Making Amazing Meals From The Pantry - #1

 

With all of the holiday baking, cooking and entertaining I had done throughout the holiday season I began the month of January with A LOT of leftovers.  Because people brought things over and didn’t take them back home with them plus what I had made there were loads of odds and ends of things I had squirreled away in the refrigerator and freezer compartment.  There was also still quite a bit of produce and dairy items nearing their end dates.  I knew that I wanted to concentrate on using these things up and get them out of here as soon as possible so nothing ended up getting wasted.  Fortunately the BFF was here to lend me a hand.

 

New Years Day was another holiday meal and we were left with plenty of leftover items to finish off the week.  First up was to make a batch of chocolate pudding on Saturday to use up milk that was nearing its best buy date along with a partial can of evaporated milk leftover from making fudge.  I also had a partial can of whipped cream to top these desserts with.  The two of us polished this deliciousness off in nothing flat and we didn’t feel guilty about it at all.  Done!

 

By Sunday I was ready to get really serious about tackling all of this extra food.  I went through the refrigerator and freezer compartment, took an inventory and pulled out some items I wanted to use up.  I pulled out the end of a loaf of homemade whole wheat bread, a couple eggs, some milk and an open jar of Costco peaches to make French toast for Sunday brunch.  The last of a jar of pear butter was used to top the French Toast.

 

I still had chicken and cranberry sauce left from Thanksgiving and a bunch of open partial bags of vegetables so I did a sheet pan meal.  A partial container of chicken stock in the refrigerator was used to make some gravy.  Since the oven was going I went ahead and added a frozen apple crisp I had put away in the freezer last Fall.  Sunday dinner was a hit and we also used some more of the whipped cream on the crisp.

 

In my ongoing endeavor to remove processed foods from my everyday diet I found four hotdogs and four store bought buns in the freezer.  We decided to eliminate them right away by having them for supper on Monday.  I made a salad with homemade dressing to go along with that meal so we could feel better about eating the hotdogs.  We finished the apple crisp that evening too.

 

Next I used up an open bottle of green salsa, an open container of sour cream beyond its best buy date, some leftover grated cheese  plus more I had pulled from the freeze, and some corn tortillas to make an enchilada casserole, of sorts.  The remainder of the week was spent eating up the leftovers that had accumulated in the refrigerator from the three meals I had made.

For quick brunch type items we polished off the last of the Christmas cinnamon rolls and pumpkin bread along with the citrus and the jar of Costco peaches.  Then I made a loaf of zucchini bread using a packet of grated zucchini and carrot I had put away in the freezer.  It was perfect.

 

The following week I was on my own once again and cooking for only one so I focused on what was in the freezer.  I pulled out a pasta dinner, some beef barley soup and biscuits and a couple beef and bean burritos.  I also ate some leftover enchilada casserole from the week before.

 

Food Waste – From the refrigerator I tossed two partial bottles of store bought salad dressing that had been hanging around way too long into the trash.  I also added a bunch of green onions that had gone slimy as well as a forgotten tomato with a mold spot on it and a few less than stellar mandarin oranges.  After that we really concentrated on eating the fresh produce before we lost anymore.  From the pantry I pulled out the last of the ultra processed food I had in there and although it pained me to get rid of it, it pained me even more to look at the ingredient lists and realize what utter crap I had been storing.  That made it much easier to pull out marinades, barbecue sauces and more salad dressings and a few cans of soup.  Since they were all past their best buy dates I couldn’t donate these items.  I should have done this sooner.

 

Without realizing it I had done an impromptu pantry challenge, but after those two weeks I feel like I have a really good handle on what is going on in my kitchen.  Once all was said and done, I did an inventory and made a solid list of items to buy at the grocery store moving forward.

 

 

Tour of My LTFS

 

Recently I did a little bit of moving and reorganizing of my long term food storage (LTFS) as little Miss Bunny Foo Foo was running under my feet and one of us was destined to get hurt.  If it was her I’d be absolutely devastated so I got busy one day and moved out the LTFS shelf from one side of the room so I could give her a large area in the downstairs bedroom with an enclosure to keep us both safe and consolidated everything in a smaller area.  I can now easily access what I need and she pretty much has the run of the majority of the room.  Win-win for both of us!

 

Once I had moved the shelves over I reorganized everything into categories.  I prefer to organize like with like so this just made sense to me.  I have it set up with extra baking items, condiments and spices, fruits and vegetables, meats, home canned soups (I no longer buy commercially produced soup products), tomato products, home canned beans, rice, pasta, dried legumes, and milk products.

 

Zombie apocalypse foods

Meats

Vacuum sealed packages of pasta, rice & legumes + water
(ignore the binders on top of the boxes, those got moved 😂)

You will notice I have gaps on the shelves.  This is a working pantry, not a hoarding situation, so this is to be expected.  I am going to be working this year to keep those gaps to a minimum but also make sure what I have on hand is getting used on a regular basis.  I make it a regular practice to rotate my stock and use what I am storing so nothing goes to waste.

 

Home canned soups & broths

Home canned tomato based products

Beans & milk products
I plan to do up more beans soon as I use them often

The only exception is the top shelf where I keep my freeze dried and dehydrated foods.  Just in case there is a zombie apocalypse I’ve that covered.  Seriously though, I do keep a small stock of these items, just in case.  I recognize that I have limited control over most things, especially weather events, power outages, etc.  You just never know what might happen in the future.

 

Vegetables & baking products

Fruit & condiments

Home canned fruits, pickles, relish & olives

Since I am a lone household of one I currently have my LTFS set up to feed two people for a year with only items I enjoy eating.  This allows me to feed others and share what I have on hand whenever I choose to do so.  I hope you enjoyed the tour!

 

 

Soup, Salad & Bread

 

One of my most favorite meals is simply a bowl of soup, a green salad and a nice homemade roll or piece of bread.  It is a beautiful way to nourish our souls and our bodies, especially regardless of what they weather has in store for us.  This meal, in my opinion, is perfect all year.

Soup, salad and bread pretty much covers all of the basic food groups.  I make all of my soups and breads from scratch so the nutrition is optimal and there are no ultra processed foods or odd ingredients and additives to worry about.  I like knowing what I’m putting into my body and there is no room for chemicals or preservatives that I can’t pronounce.

 

Adding a couple soup based meals to my menu plan each week not only nourishes me but it also is a great way for me to use up items before they can go to waste.  Little bits of this and that lying around or any leftovers are gathered up and used to make a variety of soups.  If I get carried away and make more than I can consume in the week I can also place the extra into a container and freeze it to enjoy later down the line.  Now that to me is some delicious fast food.

 

Click here to see some of my favorite soup recipes.

Click here for my favorite homemade dinner rolls and biscuits.

Click here for one of my favorite bread recipes and here for another one.

Need some salad inspiration?  Click here, here and here.

 

When we are able to stretch our resources, use up leftovers and avoid food waste we can save a lot of money too.  The money savings is a bonus I’m quite happy with.  Enjoy some tasty and budget friendly soup meals!  Bon appétit!

 

 

My Tireless Retirement - Week 145

 

My first full week of 2025 was pretty darn good.  I worked all day Friday riding the bus to and from work despite it being a rainy day.  I managed to only get sprinkled on a little bit walking from work to the bus station and then got home just in time for it to start really start raining.  I totally lucked out.

 

Saturday was a quiet day spent working on some paperwork, finalizing some grocery shopping plans and backing up the last of the files I wanted to put on a thumb drive.  Later that day I worked a jigsaw puzzle and did a little paper crafting making it a perfect day.  Sunday was more of the same, although I did manage to scrub the holidays out of my oven so it is now shiny and clean once again.

 

A basic working pantry

Monday I awoke to a gloriously foggy morning.  I truly love a good fog.  I worked a few hours on Monday and then was off work the remainder of the week.  On Tuesday I spent some time in the kitchen going through the refrigerator and freezer compartment as well as my pantry.  I cleaned and organized the refrigerator pulling out two partial bottles of salad dressing no one was eating and tossed them into the trash.  Next I went through the pantry and pulled out everything that was ultra processed and still in there.  Out it went as well.  After wiping and reorganizing the shelves I shopped my LTFS and restocked as needed.  I am really pleased with the final results.

 

A small haul this week

2025 food preservation has officially begun!

Wednesday was the day I had decided to run my errands.  I went to the library and then to Cash & Carry which I hadn’t been to in ages.  After picking up a few items there I topped up the fuel tank on the truck, stopped by the bank and then headed back home.  I had picked up two large bags of frozen vegetables so once I got home I got out my vacuum sealer and divided the vegetables into smaller packages.  I kept out two and then placed the rest of the packets into my deep freezer.

 

I am really happy with how the journal turned out

Thursday I spent the entire day paper crafting!  I made up a complete journal to add to my gift stash and then went through all of the greeting cards I had made in the past couple of years and made up a couple of note card sets to also give as gifts.  I have plans to do this again very soon too.  My gift stash shelf is totally bare, I had given everything away, so my goal now is to replenish it with handmade and useful gifts to hand out throughout the year.

 

My Weekly Challenge – Collect two books from the library, one fiction, one nonfiction, and start reading. 

How Did I Do?  I picked up the books and have now begun reading at night before I go to sleep!

 

I made enchiladas

and zucchini bread

I hope you all enjoyed a lovely week.  Ready for another one?

 

 

FYI - My retirement week runs Friday through Thursday

 

My 2025 Monthly Budget

 

I keep my monthly budget pretty simple tracking all expenses in an excel spreadsheet.  By tracking my expenses throughout the year I am able to easily project what my future expenses may be, adjusting as needed, to make sure I don’t overspend.

 

My current budget set for 2025 is based on my spending last year.  I’ve increased and decreased these budget categories accordingly and now will begin the year doing my best to work within these new budgets

 

My monthly expenses are really low.  This year my budgets are as shown in the above photo plus whatever my electric, water, sewer and trash bills happen to be.  I do my best to keep my utility bills as low as possible, however I also know there is a limit to just how much I can control these expenses overall so when they arrive I know I need to pay them regardless of the amounts.  That is, if I want to continue to have utilities, which I do.

 

I’m sure to most people my budgets seem very low, maybe too low, but I live quite happily and comfortably within them.  I just like to keep it simple.

 

Shopping My Shelves First

 

Before I do any grocery shopping, meal planning or prepping I will shop what I currently have on my shelves of my working pantry, the freezer in my kitchen and the deep freezer in my garage first.  Then I will formulate my meal plans and a list of items I want to meal prep from what I already have on hand.

 

I love to make a variety of different soups in my slow cooker

One of the things I really like to do when I meal plan and prep is to make soups.  More often than not all of my soups are made using up bits and dabs of items that I have in the pantry and my kitchen freezer.  It is a great way for me to use up partial bags of frozen vegetable or meat, small containers of broth as well as partial packages of items in the pantry like pasta or rice.  I am also able to use up leftovers in the refrigerator as well as any jars of home canned items that are getting older.

 

I try to buy the best quality food I can afford

Once I’ve made a pass through the pantry and kitchen freezer I will restock any items I am low on first using items I’ve stockpiled in my deep freezer and also my LTFS shelves where I keep shelf stable and home canned and preserved items.  After that I will add to my shopping list anything I am getting low on as well as any fresh produce or dairy I feel I will need and use at the time.  I constantly work to maintain a certain level of inventory in my deep freezer and LTFS shelves while keeping a well stocked working pantry and refrigerator freezer in my kitchen.

 

I am very blessed to have the space & ability to keep a LTFS

Shopping my shelves first not only allows me to save money when I go to the stores, but it also helps me to make sure all food items are used up in a timely manner to eliminated food waste.  Anytime I have to through food away I know I am literally throwing my hard earned money into the trash so I want to always do my best to make sure that doesn’t happen.  Saving money on what I ultimately spend for groceries is also very important to me.  Making sure I have plenty of solid nutritious food on hand to prepare wholesome, healthy and satisfying meals is my ultimate goal.