Ready to save some grocery money by cleaning out your pantry and freezer? You’ll be amazed at the great food hiding in there!
Since I’ve been doing my “eat from the pantry and freezer instead of buying groceries” challenge for exactly one whole day, I thought it was high time I posted an update about how it’s going so far. That, and I thought this idea of “using what you have” fit perfectly into our Money Saving Monday series. ;)
So there you have it. Today’s Money Saving Monday tip is: Challenge yourself. Instead of running to the store for ingredients, try creating a few meals and snacks from what you have stored in your pantry and freezer. This can save you quite a bit of money in the long run!
So far, all one day of this challenge has been very fun for me. By the end of the month, I might not be as enthusiastic. Either way, this is a good practice to bless your grocery budget and to help ensure that you don’t waste food.
Sunday after church, we invited several college students over to eat with us. Matt and I worked together to make a mountain of Whole Wheat Waffles, scrambled cheesy eggs, Homemade Hashbrown Patties, and fruit. I was planning to make Peach Syrup but would you believe? We only found one little bag of frozen peaches in our freezer. (I guess the “eat all the frozen peaches” part of the challenge was completed before the month began.)
I decided instead to put that small amount of peaches into a pot with all the frozen berries I found hanging out in all my freezers. Therefore, using this Peach Syrup idea, I made a Peach-Strawberry-Raspberry-Blueberry Syrup. Matt declared it to be the best part of the meal. And now I’m completely out of frozen fruit (except for pineapple). Well that didn’t take long. :)
Here’s all that was left after our feast, but I’d say there are enough waffles there to give us an easy breakfast this week:
For High School Huddle Sunday night, I made a huge pan of Apple Crisp from the bags of apples I’d sliced and frozen this fall. How easy was that?
I will say that after just one day of this, I am really recognizing how much food we go through during a 24 hour period – especially when we invite others to join us. That’s the point though. We have plenty of food – and we are happy to share! If this challenge only lasts a week or two before I need to start stocking up again, so be it. That will be one or two weeks of grocery savings, and it all adds up!
Give this idea a try – I dare you. :)
Leave a comment, inspiring us with what you have creatively come up with in your kitchen when you’ve avoided going to the grocery store!
Budget-friendly recipes to make when you clean out your pantry and freezer
I’ll just bet you have the ingredients for most of these hanging out somewhere in your kitchen. If not, mix and match and get creative to see what you can come up with!
- Simple Lentil Nachos
- Simple Tuna Patties
- Simple Banana Pancakes
- Simple Applesauce BBQ Chicken
- Simple Hashbrown and Egg Nests
- Simple Cornbread Waffles with Chili
- Simple Veggie Fritters
- Simple Lemon Garlic Chicken Legs
- Simple Noodle Soup
- Simple 3-Cheese Spaghetti
Out of mixes or condiments? Make your own!
You’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn how easy these are to make!
- Almond Butter
- Apple Butter
- Barbeque Sauce
- Blueberry Pancake and Waffle Syrup
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
- French Dressing
- French Onion Dip
- Italian Salad Dressing
- Ketchup
- Onion Soup Mix
- Peach Syrup (for pancakes and waffles)
- Peanut Butter (just peanuts!)
- Peanut Butter (super creamy – like Skippy or Jif)
- Ranch Salad Dressing
- Sausage Seasoning Mix
- Seasoned Salt
- Spicy Ranch Dressing
- Sunbutter
- Sweet Pickle Relish
- Taco Seasoning Mix
- Teriyaki Sauce
- Thousand Island Salad Dressing
- Turkey Gravy
What are your favorite foods to make when you clean out your pantry and freezer?
I’ve been trying to do a pantry challenge since roughly the beginning of the month, following along with Jessica from GoodCheapEats.com. I’ve found that it’s pretty hard to resist the sales!
And thank you for the reminder about peach syrup. Guess what’s still in one freezer? Three bags of frozen peaches. :) It’ll be on the menu this week.
I used up some slightly freezer burnt chicken thighs and an open jar of Newman’s Own lime salsa that we did not care for in chicken tortilla soup. The salsa was awesome in the soup. We ate it for two meals and then three containers for later went into the freezer. The plight of the empty nester! We can rarely eat all of a recipe before we are sick of it and have to freeze leftovers. We do seem to use the precooked food on a regular basis though and I love the convenience.
Just a question on your frozen apples. Do you just peel the apples, slice them, and freeze in freezer bags? I’ve made apple dumplings and frozen them and also apple pie filling, but never thought of trying this. We have apple trees, so it would be a great way of keeping them for later, and I love apple crisp.
I actually don’t even peel them. :) I wash, slice, and stir them around with sucanat and cinnamon. Then I put them in freezer bags and freeze. When I want to use them, I dump them into a pan, put crisp topping on and bake. So easy!
And I’m not totally doing the challenge, but am trying to do more of that. Tonight we’ll be having turkey pot pie made with leftover turkey and frozen vegetables I have in the freezer. I’ll also make some corn, frozen from our garden.
We’re doing a pantry challenge this month, not because I want to, but we need to. We’re moving from CA to WA next month and who can move a freezer full of food? Hopefully we’ll use up most of the stash. What we don’t will be used to bless others. Good luck to everyone!
Where are you moving to? I moved from CA to WA quite a few years ago.
I did this not really planning on doing it. We live in Iowa and the weather has been so cold I haven’t wanted to drive the 20 miles to the nearest store so we have been eating out of the freezer and panty for 3 weeks. The good or bad of it I still don’t have to go to the store except for milk and fresh veggies and fruit. Thanks for posting this
Laura, I do Pantry Challenges when we have tighter months, as our income is inconsistent. It can be both challenging and fun. It is also a wonderful way to come up with some new favorites.
I wrote a post about how I do my pantry challenges, if you don’t mind me sharing http://myoverflowingcup.com/a-pantry-challenge/
Do you have any plans for that frozen pineapple? If not, I’d blend it with some coconut milk or yogurt, frozen spinach, and bananas for a smoothie.
Thanks for the encouragement! Have fun!