Meal Plan Monday and Pantry Purge: This is the post where tomato soup stalks me...dun dun dun....

Gabe was off today, yay! We actually all had dinner at the SAME TIME. I know, I can't believe it either. I made enchiladas for dinner (for the first time ever)...and as nervous as I was about making them, they were awesome!

going....

...going....

GONE!

I used a container of organic red pepper and tomato (yes, tomato) soup that I found lurking in my pantry shelf. I thought I had gotten rid of any soup that seemed tomato-ey (yep, that's a word now), but apparently I didn't. I used this to make the enchilada sauce, and it was sooooo good.

Ella licked her plate.

We also processed ten pounds of chicken. By processed I mean: cooked in the crockpot, shredded, and froze. Ella labeled all of my freezer bags.

aren't they darling? :)

Without further ado, here is the Meal Plan for this week

Monday: Chicken Enchiladas (they were delish!)
Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner
Wednesday: Sandwiches and fries (church night)
Thursday: Chicken and Rice
Friday: (Halloween) Ghost Alfredo
Saturday: Pizza Soup
Sunday: One-pot Spaghetti

Pantry Purge: This is the post where I actually use a can of tomato soup (and not for fake Halloween blood)

...although, I had seriously thought about it.

I had ONE can of tomato soup sitting on my pantry shelf, staring at me.

"Do something with meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."

 

Yesterday, I started to make steakhouse soup. Don't ask for the recipe. One day I will get around to writing it. It involves stew beef, diced tomatoes, and vegetables.

Only I didn't have tomatoes.

Or tomato paste.

Or even a can of diced tomatoes.

Nothing

Except that stupid can of soup.

 

I ended up throwing in the whole can, and some spices, Worcestershire sauce and beef broth.

 

Gabe never noticed that anything was amiss.

 



Now, I will probably never ever buy a can of tomato soup (unless it's by mistake, I seriously think that is how I ended up with the few of them that I had...and I gave most of them away) but at least now I know that I can do something with it...besides make fake blood for Halloween.  Anybody else have creative ideas for canned tomato soup?

Meal Plan Monday and a Pantry Purge Update: This is the post where everything is actually under control

For the past week or so, I have been able to walk past my kitchen shelves without anything dropping on my foot, sweeping along with me when I pass, or falling on the ground and shattering!
I will continue to get use up what I can, but I think I have definitely made progress! I'll be moving on to purging other areas in the house (stay tuned....)

That said, here is this week's meal plan:

Monday: Chicken Marinara over Angel Hair Pasta
Tuesday: Veggie Frittata (we got farm fresh eggs from Gabe's boss, whoop whoop)
Wednesday: Winter Soup (because it will be COLD out)
Thursday: Mexican Mac and Cheese
Friday: Beef Stew
Saturday: Chicken Tortilla Soup
Sunday: Lasagna Rolls

Pantry Purge: This is the post where apparently I hoard rice

 

 

I told somebody that I had found a lot of rice in my pantry. My guess was somewhere around 8 pounds.

It's actually closer to 10. Whoops.

If you have ever wondered "Who in the heck has TEN POUNDS OF RICE in their house?"
Me.
The answer is "me." Jo.

I consolidated several bags of rice into my "rice jar."

I think I fit three bags in there. Yay! Now, what to do with the rest of that rice?

I made Ella a bed-warmer sock. (Because, apparently we also have a surplus of mismatched socks in my house). Here's what you do.

You take a sock...make sure it is either all cotton or mostly cotton.

Fill it with rice, and knot or sew off the top. I knotted. I usually sew. It was late.

The first time you heat, do it in 20 second increments in the microwave.

 

After it's heated you can slip on another mismatched sock (not hard to find around here, I found a pretty fuzzy one) for a cover. Put the sock-warmer in your bed to warm it up, or on your neck/knee/back if it's sore. Voila!

 

Oh...and here's what my shelf looks like post rice clean-up!

 

 

Yay! There's ROOM in there now!

 

Pantry Purge: This is the post that will show ya'll exactly how cheap I am

I am cheap. Extremely so.
If I can make something instead of buying it, so much the better.

Like, taking pictures. I think I paid for professional pictures ONE time and I didn't like the way they turned out. So, I take my own.

And then there's food. I like for my family to eat healthy, and we are on a budget so tight it screams when stretched. However, I don't think we are "too poor to eat healthy" like this lady . For the record, I know people receiving food stamps who eat very well.

Enough of that, though.

I discovered, through trying to organize the bottom shelf in my pantry that I have all of these cans of an off-brand of spaghetti sauce called Vine-Ripe. How did they get there? It's a mystery. But they expire in 2016 and are clearly still good...

I threw in a bunch of spices (salt, sugar, garlic powder, oregano) and mixed it around until Gabe and Ella blind-taste-tested the sauce and thought it was store bought pizza sauce in a jar. Awesome.

and GUESS WHAT? Two cans of that Vine-Ripe sauce (after it's been doctored up according to my family's likes) fit perfectly in a rinsed-out jar from some marinara sauce I had used on Sunday. (yes, I re-use my glass jars. Told you....cheeeeeeap)

Oh! And...as promised. Updated shelf pic is coming. But first, let me show you how far it's come!

This was August...when I first realized I needed a major pantry overhaul. Yikes.

This is today. The pieces of paper in my cookbook rack are: an antique postcard hubby bought me, a picture of Snoopy and one of Ella's "architectural" drawings. They're going to stay, as well as the pyramid Ella made in church (it's sitting on my radio). It's come a long way, yay!

Pantry Purge AND Meal Plan Monday: This is the post where I (don't) bake cookies

This has been quite the weekend. For one, my husband was actually OFF so that's where most of my time was spent. That and church. And dealing with other people's phone issues, because apparently I am a techie (who knew?)

Meal Plan for this week is:

Monday: Porcupine Meatballs over Egg Noodles
Tuesday: Baked Potato Bar
Wednesday: Ramen Stir Fry
Thursday: Pork Tacos
Friday: Chicken fettucine
Saturday: Beef vegetable soup
Sunday: Spaghetti


Update from the battlefront: Remember all of that applesauce I had? Due to the popularity of my applesauce puffs, I believe I am down to two cans! I didn't dip them in melted butter or sugar and cinnamon this weekend, so they were "naked applesauce puffs". They got eaten anyway.

I added a ton of extra cinnamon to the naked applesauce puff batter, because why not?

I also managed to use up a box of shell pasta that had been sitting in my pantry for way too long.

I also no-baked cookies because I have all.that.peanut.butter and all.those.quickoats. The only thing I can think of to make using both of those things that actually appeals to my appetite is no-bake cookies.

My recipe for no-bakes comes from this awesome site .
Again, I don't have a shelf picture to show ya'll. Tomorrow, I promise.

Pantry Purge: This is the post where it's winter, so I make winter soup

It got COLD out.

So, in an effort to further get rid of things from my pantry (and sorry for the lack of updated shelf pic, I had a client to see and flexiclips to sell, that had to take a backseat), I threw a bunch of stuff into a pot and called it soup.

It's a potato soup base (which means, boil potatoes, celery, carrots, onions, butter and water in my book)

When the potatoes are "stabbable" (husband's word, not mine. It just means they are soft) add in whatever vegetables you have on hand. I had some broccoli, green chilies, corn and green beans.

Cook all of that, season to taste and add a splash of milk, then heat through.

Ella likes hers topped with bacon bits. Yum!!!

This helped me knock out a few cans of vegetables as well as a container of vegetable stock that sat on the shelf gathering dust. Pictures soon, I promise!

Pantry Purge: This is the post where I cry over spilled fettucine and re-find an old friend

I should have known this last night.

Someone should have warned me.


What's wrong here?

If you are thinking that pasta is totally gonna fall out all over my floor, you are SO very right. It happened this morning. I cried. Stupid hormones. You know what fixed it? Stacking the packages so they weren't all wonky. Oh, and TURNING THEM AROUND. Duh. Sigh. I would feel worse, except this is all a big learning experience for me (aka something my grandkids can laugh at me for one day)

You'll be proud of me. (Once you forget that I was a total idiot who spilled fettucine all over her floor this morning). Remember my swap with D? Well, what I got in return was a pork roast. Something to put in my freezer, NOT my pantry, which I am supposed to be purging. I also used a bunch of applesauce (and will be using more) to make these .

And as far as my old friend? When we moved into this house a year ago, my OCD kicked in bigtime and I took out the things I needed for breakfast/lunch/whatever and put them in a basket I kept in the kitchen. And somehow my basket disappeared...well I found it yesterday.

Tonight, I'm using up more canned veggies, and a box of mac and cheese (and don't you DARE judge me. You know you have a box of it in your house.)

Oh, and I've fixed the pasta.

I've still got a ways to go, but at least I won't have fettucine on my floor anymore.

Pantry Purge Update: This is the post where I pawn beans off on my neighbor

Yep. You read that right.

I took those giant cans of pinto beans (don't worry, I still have plenty of dried pintos) and brought them over to my neighbor, D, along with some carnation instant breakfast, some tea and some applesauce and corn muffin mix as well as Vitamin E. (what an assortment, huh?)

D says she will swap some stuff out for me, which of course will mean that I will have a few more things on my pantry shelf. The wonderful thing is that D has really awesome stuff which disappears super-quickly, AND it won't be two ginormous cans of pinto beans.

 

In an effort to further purge the pantry, I've pulled out some cans and a box of Bisquick from the depths of my cupboards in order to make chicken pot pie. It's slow going but it is progress, and it warms my heart!!!!!

 

 

My stove top needs to be scrubbed. And I will get to it. One day....

 

In the meanwhile, here's the latest pic of my progress, whoo hoo!

 

I am starting to see a very dim light at the end of the tunnel, ya'll!

Pantry Purge Update: I think I need a blowtorch, ya'll.

Seriously. A blowtorch. Maybe an outdoor storage shed? (But then again, the latter wouldn't exactly be me purging or using stuff. It would be moving it from one location to another).

I think this project deserves more than a week. Because holy moly, do I have a lot of stuff.

I have way too many:

*jars of peanut butter
*bags of rice
*open bags of pasta with maybe a handful left at the bottom (but they're all different shapes)
*cans of green beans
*cans of sweet peas (how the heck did I get so many?!)

and then there's the odd stuff:
*2 gigantic cans of pinto beans
*Campbell's tomato soup (I'm sure I got that in a swap because I never eat canned tomato soup)
*way too much oatmeal for any of us to humanly eat for breakfast (HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?)


So, if any of you lovely blog readers could help me with recipes/anything, please do! Ella and I are already planning on using some of our peanut butter surplus to make pinecone bird feeders.

Tonight's dinner helped me get rid of two cans of green beans. PROGRESS!!!

After some creative organizing, my formerly horrific kitchen shelf looks a bit less horrific.

I'm working on it, ya'll! Will check in again in a few days. In the meanwhile, I need suggestions for what to do with any/all you see on my shelf. Hopefully, I can get organized with minimal blowtorch use!

Meal Plan Monday and A Blog Mini-series

Do ya'll remember when I cleaned up my kitchen shelves?

Now they look like THIS again. Maybe slightly better. VERY slightly. Maybe.

In an effort to save more money and clean up my pantry, I am starting the Pantry Purge MiniSeries. I'm going to try and shop very minimally (I'm talking, milk, eggs, and bare necessities) and use up what I have in my fridge and freezer. I'm doing it to save money, to get out of a cooking rut, and to save my sanity. I'll try and update every day with what has been used as well as a final before and after pic of the kitchen shelves, and some (hopefully creative) recipes.

Wish me luck, and please, pray for me!!!! ;)

Now that I have that out of the way, here is this week's Meal Plan

Monday: Sausage, pepper, and rice casserole
Tuesday: Ham, potatoes and green bean meal
Wednesday: Chicken pot-pie
Thursday: Pork Chops, macaroni and cheese, and veggies
Friday: undecided. It's my birthday, and it's anybody's guess whether I'll want to cook ;)
Saturday: Potato Soup
Sunday: Spaghetti