Last week of No-Grocery challenge

Where did last week go?  With a wedding, an out-of-town trip, sickness, etc., I guess a week can pass pretty quickly.  It's late, but here is the last week of February's no grocery challenge menu.  I am so over blogging about food for awhile....I am posting this just for some closure.  And so I can move onto more interesting things on this blog without feeling guilty.  ;-)

Monday~
Breakfast: Honey nut Cheerios (a friend gave us a box at church...you would have thought it was Christmas!)
Lunch: queso blanco cheese, apple slices, meat stick
Dinner: goulash (sauce), green beans

Tuesday~
Breakfast: scrambled eggs, slice of ham
Lunch: sandwiches
Dinner: stirfry over brown rice, applesauce

Wednesday~
breakfast: omelets
lunch: macaroni and cheese (milk, cheese)
dinner: Beef roast au jus, creamed corn, asparagus, pudding

Thursday~
B: cornmeal mush (with milk)
L: zucchini soup (zucchini, cream cheese, milk)
D: Peach pineapple picante chicken over quinoa & rice, applesauce

Friday~
B: yogurt
L: tuna salad
D: Pizza night!  (mozzerella, sauce) Carrot sticks

Saturday~
B: loaded omelets (cheese)
L: had lunch at SIL's
D: pizza, carrot sticks

Sunday~
B: yogurt and granola
L: SNACK LUNCH.  cheese, meatsticks, leftover communion bread, snacks
D: tortilla chips with pepperjack cheese sauce, salsa, sour cream; smoothies (blueberries, peaches, strawberries, yogurt, leftover apple cider, leftover buttermint icecream)

Monday~
B: yogurt and granola
L: sandwiches
D: cube steaks with brown gravy, cheesy vegetables, quinoa & rice salad (with tomatoes, corn, black beans, etc.), cinnamon pickles

AS WELL AS:

tin roof sundae ice cream
hot cocoa and whipped cream
apple cider
chocolate chip cookies (made by Corynn and Andrew)
granola (made by Corynn)
communion bread
chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream

In Conclusion:

The only necessities I ran out of for the WHOLE MONTH of not grocery shopping was salt (for cheese) and coffee (for Matt).  I thought I had run out of citric acid, veggie oil and olive oil but I later found brand new containers squirreled away in different areas.  I think that is pretty impressive since the only thing I did in preparation for this challenge was to buy a big bag of flour and a big bag of sugar.  Turns out, I must be a bit of a food hoarder.  I nestle food here, there and everywhere like a squirrel preparing for winter.

I used plenty of canned goods and a good amount of frozen things but didn't empty out a freezer as I had hoped.   The stand up freezer is much easier to use from than the chest freezer (particularly, if you have a stained glass project sitting on the lid of the chest freezer) so I emptied that out more than the other.

We didn't feel deprived a single time during February, despite not going to the store.  One thing I did realize was that sandwiches are a convenience meal.  A simple sandwich-when you don't have convenient storebought bread becomes a major affair when you have to make it from scratch.  Oi.  It was hard to find food to fill bellies when I didn't feel like cooking.  And without sandwiches for lunch- I was cooking three times a day.  Every day. (And making dairy products in between). Those pioneer women who made big breakfasts and big dinners and washed everything by hand and baked all their bread- and basically LIVED in the kitchen without going absolutely mad...  boy,  those ladies are my heroes.
    
This month I am going to continue to focus on using things up in the chest freezer.  That one holds mostly meats.  A lady from church suggested getting out a week's worth of meat and putting them in the fridge to dethaw in a drawer which I thought was a brilliant idea.  As the meats thaw, you've got yourself supper options!  De-thawing is my biggest problem when it comes to supper.  I always forget to do it and then it is suppertime and too late.  (We don't have a microwave to dethaw things.)  So, I'm excited to see how that works out for me.

Another trick I learned about this month was to soak a whole bowlful of beans at the beginning of the week and then store them in the fridge instead of trying to soak only the beans you intend to use for a meal.  Having the beans ready to cook, you can think about how to use them throughout the week instead of making a single meal a big deal.  Probably common sense to most folks, but I had never thought of that.

And here is something you may not have known- when making macaroni and cheese, you can skip the whole boiling-draining-making a flour paste step and simply boil your pasta in milk.  Did you know that?  The starch from the pasta acts as a thickener to make a delicious cheesesauce without all the fuss.  Just use milk enough to cover the pasta and when the pasta is ready- turn off the heat and stir in the shredded cheese.  Be sure to turn off the heat.  If you keep the heat on, the cheese might turn gritty and overcooked instead of smooth and creamy.  Easy peasy.

Am I glad I did it?  Absolutely.   More money in the checking account because of less trips uptown.  Less nasty looks and comments from those who think a mother with a handful of children following behind her should be stoned in the streets.  More time for schooling without a day being interrupted each week for shopping.  Less food waste, Less garbage.  More creativity.  All good things.

Once a month grocery shopping requires planning and diligence but it might be just right for us.

Week 3 No Grocery Challenge and a Spittlebug

I added a bit of color-coding.  Mainly because it is more fun to look at- but also, it may give you (and myself) an idea where things are coming from.  

                  *Homecanned       *Emptying Freezer       *From Our Milk Cow 

Monday:

Breakfast~ scrambled eggs, onion queso blanco

Lunch~ sandwiches 

Dinner~ Leftovers, garlic foccacia bread

Tuesday:

Breakfast~ banana bread, vanilla yogurt

Lunch~ grilled mozzerella cheese sandwiches on homemade bread

Dinner~ Sausage Gravy over toast (milk, sausage), peas, applesauce

Wednesday:

Breakfast~ "White Mules" (scrambled eggs topped with leftover sausage gravy)

Lunch~ tomato soup (milk)

Dinner~ Chicken, broccoli and ham pockets (cheese, meats, broccoli) (Made enough pizza dough to freeze so I won't have to make it on Friday night.)

Thursday:

Breakfast~ banana bread, yogurt

Lunch~ beans and rice

Dinner~ Turkey Sloppy Joe on a few rolls passed along by my MIL, green beans, fruit salad, bean/rice/sweet potato concoction using leftovers from lunch that really wasn't all that great and so will be used in another capacity-probably bean soup.

Friday:

Breakfast~ cinnamon raisin oatmeal

Lunch~ chicken nuggets (We were uptown right smack dab in the middle of lunch.  BK is having a nuggets special of 10 for $1.49.  I didn't have storebought bread to make sandwiches and I didn't want to get home just to have to cook something up and then have the children wait until 2:30ish to eat lunch. 'Nuff said.  Don't judge.)

Dinner~ Pizza night!  Carrot Sticks.

Saturday:
Breakfast~ yogurt, buttered toast
Lunch~ bean and sausage soup (using Thursday's leftover beans and rice)
Dinner~ eggs topped with peppers, onions and cheese.  Ham. (Matt made supper because I was gone all day visiting with my Opa.)

Sunday:
Breakfast~ cornmeal mush (milk)
Lunch~ queso blanco cheese, apple slices, meat sticks
Dinner~ went to an ice-skating party.  Burgers were served.  I brought the cocoa and whipped cream. 

AS WELL AS:

~ Three jars of Ghee from butter in freezer

~ Hot Cocoa with whipped cream
~ 5 qts chicken stock, canned
~ 5 qts canned chicken, canned
~ hot cocoa with whipped cream
~ apple cider
~ buttermint icecream

CHATTER:

By Monday, we had used up all our storebought bread.  It's homemade bread from here on out.  I also discovered we had only about 1/4 cup vegetable oil and olive oil left.  (Not so good for bread baking, huh?) I did find a large olive oil container down cellar but I wonder if I should use expensive olive oil instead of veggie oil or if I should just go buy some cheap veggie oil?  Using olive oil alone is the more expensive of the options so I may go to the store and get some.  Salt is nearly gone and only enough citric acid for ONE MORE cheese recipe.  These are necessities, people.

We haven't had fresh fruit or vegetables for what feels like forever.  We have been eating carrots and apples- but we are down to the last few carrots.  One more pizza nights' worth.

While we have been eating out of the freezer more this week, I am still using up the more simple things like vegetables and sausage.  This is because the main chest freezer (which holds all of our meats) has been inaccessible due to a very fragile, very bulky, in-process stained glass project of mine that must be moved in order to open the freezer lid.  It is hard to move so I have avoided moving it...and thus, have not been able to use up those meats like I have hoped.  The other day I cleared a spot in my room to move the project and now the freezer lid is free for the opening.  Hopefully this week I will be able to use up some meats and inventory the freezer.   It is, after all, the end of February!

My precious Ghirardelli chips were gone at the beginning of the week and it has been basically excruciating since then.  I didn't realize just how many of those little suckers I ate each day but let's just say that after every meal and before bed I have had crazy urges to go get a handful.  Chocolate!  I need chocolate!!!   It's probably a very good thing that they are gone.  But breaking that addiction has been (still is) PAINFUL. It makes me wonder if after I get accustomed to NOT eating them, if I should even buy them.  I shouldn't.  But I still might.  ;-)

I was terrible at photographing food this week and wish the days were longer and the light was lasting... instead of food, you get photos of a spittlebug.  

Things to buy in March:

vegetable oil

tuna

dried minced onion

garlic powder

salt

citric acid

frozen veggies: peas
bananas!
carrots
BREAD.  Oh yes, I am.

Week 1 of the No-Groceries-in-February Challenge

  

Breakfasts:
~ shredded wheat
~ cinnamon oatmeal
~ omelets with queso blanco cheese
~ homemade vanilla yogurt with toast
~ scrambled eggs
~ Fiesta Omelets (omelets topped with onions, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, salsa and homemade queso cheese.) and caramelized onions
~ banana muffins (using up old, brown bananas)

Lunches:
~ sandwiches everyday but two....most with HC jam, some with homemade garlic dill queso blanco
~ cheeseburger casserole (brought over by my SIL Holly)
~ beans and rice

Dinners:
~ Chili with drop biscuits and queso blanco cheese
~ Turkey Potpie,  green beans, applesauce
~ Leftovers
~ Pizza, carrot sticks, ranch dressing for dip
~ BBQ chicken drumsticks, pizza dip with crackers, carrot and celery sticks
~ Lasagna with collards (because I needed to use up the two batches of ricotta I had made), applesauce, corn boiled in a splash of milk
~ Loaded Nachos 

Other:
Pecan sticky buns (Possibly.  Did you come over for a visit last week Elizabeth...or the week before? I can't remember.)
Caprese Salad (for church meal)
Dried Apples (snacks)
Popcorn (snacks)

My approach to food this week was very lackadaisical.  I stayed with stuff I could reach for quickly in the fridge freezer instead of going into the chest freezer (the whole post of this challenge!)  I took the lazy route (as usual) with lunches, fixing sandwiches mostly, knowing that all this bread eating is going to result in no store-bought bread by next week if I am not careful.  I also continue to eat too many handfuls of chocolate chips (60%  cocoa Ghirardelli chips are my weakness and are not bought for baking but for Mama) throughout the day.  These will be gone too if I don't start to show some restraint and then there will be NO CHOCOLATE.

I hope to go through my chest freezers this week to get an idea of what needs to be used up.  In theory, this should help me to be more intentional and creative with food prep.  IN THEORY.  I was, however, more intentional about taking photos of food which is a challenge for me in winter (lighting is so crummy-as you can see with the finished lasagna picture above) and often something I avoid.  But posts about food still need a snapshot or two, am I right?

At this point, the cupboards still overflow with opportunities and I wonder if this month will be difficult at all.  (Except for maybe the chocolate situation.)

Never Too Much~ a zucchini challenge

I've been known to do it with eggs a time or two, so who says I can't challenge myself to use up the insane amounts of summer squash that inundate us these days?    So I will.  UNLIKE eggs, however, I am going to spread this challenge over a week and not a day, for obvious reasons.  Mainly, my family will hate me. 

Here is how it will go.  I will fix at least one zucchini dish for an entire week and it won't include this recipe, or this recipe, this one or this one. Not that they aren't GREAT recipes (love them!) but I am on the search for a few new ones to put in my summer artillery.  And because I love ya (and suspect that many of you are being equally swarmed these days), I'll share some pictures here and, likely, a few recipes over here. 

And yes, I have been canning up the very best ever relish too. 

(If you all have awesome-y type uses for zucchini--- fire away!)  Do you not love that I followed the metaphor of artillery for that last statement?  Ahhhh- so corny am I.

In other news~ we had a pretty great weekend away which involved a church conference, a hotel room stay (and donuts!!) this past weekend.  We arrived home to find a nice and clean house, our first ripe tomatoes and enough flowers to make luscious and large bouquets for the house, a large frog and an orange newt, a yard that needs mowing and corn nearly ready for the table.  I am going to see if I can scrounge up enough for supper tonight. I have exactly one day to get laundry caught up because for the next two, Mr. Weathermen say it is going to rain.  Then, it will be time to harvest onions and potatoes. 

I am so excited.