Pantry Challenge Week 3: Less Drama, More Camping

We’re back to reality in this part of the world.  No more Nana to treat us to dinners.  No more blaming the husband for when dinner plans go wrong!  Here’s how the plan played out last week:

The kids and I whipped up a batch of banana nutella muffins Monday morning and since they chose these muffins for breakfast every day this week (and even requested them for lunch on Monday), we’re giving them two thumbs up!

The person who’s in charge of cooking dinner (who shall remain anonymous) forgot to make rice ahead of time for vegetable fried rice… So this said person surprised the family to Chipotle for dinner, where we all enjoyed their rice instead. =)  Finally, we had dinner with friends on Thursday (the reschedule from last week’s cancellation) so macadamia chicken was moved to Saturday.

With all the moving and shaking of the plans, there is still a good bit of food left to be eaten from the fridge, freezer and pantry.  The good news is despite all the not-following-the-plan, a few things were crossed off the “rid” list anyway, plus a few additional unexpected items:

• Finish nutella
• Eat two frozen bananas in the freezer
• Eat last can of chicken noodle soup
• Finish 1 cup of cornbread mix in pantry
• Empty one of two jars of jelly in the fridge (yeah for more jars!)
• Finish package of tortillas
• Eat bag frozen mixed veggies in freezer
• (new) 5 taco shells
• (new) tortilla chips

The meals that weren’t eaten last week will carry over to this week, plus I’m adding some other cooking/prepping goals to help make what I have in the cupboards more user friendly.

Sunday

Breakfast:  kids eating at grandma/grandpa’s; smoothies for mom & dad
Lunch:  leftovers
Dinner:  family dinner

Monday

Breakfast:  breakfast cookies for kids; smoothies for mom & dad
Lunch:  chicken noodle soup for kids; seed salad for mom & dad
Dinner:  leftovers (back-up plan of grilled cheese sandwiches for kids & dad; egg white omelet w/veggies for mom)

Tuesday

Breakfast:  breakfast cookies or oatmeal for kids; smoothies for mom & dad
Lunch:  peanut butter & bananas on cornbread pancakes (open sandwich) for kids; seed salad for mom/dad
Dinner:  vegetable fried rice

Wednesday

Breakfast:  breakfast cookies or oatmeal for kids; smoothies for mom & dad
Lunch:  peanut butter & bananas on cornbread pancakes (open sandwich) for kids; seed salad for mom/dad
Dinner:  leftovers (back-up plan of grilled cheese sandwiches for kids & dad; egg white omelet w/veggies for mom)

Thursday

Breakfast:  breakfast cookies or oatmeal for kids; smoothies for mom & dad
Lunch:  peanut butter & bananas on cornbread pancakes (open sandwich) for kids; seed salad for mom/dad

Thursday Dinner – Saturday:  Camping

Mr. Crumbs is in the midst of planning a camping trip for us – yeah!  This is a much needed mini-vacation for us to unplug and regroup as a family.  The last time we went we had SO.MUCH.FUN.  Watching the kids have free reign on open land is so entertaining!

Planning a vacation in extreme detail kinda takes away from the relaxing purpose of a vacation, so here are my thoughts for eating during our trip.  As we get closer, the kids and husband can pick and choose what they’d like from pre-mommy-approved list.

Breakfasts:  spiced carrot bread, breakfast cookies, homemade granola bars
Lunches:  sandwiches on honey quinoa bread
Dinner:  potatoes, corn, green beans, grilled chicken, hot dogs, homemade buns
Snacks/Dessert:  oven-roasted chickpeas, fresh produce, s’mores, pretzels

Other Baking Projects

• Honey Quinoa Bread – we’re out of bread and with what’s in the pantry, this recipe fits the bill
• Black Bean Brownies – if I eat any more black beans, I may turn into a bean myself, so I’m increasing the amount called for in the recipe to 2 cups (approx 1 can).  A greater nutritional result and keeping Mr. Crumbs from buying another box of mix are bonuses.
• Spiced Carrot Bread – one loaf for now, one for later

Pantry Challenge Mini-Goals

• Finish prunes in pantry
• Finish 1 cup of cornbread mix in pantry
• Empty last jar of jelly in the fridge
• Eat bag of frozen mixed veggies in the freezer
• Finish last can of chicken noodle soup
• Finish black beans

This week starts the down hill of the pantry challenge… but I don’t want to count on anything be easy.  The pantry is getting clean(er) so these last two weeks may be an uphill battle.

Find the previous part of the pantry challenge HERE. Find the next part of the pantry challenge HERE.

What’s on your menu this week?

This post is linked to OrgJunkie and StoneGable.

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