Cooker's Block

It's week three of the Eat from the Pantry Challenge, and it's a bit like getting to the halfway point in a marathon -- you can feel the burn, but the real challenge is mental.

It's been tough to be creative this week. A big reason I took on this challenge was simply to use up things that need to be used up, like a Chicken Helper that I bought, God only knows why. I assume it was practically free. If not, it was a lapse in judgment for sure. Then there's the cod and the venison.

It's good to get these things used up and out of my freezer and cupboards before they go bad (though I'm certain that "Helpers" never go bad) and have to be thrown away. But it would be a whole lot easier to be creative if I hadn't limited myself and was buying ingredients, like sour cream and mushrooms. Sour cream and mushrooms can do a lot of good in this world.

Since we started the challenge, we have not eaten out, but this week it was time. I was out of ideas and pizza sounded like the perfect solution. So we ordered pizza for Friday night's supper. Then today when we took the kids to the local Y to burn off some energy, they had coupons from the local Chipotle for a free burrito. Score!

So here's this week's supper menu:
Sunday: Chicken corn chowder
Monday: Chicken pot pie
Tuesday: Salisbury steak (combo of venison and hamburger, not bad!), potatoes, carrots and peas
Wednesday: Pork stir fry (using the Chicken Helper box mix)
Thursday: Baked cod with green beans
Friday: Pizza (carry-out)
Saturday: Chipotle burritos (free!)

We ate leftovers for lunch and our usual cereal and toast for breakfast.

Total groceries purchased: $53.18

Just like last week, I did buy produce, some staples and a few things to round out meals. I bought four gallons of milk, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, hot dogs, two loaves of bread (Yes, I bought instead of baked.), three dozen eggs, bananas, blueberries, sweet potatoes, pears, mandarin oranges, cinnamon graham crackers, and chicken bouillon.

That brings our total grocery spending for the month to $70.61. Not bad at all!

We are not done buying groceries for the month, since I've got only half a gallon of milk left in the refrigerator, which won't get us through tomorrow.

If I buy a cow it won't count as groceries, right?