Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Challenge

pantry challenge During the month of January I’ve pledged to join a challenge to eat as much as possible from my pantry and freezer. You can check out the details here, then make your own goals for saving some cash at the grocery store this month.

So my own pantry is not really bulging with excess, but there are some things that have been there for awhile and once they’re used up, they won’t be replaced. Things like mixes and special baking items that were gifts or one-time purchases for a special recipe.

We have plenty of dry beans and rice. It'll be fun to find different ways to use those. I do have a really good recipe for red beans and rice that I haven’t made in awhile…

For the first couple of weeks, at least, I think we can get by with buying just some fresh produce and dairy. There are four (yes, four!) whole turkeys in the big freezer, along with a pork loin and a bag of chicken breasts. Yesterday I picked up just under 15 pounds of ground sirloin (good sale!) so we’ll have some meatballs and I’ll cook and bag the rest to use in soups, casseroles, and for taco meat.

So tomorrow I’ll go through the freezers and pantry and make a current inventory, then start planning menus. I don’t usually plan meals more than four or five days in advance, but a list of possibilities will make that even easier. I’ll be back with the gameplan in a day or two…