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Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Buy, Use and Make Do Some More

For the month of March I am systematically trying to use my over abundant pantry and freezer inventory for our meals. I have a budget of 100 dollars for the month, which may or may not work since all of a sudden TheHub wants items that are not part of our standard meals, consequently I do not have them in the pantry. So this begins week 2 of the use it up challenge, where I list what was bought, used and eaten, with the exception of TheHub's breakfasts during the week which are the same daily. (1/2 cup cereal, milk for the cereal and 1 cup of chocolate milk, saving his coffee drinking for the office) He also eats out at lunch every day, mostly having lunch meetings which are picked up by the company.

March 8

purchased
crackers 1.49, bread 1.57, buns .85, lettuce .99, 2 english cucumbers 1.38, milk 2.99, green onions .99, cereal 1.85, chocolate milk 1.59

used
stuffed bell pepper (leftover)
brussels sprouts (leftover)
mandarin (fridge)
1 pack oven roasted turkey (freezer)
1 steamer bag mixed vegetables (freezer)
cornbread (left over)
2 slices bread (bought)
2 eggs (fridge)
1 bag turkey broth (freezer)
crackers (bought)
sf hot chocolate (pantry)

eaten
breakfast: coffee (had a class early so no time to eat)
lunch : 1/2 leftover stuffed bell pepper, brussels sprouts, mandarin
dinner: turkey slices, cornbread dressing, mixed vegetables, water
snack: sf hot chocolate and crackers

March 9
bought
zero

used
bread (bought)
ham (leftover)
crackers (pantry)
mayo (fridge)
mandarin
spatzle (pantry)
porterhouse steak (leftover)
dried mushrooms (pantry)
onion (pantry)
1/2 bag  broccoli (freezer)
herbs, salt and pepper (pantry)
sour cream (fridge)
lettuce (fridge)
1/2 red pepper (fridge)
cukes (fridge)
ginger miso dressing (fridge)
peanut butter (pantry)
fruit spread (pantry)
popcorn (pantry)

eaten
breakfast: coffee pb and fruit spread on toast
lunch: ham sandwich, mandarin
dinner: one pan meal noodles, veggies and steak, and tossed salad
snack: popcorn


March 10
bought
zero

used
bread (bought)
butter (fridge)
coffee (pantry)
fruit spread (pantry)
vegetable soup mix (pantry)
container of odd leftover frozen vegetables (freezer)
1/2 bag pirogis (freezer)
tea (pantry)
sf cocoa (pantry)
popcorn (pantry)

eaten
breakfast: buttered toast with fruit spread, coffee
lunch: none, had to go take care of Mom
dinner: vegetable soup and pirogis, tea
snack: sf cocoa, popcorn

March 11
bought
zero

used
coffee (pantry)
ham (leftover)
bread (bought)
mustard (fridge)
cheese (fridge)
pickles (fridge)
pulled pork (freezer)
partial bag tater tots (freezer)
partial bag sweet potato fries (freezer)
lettuce (bought)
cukes (fridge)
1/2 red pepper (fridge)
salad dressings (fridge)
pickles (fridge)
pickled okra (fridge)
chow chow (fridge)
buns (pantry)
sf lemonade mix (pantry)
bbq sauce (fridge)
flour (pantry)
sugar (pantry)
eggs(fridge)
kefir (fridge)
milk for making kefir (fridge)
2 meyer lemons (fridge)
bp, salt, vanilla, oil (pantry)

eaten
breakfast: coffee
lunch: ham sandwich, mandarin, water, coffee
dinner: bbq sandwiches, tossed salad, pickles, pickled okra, chow chow, sweet potato fries or tater tots, lemonade, lemon cake (TheHub)

March 12

bought
Pringles (gave Mom 2 and kept 1) 1.25
Ok technically I bought a birthday cake, Pringles and Turtles for Mom but that is in a totally different budget so I am not counting it.

used
ham (fridge)
grits (pantry)
bacon (freezer)
2/3 box elbow macaroni (pantry)
butter (fridge)
milk (fridge)
cheese (fridge)
leftover ham (fridge)
broccoli (freezer)
coffee (pantry)
sf coffee creamer(fridge)
sf lemonade mix (pantry)
chocolate bar (pantry)

eaten
breakfast: bacon and grits (TheHub) ham, mandarin (me), coffee
lunch: Birthday meal with Mom (take out and from a totally different budget)
dinner: Mac and cheese with ham, broccoli, tea
snacks: Pringles, dark chocolate bar (Yes, I invoked special Mom's birthday and Sunday lenten fast breaking rules and  had both birthday cake and a chocolate bar)


March 13
bought
zero

used
coffee
lettuce (bought)
red bell pepper (fridge)
cuke (fridge)
leftover ham (fridge)
olive oil (pantry)
vinegar ( pantry)
mayo (fridge)
mandarin (fridge)
spaghetti noodles (pantry)
mini peppers (fridge)
onion (pantry)
garlic (pantry)
carrots (fridge)
dehydrated mushrooms (pantry)
1 pack ground chuck (freezer)
jar marinara sauce (pantry)
1 small pack spaghetti squash (freezer)
parmesan cheese (fridge)
salt, pepper, herbs and spices (pantry)
marzipan cake mix (pantry)
eggs (fridge)
butter (freezer, now moved to fridge)
milk (fridge)
cocoa (pantry)
sugar (pantry)
mandarin


eaten
breakfast: coffee, mandarin
lunch: salad of lettuce, cukes, red pepper and ham. Oil and vinegar dressing
dinner: veggie dense meat sauce with spaghetti, tea, chocolate marzipan cake (TheHub) dookie cookies (TheHub and Son 2) mandarin 


March 14
bought 
almond milk coffee creamer 4.99, spring greens 3.99, chocolate milk 2.99, (Grrrr, if he could have stretched it one more day it would have only cost 1.59) tomatoes 2.00, oatmeal packets (special request not in my wheel house, but I am nice) 3.50, wine vinegar 1.85

used
coffee (pantry)
tea (leftover)
stevia (pantry)
lemonade (leftover)
ham (leftover and finally gone except the bag I froze right as it was sliced after baking)
mandarin (fridge)
pork tenderloin (freezer)
green beans (Mom's house.  She decided she didn't want them)
sweet potatoes (pantry)
mandarins
grapefruit (about to die, so juiced)
milk to make kefir (fridge)

eaten
breakfast: coffee, ham slice, mandarin
lunch: busy and forgot to eat (Daylight Savings Time screws everything up)
dinner:  roasted pork tenderloin, baked sweet potato, green beans, marzipan cake (TheHub) dookie cookies (TheHub)
snack: mandarin, pecan halves

I spent a lot more money this week than I intended to.  The special requests are killing the budget, so who knows where this will wind up. This week I spent 37.70 plus 16.33 from last week for a total of 54.03 leaving me 45.97 to spend for the remainder of the month. May or may not happen.  I guess time will tell.


19 comments:

  1. Well the month is half over so you might make it within your $100 budget. Even if you go over a little you've still saved a lot and used up a lot of pantry and freezer items so win/win.

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  2. It is half over, but I did some serious damage to the budget today when I went shopping. I am going to have to jump through hoops to keep it under 100 for the month and keep all rogue shopping to zero!

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  3. I have done less meat stocking up and with all in the house, I have had to buy little other than milk and grapes and bananas. By Friday, I will need salad greens.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had bought no meat until today when I realized what I thought was a corned beef brisket in the freezer was actually a hunk of ham. We have corned beef every St Pat's so I bought a small one.

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  4. Well I have also. I was great the first two weeks and then good sales, things I needed, and more things I think I need......

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    Replies
    1. I am trying hard to stay away form the things I think I need!

      Delete
  5. I think you did quite well. It's hard to budget when you get special requests for items! But you used up a lot of stuff from your pantry and freezer, so well done!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have used a bunch of stuff and will continue to use as much as possible to get my food inventory in check. I will always have some food storage but I need it to be more purposeful and better thought out.

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  6. Good luck.
    Our house guest has gone, and I plan on insisting we finish the little bits and pieces she didn't finish that are currently cluttering our fridge/cupboards. I will probably fail.

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  7. You're doing well and using up a lot. My budgets 3x yours and a stretch goal for me so your post is inspiring me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Normally I spend a lot more but I really do need to use inventory

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  8. Good on you!!! Every time I pass the deep freeze I'm trying to pull at least one thing out. We're having a frozen meatloaf and some frozen squash for supper tonight. Trying to clean that thing out so we can fill it up with smoked pork loin for the wedding...

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  9. I understand that! I am trying to empty mine to begin refilling it with spring and summer produce

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  10. You are using up a lot of items in your pantry...those hubby budget killers. For mine it is stuffed olives and expensive deli meat, neither a dietary requirement

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    Replies
    1. I am using a lot of things, and the 100 dollar budget was self imposed. I am pretty sure I will go over just because of the requests being made. I am also glad that I did not include wine in the budget!

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  11. I started a list of all things eaten when we did this in January, but it was really hard to keep up with it, for some reason. I feel like it would keep me more on task as far as eating down the pantry is concerned.

    I've spent $82.85 so far this month, so staying below $100 is going to be tough! We'll see. It's not like there isn't food around. It's just not always the food I want or think we need. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  12. It really has kept me thinking about how much (or little) we are using. And oh I so understand about the budget and the want/need conundrum.

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  13. I use the term discount cookware set because no matter what your cooking habits are you will need more than one pot or pan. If you are cooking often for friends or a large family you could purchase a seventeen or a twenty four piece cookware set. nonstick cookware

    ReplyDelete

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