The Pantry Challenge

I can't remember where I first saw this, but regardless I am partaking! The pantry challenge is basically where you try and use up all the food you have in the house rather than buying a whole bunch of new groceries to suit your tastes. Some quick background, I've recently realized that we are wasting a whole lot of food by making up tasty menus every week rather than just eating what we have, so we are going to see how long we can go with just minimal shopping.

Our menu for this week:

Breakfast:

• Cream of Wheat
• Cocoa Wheats
• Oatmeal with fruit
• Bagels with fat-free cream cheese and fruit
• Cold cereal and fruit
• Yogurt with fruit and granola

These breakfast choices will all be interchangeable depending on mood and time allotted for breakfast.

Lunch:

• Grilled chicken couscous salad with chickpeas 
• Bean tacos and rice
• Leftovers from dinner

Again, lunches are not planned by day, just made for the whole week.

Dinners:

• Spaghetti Bolognese with a side of spinach
• Pork enchilada casserole with lettuce, corn, and sour cream
• BBQ chicken with broccoli and grilled mushroom kebabs 
• Skillet chicken and rice with broccoli and cheese
• Oatmeal waffles with bacon and fruit
• Omelets or mini quiches with lots of veggies
• Leftovers

Can you believe we have 90% of the ingredients in the house already? For some strange reason we have an excess of corn tortillas so we will be making another enchilada casserole for my husband's office Cinco de Mayo party! 

While we are eating high off the pantry/freezer, Ham will be dining on our stash of homemade and store bought baby food as well as finger foods too. He has a love of wheat toast with applesauce spread on it. Yummy and healthy! 

Throughout the week I will post recipes and money saving tips. Are you game for the pantry challenge? Follow along and post your recipes and creative meal ideas.