Pantry Challenge week 3

Whew!  I'm slow putting this post together, it was quite a week-end.  I'm so thankful for the retreat I was able to go on (and that I got to take my oldest daughter), and the big work day my family and I tackled on Monday; it all left me tired though.  Our pantry challenge is going well, but between the whole "end of pregnancy" thing and some very busy days I'm getting tired of it. :)  I'm seeing my goals accomplished though, so I'm inspired to keep going.

My poorly functioning pregnancy brain did not track expenses this week.  I didn't purchase much; bananas, pineapple, eggs,  and chocolate coconut (dairy free) ice cream...you know basic life essentials.  I also purchased several items for next month.  These were almost all convenience/specialty items related to the upcoming birth.

Ok, the menu for this week

Breakfast
Baked Oatmeal with fruit (random kinds found in the freezer)
Dutch babies
instant oatmeal

Lunch
Packed lunch 'o junk- my kids couldn't believe their eyes when they saw me packing this.  Caprisun (left over from our move), fruit cups (left over from camping), random crackers and nuts.

Baked potatoes
dinner left overs
Random stuff from the "Pantry Challenge" bag- we will finish this off this week!

Dinner
Chicken, stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce- the last of the chickens we processed this year and          Thanksgiving/Christmas pantry left overs
Pineapple curry Chicken
Split pea soup
Tacos- the kids were so excited to hear that I found some extra taco meat in the back of the freezer!
Shredded Pork

This week-end and in the coming week we will start some bulk cooking.  My freezer is nicely cleaned out and ready to be filled with meals to get us through the first month or so after baby arrives.

Pantry Challenge week 2

Week 2 is not looking so much like a pantry challenge when it comes to dinners.  There were some great items hidden in the freezer and then we have a birthday.  We make a big deal out of meals for the birthday child; this child chose German food.  I don't keep those things in the pantry. :)

I spent more this week (last week I spent $0).  I placed an Azure (co-op) order; this can only be done once a month and I needed to order our coconut milk, raw cashews (which didn't ship), and pregnancy tea.  Total was $39.  I also ordered raw local honey; this is a group order that only happens once every couple/few months so I have to take advantage of it when it happens $33.

I had to go to Costco to pick up some items for a friend's dinner (she'd had surgery) and I picked up a couple of staples there for us too.  Onions (making it easier to make some flavorful meals), salad, eggs, string cheese (the toddler's favorite snack. This is not an exercise in torture; the whole family will be thankful she has it), GF pizza (because we have regular pizza in the freezer and I'm gonna be gone Friday night leaving Daddy and most kids to cook).  I think the total for our part was about $45.

I needed to go to the commissary to pick up pork chops for making schnitzel for the birthday dinner.  While there I picked up bananas and pears as well as some Larabars for me to snack on.  I'm starting to gather some baby items, so I picked up Newborn diapers and some wipes.  My total was $32

So, what's actually on the menu for the week?

Breakfast
Baked Oatmeal using frozen fruit from the freezer
Waffles (wheat free) and sausage- this is the birthday breakfast
Instant Oatmeal since we still have a surplus
Dutch babies/German pancakes (wheat and dairy free)
Banana Pancakes

Lunch
Dried fruit and nuts, crackers, nutella/PB, carrots, string cheese (this is a packed lunch)
PB&J sandwiches, carrots- this is the requested birthday lunch
Baked Potatoes
Left over stew

Dinner
Pot Roast- roast was hanging out in the back of the freezer
Schnitzel and spaetzle w/gravy, salad and cookies- this is the birthday dinner
coconut soup
frozen pizza- I'll be at a retreat with my oldest, dinner needs to be EASY that night

I don't have every meal for this week planned yet.  If we end up with a bunch of leftovers I'll want to use those up instead of cooking whole meals.

From Last Week's plans we had some great success with the Teriyaki Salmon and rice; this was made from canned salmon and I really thought most of my family would turn their noses up at it.  Instead there were requests for seconds and everyone finished theirs.  The oxtail stew smelled great as it cooked all day and was a wonderful comfort meal on our cold day.  That one was also a great success.

What about you?  How's your pantry challenge going?  What have you had to purchase?  What successes have you had?

Banana Pancakes- grain free/paleo

When I mentioned making Banana Pancakes last week in my Pantry Challenge post several people asked about it on Facebook, so I thought I'd post the recipe here.  It's surprisingly simple and it's been my family's favorite grain free pancake.  I have my awesome sister-in-law to thank for introducing this recipe to my family.  I love her.

1 banana (mashed) to 2 eggs.  Add cinnamon if desired.  Mix together.  Cook on griddle (don't forget to flip!).  Serve with butter and syrup (kids like maple, I like a fruit/berry syrup).

Yes.  It's that easy.

Yes.  All of those frozen bananas you have in your freezer are perfect for this.

For my crew we generally use 5 bananas and 10 eggs; I think I'll need to increase that though.  We often serve sausage, fruit or hash browns with these.  It depends on what we have available, how hungry I think the kids will be, and the day we have ahead of us.

*My kids usually make these.  Usually my 15 year old daughter, but sometimes my 12 year old son.  My 8 year old is able to contribute a significant amount of effort to the making of these as well.   This is a great recipe for getting the kids involved with.  Just exercise wisdom and caution in choosing to have kids work with (or not) a hot griddle.

Pantry challenge week 1

On Saturday I went through our pantry and cleaned it out.  I pulled out anything that had been there for a while, had been purchased for a specific recipe (and then not used), open packages, near the expiration date, or just something I didn't think we'd get to unless given a good push.

Much of this accumulated during "morning" sickness and the holidays.  We've only been in this house for about 6 months, so I didn't find anything too surprising or old....this time.

The freezer contained a bunch of open bags of frozen fruit and veggies, a roast, a couple of bags of frozen soup, boxes of Trader Joes pastries....random stuff like the pantry stash.

I made up a rough meal plan for the next week or so.  I'll have to go to the store next week for a certain birthday girl's meal requests, but that's it.  No $$$ being spent this week on food!

Here's the general plan for this week, along with using the fresh fruits and veggies we already had hin the house.

Breakfast
1)Finish off all of the open cereal and granola I found in the pantry.
2)Use up some of the instant oatmeal packets we have too much of...they are generally reserved for hubby's breakfast, but I bought too many when they were on sale.
3)TJ's pastries one morning
4)Banana pancakes- these are just made using frozen bananas and eggs (we generally add cinnamon too).

Lunch
1)Baked potatoes/sweet potatoes
2)crackers, PB, cheese, salami, veggies, fruit
3)spiced cider, quick breads, veggies etc

Dinner- I didn't need to get very creative here since we had some meals in the freezer that needed to be used.
1)Left overs from a large Ham dinner that we made on Sunday.  This will end up being a couple of meals for us this week.
2)Tuscan soup
3)Teriyaki salmon, veggies, and rice
4)Oxtail stew- We recently bought 1/2 a cow.  I'm using the Oxtail now knowing that its a part we normally would not use.  We shall see....

Next week I'll likely get more creative, if my pregnant brain can manage that.  Having all of the "extras" that I want to use collected in one place and out for others to see means that some of the kids have been contributing their own ideas and are finding things they are looking forward to eating.

What about you?  How's your menu looking?  In what ways are you getting creative?  Do share!