Eat From The Pantry Challenge: what I’m working with

Today starts the Eat From The Pantry Challenge, and yesterday I took stock of what I had in my pantry and freezer.  Here it is!

In my pantry I have…

• 7 packages pasta
• 3 jars peanut butter
• lots of tea (herbal, chai, black), coffee, and hot chocolate
• lots of white rice, and lots of broken grain wild rice
• lots of canned tomatoes and tomato sauce
• 10 lbs pinto beans
• 10 boxes crackers (mostly Wheat Thins)
• 11 boxes cereal (Grape Nuts, Corn Flakes, Shredded Wheat)
• oatmeal
• 18 cans of evaporated milk, which I will use in cooking instead of running to the store for milk!
• 5 boxes chicken and beef broth
• 7 bottles ketchup
• 3 bags tortilla chips
• lots of baking supplies like sugar, flour, spices, etc.
• 10 lbs potatoes
• an embarrassing amount of chocolate chips and brownies*

*It really is an embarrasing amount, I have a ton of both chocolate chips and brownies – but you have to understand that once they are gone, I will not likely buy either until next Nov/Dec… Once they’re gone, they’re gone! We went 2-3 months without brownie mixes and chocolate chips last year, and boy was I glad when they went on sale again.

And in my freezer I have…

• several packages of corn and flour tortilla (Mission, of course! :))
• homemade tamales, enough for several meals
• porcupine meatballs, enough for several meals
• 3 whole chickens
• 1 pork roast
• a few packages of ground beef, sausage, etc.
• 4-5 packages of chicken breast, thighs, etc.
• about 20 bags of frozen veggies
• 6 bags of frozen cranberries
• whole ham
• 3 cartons ice cream :)

What I’ll buy regardless of the price:

• milk
• eggs?
• fresh produce

I’ll be buying these products even if they’re not an amazing deal, but I will not be planning meals around them. If I can’t get a good deal on eggs, we won’t be having breakfast for dinner.

What I will buy if it goes on sale:

• Gatorade – Jeremy officiates basketball and will be using a lot this month, much more than I have on hand.
• meat – when Albies marks down their meat, it often beats sale prices – I can’t resist stocking up!
• diapers and wipes – a constant need around here, and my stockpile is basically empty!

And, honestly, I’ll probably be stocking up on items that I know we will use when they hit a 4 or a 5 rating – but I won’t be running to the store to get “just a few things” if it’s not an amazing deal. As I mentioned before, I haven’t stockpiled as much as I would like lately, so I need to allow myself the freedom to buy the good deals if they come along.

Next week I’ll share my goals for the Eat From The Pantry Challenge. If you’re participating, be sure to link up your posts about the challenge over at Money Saving Mom – and if you’re here in Colorado, I’d love to hear about your plans!