Pantry Challenge Update

 

Looking back I can see that I have pretty much done a pantry challenge not just for the month of February, but also in January as well.  A two month long pantry challenge to begin the year has been well worth it.  I was able to use up so much stuff and avoid having any of that food go to waste.  It also freed up my grocery budget to allow me to purchase lots of fresh produce, some dairy items and stock up my LTFS by replacing the things I had used and adding some additional items to the shelves.  In doing so I focused on upping the nutrition and quality of pretty much everything I have purchased this year.  No garbage.  No chemicals.  Just good, healthy ingredients to make my meals with.

 

I had made some really good progress using up a lot of odds and ends I had in the kitchen freezer and the pantry as well as some of the condiments in the refrigerator I’ve been trying to thin down.  So in February I wanted to make a lot more progress and finish up using the rest of the stuff that had been hanging around for a while.

 

Things I’ve been able to use up so far this year so nothing went to waste include a container of lemon pepper seasoning as well as some ground ginger, the end of a bottle of avocado oil and the end of a bottle of olive oil, a jar of sweet pickle relish, a bottle of ketchup, a jar of mayonnaise, a jar of pesto, a container of sour cream, two bags of grated cheese, the end of a 5# bag of red potatoes and the end of a 5# bag of russets, dinner rolls and bread from the freezer, all of the leftovers, soups and broths I had stashed in the kitchen freezer, a frozen bone in chicken breast as well as the rest of the Thanksgiving rotisserie chicken I had frozen, two pounds of ground beef from 2023, a lone burger patty, some of the Easter ham from last year, a jar of pear butter, a jar of salsa, the end of a bottle of pancake syrup, a variety of open packages of frozen veggies plus some nuts, seeds and dried fruits.

 

In January I had baked some of my homemade whole wheat dinner rolls to pair with these soups.  I wanted to make sure these rolls got used up before they had a chance to freezer burn.  I also made a lot of fresh green salads to have on the side with those soup meals.  I made my own salad dressings for the salads which allowed me to use up quite a few condiments that had been hanging out in the refrigerator since just before Thanksgiving.

 

I was still on a bit of a soup kick as this month began.  To break up the soup meals I was having and stave off potential boredom I did make a handful of meals too.  Leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving was used to glaze some ham slices I had vacuum sealed and put away after Easter last year and tucked into the deep freezer.  I roasted frozen green beans and some red potatoes to serve as my sides.  It was perfect!  With some of that ham and the last of the red potatoes I made breakfast hash for Sunday brunch serving it with some sliced canned peaches.

 

There was one lone bone-in chicken breast left in the freezer that I wanted to use up so I put it in my medium slow cooker seasoned with the last bit of lemon pepper seasoning I had in a container and let it roast.  It was delicious on top of the large veggie loaded dinner salads I made.

 

I thawed leftover rotisserie chicken from Thanksgiving and used the rest of the cranberry sauce as well as some croissants I had in the deep freezer to make a couple delicious sandwiches.  I paired these a small green salad to complete the meal.  So good!  A lone beef patty became a hamburger one night, the last bit of diced ham and some leftover grated cheese became an omelet for supper on another night, while a container of leftover rice in the freezer along with some of the rotisserie chicken I had thawed became fried rice.  I made some egg rolls to go along with some of my asian soups as well as the fried rice.  Lots of single items got used up this month.

 

Having plenty of fresh vegetables on hand to make loads of salads with as well as for snacking made this pantry challenge a breeze and even though I was eating a ton of leftovers this time it didn’t really feel that way as everything seemed fresh and new.  In no way did I feel like I was deprived or that I was eating the same things over and over.  I think the fresh produce did a lot to make it feel that way.  I am very much ready to get cooking again and fill my kitchen freezer with more odds and ends for the next pantry challenge.  As far as this pantry challenge goes I feel like it was very successful.