Since the beginning of January, I have been challenging myself to see if we could live off the food we have in our pantry and freezers – purchasing only fresh produce and dairy products. It’s saved us several hundred dollars and we haven’t starved even a little bit. I have loved getting more creative as I’ve been digging deeper into our bulk food supply to use up the food that has been in storage.
My goal was to continue this challenge through January and into February as long as I could. On February 9, I hereby declared this challenge to be over here in the Coppinger household. It was time to buy pantry items because running out of minced onion, garlic powder, sucanat, pasta, and tapioca – well yikes – how would I make my pudding? :) One of the biggest ways I save money is by buying food in bulk – as needed – so that I always have a nice supply of all staple food items. So I caved. Here’s what the UPS man brought to my door this week:
I had some credit at iHerb (thanks to those of you who took advantage of the $10 free groceries deal), so I used it to get bulk garlic powder, minced onion, and my favorite brand of sucanat.
I rounded out this month’s Amazon Subscribe and Save order by getting two cases of Bearitos Organic Tortilla Chips (with a coupon!), a case of Tapioca Pearls, and a case of Organic Delallo Gemelli Pasta. (For whatever reason, that shape of pasta is my favorite right now.)
I also bought milk and eggs from our farmer friends this week. We have been well stocked on fresh fruits and vegetables with my huge grocery store purchase last week, plus our Bountiful Basket delivery (need I remind you of my 36 crowns of broccoli?). I did send Matt and Elias to the store yesterday to pick up a few items (their first price-matching experience!), but we’ve all be a little under the weather, so I didn’t get a picture of their purchase. They picked up apples, pears, cucumbers, avocados, and grape tomatoes for great prices.
Here is how our menu this week is looking:
Breakfast
- Baked Oatmeal Cups
- Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Scrambled Cheesy Eggs with Spinach
- Crepes with Fruit and Cream Cheese Filling
- Quick Mix Pancakes
- Warm Vanilla Soother
- Peanut Butter Breakfast Cake
Lunch
- Bacon, Egg, and Avocado Salad
- Black Bean Chicken Nachos
- Calzones
- Chili
- Tuna Casserole
- Potato Soup
- Salmon Patties
Dinner
- One Dish Meat And Potato Casserole
- Popcorn Chicken
- Barbecue Brisket
- Cheesy Beef and Rice
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Creamy Crock Pot Chicken and Rice
- Taco Potatoes
Fruit and Veggie Side Dishes (I serve 1-4 with each meal)
- Cucumbers with Easy Veggie Dip
- Spicy Avocado Dip
- Carrots
- Green Beans
- Peas
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Yellow Squash
- Spaghetti Squash
- Apples
- Pears
- Applesauce
- Grape Tomatoes
- Mixed Greens
- Spinach
- Blueberries
What do you have on your menu this week? Did you do a pantry/freezer challenge the past month or two?
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