Eat From the Pantry Challenge - End of Week 1 Progress & $.08 Yogurt

Well, we survived another week of "Eat from the Pantry." Though, I have to tell you that resisting the temptation to still buy up phenomenal deals was quite difficult. As a money-saving shopper, it becomes second nature to scan an ad, know your coupons and be able to piece together a shopping list full of great items for next to nothing. But there does come a point when you have to use that stockpile (or donate it!)

This became sort of the "creative" week for me. I think we have to do that sometimes or our meals can sometimes become bland. Instead of just plain hamburgers, I made green olive burgers. Not sure if this is a mid-west thing but they are sold in some restaurants around here. I had my first one at a Hot n Now in Michigan back in High School. It's an interesting, and salty, addition to a plain burger.

Another night, I used some very brown bananas with some milk and Starbucks Ice Cream to make what tasted like a chocolate covered banana shake---with a kick! Definitely not one of my healthy snack choices, but good nonetheless!

I realized one afternoon that I was low on Mayo and didn't have any yogurt at the time, so I mixed some of that Free Wholly Guacamole I had picked up at Jewel with a can of Tuna to make a Tuna Sandwich. Hey, not half bad! I had to laugh thinking my food choices were starting to resemble some I had when I was pregnant. :)

Now, what I didn't pass up on for a deal this last week was Dannon Yogurt that a nearby store had on sale for $.25. I had several $1/6 printable coupons so it ended up being $3 for 36 of them or around $.08 each! I purposely waited until late in the evening on the last day of the sale to buy so many and come to find out--they were well stocked just for that sale.

So we've been having yogurt for snacks and at several meals. With the money I've saved on groceries, I bought laundry detergent, light bulbs, extra produce, etc.--basically things we were running low on or that sometimes are expensive. My latest addiction? The Cuties Clementines--they make for a great quick snack.

Hoping you had a creative and fulfilling week eating from your pantry, as well! I'm enjoying all the saved time not spent at the grocery store.

Eat From the Pantry Challenge: End of Week 1 - Rolling Ingredients and Using Everything

I'm so glad that I decided to join in on the Eat From the Pantry Challenge hosted by Money Saving Mom and Life As Mom. I have a huge overflow of a stockpile that needed to be dwindled down and used.

I guess in my mind, I have been more cautious about what I've been making since I know that I'm limiting myself on what I can pick up this month. I'm thinking my meal plans through more and trying to "roll ingredients" to make sure I use everything.

So what do I mean by "rolling ingredients?" Well, sometimes I get careless and I don't end up using everything that I cook or chop up. Sometimes I have the best intentions to use up that half an onion I store in the fridge or to finish up the leftovers. But they seem to fall into that "Black Hole" of the fridge and only re-appear after spoiling. (Know what I mean?) So this is a peek at how my week looked:

Started off with Beef Stroganoff. I intentionally cooked up twice the amount of steak needed. (I used round steak instead of top sirloin since it's cheaper and its what I had on hand.) I sliced up all of the onion and mushroom that I had and put them in separate containers for later.

The next morning, I used the sliced mushrooms in an omelet, cutting down my food-prep time. I then used the onion in a big crockpot of ham & bean soup for dinner. Another time-saver. We also made some cornbread and we had a lot of that left.

The next day, we had leftover soup for lunch and then I used up the extra steak I had cooked up for some steak tacos on burrito shells.

The following day, I used the leftover cornbread that I had to make an Enchilada Meatloaf.

The next night for dinner, I made Crockpot Lasagna, which called for cottage cheese. Since I didn't use the entire container, I made sure to use it up in our lunches the next day.

At the end of the week, I really hadn't used up that much of my stockpile and I didn't waste any leftovers since I made sure to keep rolling everything and making notes of what was leftover and needed to be used.

I also started keeping the containers that I finished up. I normally would just recycle them but I knew some of them could be used for other things at least one time. The mushroom container, which was actually plastic and not foam, I rinsed out really well and it made for a perfect holder for my used dish cloth for the day. The spice containers, lunch meat and yogurt containers will all be perfect for the mixes that I plan on making from the Make-A-Mix book that I got for Christmas.

I love that the challenge is not only forcing me to be more creative with meals but it's also helping me get outside my comfort zone of regular recipes and try new things. Along the way, I've found some really great recipe books and recipes that will now be part of our regular routine:

Make-A-Mix

Healthy Meals for Less: Great-Tasting Simple Recipes Under $1 a Serving

The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook...

My original plan was to use our savings to have a nice 3rd birthday party for my son at the end of the month. But I've come to realize that I have most of the food for it already in my stockpile. So instead, I've allowed myself to spend a little more on fresh produce and a few other items we wouldn't normally buy.

I hope you are having just as much fun participating in their challenge. Don't forget to link up to them HERE and HERE. There are so many wonderful postings there, too, for those of you looking for ways to stretch your groceries further and in need of new recipes.

You can also leave a link in my comments section to your challenge progress posting, if you'd like.

Eat From the Pantry Challenge - Count Me In!

So I've been debating for several days now if I wanted to participate in Life as Mom and Money Saving Mom's Eat From the Pantry Challenge. Then I began looking around my house. I have a deep freezer that's stocked full. A regular freezer that's stocked full. And my pantry shelves are full to the brim with food. So why am I still nervous about doing this challenge? :)

I guess it's such a habit to just go to the store each week and load up on the groceries and savings that breaking away from that habit is...well, a little scary. But I have shelves full of recipe books, other great blogger's recipes to use and online tools such as Super Cook to help me in coming up with recipes. I think it might be fun! And anything that forces me to be creative is thumbs up in my book.

Since I'm going to Blissdom in February, I'm hoping that the time I save on shopping will help me find the time to get in a freezer cooking session. I'd love to have some great meals ready for my hubby to feed to the kids for the few days that I am gone.

I haven't got all of my "rules" squared away yet but here's my initial plan:

1) Stop by the store for only "perishable" items such as dairy, eggs, produce and sandwich bread. More than likely, my hubby will just pick these up on his way home from work, saving us $$ on gas.

2) Try to use whatever is on hand to create great meals for my family.

3) Use up our FREE pizza coupons. I got several free coupons in some board games I bought at Target several months ago. We also have several "tabs" from prior pizza boxes at a local chain that will also get us a FREE pizza. So once a week, we'll have a pizza/movie night with the kids.

The one diversion I have is that my son has a birthday at the end of January so I'll have to get extra food for the party. The savings I acquire throughout the month should more than pay for his party!

I'll keep you posted on how well I'm doing with sticking to the plan. If you have an overflowing pantry, you may want to consider trying the challenge out for yourself.

Thanks to Life As Mom and Money Saving Mom for hosting such a fun challenge!

Moneywise Moms' $10 Food Bank Challenge

I love it when others open up their hearts and use their couponing/deal skills to give back to those in need. To those that email me with "You've done so much for me is there anyway I can help you out?" I always simply say, "Use those skills that you are learning to give back to those in need (and to teach others to do the same.)"

Well here's a great way that one of my fellow bloggers is encouraging others to give back. Moneywise Moms is having a "$10 Food Bank Challenge." It's a super great challenge that you can read all about HERE. (She's also doing a giveaway for those that participate. Make sure you read the cut-off for that.)

But to sum it up, you take $10 from your grocery budget and see how far you can stretch it and get the most of that $10, and then donate your findings.

I looovvvee challenges. I might just have to see what I can do with my $10!

Spring Cleaning Challenge!

Crystal from Money Saving Mom and Biblical Womanhood is hosting a Spring Cleaning Challenge! Something we can all probably use!

Be sure and read her posting here! Follow through with her weekly assignments and post your results!

How fun! Everything is a little easier to do when you have a supportive group behind you joining in!