Eat from the Pantry Challenge

I am at the end of Week 2 of my Eat from the Pantry Challenge.  As I explained last week, I looked around at my pantry and freezer and realized that I had “too much food”.  I decided that for at least the month of January, I would eat from the freezer and pantry as much as possible and attempt to spend no more than $35 a week on the food portion of my grocery bill.  For week one, I spent $32.04
.
Week Two’s food purchases at Safeway were:
8 oz. of walnuts @ $3.42.  This was a sale price, regular price $4.29.  After I bought these I realized that I had a rain check from another store for a pound of walnuts for $5.99 that I must use before Jan. 23, so I should not have purchased these.
1 lb. dried red beans @ $1.29.  I want to try made from scratch chili
1 lb. split peas @ $1.29  For split pea soup
1 lb. white beans @ 1.69   Used in ham and bean soup
48 oz.. of corn oil @ 3.79  I want to try making homemade corn chips from a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen.  I probably didn’t need to get this now as I have not yet purchased the special corn flour that is needed.
1 pkg. Kraft Natural Cheese slices @ $2.99.  I was out of cheese slices and this was the best sale price I could find.
1 pkg. hamburger buns @ $1.50
4.62 lbs. 80/20 ground beef @ $2.29 per lb. Total $10.58.  This made 12 hamburger patties for the freezer and one meat loaf.  This was a sale price.
2 dozen eggs @ $1.99 per dozen.  This was a sale price, and I was almost out of eggs.
1 loaf of bread @ $ .99.
I will have to admit that I broke a basic rule of grocery shopping when I went to purchase the eggs and bread and shopped before work and was hungry, so purchased two Maple Cinnamon Donut Bars @ $ .50 each for a total of $1.00.

I also purchased at the Dollar Tree a package of Cheese Curls and a can of applesauce.  I found when I got home that I had two packages of the Cheese Curls in the cupboard.  So spent a dollar I didn’t need to.

If my figures are right, this week’s total is $34.52, so I am still on track.  Next week will be more of a challenge as I have items on two rain checks I need to purchase.

This is what we ate for week two:

Jan 8.  Hubby had some leftover soup for lunch.  I had a fried egg sandwich.  For dinner, we had steak purchased in Week 1, baked potatoes, Brussels sprouts and grape tomatoes.

Jan 9.  For lunch, we had some leftover meatballs and pasta.  For dinner, hubby had leftover steak, baked potatoes, and corn.  I had leftover pork roast, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower.

Jan 10.  For lunch, we had leftover soup.  For dinner, hubby had ham, sweet potatoes and corn.  I had leftover steak, baked potato, broccoli and cauliflower.

Jan 11.  For lunch, I made Ham and Bean Soup and corn bread.  For dinner, we had Orange-Glazed Chicken Thighs, Homemade Rice A Roni, steamed Brussels sprouts and grape tomatoes.  (recipes coming).

Jan 12.  For lunch we had cheeseburgers.  Granddaughter is here from California.  We had her and her mom for dinner.  I made granddaughter’s favorite dinner.  Steak cubes (round steak cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes, dredged in seasoned flour and fried), mashed potatoes, creamed corn and milk gravy.  Granddaughter doesn’t eat gravy, but hubby wants it for his mashed potatoes.  I had broccoli and cauliflower.

Jan 13.  Hubby had leftover bean soup, and I had cornbread and milk.  For dinner, hubby had leftover chicken, baked sweet potato and corn.  I had leftover bean soup and cornbread.

One thing that the challenge has helped me do so far is to start making me be more aware of what I am purchasing and whether or not I really need it.