I’ve decided to not grocery shop in September for as long as we can. When we made our house into one unit in June we inherited the “newer” refrigerator from … Continue reading No Grocery Shopping in September
Tag: Emptying the Storehouse
Emptying the Storehouse: Update
I have been terrible about blogging about this experiment! It is the last day of April and I haven’t said a word about it in weeks.
Well, we made it through the month of April without grocery shopping (with the exception of fresh produce and milk)!
I will admit that I did have to pick up some cheese because we ran out. But, other than that, we really did well with sticking to this goal, and we STILL have a lot of food left! That’s partially because we didĀ a few mystery shops this month, and we were at MHS for one weekend (where we are fed). And, one of the meals made enough to feed us for three nights, so that used even less food!
We’re thinking that we might just keep this going until we’re out of food completely, but we’ll see. We are out of chicken and beef, and out of cheese except for the little bit that I bought the other day, so I’m having to be more creative (which is challenging given our schedule right now).
If nothing else, this has helped me to step away from the thrill of couponingĀ (which is easily addicting) for a while. I will still use coupons, of course, but I never want to have a stockpile like many people I’ve seen in news articles. I only want to have what we will use or give away.
I’ll keep you posted on what we decide to do next!
Emptying the Storehouse: Week Two
This is the second week of us cooking and eating only what we have in the house–no grocery shopping (except for fresh produce)! I decided to call it “Emptying the Storehouse” because it sounded better than “Eating from the Pantry” or anything else that came to mind.
I should have known that I wouldn’t end up sticking to a specific daily menu plan. š
So far, we’re only out of a few things (such as plain frozen fruit, which I use for smoothies) and running low on a few others, so the creativity begins!
I will post links to recipes whenever I have them–some are from cookbooks that I only have in print.
Actual Dinner Menu for Week One:
Sunday: Breakfast burritos and smoothies for brunch; dinner at church
Monday:Ā Easy Garden Bake
Tuesday:Ā Hungry Girl’s macaroni and cheese (added broccoli) and “Corndog Millionaire Muffins” (Hungry Girl)
Wednesday: Mexican Pulled Pork Tacos with black beans
Thursday: (I honestly can’t remember what we ate)
Friday-Saturday: Lancaster County get-away
Sunday: Chicken and black bean quesadillas for lunch; SautƩed fresh vegetables (asparagus, zucchini, grape tomatoes, onion) and spinach berry smoothies for dinner.
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Planned Dinner Menu for Week Two:
Monday: Chicken Tortilla Soup (family recipe–crock-pot)
Tuesday: Strawberry Spinach SaladĀ and some kind of baked bread
Wednesday:Ā Pasta with steamed vegetables (we love Ronzoni’sĀ Garden Delight pasta)Ā
Thursday: Dinner out (mystery shop)
Friday: Leftovers from the week
Saturday: Out of town (Disaster Relief training)
Sunday: Applesauce Chicken (crock-pot) with steamed vegetables and quinoa/rice
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Breakfasts consist of any of the following: cereal, smoothies, breakfast burritos, baked oatmeal, etc.
Lunches during the week (for me) are either leftovers, smoothies, or salads. Brennan is able to eat at work.
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Emptying the Storehouse: Week One
This is the first week of us cooking and eating only what we have in the house–no grocery shopping (except for fresh produce)! I decided to call it “Emptying the Storehouse” because it sounded better than “Eating from the Pantry” or anything else that came to mind.
We are excited about this challenge and I think we are prepared. I made a potential meal list the other day based on what we have in the house, and we made one last trip to WalmartĀ on Saturday to pick up a few things. We did, however, forget to pick up some mayonnaise (we threw ours away when our refrigerator died), which will make tuna sandwiches difficult (unless we cave and buy it). I’m also nervous about our cheese supply–we don’t have as much as I had thought, so this will require creativity.
I will post links to recipes whenever I have them–some are from cookbooks that I only have in print.
Dinner Menu for Week One:
Sunday: Breakfast burritos and smoothies for brunch; dinner at church
Monday:Ā Easy Garden Bake (changed my mind–updated at 4:37pm)
Tuesday: Skinny Baked Broccoli Macaroni & CheeseĀ (plenty of leftovers from this!)
Wednesday: Mexican Pulled Pork Tacos with black beans
Thursday: Dinner with friends
Friday: We will be spending the weekend at a “Bed and Breakfast” in Lancaster County, so we won’t be home until Sunday.
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Dinner Menu for Week Two:
Monday: Italian Sausage Soup with Zucchini
Tuesday: Leftover soup from Monday…
Wednesday: Applesauce Chicken (crock-pot) with steamed vegetables and quinoa/rice
Thursday: Chicken Taco ChiliĀ over brown rice
Friday: Leftovers from the week
Saturday: Out of town (Disaster Relief training)
Sunday: “Corndog Millionaire Muffins” (Hungry Girl) with salad (healthy, believe it or not!)
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Breakfasts consist of any of the following: cereal, smoothies, breakfast burritos, baked oatmeal, etc.
Lunches during the week (for me) are either leftovers, smoothies, or salads. Brennan is able to eat at work.
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I’m really looking forward to growing in my cooking and substituting skills (ifĀ substitution becomes necessary), and more importantly, I’m looking forward to an empty pantry. We have an over abundance of food thanks to the savings we’ve had from couponing, and it’s time to sit back and enjoy the “fruits of our labor” and not shop for a month!
Even So, Joy 