Monthly Menu ~ Eat from the Pantry Challenge
on Jan 05, 2014, Updated Oct 19, 2022
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If you’ve been following along, Kelli from The Sustainable Couple and I are hosting a Spending Strike this January. As part of that strike, my family is eating about 80% from my freezer and pantry {I love following along with Jessica from Good, Cheat Eats & Life as Mom on her Eat from the Pantry Challenge}. I have one freezer stuffed to the gills, a fridge freezer that’s mostly a big mess, and a huge pantry full of wheat, beans, rice, sugar and oats. All I plan to buy this month is a bit of fresh fruit/salad fixings, and some dairy products. Everything else will be made with ingredients I already have on hand. Here’s what we’ll eat…
Monthly Menu ~ Eat from the Pantry
Breakfasts will be ~
- Homemade granola and yogurt
- German Pancakes
- Eggy Breakfast Muffins
- Scones
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Eggs & Bacon
- Toast {on homemade bread} & Smoothies
Lunches will be ~
Left overs and sandwiches on homemade bread. We have a lot of lunch meat and cheese right now, but that will disappear quickly. Then it will be peanut butter and homemade jelly. 🙂
Dinners…In no particular order…
- Sauteed Spinach and Cheese Ravioli {from Costco and in my freezer} –> check
- Turkey Pot Pie {from my freezer} -> check
- Spaghetti {Roasted Tomato Sauce already prepped with meat and in my freezer} -> check
- Italian Zucchini Pie {from my freezer}
- Taco Soup for the Crockpot –> check
- Beef Fajitas {from my freezer}
- Spinach Mozzarella Meatloaf {from my freezer} with Roasted Veggie Medley -> check
- Pork Chops & Home Canned Sauer Kraut -> check
- Turkey {from my freezer} with Roasted Greek Potato Wedges
- Turkey Tetrazzini {from Good Not Perfect blog}
- Zuppa Toscana {adapted from The Sustainable Couple} -> check
- Shrimp Scampi {scrimp from my freezer}
- Salmon & Sauteed Veggie Pasta
- Chicken Florentine Burgers {from my freezer}
- Crock Pot Ham
- Fried Rice with Ham & Peas {leftover ham}
- Fried Potatoes & Sausage
- Fried Potatoes & Bratwurst -> check
- Round Steak & Mashed Potatoes -> check
- Lasagna
- Scalloped Potatoes & Bacon for the Crock Pot
- Tacos {meat from my freezer} -> check
- Skillet Sausage & Egg Hash
I’m leaving a few wild card spots for dinners to clean up any extra leftovers we may have {or food I find hidden in the freezer} or for me to re-group and change my mind as needed. Hopefully after this month, I have an emptier freezer and a cleaner and better organized pantry! I’m looking forward to cleaning up a bunch of food that needs to be eaten!
How about you? What will you eat this month?
Linking up: MPM;
Looks like you have a plan of attack – that is definitely the hard part! I am just so excited to see how it goes. PS – Thanks for including our turkey tetrazzini, I hope you enjoy it. Let me know!
Can’t wait! I will let you know. 🙂
Well I’m not doing a whole month in one go, but 2 weeks prepped and planned. Breakfasts, lunch and dinners. Tonight was sausage and potato. Tomorrow Knorr Side kicks with chicken and peppers, next baked ravioli, crockpot chicken fajitas etc..
That’s great, Carole! It’s so helpful to have food prepped and planned!
These are so awesome and help me so much! These give me so much inspiration for the week!
You’re welcome, Starla! Happy cooking. 🙂
I hope your baby girl is doing well and healing properly. Praying for a quick recovery for,her and her tired family.
I have been doing something similar to this! Stretching meals so far!
I love the way the menu planning is done. so practical and useful.
Thanks for all the recipe links. This is a great Idea
That is so smart to do weekly or monthly lists of pre-planned meals. I try to do that but I find it so hard to stick to.
Nice work and thanks for sharing. This is a great idea. I’d be interested in knowing how much this ends up saving you.
I will let you know, Matt. It’s saving a ton so far – I’ve spent right around $100 only this month. It’s a pretty good feeling.