Pantry challenge help!

[Stardust]

OK, last week before payday and I'm trying not to buy anything.
I have the following to work with

FREEZER
1 lot pasta sauce
500g chicken wings
2 lots sausages
3 lots stock
stewed apple
some frozen chickpeas
marshmallows!

FRIDGE
A few carrots
celery
bag apples
about 4 litres rice milk
bit of maple syrup
1 doz eggs
hummous
few rolls

PANTRY
About 1 cup flour
2 pkts pasta
brown rice
bit of cornflour
citric acid
baking powder etc
sugar
3 potatoes
few bananas
garlic
spring roll wrappers
cashews
rice puffs (can make porridge with this)

GARDEN
Parsley
spring onions
chives
rosemary

I really really don't want to buy anything unless I have to but this has to do snacks, breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Am thinking some spring rolls, porridge, maybe muffins though not enough flour I don't think. Pikelets? Omlettes, fried rice..Umm....

So, dazzle me please!!

[mama_bel]

Ooooh, tricky!

Brekky - apple or banana muffins, eggs (scrambled, omelette, other), pancakes/pikelets, porridge with stewed apple (yum), brown rice/ricemilk/apple, apples/cashews/rice puffs chopped and mixed, banana smoothie...

Lunch - pasta with simple garlic/herb/butter, rolls turned into garlic bread, rice salad, pasta salad, potato & egg salad, spring rolls with sauteed carrot/celery/shallots and a bit of cooked rice if it's handy, fried rice

Dinner - sausages/mashed potato/carrots, chicken wings with stir-fried carrot/celery/shallots and rice (use leftovers for above spring rolls), pasta with sauce, chickpea patties with herbs and steamed carrots or a carrot 'salad', fried rice, pasta again, sausages again...?

Snacks - carrot sticks/celery and hommus, bananas, apples, something baked with the bit of flour if not used up already, a boiled egg, a drink of rice milk, marshmallows...

I guess the minimum you could buy would be -
some green veg - what's on special plus a bag of frozen peas?
some flour and maybe some bread
more fruit

I reckon you could do one of those Simple Savings style $21 Challenges with what you have in stock right now! :)

[Stardust]

Thanks Bel :) Yep, in the process of joining SS. we have to buy a special flour/rice milk coz of allergies, but am determined. We do have a cabbage growing, not formed yet but I could pick the leaves for greens.

[mama_bel]

Ah, that's right, so the flour will be more exxy. And if you buy bread it'd be exxy too.

*bump* - anyone else got ideas to add?

[Merlion]

your pantry looks mine except i have about 2litres of full cream milk. thank god my parents are going away tomorrow otherwise we would have no veggies.

[Stardust]

Yep, tis a challenge.
But I've come up with the following
MON Bfast (porridge with stewed apple. Will be same all week. Maye eggs ).
Lunch-Spring rolls
Dinner-Sausages and mash (potato, carrot, swede)
TUES Lunch-Scrambled eggs. Mol's at kinder so will be hummous, rice cakes, banana etc for her
Dinner-Pasta with garlic bread and salad (might mean just lettuce!)
WED Lunch-plate of cut vegies, hummous, boiled eggs, rice cakes
Dinner- Chicken wings and fried rice
THURS Lunch (Homemade gnocci I found hiding in freezer with bechemal sauce). Mol kinder (much the same as tues. Maybe some cold sausages and egg roll)
Dinner-Sausages and fried rice
Snacks-Pikelets, pancakes, plate of veg and hummous, banana, apple, baked apples with maple syrup (though M can only tolerate 1/2 apple every second day, and rose won't touch them unless I dry them), dried apple, pear, rice cakes with cashew nut butter, custard, eggs, raw cashews, besan bombs, possibly biscuits with rice puffs. Or apple slice thing if I have the flour left.

Phew. Shall see how I go!

[mama_bel]

WooHoo!! Well done you!!

We get paid monthly and I love having a use-it-up week in our last week of the pay cycle. :)

[Merlion]

woohooo well done. g made a lovely veggie stirfry tonight.

[Stardust]

Yum, stirfry :)
Well today we had
Porridge with stewed apple
LUNCH-Spring rolls with leftover fried rice
DINNER-Chicken wings, mashed potato and swede, baked carrots. Baked banana and apple with custard.
SNACKS during day: PIKELETS, CARROTS, BANANA, RICE BISC. WITH HUMMOUS

I might keep this thread going. Tis fun and maybe it will give others some ideas?

[mama_bel]

Yummo! Yes, keep it up if you can. :)

[Merlion]

we had tuna mornay thanks to mum's pantry who went away for a holiday

[mama_bel]

*bump* time to update us!

[Stardust]

Oops. Didn';t get time yesterday!
OK, yesterday.
BREAKFAST-Porridge
LUNCH-Leftover sausages, mash, rice in the frypan with some parsley and egg
DINNER-Pasta with sauce, bread roll
SNACKS-Baby carrots, parsley from garden, celery sticks with hummous and cashew nut butter, dried banana, pear
KINDER SNACK/LUNCH-M took cold sausage, carrot, hummous, hardboiled egg. Dried banana, fresh pear, jelly cup I'd made, leftoverfrom her party.

[Hailstorm]

What have you got left now?
You're doing great!!!

[mama_bel]

Wow! Doesn't sound like it's too hard so far. How are the supplies lasting?

[Stardust]

Not a whole lot. Few eggs, pikelets, sausages. Leftover pasta, few vegies and fruit and some herbs. Bit of rice milk and rice puffs, few rolls. Will have to do! It's kind of fun, I do like a good challenge. I'm going to try and do it every month. Inspried by Bel!

[mama_bel]

I kinda cheat at it 'cos I have a big garden and I also buy in bulk, so the last week of our pay month I could have like 5000kg of food left in the house. LOL Kidding! But yeh, I'd still have tons of whole grains, ingredients for rice milk, some tins, some packets. And I get eggs and milk daily from our farm, as well as other food to harvest - something green at least, etc. But yeh, I like looking at what we have and going from there 'cos I could make a lot fewer trips to the shops I think!

[Stardust]

Not cheating if you're self sufficient :) I'd love a goat or ma cow (can you get mini ones?) but with lactose issues it wouldn't help much.

[soulmama]

I'm with Bel... have challenged everyone on another forum to the $21 challenge every month... maybe we need it here too?

But I feel like I'm cheating coz we have the TMX...

:laugh

[mama_bel]

You gotta have ingredients for the TMX. You still need rice/nuts/grains and ingredients for stuff. Must admit my fridge looks way different since we got the TMX.

[soulmama]

Waaaaaay different Bel... who'd have thought I'd be this excited over a free bag rice before I owned it! :rofl

[Stardust]

Almost there:)
Today
Breakfast-Porridge with the dribble of maple syrup that was left
Lunch-Pasta
Dinner-Anything left! Sausages, leftover gnocchi that was in the bottom of the freezer, rice cooked in stock with celery and carrots, lettuce. Custard and stewed apple
SNACKS-Pikelets, boiled egg, rice cakes, hummous, carrot and celery sticks, rice milk

Tomorrow have made up
BREAKFAST: Scrambled eggs and porridge
Lunch-Leftover rice and sausages. Mol at kinder so she gets a hummous/rice cake sandwich, boiled egg and half a sausage, pear
Dinner and snacks not sure.

Now trying to do the menu plan for next week :)

[mama_bel]

When do you get to go shopping? Is your list like a mile long?

[Stardust]

Tomorrow.Not too bad as it's weekly. Usually I do fortnightly, but going to try it this way. Just trying to work out the menu now.