Pantry challenge

[TexasRose]

I have known of people doing a "pantry challenge" where they commit for a certain number of days or weeks to eat only what is in the pantry/refrigerator/freezer, and buy only staples like milk, eggs and bread.

I think I want to try that. I am looking to cut our grocery bill and heaven knows we have enough food in the house to last awhile, so I want to be creative and use it up. Here is what I am planning this week:

Tomorrow: steaks on the grill, baked potatoes, broccoli with cheese
Monday: eat out (holiday)
Tuesday: grilled burgers, grilled potatoes
Wednesday: grilled chicken breasts, wild rice, green peas
Thursday: lasagna from the freezer
Friday: red beans and rice from the freezer
Saturday: grill steaks (I have a bunch of meat from Omaha steaks), corn, green beans.

 

[muslgrl]

Wha a neat idea, don't keep much in my pantryto do that though. Most everything I at is freah and not processed

 

[Twinmama]

How funny, I've been doing this for the past few days (pretty much) without realizing it had a name!

Yesterday I found a meatloaf in the freezer that was FANTASTIC when we heated it up. Today I made chicken tortilla soup entirely out of stuff I already had in my pantry and fridge. I'm defrosting some frozen ground turkey that I'll use to make meatballs tomorrow, and then Sunday I'll defrost some chicken breasts and frozen veggies to use in a faux chicken pot pie. I think I might have some frozen shrimp that I'll use in a gumbo, along with frozen veggies.

My husband is the one who encouraged me to do this; he is frustrated that I am a "stocker" (I tend to buy things to keep in the pantry when I don't necessarily need them).

 

[TexasRose]

I am trying to make an effort to use up my frozen meat. We don't eat a lot of processed food either, but somehow I find myself with meat in the freezer that I bought on sale, or perhaps leftovers that I stuck in there and forgot about.

Maybe I should have named this thread, "freezer challenge", LOL

 

[phoenyxstarr]

I have a challenge for everyone... There's a program called Angel Food Ministries that we participated in a few months ago, and we got 2 big bags of frozen chicken thighs through it. Well I have no idea what to do with them, other than make fried chicken or baked BBQ chicken. So if y'all have some recipes that use chicken thighs, or some ideas on what to do with them, I would really appreciate it. I also have some breakfast sausage, that I'm not 100% sure what to do with. Hubby wants biscuits and gravy with it, but that takes awhile to make, and I don't get that much time in the kitchen thanks to my 15 month old.

 

[wizkid]

Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs

I have a challenge for everyone... There's a program called Angel Food Ministries that we participated in a few months ago, and we got 2 big bags of frozen chicken thighs through it. Well I have no idea what to do with them, other than make fried chicken or baked BBQ chicken. So if y'all have some recipes that use chicken thighs, or some ideas on what to do with them, I would really appreciate it. I also have some breakfast sausage, that I'm not 100% sure what to do with. Hubby wants biscuits and gravy with it, but that takes awhile to make, and I don't get that much time in the kitchen thanks to my 15 month old.

Found this one on the net and sounds interesting:

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 Tbsp. butter
2. 1 lb. pkg. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3. 4 carrots, sliced
4. 1 onion, chopped
5. 2 cloves garlic, minced
6. 3 Tbsp. honey
7. 1 Tbsp. mustard
8. 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
9. 1/2 tsp. salt
10. 1/8 tsp. pepper

PREPARATION:

Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and carrots and cook for 8-10 minutes until chicken is browned on bottom. Turn chicken and add remaining ingredients. Cover pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10-13 minutes until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Serve over hot cooked rice or couscous and a green salad.

Enjoy!

 

[barbiedoll1973_tn]

I have known of people doing a "pantry challenge" where they commit for a certain number of days or weeks to eat only what is in the pantry/refrigerator/freezer, and buy only staples like milk, eggs and bread.

I think I want to try that. I am looking to cut our grocery bill and heaven knows we have enough food in the house to last awhile, so I want to be creative and use it up. Here is what I am planning this week:

Tomorrow: steaks on the grill, baked potatoes, broccoli with cheese
Monday: eat out (holiday)
Tuesday: grilled burgers, grilled potatoes
Wednesday: grilled chicken breasts, wild rice, green peas
Thursday: lasagna from the freezer
Friday: red beans and rice from the freezer
Saturday: grill steaks (I have a bunch of meat from Omaha steaks), corn, green beans.

I really need to do this

 

[wizkid]

More chicken thigh recipes

Here is a website that has all kinds of recipes for chicken thighs - 97 of them!!!

http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=chicken+thigh

Some are quite interesting too, do check out number 17 - Chicken Thighs in Cranberry Wine Sauce and Cranberry Snap - sounds absolutely delicious. If you do, may be you might think of flying some out to me in India

 

[phoenyxstarr]

Thanks for the website, wizkid. I'm going to check it out and see what I can make with them.

 

[rt49andellis]

I do this on a weekly basis because I'm so far from the store. First check of the month I buy all the canned foods and boxed foods that I think we'll need and I go to the store on a weekly basis for the staples and meat.

 

[wizkid]

i think im very lucky in that I have help at home and he is the one doing most of my day to day cooking. so in terms of what I have stored in the pantry never really comes into the picture.

when i get down to cooking, I prefer doing from scratch i.e. head out to buy everything and cook everything as fresh as possible.

 

[Twinmama]

Oh wizkid, I see what you're saying, but at the same time, when I go to the grocery store, I tend to get carried away buying fixin's for meals, forgetting we only eat three times a day.

so the pantry challenge helps things out with my overstocking problem. Also, since starting the PC last week, I've only had to go to the grocery store once, for milk, and I got out of there with spending under $10. Not bad considering I can spend $100 at the grocery store with my eyes closed, and I usually go several times a week. Gahhh.

 

[phoenyxstarr]

My cupboards and freezer are starting to look bare because I was tired of having all that extra food in there. I didn't buy any meat this past payday, and we still have enough left to last till next Friday. But only just barely, LOL. Maybe I should have bought a package of hamburger meat when I was thinking about it. The cupboards look bare because that's what I've been making for lunch for me and my daughters, when I'm not reheating leftovers that is.

I think this week, I'm going to go over my recipes, and try, once again, to make a 2 week menu for us. I'm hoping that we can stick to it this time. It depends so much on how I feel when it comes to dinner time, plus how much hubby feels like eating when he gets home from work.

 

[Twinmama]

well, I kept it going nearly 3 weeks, but finally had to start restocking meats and veggies. Am very pleased with having cleaned out so much of my crazy pantry-stocking habit.

 

[Raquelita]

I've done a version of this before (it's alternately titled "I don't have time to go grocery shopping...what can we make do with at home?" ). Our pantry is basically stocked with pre-packaged TJ food for when we don't have time to cook, so there's not a lot of 'recipe' material in there.

 

[phoenyxstarr]

well, I kept it going nearly 3 weeks, but finally had to start restocking meats and veggies. Am very pleased with having cleaned out so much of my crazy pantry-stocking habit.

Congrats... our meat lasted us 2 weeks, & I only had to pick up a few basic things that I use all the time when cooking. Namely Italian dressing (one of my favorite marinades) & barbeque sauce.