The month of March is dedicated to a month-long pantry challenge! I’ve committed to spending only $25 a week on fresh produce, milk, and eggs for the whole month of March. Curious about what to buy on a pantry challenge? Read on to find out, and click here to sign up and join me!
I’m so happy right now!
I was able to buy yogurt!
It’s such a little thing, but it just made my day. Before I started my pantry challenge, I could easily buy ten dollars worth of yogurt for the week. But now that I’ve set a limit of $25 a week this month, I’ve chosen to use that money for other fresh produce instead.
My first full week of my pantry challenge went well! I got one of our turkeys out of the freezer and made dinners out of it all week. Check my Instagram page for pictures and inspiration! I learned that I can be quite resourceful when it comes to finding breakfast in the morning- especially leftover Pizza Hut pizza. But really, I can scrounge up anything- scrambled eggs with fruit and bread, oatmeal, smoothie… I didn’t realize how much food I actually had until it was time to come up with meal ideas.
Here are some of the odds-and-ends items I plan to use up this week:
- Cole’s Middles– I got these for free a few months ago and haven’t had a chance to bust it out yet. Allison loved the pretzel ones with beer cheese, and I have a feeling this will be a big hit as well!
- Pumpkin butter– Something else that’s been sitting in my pantry for a long time. I just hadn’t come up with a good use for it, so I’ll be putting it on my pancakes to see how it tastes!
- Panko bread crumbs– How did I end up with two open boxes?? This will change, what with the tuna patties and chicken nuggets.
Aldi
Navel oranges, 4-pound bag: $2.49
Carrots, 2-pound bag: $1.29
Bananas, 2.38 pounds: $.90
Red grapes, 2.15 pounds: $2.13
2 packages broccoli: $1.49 each
Sliced cheddar: $1.79
Zucchini: $1.69
Spinach: $1.49
Yogurt tubes: $1.55
4 cups Greek yogurt: $.65 each
Eggs: $.78
Ibuprofen: $1.95
Kidney beans: $.55
Milk: $1.07
Weekly Total: $23.40
Menu
Lunch is always leftovers. Items marked with an asterisk (*) were purchased in previous weeks.
Dinner
Garlic Parmesan spaghetti* (adding spinach), roasted broccoli
Tuna* patties, Annie’s mac and cheese*, roasted broccoli
Red beans and rice* (Using leftover enchilada sauce instead of tomato sauce), roasted zucchini
Homemade chicken nuggets, frozen Coles Middles snacks*, frozen green beans*
DiGiorno pizza*, grapes
Carrot Pancakes
Leftovers
Breakfast
Pancake bites (Made in a mini muffin tin, using the same carrot pancakes recipe as above)
Sausage links*, English muffins*
Oatmeal*
Scrambled eggs, fruit
What’s on your menu this week? Share below in the comments!