New Year, New Challenge

A couple years ago I challenged myself to stop stocking up on food and eat only what was already in my freezer and/or pantry. I allowed myself to only buy milk, bread, eggs, and fresh produce...stuff like that. If I needed one small item to complete a recipe, I could purchase that...but no more. I was pretty strict and it worked out quite well. I mean, I called it a win since I didn't end up on Hoarders. Ryan finally called the challenge to a halt when we only had a few packs of fish and breast milk left in our 15 cubic foot freezer.

It's a new year and I've decided to do it again (for a few reasons I'll explain later). While I don't have the same types of foods in my freezer(s) and pantry now that we've cleaned up our eating, I do have it stockpiled fairly well. Annnnddd....last year I sort of developed cooking as another hobby (imagine that!). Ryan gave me a set of ceramic knives for Christmas and (somehow) they have re-inspired me to start cooking again. (The ten days we took off from work? I only turned on the stove twice. And that was to cook macaroni and cheese.) (Also? This was the Christmas of weapons. Ryan got a Nerf gun, Lane got a knockoff tiny Nerf gun (and it's SO cute when he says, 'pew! pew!'), and I got knives. Don't mess with us. I'll cut you and they'll shoot you with Styrofoam darts.)

This time around I'm going to stick to the basic rules from last time, but I'm going to try to stick to the healthier meals, quicker meals ('cause making meatballs from scratch while the baby is still nursing and your small group is due to show up in ten minutes, and your husband got stuck at work for some unknown reason? yeah...I'm not doing that again), and freezer meals/ingredients. I'm also going to try to do some meal planning ahead of time. Usually I get to work, slap my forehead, and realize I forgot to pull something out of the freezer for supper. Doh! This time around I'm also going to be more flexible. For example, Wednesday night we ate out for supper. I got stuck at work, it was dark by the time we made it to town, and I refused to start cooking. So we didn't eat at home and I shifted our planned meals over by one night. No biggie.

So...results for the first week:

(warning...you should know the following meal plan contains a lot of 'granola mom' verbage)

Tuesday night we had a spinach salad (organic!) with pieces of steak mixed in and all the toppings (we cooked the steak the day before but totally weren't in the mood for it). We topped it off with a side of Triscuits and cream cheese. Did you know Triscuits are considered a whole food? Only three ingredients!

Wednesday night we ate at Beef's. And it was yummy.

Thursday night we had chicken sausage (organic!) from Publix, brown rice from the freezer, and green beans (organic!).

Friday night we had chicken quesadillas (organic!). The peppers were from my own garden, the onions were organic, and the tortillas were whole wheat. I thought the quesadillas were okay, but Ryan LOVED them. I think I made the chicken strips too big and chunky and that's why I didn't care for it...I think next time I'll try to shred the chicken and see if that helps. Ryan ate a whole 'pie' and half of mine. Like I said, he loved them.

This morning we had eggs, bacon, and toast (emptied one carton of eggs).

The bacon was half of a package I had thrown in the freezer. We had lunch at Sam's (so unhealthy, but so good and fun). For supper I'm planning on making homemade pizza. I'm using a whole wheat dough recipe, Boar's head turkey pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, and I'm going to make my own pizza sauce. I'm actually super pumped. I'll be sure to update on how it tasted.

Tomorrow I'm on the list to bring a refreshment for the snack table at church. I'd normally go buy some powdered doughnuts or store bought cookies, but this time I figured I'd actually make something (and use up some pantry staples). So far I've made Pumpkin Coconut Bars (managed to empty one container of cinnamon and a jar of honey). I'll be honest, I was a little unsure of them when I pulled them out of the oven. But I waited. After they had cooled completely I cut them up to spread on a plate. Looking at and smelling them I was honestly expecting them to taste like cinnamon flavored cardboard (yum!), BUT, they're actually pretty good! I stoked. I'm a little concerned of the people at church having the same reluctance, so I'm going to also make some peanut butter cookies. These I have made before and I can't get enough of them. They're SOOOOO good. And easy. Super easy.

So...consider this the kickoff to my new challenge. I'll be sure to post pictures and recipes as much as possible. Let me know if there's something particular you're interested in or if you have any good recipes.

I'm game for just about anything.

And I've probably got the ingredients already on hand. ;-)