Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Pantry Challenge 2011! - Month of Meals

As I planned a month's worth of dinners I realized that I have an even more ridiculous amount of food than I realized. I will be out of town 8 days this month so I had to come up with 20 dinners and it was total cake! I may have to challenge myself further in March to even make a dent in my freezer!

20 meals:
pulled pork
turkey gravy/rice
baked potatoes & toppings
french toast
macaroni & cheese pie
ground beef & red bean chili
pork chops & scalloped potatoes
country bean soup
russian chicken
stew/biscuits
sausage gravy/biscuits
pancakes
turkey & white bean chili
beef stroganoff
cream dijon chicken
hamburger helper
turkey pot pie
chicken bake
ham/bean soup
Whatever DH picks for his birthday

8 of these are freezer meals, already prepared. Several more are super-easy dinners from the pantry. I guess I was hoping I'd have to get more creative in my menu planning. Perhaps the real challenge for me will be spending only $20/week on dairy & produce.

Lunches will be leftovers, box mac'n'cheese, sandwiches, quesadillas, and chicken nuggets (as long they last).

Katie

3 comments:

  1. I thought I posted but I guess not. I'm trying to clear out the pantry too so thanks for the motivation!
    Some of my meal plan ideas:
    -Making a ton of tomato sauce to freeze for the next month using diced tomatoes/canned tomatoes/crushed tomatoes. Add a little garlic, olive oil and spices and it's delicious and versatile.
    -Lots of soups using canned veggies
    -Enchiladas with my canned green chiles, enchilada sauce, salsa, etc
    -Something with the stuffing mix I bought on sale and never used...

    For some reason, I think I use a stocked pantry as a crutch and it's a little scary to watch my stock piles dwindle, but it's also liberating. Lots of this stuff has just sat for months and who knows when I would have used it?

    I also have the goal of making John's lunch for him to take to work every day which will be healthier/cheaper so this is causing me to plan ahead and always have something ready to go for him to take.

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  2. Carly - I saw your previous post, but thanks for posting again!

    An idea for stuffing is a 'pot pie.' Combine a bag of frozen , mixed veggies, a can of creamy soup, and 3 cups of chopped turkey or chicken in a pie plate, then spread prepared stuffing over the top like a crust and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Voila! My family likes this one and it is SO EASY to make.

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  3. Haha, I must've posted on a previous entry. Thanks for the idea!

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So, what do you think?