Sunday, January 3, 2010

Pantry Challenge - part 3


I really think this pantry challenge couldn't have come at a better time (and I probably wouldn't have thought to do it if someone hadn't thought it up for me!).  With our impending overseas move in July - but we're moving out of our house and going to stay with my family in Florida sometime in mid-May - I have been fretting a little about not being wasteful with all of the things I've been stocking up on for the last year.  I'm really excited to clean out my pantry, freezers and fridges this month and begin only buying what we NEED and will eat in a 2-3 week time period.  And there are some things (condiments, baking supplies) that once we use them up, I won't be purchasing more.

So, my goals for the pantry challenge are:
::  Eat mostly what is currently in my home
::  Purchase only necessary items such as milk, eggs, cheese, fresh fruit/veggies when they are actually needed.  No stocking up - except for Eli's milk (I purchase by the case at Costco because he has a milk allergy and drinks rice milk - unless I find almond milk for a cheaper price, then he drinks that).
::  Spend no more than $100 on grocery/toiletry items for January.  I've already spent $21.53, leaving me with $78.47 for the remainder of January.  I've already made a meal plan for the entire month and have a small grocery list of a few things I know I'll need the second half of the month (other than what I listed above).
::  Continue our regular once-weekly dining out - this comes from a different area of our budget.
::  Stick to the meal plan.

Here's my menu plan for January 1 through January 10:
1/1 - Pizza, veggie sticks with Ranch
1/2 - Ate out with a friend
1/3 - Chicken tortilla soup (recipe later this week), fruit
1/4 - Tacos with lots of trimmings, fruit
1/5 - Spaghetti, veggie sticks, bread w/butter
1/6 - Meatloaf, steamed veggies, rolls
1/7 - Veggie soup, bread w/butter
1/8 - Pizza, fruit or fruit smoothies
1/9 - Eat out, possibly with a friend
1/10 - Deer sausage, eggs, fruit, toast

Lunches are mostly made of leftovers because without Michael here we typically have enough for all four of us to eat the dinner meal for the next day's lunch.  If it doesn't work out to be enough, I'll add simple things like veggie sticks, fruit, cheese, crackers, etc.

If you have no clue what this pantry challenge is, be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2.

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