The Pantry Challenge 2018 is officially over, even though we might
continue it informally for a few more days. We made it, guys! I'm so
proud of all of us! We ate a few things that didn't 'match' or were
outside our normal meals, but no one went hungry, no one went through
the drive thru lane and no one had to eat things they hate. Those are
all things I can live with :)
Goals Update: Final Numbers
Our goals:
1. Get the cold storage to the bare minimum so I can defrost it and clean it well.
~Somehow, my fridge freezer and the deep freeze are still PLENTY full. How is that possible? Perhaps I was using more of the fridge and pantry shelves for this challenge. Also, a friend gifted us a large turkey breast roast and a medium sized ham. The turkey fed us for a week in various forms and the ham went in the freezer, so not only did I not pull anything out of the freezer that week, but I actually put something IN. And when I made pizza dough, I made a double batch and put half in the freezer...Old habits die hard.
2. Use up whatever is hiding in the back of the pantry shelves. I’ve had helpers recently with putting away food (YAY!) but they just shove, not organize it by type. (Oops)
~I did pretty well with this, specifically with the baking goods and canned veggies. Rock on!
3. Reduce our food budget for the month by at least half. (I normally budget $600 when we are all home) Specific Goal: spend under $250 by only purchasing dairy and a little produce.
~We rocked this goal as well! We spent $143 this month, not counting the $60 my mother bought us as a thank you for Hercules fixing her van. So a total savings of $457. Even if we did count that money that's still a savings of $397. That's what I call awesome! I hit the store twice late in the month for milk, butter and fresh veggies, and that's it. That's a number I can live with to feed 4+ people for a month, especially since this month Hercules just happens to be unemployed so saving money is more important than ever.
4. Eat at home. We’ve developed quite a bad habit of eating out more often than our budget can truly handle and that ends today. I am aiming for one family meal out this month. Everyone else eats at home or packs a lunch.
~Another goal accomplished. Aside from the 2 times I ate out (mostly to get OUT of the office) while I was at work, we ate AT HOME for every single meal this month. No drive thru, no pizza ordered, no I'm-in-a-hurry convenience meals. And our pocketbooks and our waistlines are thanking us for our efforts.
5. Remember that I bake fantastic bread and it’s better for us and way cheaper than store bought bread.
~You GUYS! I don't toot my own horn that often, but I make such good bread!! We've enjoyed grilled cheese on regular sandwich bread, pizza on freshly made whole wheat yeast dough, we've had beer bread to dip into our soups, and french toast made out of homemade bread...oh my gravy do I love to make bread!
Our goals:
1. Get the cold storage to the bare minimum so I can defrost it and clean it well.
~Somehow, my fridge freezer and the deep freeze are still PLENTY full. How is that possible? Perhaps I was using more of the fridge and pantry shelves for this challenge. Also, a friend gifted us a large turkey breast roast and a medium sized ham. The turkey fed us for a week in various forms and the ham went in the freezer, so not only did I not pull anything out of the freezer that week, but I actually put something IN. And when I made pizza dough, I made a double batch and put half in the freezer...Old habits die hard.
2. Use up whatever is hiding in the back of the pantry shelves. I’ve had helpers recently with putting away food (YAY!) but they just shove, not organize it by type. (Oops)
~I did pretty well with this, specifically with the baking goods and canned veggies. Rock on!
3. Reduce our food budget for the month by at least half. (I normally budget $600 when we are all home) Specific Goal: spend under $250 by only purchasing dairy and a little produce.
~We rocked this goal as well! We spent $143 this month, not counting the $60 my mother bought us as a thank you for Hercules fixing her van. So a total savings of $457. Even if we did count that money that's still a savings of $397. That's what I call awesome! I hit the store twice late in the month for milk, butter and fresh veggies, and that's it. That's a number I can live with to feed 4+ people for a month, especially since this month Hercules just happens to be unemployed so saving money is more important than ever.
4. Eat at home. We’ve developed quite a bad habit of eating out more often than our budget can truly handle and that ends today. I am aiming for one family meal out this month. Everyone else eats at home or packs a lunch.
~Another goal accomplished. Aside from the 2 times I ate out (mostly to get OUT of the office) while I was at work, we ate AT HOME for every single meal this month. No drive thru, no pizza ordered, no I'm-in-a-hurry convenience meals. And our pocketbooks and our waistlines are thanking us for our efforts.
5. Remember that I bake fantastic bread and it’s better for us and way cheaper than store bought bread.
~You GUYS! I don't toot my own horn that often, but I make such good bread!! We've enjoyed grilled cheese on regular sandwich bread, pizza on freshly made whole wheat yeast dough, we've had beer bread to dip into our soups, and french toast made out of homemade bread...oh my gravy do I love to make bread!
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| Chicken Pot Pie ~ala~ Pantry Challenge Goodness |
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| Mixing up Pizza Dough |
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| Simple Pantry Challenge Lunch |
Over all, I'm calling this challenge a victory! We ate at home, we used it up, we scraped the bottom of the jars and barrels, we got creative about what goes together and what doesn't, we enjoyed more meals around the table than in months past, we put what we had to good use and we remembered to be grateful for it. The only part that we didn't do was empty out the fridge freezer and deep freeze, and I'm calling that a miracle instead of a failure. It was like the Bible story in 2Kings 4 about the oil that never ran out. Praise the Lord.
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| Tamales from the freezer, refried beans from the pantry and Mexican rice made from the pantry shelves with a few substitutions. In a word, DELICIOSO! |
PS. One extra bonus about this Pantry Challenge month is that is ties in so nicely with one of my goals for the year, which is to Eat to Live, instead of Live-to-Eat. While there was quite a bit of focusing on food this month, it wasn't so I could be a gourmet foodie. It was to save money and use up what we already had, and so contenting myself with simple meals, especially at lunch time was just the push I needed to start that goal off strong for the year. Most of my lunches for the month consisted of a baked potato or rice or a slice of buttered bread with some fruit or veg. Good stuff!
