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Jan 17, 2015

One Month Pantry Challenge- Doing An Inventory



One Month Pantry Challenge, Doing An Inventory-
Last weekend I ran out of time to do a good inventory of our freezer and large pantry closet. I did it tonite. I found this helpful- 1 Month Menu Plan Grid  It's a nice sized, free printable menu grid/calendar. I also found this nice, simple freezer inventory list here- Organizinghomelife.com


This got me started to write the basics of what we have, in the freezer and pantry closet. Unlike most people we don't have a lot of frozen meats, since we don't eat a lot of meat. We eat lots of vegetarian foods!

We had 2 meals so far- frozen chicken smothered in homemade frozen pesto, with leftover french bread and salad. Ditto the leftover chicken, with taters and more salad.

Tonight I made- Spicy black bean soup and corn bread, good for a cold, rainy night. I use the pre-made "soup" as a base and added what's in the photo, + 1 more can of corn & spices. I mashed the canned beans slightly. Yummy and filling with the corn muffins made with buttermilk.

Main pantry closet

Chest freezer, a great investment!

Our version will look a bit different, since we're not feeding a family with kids. With just the 2 of us, our meals can be more flexible. I know I won't be able to do a whole month without fresh veggies, milks and fruit. I may buy more meats too, since I don't store a lot of those. Some of the items in my pantry are for long term/emergency food storage so they are off limits for this purpose. I am generally just challenging myself to use up more everyday stored foods, to rotate them and then will work on replacing with newer foods. I have a lot more fish than I thought so I'll make a Finnish Salmon Pie. I made it last year, added lots of peas, and great flavor! There's always lots of fresh eggs too. Speaking of the hens- they'll get any freezer-burned foods (if any) so they will be recycled :)

I got out these handy sheets I hadn't used yet to play with menu planning-


Here's a few more tips to save money! Lessons Learned on the Front Lines of Frugality


9 comments:

Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm said...

I've been doing her challenges for a couple years now. It is a great way to rotate items in the pantry. I differ from yo as far as meat in the freezer. seeing how we raise beef cattle for sale I always have beef in the freezer. Funny thing is, we (I) eat very little meat too. When we get one butchered it lasts us a couple of years and that's after giving away about a 1/4 of it.We do it cause we know what went into are meat.Good luck on the challenge. I can get really creative with meals.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

A friend and I were talking about how coupons aren't really the way to go with saving money, and said more and more lately, sales are better. I'm not a coupon gal, but I do stock up organic meats when I see them on sale. It really helps cut the food bill for our meals.

Unknown said...

Yes, I buy some meats at out local grocery outlet, especially natural, uncured bacon:) Yummy! That's where the freezer comes in handy, stock up on sales...

Leigh said...

Inspiring! That's a great kind of challenge.

Unknown said...

This is an excellent challenge. I wish we had the space for a chest freezer. Thanks for submitting it to the HomeAcre Blog Hop. Feel free to stop by again this week at www.PintSizeFarm.com or one of the other hosts and submit another :)

Shanice Bannis said...

So need a chest freezer. I would love it if you joined and contribute your awesome posts at my link party at City of Creative Dreams, starts on Fridays at 9AM eastern time :D Hope to see you there at City of Creative Dreams Link Party.

Unknown said...

We got ours at Costco, smaller size, but works great!

Unknown said...

Every meal in our house is like a challenge... we stand in front of the pantry and turn our heads side to side an try to come up with ways to combine things we have on hand. LOL It is a nightly game lately. Thanks for sharing on the (mis)Adventures Mondays Blog Hop!

Unknown said...

I think watching cooking shows, looking up new recipes helps, so I don't get stuck in a rut~~~

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