
5.   January 14:  Leftovers of turkey tettrazini or spaghetti
6. January 15:  Eat out:  Sushi
7. January 16: Homemade chili with Ritz crackers

Eat from the Pantry Challenge: Weekly Menu

Here is what I have planned this week:

Monday night:  Leftover chili and Ritz crackers

Tuesday night:  Steak with brown rice/Steamers veggies

Wednesday night:  Chicken leftovers from Sunday

Thursday night:  Spaghetti

Friday night:  Burgers on the grill

Eat from the Pantry Challenge: Update

We began the challenge last Thursday, and I'm happy to report we are doing well.  Here is what we've had so far:

Thursday night:  Steak, brown rice, beans

Friday:  We are in the South, so we had blackeyed peas, collards, brown rice, and fish (instead of the southern tradition of pork on New Year's)

Saturday:  Burgers and homemade fries

Sunday:  Crockpot Cranberry Chicken, Betty Crocker mashed potatoes, corn