Eating from The Pantry

Yes, I missed my What's Cookin'? post this week – and last week, too...

We're currently in the middle of an "Eating from The Pantry Challenge" right now. In late December, before reading that the frugal blogosphere had decided to launch out on an "Eating from the Pantry Challenge" this January, we had decided to do so. I remembered reading about the whole idea last January...

I'm currently recovering from what I call "Post Vacation Trauma" as well. (You know how it goes: there's all the unpacking, putting stuff away, readjusting to the "normal" demands of life, etc.) So, I haven't taken time to sit down and blog about our progress – until now!

I'm planning to post my current menu later (and possibly what I can recall of last week's menu, which I left on the fridge where we vacationed).

That said, our main goal during the challenge this month will be to save most of what we would otherwise spend on groceries, putting it toward other expenses – possibly car repairs. Every little bit helps, eh?!

So far, it's been an exciting challenge!

Last week, we spent only $7.63 on groceries – basically for two meats. (We decided not to count the two times we ate out while on vacation.) Thankfully, we shared cooking duties with our friends, making the vacation more of, well, a vacation!

This week, we've spent $11.15 for miscellaneous groceries at Publix and $0.59 for milk at Walgreens. (That free cereal deal has also turned into almost free milk for this week!)

We've actually been eating very well. Sharing kitchen duties last week definitely helped, and rising to the idea of a challenge is also helping...

Since this is already a rambling post, allow me to ramble just a bit more and post our beginning pictures:

These pictures do not include the staples (flour, sugar, rice, beans, coffee, etc.) on the counters, the dozen or so boxes of cereal in another cupboard, or the contents of the chest freezer: turkey, chicken, venison, a half dozen or so gallons of milk, a gallon of orange juice, peach slices, breads, and more cheese!

We probably needed this challenge – just to use up what we have now! And we're already planning to stretch this challenge to at least another month, too!