Monday, January 4, 2010

Menu Review Monday

Since we're eating from the pantry this month, and I've already planned out most of our meals for the month- I figured I use my Mondays to review how we're doing. We stocked up before hand on milk, bread, a bag of salad, and a few 2liters of coke (at $1.17 for 4 bottles, otherwise the temptation to buy soda might've been too much for the husband). While we may only be 4 days into January, we've actually been eating from our pantry since about the 27th and it's been going well. We were able to throw together some neat appetizers and have guests over for New Years Eve. Here's the recap of what we've been eating:
  1. Hamburger meat w/tomato sauce and corn, served with tortillas (a childhood favorite of mine, the toddler ate 2 servings). The husband went to a friend's for football (taking a bag of chips, jar of peanuts, and homemade brownie bites).
  2. We went out for dinner with the husband's mom, sister, and uncle. I made and brought over a loaf of Garlic-Herb Braid Bread, that turned out pretty good.
  3. Turkey, Rice, and cheese veggie casserole (I bumped the Tortellini in favor of this, because the Turkey was already in the fridge and the tortellini is frozen anyways). Husband took half the leftovers for lunch and the toddler and I will be eating the other half for lunch as well.
  4. Today! We're doing tacos with mexican rice. You just sub in a bit of tomato sauce for the water and we add a bit of spice (and maybe some tomato or onion if we're feeling fancy).

It really has been great so far! It certainly doesn't feel like we're trying to scrap together meals from whatever we can find, although I was shocked at how low I was on flour. I think that this challenge is really going to help me discover where the holes are in my stockpile. I'm tempted to amend my rules of shopping to include freebies/items with overage but only those which occur when I'm planning to shop anyways. I haven't made up my mind yet.

3 comments:

  1. You are very ambitious this month! I was going to do the "Eat from Your Pantry Challenge" but I don't feel my stock pile is up to par yet. I am starting Meal Plan Monday though. I am excited to see how you do!

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  2. Your #1 meal reminds me of a simple favorite that the kids (and adults) loved around here. It's almost the same idea. You make a box of beef Rice-a-Roni, then add 1# of cooked hamburger, and 1 can of corn. Let that simmer together for a while, and serve in tortillas as burrito filling. It really has a great taste and is also good in the Mission flavored wraps.

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  3. haha, Kim! I'm really not all that ambitious, but after taking really good stock of everything I had I saw how easy it would be to do this. My stockpile is nowhere near what some other people have, but I figured I can fill in any and all gaps with fresh produce and dairy. Plus, it'll help with my larger goal of getting more organized and de-cluttering.

    Anon, I've never heard of that, but it does sound neat. We were never hamburger helper types, but we did a lot of simple meals with hamburger meat. The tomato sauce/green bean combo is great with flour tortillas. Tomato sauce/corn is awesome with corn tortillas or tortilla chips. We also love to mix in pork n'beans- my mom grew up with that one. you can use it on hamburger buns or on chips. delicious!

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