I'm now two-thirds of the way through my July pantry challenge. Finally, I'm beginning to see the pantry items dwindling down a little. Here are details on the dinners we had from July 11 to July 20:
July 11: Leftovers from the night before (beef hot dogs, New Potatoes and Green Beans, buttered corn, fresh peaches)
We'd been out all day and I didn't feel like cooking; I was able to pull together just enough from the fridge to feed us a light supper.
July 12: Crunchy turkey tacos with typical toppings, creamed corn with bacon, refrigerator pickles
It was the tacos that were crunchy, not the turkey. ;)
July 13: Creamy chicken parmesan pasta with sauteed vegetables, French bread, steamed multi-color carrots.
All the veg. were from our garden. We grew multi-colored carrots this year. The purple ones were orange in the middle, but the rest were the same color all the way through.
July 14: Good Earth Meditterranean Dinner (that I won in Slugmama's giveaway), French bread with butter, salad.
I had a horrible migraine this day, so Shane took over the cooking. The dinner was from a box, but he used pork instead of chicken and improvised on the cooking method. It was really good and didn't taste like it came from a box at all...I haven't heard Kat rave that much about a meal in a long time.
July 15: Hot dogs on buns, chips, salad, peaches.
I was too lazy to cook this day. It happens.
July 16: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, Swiss chard, corn on the cob.
This meal was all Kat's idea. She has good ideas. :) I made the meatloaf using both ground beef and ground turkey and it turned out tasting really good. I wrote down the recipe, but forgot the pictures. But don't worry; I'll make it again and take the pictures then.
July 17: Meatloaf sandwiches, sliced tomatoes, lettuce salad.
We were just as pleased with the meatloaf the second time around.
July 18: Burrito burgers with lettuce, tomato, sour cream and salsa; steamed kohlrabi slices with butter, peaches.
These were basically just burgers seasoned with salsa and grilled, then wrapped in tortillas with taco toppings. Shane liked them, but I wasn't impressed.
July 19: Pizza, lettuce salad.
Shane and I had a mystery-shopped sausage and mushroom pizza; Kat had a Pizza Hut personal pan pizza (cheese only) that she "earned" by completing the summer reading program.
July 20: Black Bean and Acorn Squash Burritos (baked so they were crispy like chimichangas), lettuce salad, corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes, pickles.
I made a couple dozen of these using squash from our garden. I hadn't had this combination of flavors before, but there were lots of recipes for it online, so I thought I'd try a hybrid of this recipe and this one. Shane and I both enjoyed them, but Kat opted for just black beans and cheese in her burritos.
July Grocery/Pantry Challenge:
Items Purchased Today (store brand unless indicated): Although we're up to our ears in homemade pickles right now, Shane brought home a gallon jar of picked banana peppers yesterday from the freight salvage store. I know he likes them, but come on...how many pickles can one family eat? Especially when there was a quart jar of them already in the pantry.
Amount Spent Today (including tax): $2.16
Amount Spent To Date in July (including tax): $112.37
7 comments:
was the taste of the tri colored carrots different?
I did not know carrots came in different colors--how neat!! Your meals sound delicious.
Lisa B: Only a little. They all tasted like carrots (as opposed to tasting like radishes or something else not a carrot...heehee) but some were sweeter than others. The dark orange were the sweetest (darker than store-bought carrots) and the white were the most bland.
Sheila: We just planted them for the novelty. They did ok, but not great; for the space and time they took, I don't know if we'll plant carrots again or not.
I would ask if I could come and eat at your house, but since Hubby cooks pretty good meals, I am not jealous. LOL!
It all sounds delish, though!
Our meals have been pretty simple and light lately since I don't like to cook in the heat and we don't have much of an appetite in the heat either(tho to look at us, you'd never guess that lol). I've just been making a protein and a veggie and then a "fancy" veggie....fancy means it's a veggie dish with other components to it like dairy or some other carb. Sometimes I just do the protein and fancy veggie. I'd rather do a dish with veggie base and carbs than just do a carb dish like breads/rice/potato.
Or I'll just do something cold...tonight is homemade bread&butter pickles and turkey club sandwiches.
Don't you love when the hubs does something like buy those pickled banana peppers? I'm sure they were an incredible deal tho!lol
Ok, I'll shut up now....I'm officially rambling.
Frances: You can both come for dinner if you like!
Sluggy: Shane will eat just about anything I put on the table, but I'm the one who feels deprived without something hot and hearty. That's not saying I won't serve and eat a cold sandwich, but I'd rather have something hot with it, even in summer.
For us, a "plain veggie" is one that Kat will eat without problem (i.e., frozen corn), and a "fancy veggie" is one that she has to be cajoled into trying (i.e., a gallon of pickled banana peppers...) ;)
Your carrots are so cool! How much fun would it be to eat those! Do they all taste the same or does it vary a bit?
And you are doing amazing on your challenge. I'm not following the challenge but we are eating out of the cabinets quite a bit because we are trying to save up some more money for the party. I hope it works!
Post a Comment