Time to eat from the pantry/freezer again

We have too much food and too little money - which is not as bad as it could be, I suppose.

I need to find a job, but that is proving more difficult this time around.

Like I said, we do have a lot of food in the pantry and the freezer which is great - we just have to work on using it up and not buying anything other than essentials each week.

Just got back from grocery shopping a couple hours ago - didn't do too badly. $88 and change. I am trying to keep it under $100 each week, we can probably even do better than that. Hubby did pick up pork ribs because they were on sale, and we got 2 cases of 12 cans of apple juice for the kid, came to 50 cents for a large can, that usually about a buck each. He should have apple juice for awhile.

Dinner tonight will be leftover Arroz con pollo (for me & DH) and leftover alfredo penne for the kid.

Hubby is going out of town tomorrow and will be back Tuesday evening, so Monday dinner will be just the kid & I. I'll probably doctor up some mini frozen pizzas, I add green olives and a bit more cheese.

We have 2 large packs of lean ground beef in the freezer, as well as several 1 lb packs. I am thinking to make chili, some mini meatloaves, a sheppard's pie and meatballs from these. The ribs DH just bought will probably be next Sunday's dinner when we have his father over.We also have various chicken parts, small pork tenderloin, and other frozen odds & ends.

We definitely have enough food for a couple weeks of meals. I really need to get planning and only buy the bare essentials, bread, milk, eggs, veggies & fruit.

We had Applefest here in Bowmanville this Saturday and I picked up a 4 liter basket of Mutsu apples, these are very firm/crisp and a bit tart. So we have enough apples for a week or so too.

Look for some creative menu planning in the days ahead :)

Pantry Challenge - Week in review (Jan 10 - 16)

• Sunday - BBQ oven baked ribs, roasted potato wedges & mixed green salad.
• Monday - K had leftover ribs, J had homemade Mac & cheese from the freezer, and I had ??? I also made some banana chocolate chip muffins from dead bananas from the freezer.
• Tuesday - Spaghetti with sausage sauce (meat sauce with sausage instead of ground beef), garlic bread
• Wednesday -I didn't feel like cooking, so DH picked up a pizza on the way home - bad I know :( But the pizza was SO yummy :)
• Thursday -Chicken cilantro enchiladas
• Friday -Szechuan Noodles with Spicy Beef Sauce (I didn't have Hoisin sauce, so used this recipe to make some) DH & I loved it, kiddo not so much.
• Saturday - Chinese Take Out - got busy making ATCs and forgot to take something out of freezer. :)

Again all from the freezer or pantry (well except the take out ;)).

Pantry Challenge - Week in review (Jan 3 - 9)

Sunday - Baked chicken thighs with roast potatoes
Monday - Leftover baked chicken & spuds from Sunday
Tuesday - Taco KD (taco ground beef with Kraft Dinner - hey I'm sick!)
Wednesday - Leftover Taco KD
Thursday - Curry pork with rice
Friday - Asian Chicken wings - these turned out really good! Kid has leftover curry.
Sat & Sun - I'm sure K will have one of his prime rib roasts one of these 2 days - not sure what kiddo and I will have.

All meat from the freezer :)