Eating from the Pantry-Week Two

I already lost track of where I left off. We are doing fairly well. I have been creating meals from the pantry and, other than the in-laws treating us to breakfast after church Sunday, everything we have had originated from the pantry shelves or freezers.

I also finished inventory on the one shelf in the basement. The reason this is taking me so long is one, I am extremely busy and two, I am cleaning and rearranging as I go. I now have a shelf designated for each type of commercial food product I bring into the stocks and separated the home canned things onto their own shelf. This is the older home canned stuff. I still need to inventory it. I do know what I have in commercial goods now and can use it up and replace (if we are planning to continue to use it), donate what we don't want, or use it up and never bring it in again. The weirdest part of finishing this portion of my inventory project is that I have a lot less than I thought (the shelves are really deep, but the products were stacked only 1-3 cans deep and scattered).

Here is a sampling of the meals I created based on pantry/freezer items:

Homemade pepperoni pizza (I had an Arrow Mill Gluten Free Crust Mix to use up) and two packages of pepperoni in the upstairs pantry. I also still have home canned pizza sauce from 2006!)

BBQ pork and corn chowder (pork was from pigs we raised in 2008 and the corn was neighbor's sweet corn that I froze this past summer. We should have used '08's corn, but Sr grabbed the '09 and I didn't feel like digging for the other.)

Applesauce (from farmer's market apples)with all meals and for snacks

Whole wheat penne (pantry-we are out of spaghetti and I refuse to buy any until we use up at least 4/8 boxes of penne I have stored away) with home canned sp sauce

Marble Brownies (another commercial mix I wanted to use up)

Chicken enchiladas (breasts from inside freezer, enchilada sauce-com, cheese)

Leftovers

I need to post some pictures, but I hung an old chalkboard I thrifted years ago (it has cartoon Wizard of Oz characters on it) and I have been writing not only menus on it, but also the family members' chores. I love it and cannot believe I let it sit in storage all these years!

I have found one bad side-effect from following other's partaking in this challenge. These women (and probably men) are "couponers" or professional frugal shoppers. I am not one of these. I grow a good portion of our food or buy it from area farmers and preserve it. I also shop the bulk and grocery liquidation type stores (that was how I ended up with the commercial shelf in the first place), but I do occasionally (and this past year was particularly bad and busy for me) shop at the big stores and I try to buy sell items, but I have been known to pay full price. So, reading all of these blogs about using coupons and store ads to save money (or gain stockpile items for cheap) has intrigued me a bit. See, most RL folks that know me, know I am a numbers geek. I love manipulating numbers and reading posts showing how someone was able to buy Bayer aspirin for free moved that geeky part of my brain. Of course, I have no reason for buying Bayer aspirin, but that did not matter. I needed a new project and this one jumped right out at me.

I tried this shopping game this weekend at Walgreens and CVS and I was able to snag a couple of deals (I actually needed an OTC medicine I take and I had a coupon and it gave some of those register rewards. I hate to confess, but I have thrown those away because of not returning to the store before the date on them or not understanding what they were good for...um, cough, yes, like throwing money away. I see that now). I obtained conditioner for my hair which badly needs it (this is a topic for another post), coffee, toothpaste and toothbrushes, my medicine, dish washer detergent, and some clearance Christmas chocolates. All in all I spent about $35 out of pocket (oop) and this was partly because the medicine I needed is expensive. I received $14 in drugstore dollars to spend on another occasion. This means I "spent" $21 for all the items (my medicine was at least 19.00 of that exchange after the coupon). The part I cannot get my mind around is how gathering these "store dollars" in exchange for real money helps. Yes, I can spend $14 dollars at the store this week (and hopefully roll some of that into more virtual dollars), but I would have rather saved $14 on sale items in the long run (I noticed some of the items were priced the same without all the drugstore dollar stuff if I was willing to drive to the city). In other words, wouldn't it just be better to deduct $5 from the cost of the medicine then give me "store dollars"? It would be the same thing.

I will say it was a fun experiment and perhaps I just need to play it longer to understand the reasoning. I have enjoyed reading all the blogs that center around this type of shopping.

Grrr...

My collie pups were chasing each other around the dining room table where I had my laptop and Internet set up (um, my procrastination, but I haven't set up the wireless router I've had for over a year now). They ran under the cords which caught on a tail or leg or something and the next thing I saw was my laptop flying through the air and landing upside-down on the laminate floor. I turned it on to check it and it came up ok. Last night, I went to use it and now have no middle keys on my keyboard. This includes the popular letters like "n" and "y" and "h". I have no idea when I can get it fixed...

I had planned to blog about my inside freezer inventory (finished) and make a list on my sidebar, but it will have to wait until I set up the old, clunky desktop computer tonight (I am at work today).

So, as usual, one step forward, eight back...:)

Pantry Challenge-Day 2

So, while cleaning out the inside freezer (the one attached to the refrigerator), I am finding I need to be more diligent about dating and identifying the contents of the things I freeze. See, I forage and garden and buy items at farmers' market and then freeze them. I freeze left over bits of meat or leftover soups. Sadly, I seem to have been a bit lax on the labeling and I have no idea what some of the things I am finding shoved to the back actually are!

My plan of attack is to get the inside freezer inventory and clean it out so I can bring the week's items in from the garage freezers as part of my meal menu plan. Part of my challenge, especially in the winter, is to dig through those awkward cooold things for a meal. If I take the less used items out to the garage and make an effort to bring in items to use during the week, I really think I will be more successful at utilizing my stockpiled food. The key for me is visual!

So, I tackled a couple of shelves (I have a side-by-side 'frige) and found what I think is sweet potato butter, two qt bags of blueberries (and, sadly, my kids have been begging for these but I didn't want to have to dig in the cold for them and here they were a few items away...), two small freezer-burned containers of what I think is turkey (thawing and will heat for cats), 1.5 bags of chocolate chips, a pint of current jelly (from my own currants I picked summer of 2008!), a qt bag of chicken broth, bacon, bologna (ick, in my opinion, but Sr likes it for his lunches on the road), yeast, gallon bag of dandelion petals (also from 2008-these are going to the chickens), leftover ham, and homemade applesauce (thawing to eat the rest of the week). I still have three more shelves and the door to go. I wonder what other mysteries I will discover...!

Yes, I am slow at this due to very hectic month already!

Official Start Day

Today is my official start day for the Eat from Your Pantry Challenge. I wanted to shop at the Amish Bulk store for their inventory sale before closing the purse to shopping. I did shop there on Saturday and spent $72 after the 15% discount. I mostly bought organic things, dried fruit and nuts, and cheese so that was why it was so high a bill. My budget for food for the entire month is maximum $100 and this seriously took a chunk. Then, on Sunday, we went to the city to maintain Little House (we are hopefully closing on it soon *fingers crossed*) and I mentioned to Sr I always wanted to stop at the International Grocery nearby (I was ruminating that once Little House is sold, I wouldn't be back to this part of the City). He says, "Well, let's go in and look around!"

I ended up buying 2 lbs of tomatillos (I made this fabulous chicken and tomatillo crockpot thing while in LA-I know they are so not local or in season! I really must plant some this summer so I won't be tempted to buy them like this); a box of falafal mix; pita bread for Sr's lunches and some Chihuahua Queso cheese. This came to about $11. I also bought milk (organic so a bit more expensive) and that pretty much wiped out the $100 grocery budget! Now we have no choice but to eat from the reserves!

Tonight's meal was mostly bits and pieces from leftovers (penne pasta with home canned spaghetti sauce from Sunday; the rest of the NY's yellow eyed peas; fresh cut-up veggies from in-law's holiday gathering and hamburgers from the chest freezer). Sr was in charge of dinner as he is a house husband more or less until the 15th (I so despise this time of year financially).

I am still working on inventory. I would have it done by now, but the weather has turned Arctic here and my toes can't stand to be in the basement for very long or in the garage looking through the freezers. As soon as the winter thaw commences I will get it done (I promise!!), but this week is not looking good where temps and snow are concerned (darn Lake Effect thing).

Here is a bit of inventory from one of the 'frige cabinet:

16 lbs of various beans (lentil, kidney, small red, chana dal*, baby lima, great northern, pinto, black)
7 boxes cold cereal (some opened, but most not opened)
3 bags Musli
3.5 bags oyster crackers
2 boxes multigrain granola bars
2 lb quick oats
4.5 lbs Irish style oats (steel cut oats)
5 lbs organic WW pancake mix (this is actually a local item!)
5 lbs King Arthur bread flour
3 lbs multigrain hot cereal
1 jar Trader Joe's Almond Butter (love TJ's-glad they are two hours away from here)
Dried pineapple
Dried mango
Dried mixed fruits
Golden raisins
dark raisins
Dried cranberries (big, big bag bought cheap at bulk store this summer)
*******I am thinking lots of homemade granola may be in our near future...*****

2 lbs brown sugar
2 lb powdered sugar
Box of stevia sweetener
Little bottle of Sorghum
TVP
Yerba mate (loose tea)
A whole bunch of hotel coffee packs (Sr brings them home for me, the coffee drinker)
various types of in-bag tea (probably more than 100 bags from the time before I killed my kumbucha colonies)

*I brought the chana dal (small yellow lentil) back from LA. I have some other food items I brought back that ended up making my bag overweight and cost me $100 to ship it back. I could have bought many, many pound of Chana dal lentils for what it cost me to bring back this one bag! It would be a crime to waste them.

OK, so there you have it. This is basically three/four shelves (I didn't write down what was on the middle shelf as it was the only one not needing immediate attention). I still have the right side of the 'fride to do and the shelves in the basement. Then, if it ever warms up, the fun begins in the freezers.

I am almost embarrassed by the mass of food I have stockpiled. I was so serious about preparedness this past year (and the one before), but Life left me with other plans. Both the hubby and I spent multiple weeks away from home (for work). Additionally, I just found myself burning candles at both ends this year and rarely made big (i.e. slow cooked) meals. We ate a lot of eggs this past years because they are easy and our girls generous in this department.

When I was setting us with a stockpile of emergency foods, however, I must have had "slow cooked" on the brain as we are well stocked with grains and beans. I am still sorting through the piles, but just in the messy cupboard I photographed a few weeks ago I pulled out 16 pounds of beans (various types including kidney, lentils, pinto, black, chana dal, baby lima, small red, and Great Northern). I also must have thought we could survive on hot cereals and discovered 3 lbs of multigrain hot cereal, 5 lbs of steel cut oats (Irish style), wholegrain old fashion oats (at least 2 lbs); multigrain Cream of Wheat (multiple boxes), 7 boxes of cold cereal and 3 bags of Musli. i can't imagine using all of this stuff up so I am sending some of it to the church's food bank tomorrow. I may send some of the beans as well (sadly, I am the only one in the family that really enjoys bean dishes; I remind them they will thank me if the TEOTWAWKI occurs).

I also found at the back of the mess 1 each bag of brown and powdered sugar. Here is the issue: I bought new bags of these before the holidays to make a particular cookie. I couldn't find any and thought we were out (I have been mostly sugar-free since summer, but took a hiatus over the holidays). This is why this challenge is important to me. I am wasting our money and resources.

After reading some of the other participants' updates I do think I am much more prepared than many of them. I could literally feed us for a year on my reserves. I have no doubt! One month will not be a challenge (although, getting lazy may be) and will hardly dent the reserves. I really need to use some of this stuff up, do a good cleaning and start over (with a better plan). So, for me, the challenge is to be extended until the garden is producing (May-ish) something. I will restock in June. The only thing I will go to the store for is dairy (milk, cheese or yogurt). I bought chia and other sprouting seeds at the bulk store today and will try to incorporate those as fresh ingredients. I also have the partial boxes of oranges and grapefruit to utilize. My neighbor sells 50 lb bags of potatoes he gleans from local fields after the major crop is in (i.e. the rejects). I won't be eating potatoes (because of diet), but this will provide something fresh for the boys and man. I also stored about a bushel of butternut squash from the garden.

We should be able to harvest greens in late April or early May, hopefully, so if I can keep us afloat on the fresh thing, we should do fine. I am allowing myself a $20 lee-way for anything we may need, but it is best if I don't use it.

I am looking forward to this challenge and will post the contents of my pantry and freezers ever so slowly...!

Note: Cross-posted from private blog (originally posted 01/01/10)

Remember when I said I had plans to use the food storage and needed to challenge myself and several of you said you felt the same way????

Well, we are apparently not alone! Here is a challenge (self-directed kind thankfully) here that addresses this exact issue!

I plan to participate!

For our New Year's meal I made a version of Hoppin' John only I used my stored Yellow Eyed Beans (I actually do not have any black eyes peas in the stores!), the last of the jalapenos, some of the left over ham from last weekend and my canned tomatoes. Turned out quite good! I had planned on making cornbread to go along with it, but that just didn't happen.

Sadly, only Lyndon and I ate any of it. The eldest child and his dad ate left over pizza the latter dragged home last night.

So, here are my specific EFTPC goals:

1. Spend $20 or less a week for dairy (milk and cheese if needed) and other fresh things.*

2. Do this challenge a chunk at a time (starting this Monday, Jan 4-Feb) and not to worry about my trip away during March 9I'll pack some things and hope I get a hotel room with kitchenette or at least a microwave).

3. Inventory! I need to know what I have on hand so I can...

4. Try to menu plan (why o why does this challenge me so-I am such a spontaneous cook!)

5. Blog about my concoctions/challenge

6. All savings will be sent to debt snowball.

*Only exception will be tomorrow when I shop at the bilk store's annual inventory discount day up in Amishville. This is why I am not 'officially' starting until Monday.

I Wasn't Joking

Note: Cross-posted from private blog (originally posted on 12/13/09)

So I wasn't kidding when I said I had a lot of food storage. My pantry is full! I also have two freezers (not counting one attached to 'fridge) full of items too. It is ridiculous, but also strangely comforting if and when we ever needed to live solely from the stores. I have been making most of our meals from the storage, but have not had time to make menus and such yet (I have been cleaning though!)

I was reading Tansy's blog tonight and I noticed a blog title on her list with the title 'Pantry Challenge-Day 3 & 4'. Seems someone else was thinking similarly to us all! I like how she randomly picks things from her basement storage and then challenges herself to create meals around the items. This is really more my speed than menu planning. So, I am going to try her challenge this week (of course, there is always an added challenge in my life because I am basically a single mom during the week-it is extremely hard cooking for two picky eaters and myself). I had thought of doing something similar in that I would plan meals, 'shop' the basement and bring it up to the cabinets in the kitchen to use. I thought by doing this I would use up a good percentage of the food storage by summer.

I haven't blogged about this yet, but Shawn and I are attending church regularly (well, he is, I should say, I've skipped a couple of Sundays due to not wanting to deal with squirmy toddler, but today Sr came home and said, "Hey, they have Sunday School for children Lyndon's age...") Sr is Catholic and this is the religion we are trying together as a family. Being back in church seems to be a good thing for Sr. One of the topics they are discussing is money and debt. So, finally, I may have him on the right page with me this next year. Our goal is to eliminate all our consumer debt (including truck loan) by the end of the year (maybe even sooner).

Food remains one of our biggest expenses. I shop for food without a plan most of the time. I like to shop at the Amish bulk store and the grocery liquidator so it is hard to actually have a plan (as their inventory is not regular). I have been reading a lot about couponing and such and may give it a try (if I can find the patience for it), but really we are set for months in the food dept. if we eat from our own "grocery store", I really think we will bring our expenses done for the good.

So, I decided to post some pictures of my hoards stores:

FIL built me two of these shelving units (sturdy & wonderful). This is ONE of them (number two is just as full) and contains my canned goods plus some odds and end grains and beans. I also have water stored here and there between the food items. This is mainly items canned between winter 2008 and current. I actually canned a lot less than the previous three years.

Blurry picture, but as you can see I have a ton more food on this one (already in basement when we moved in). I mostly keep commercial canned goods here, but I also have the original home canned items I moved from the old house. Some of these things were canned in '06! I have more water stored here and a couple of boxes of wine and beer bottles for that spirits I never got around to making. (O, ignore my falling insulation. I couldn't find the step-stool to get up there and fix it!)

This picture is sideways, but is the worst of my storage. I just cram things in here and really need to spend sometime organizing this space. I tackled my spice cabinet last weekend and it is nice! The basement stuff is not perfect, but at least I can see the items. This cabinet is just horrible!