# Sticky  Your Food Storage Meals - January



## viggie

In my December food storage thread, a bunch of folks expressed an interest in continuing with a group thread. This will be a place to discuss cooking from food storage, share menus, post recipes, and whatever else we get ourselves into


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## Kristinemomof3

Count me in. I did a rough draft of what we were going to have for the month. I am hoping to spend less than $200 on groceries that we will need (milk, eggs, any fresh produce) I have a lot of stuff to use up, but if there's a REALLY good sale on something, I will still buy it. The main thing is to try and make due for us. I have some debt to pay down and I need my wedding ring fixed (lost the diamond) and don't have the money to do that yet, hoping by the end of January!! Also, I am working for a week at a university bookstore and will not have as much time to cook or shop.

Today-white turkey chili (using leftover smoked turkey in place of white chicken chili)
Tuesday- Lasagna, I have one box of noodles to use up and then I will be going to homemade pasta since I found a roller/cutter at GW for $9.99 and have only used it once.
Wednesday-smoked ribs (we had some in the freezer that I got on clearance that dh wants to cook up)
Thursday-beef & noodles (with homemade noodles from a friend that borrowed my pasta maker)
Friday-chicken enchiladas (using a whole chicken that we butchered and with friends and will save some of the meat for something else)
Saturday-http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/potato-crusted-yellowtail-snapper-10000001622399/ (fish that my aunt gave me, they do a big fishing trip every year)
Sunday-homemade chicken nuggets or Salads if we are too full from a luncheon at Church
Monday-beef stew
Tuesday-Chix cordon bleu 
Wednesday- Church tacos
Thursday-Spaghetti & Meatballs
Friday-Turkey Noodle Soup (using leftover turkey carcass in the freezer)
Saturday-steak bites
Sunday-Chili
Monday (bookstore week) sloppy joes
Tuesday-Sauerkraut & Sausage
Wednesday-church chili
Thursday-pork loin, balsamic brown sugar glaze (already cooked & shredded in the freezer leftovers http://www.rachelcoo...balsamic-glaze/
Friday-pizza (going to splurge maybe?)
Saturday-Texas Road House? (Dh & I have a gc for him doing sound in a wedding)
Sunday-ham
Monday- chicken pesto ranch (I've made this before using chicken breasts and we used homemade kale pesto that I have in the freezer) http://picky-palate....chicken-thighs/
Tuesday-Chili Cheese Dog Casserole http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chili-cheese-dog-casserole
Wednesday-Chicken & Noodles
Thursday-fish
Friday-meatloaf
Saturday- ham & potatoes http://joyinmykitche...ml#.UsHpDrRW21c
Sunday-homemade pizza
Monday-Pork Sandwiches
Tuesday-Jambalaya
Wednesday-sloppy joes @ church
Thursday-Ham & beans
Friday-Cranberry meatballs/quinoa http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/cranberry-sauerkraut--meatballs
Saturday-Gumbo in the freezer


Everything is subject to change, it's just a rough draft.


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## StaceyS

Wow!! I am impressed!


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## Kristinemomof3

StaceyS said:


> Wow!! I am impressed!



Thanks, I also took an inventory of meat in our freezer: 
The chicken is from a local university (we paid $2.50 each and butchered them ourselves. The beef is from my parents, we pay processing and that's the end of it, except for hamburger, my dad had a bull processed last fall and we got about 140 pounds of hamburger from it. The fish is from my aunt, they fish every year and this year she gave a bunch of it away at Thanksgiving. The polish sausage was a menards deal, they were free after menards rebate, I have an $18 rebate check to spend on other stuff now.

4 whole chickens 
1 turkey
2 hams
1 pork tenderloin 
1 pkg Yelloweye fish
2 Maui Maui
1 pkg Wahoo fish
3 bags cooked shredded pork
2 pkgs chicken breasts
6 pkg polish sausage
3 Smoked sausage
1pkg TN pan fish
2 Porterhouse steaks
1 T-bone steak
1pkg Salmon
Lots of hamburger 
1 Arm roast
3 Soup bones 
1 oxtail
3 Stew meat 
1 beef Brisket 
1 pkg Ribeye 
A bunch of hamburger
& also sliced ham (had a whole ham sliced and put it into individual bags)

Aldi will have chicken breasts on sale for $1.49/lb starting on Thursday, I will probably get a few packages just to add to the freezer, I have nuggets, cordon bleu and that will use up what we already have. I am feeding a family of 5, dh, dd ~16, ds 14, ds 12 1/2, so hearty appetites and dh expects meatier dishes, not casseroles every night. and we have two cats, I am stocked up on food & litter for them.


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## Tommyice

Yes inventory. That's something I'm going to have to do in order to see what the month will shape up like. 

January is also my local grocery store's "can can" sale. Need to see what I can get there to restock.


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## AngieM2

This is now a sticky thread so you can post and we can all find it easier.

Thanks for starting it.


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## Mutti

I'm not ambitious enough to do a whole month food plan but I do go out and shop in my freezer at beginning of the week. Keep a weeks' worth of meal fixings in the house that way and we can do a better job of spreading out the different cuts of beef. We don't eat meat everyday. Rarely pork unless from local sources. Perhaps once a week we'll have chicken. Several times weekly supper is homemade soup and bread so have leftovers for lunch. Like fake tuna salad for lunches..you'd never guess it's made with garbonzo beans! Sunday night is pizza night...unless we just eat big bowls of popcorn!


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## Kristinemomof3

Here's our New Years dinner. Ribs, German potato salad (made with home canned potatoes) & veggies, I only buy whole carrots from Sam's unless homegrown, celery usually on sale at Aldi & peppers only in the winter on clearance at Meijer (usually ~3/$1) I won't pay full price for produce in the winter. 

Breakfast was free Panera pastry (that our church sometimes gets) 

Super will be leftovers plus some homemade coleslaw.


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## Ohio dreamer

I so need to do this! I have dabbled with menu's over the years....but never really stuck to it. The weeks I have them things move so much smoother.


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## Vosey

Thanks for making this a sticky Angie! I wanted to post and couldn't find the thread...duh.

Thanks to Viggie's thread last month I got out some of my #10 cans and looked at what I had stored for dehydrated veggies and started making some soup mixes from the book "Soup Mixes from Dehydrated Products" talked about on the Preserving the Harvest or Cooking forum. I made 2 different potato soups to start. I've never worked with potato flakes before. The soups came out well overall. They were a little bit grainy the first night, but excellent the next day, all grainyness gone. I didn't use butter powder as I didn't want to open an expensive can and I can easily now use fresh. 

Now I need to mix up more of those soups (they fit perfectly in a quart jar) and make some others. 

Kristinemomof3 - wow, your meal planning makes my head spin, I can't think that far ahead! I can do 5 days max, 4 is better and by then I want to eat something I hadn't thought about earlier. Very impressive. 

I desperately need to clean out our freezers, especially the chest freezer as mine does not look like the picture someone posted on here with beautifully organized bins and milk crates!! 

I like the idea of slashing our food bill this month and seeing what we can eat up. Honestly, that then makes me anxious that we won't have enough food on hand! But my food budget and 'stocking up' budget are separate....


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## Jan in CO

I'm impressed, too! I NEED to inventory the freezers and the pantry shelves of canned goods, but just have too much on my plate to do it. Plus, it just looks overwhelming. I am using my home canned and frozen food, tho! Tonight was chili and pears, the chili is the last jar of some I canned in 2010. Still great. I did dehydrate lots of veggies this year, so need to get busy and make things from them. You all are inspiring me!


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## manygoatsnmore

Today I made turkey noodle soup. Turkey carcass was sent home with me from ds/ddil's the Sunday before Christmas (frozen until I could deal with it), used onion and carrot from cold storage, garlic powder, celery seed, basil, rosemary, pepper, salt and egg noodles from storage. Yummy, yummy!

Along with cooking from storage, I also have a shelf in my fridge that is designated for leftovers, and I'm trying to eat from that shelf first. Trying not to waste food, right? So, one of my meals today was leftover mashed potatoes and gravy and ham, with carrot sticks left over from chopping up carrots for the soup. I have half an onion (huge onion) diced and stored in a pint jar for my next cooking session. I'm thinking corned beef hash. Potatoes and onion from cold storage and a can of corned beef from the pantry. Need to eat up more of the food on the "leftover shelf" first.

On a slight thread drift, I asked my dd for an Orgreenic fry pan for Christmas and so far, I absolutely love it! It will be interesting to see how well it works for frying potatoes for the hash...seems like I always end up using a ton of oil to keep them from sticking, even in my very well seasoned cast iron pan. Maybe I'll be able to make a healthier hash.


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## StaceyS

We just got an Orgreenic pan yesterday, we used it for egg whites, potatoes and a little ham. Seems to work great.


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## Ohio dreamer

Challenge taken! I have 2 weeks of menus on paper (and much of week 3). As with each month I just paid the visa bill so there is no money in the checkbook. So for the next two weeks there will be no shopping needed, all meals are from the pantry.

M - pizza
T - Potato and ham soup
w - sloppy joe (home canned)
R - venison sausage and cheese calzones (homemade sausage)
F - pinto beans and rice (we've never had this....from Dec thread )
S - Chicken enchiladas use leftover beans and rice
Su - beef over noodles (home canned)

M - Burritos (use any left over beans and rice, home canned meat)
T - Pot roast (fresh or canned veg...depending on it the kids eat the fresh veg before then or not, lol)
W - Spaghetti with homemade sauce...possibly with home canned ground beef
R - kielbasa and fried potato
F - Turkey Pot Pie (home canned turkey....from 2009!)
S - sweet and sour chicken
Su - tuna casserole


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## wes917

This thread made me take a look at what we have also. Tonight breaded pork chops, rice, and green beans. Tomorrow ham, potatoes, corn, Saturday ham and bean soup, Sunday pork fried rice with veggies. That's as far as I got so far. Will start planning next week on Saturday.


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## Kristinemomof3

Tonight, beef & noodles with mashed potatoes & served in panera bread. Noodles were made by a friend cause I loaned her my pasta machine. Panera bread was free.


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## lindamarie

Ok, I'm in. This is going to be a real challenge as when I started filling the pantry, there was only me and dh, now we have 3'dgds (sometimes4). I plan on using my hopefully 2 hours before everyone wakes up to start an inventory and menus. A no spend month for groceries would be great. Luckily, dgd tells me I'm a good cooker.


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## Vosey

OK, I just showed DH the freezer inventory list and he said, "where are all the weird things? The bags of bones and unidentifiable stuff in tupperware?".

I WILL inventory the freezer this weekend (hopefully getting him to help me!) and start meal planning for this month from it. By posting this I will have to do it....

You all motivated me to not go to the store tomorrow, eat what we have on hand. I do have milk for yogurt making and 1/2 & 1/2 for coffee which are our only store essentials.


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## Kristinemomof3

Ok, even though this is for food storage, I still plan to buy stuff, just not as much as normal. This is what I bought today. I plan to get more eggs next week when Walgreens has them for $1/dozen. We live in a rural subdivision and do not have chickens (yet)

Good day shopping, sausage is cooked up for biscuits & gravy x3 meals.
Potatoes are to can on Sunday.

I went and got a few groceries before we get a big snow storm. 





WM, spent $6.92 on 

2 pkgs sausage (1.98 each), 

Ok,stopped by WM, spent 6.92 on 2 pkgs sausage (1.98 each),

Bic wite out, .97 they only had 1 pkg. free plus .03mm, after $1 coupon on coupons.com

Special K cereal $2.92, $5wm e-card back http://hip2save.com/2014/01/03/walm...-dance-2014-cereal-free-5-walmart-egift-card/


Aldi-large eggs $1.29
whole wheat bread $1.29
navel oranges $1.99
romaine hearts $1.99
10 lbs potatoes $2.49
Thick bacon $6.29
Pork Sausage links $2.19
Total $17.53

and then CVS-

2 deans milk

oxy clean stain 3 lb. container

Dawn hand care .99 sale (.50 coupon) bought 5

3 pkgs gum

used $4/$20 coupon & $5 Beauty Bucks

.50 ECB 

Total OOP $10.03 plus $2 ECB 

back on the milk

Total OOP $34.48 plus $7 total to use later.


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## Vosey

I did it! The inventory is done. And DH helped : ) Good thing we did the inventory, I did find some meat that needs to be eaten now and discovered that 1/2 my freezer is taken up with bursting gallon bags of whizzed up tomatoes. We also have much less ground beef than I thought. And need to stock up on more butter! 

1 chicken
3 ground beef
4 ground elk
1 ground pork
5 pork sausage (breakfast style which we never eat)
3 italian sausage
1 linguica
2 brats
3 ham bones
1 pork butt roast
2 pork roasts
1 1/2 # bacon
1 london broil
1 beef fillets
1 ball tip
5 rib eyes
2 porterhouse
1 rabbit
1 chuck roast
5 pork steaks
1 chicken thighs
2 cod fillet
11 lbs ground beef for dog food
10 lbs brown rice
2 lbs yeast
2 gallons chicken stock
2 quarts chicken stock
2 quarts tomato sauce
7 pints pesto
2 packages ravioli's
Chanterelles
2 containers of mystery meals
Spinach, pea pods and green beans
2 gallons of peaches and strawberries
*and 10 gallon bags of tomatoes!*

I'm not going to list all the bread and pizza dough or lunch size bags of rice....

Overall, a bunch of stuff needs to be used up and I didn't think there was really all that much in there. 

For this week I'm thawing a chicken, a pork roast and 2 ribeyes. Leftovers will fill in the other nights. 

And I must tackle tomatoes!


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## Kristinemomof3

Vosey said:


> I did it! The inventory is done. And DH helped : ) Good thing we did the inventory, I did find some meat that needs to be eaten now and discovered that 1/2 my freezer is taken up with bursting gallon bags of whizzed up tomatoes. We also have much less ground beef than I thought. And need to stock up on more butter!
> 
> 1 chicken
> 3 ground beef
> 4 ground elk
> 1 ground pork
> 5 pork sausage (breakfast style which we never eat)
> 3 italian sausage
> 1 linguica
> 2 brats
> 3 ham bones
> 1 pork butt roast
> 2 pork roasts
> 1 1/2 # bacon
> 1 london broil
> 1 beef fillets
> 1 ball tip
> 5 rib eyes
> 2 porterhouse
> 1 rabbit
> 1 chuck roast
> 5 pork steaks
> 1 chicken thighs
> 2 cod fillet
> 11 lbs ground beef for dog food
> 10 lbs brown rice
> 2 lbs yeast
> 2 gallons chicken stock
> 2 quarts chicken stock
> 2 quarts tomato sauce
> 7 pints pesto
> 2 packages ravioli's
> Chanterelles
> 2 containers of mystery meals
> Spinach, pea pods and green beans
> 2 gallons of peaches and strawberries
> *and 10 gallon bags of tomatoes!*
> 
> I'm not going to list all the bread and pizza dough or lunch size bags of rice....
> 
> Overall, a bunch of stuff needs to be used up and I didn't think there was really all that much in there.
> 
> For this week I'm thawing a chicken, a pork roast and 2 ribeyes. Leftovers will fill in the other nights.
> 
> And I must tackle tomatoes!


Do you like biscuits & gravy? You should totally make that with the sausage.


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## Vosey

Do you know, I have never eaten biscuits and gravy! I'm from an old New England family and we ate fish and boiled dinners with an occasional roast or chicken thrown in. Oh, and lots of soup. In the summer it was all about seafood and the huge vegetable garden. The only sausage we had was "bangers and mash".

And I've never made biscuits or dumplings.....but I am up for learning how!


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## Kristinemomof3

Vosey said:


> Do you know, I have never eaten biscuits and gravy! I'm from an old New England family and we ate fish and boiled dinners with an occasional roast or chicken thrown in. Oh, and lots of soup. In the summer it was all about seafood and the huge vegetable garden. The only sausage we had was "bangers and mash".
> 
> And I've never made biscuits or dumplings.....but I am up for learning how!


Oh my, my family begs for biscuits & gravy. You should do make it!


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## Kristinemomof3

This was dinner tonight. The coleslaw was a little too chopped up, I normally don't use the food processor for the cabbage. Now I know why. Crusted yellow eye snapper, coleslaw & leftover rice with veggies added.


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## terri9630

Vosey said:


> Do you know, I have never eaten biscuits and gravy! I'm from an old New England family and we ate fish and boiled dinners with an occasional roast or chicken thrown in. Oh, and lots of soup. In the summer it was all about seafood and the huge vegetable garden. The only sausage we had was "bangers and mash".
> 
> And I've never made biscuits or dumplings.....but I am up for learning how!


Ummm. What is bangers and mash? Sounds like a punk rock band.


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## Kristinemomof3

I think bangers & mash are brats & mashed potatoes?


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## lindamarie

Well since I haven't had a refrigerator or freezer for 14 years I only had to inventory pantry. Try doing that with 4 girls five and under. 

Lots of chicken, pork, ground beef, beef, sausage, fruits, jams, soups, veggies, and grains. We should be good. Since weather had gotten colder, filled my old fashioned icebox with butter, milk, eggs, cheeses.

Breakfasts will be pancakes, waffles, oatmeal/ hot cereal, eggs,toast

Lunch today pb&j homemade peach jam and sliced apples (love my root cellar) 
Breakfast...pancakes and hot chocolate
Dinner....homemade vegetable barley soup with cornbread 

Have lots of winter squash, apples, potatoes, onions and carrots in root cellar, also have dry milk and canned milk.


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## manygoatsnmore

I'm making corned beef hash tonight - I am having a REALLY late dinner tonight! Finished up the turkey noodle soup today, and fed the leftover egg salad mix and deviled egg filling to the dog - it was from Christmas and I didn't think I should risk it, lol. No way I could eat 3 dozen eggs before they "turned". Muttley was happy to help me out.


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## Vosey

Bangers and mash are English sausages that are similar to a brat. All pork and lemon and sage. My mother served them sticking out of a pile of mashed potatoes.


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## Kristinemomof3

We'll have leftovers tonight. Dh is out plowing, I am canning potatoes in a bit, cooked up hamburger for the freezer and may go through some recipes and update my binder later. Staying home the next few days!!


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## viggie

Making a batch of this today so it'll be packed in my lunches most of the week.










Bean and Barley Stew

1 cup kidney beans, cooked
1 1/2 cups barley, cooked
28 ounces tomato juice
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup carrots, grated
1 cup celery, sliced
1 teaspoon bullion
1 teaspoon chili powder

Requires preparation! Soak and cook kidney beans (or use canned). Cook barley (can be done in your rice cooker). Combine all ingredients in a pot and heat to boiling. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. 

Originally seen in the book Country Beans


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## Vosey

Thanks to the freezer inventory I'm now going to tackle my long term storage stuff like dry milk, beans, #10 cans of things. In other words my prepper stuff. I know I have lots of some things and not so much of others. I'd rather not post that inventory, but thanks to you all for getting me motivated to do it! 

I feel on top of my home canned goods and regular pantry goods. I checked all my cans and crackers etc for expiration dates before Christmas and donated the stuff that was expiring in the next few months to the local food pantry.


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## Vosey

Viggie, your soup looks great. Also looks like something TVP would be good in. I haven't cooked yet with TVP, if anyone has tips or what they like it in I'd love to hear them. 

I do have some dehydrated soup mix recipes that call for TVP. 

I have plain TVP as it was much cheaper than flavored. DH is not crazy about trying it, but I think we should have some food storage plans ready to go with it. And he will eat anything I cook for him : )


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## viggie

Vosey said:


> Viggie, your soup looks great. Also looks like something TVP would be good in. I haven't cooked yet with TVP, if anyone has tips or what they like it in I'd love to hear them.
> 
> I do have some dehydrated soup mix recipes that call for TVP.
> 
> I have plain TVP as it was much cheaper than flavored. DH is not crazy about trying it, but I think we should have some food storage plans ready to go with it. And he will eat anything I cook for him : )


It's kinda like tofu in that it doesn't really have flavor of it's own, it'll take on the flavor of the dish...so something like this with tomatoes and spices or adding it to spaghetti sauce would be great first tries for it.


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## StaceyS

TVP is so easy to use! Reminds me I should get some for my pantry...


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## lindamarie

Viggie......i really like your dish pattern. I would love to use my nice dishes, but with a 1, 3, 4, and 5 year old.....everyday dishes are for the best. I figure as long as I don't have to eat off Disney or dora plates I'm happy. Besides, the company and food is what counts.


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## 36376

Yesterday - Used up things in the fridge that were getting ready to go bad - shredded potatoes, sour cream, made hasbrown casserole. YUM!

Today - Homemade chicken noodle soup and biscuits - all from the pantry and homecanned stuff. 

I really like this challenge. The only thing we had to buy for this week is bread. I'd like to start making bread but my husband doesn't like homemade bread for sandwiches.


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## Kristinemomof3

We had leftovers tonight as planned. Dh is out plowing and who knows how long he'll be doing that, I think we got 10 inches at least. THe kids and I made snow ice cream tonight.


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## lindamarie

Yesterday.....
B....oatmeal with raisins and hot chocolate 
L....sandwiches and sliced apples
D....leftover barley soup and cornbread 

Snacks are graham crackers, fruit, carrot sticks and yogurt

With all the kids here sometimes my posting is going to be a day behind. Sorry


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## Mutti

Hobos for supper yesterday...a burger, sliced potatoes, carrots, huge sliced onion on pa's, can of drained home canned green beans, few leftover mushrooms on mine. Spray sheet a. foil, place hamburger and season as desired. Pile up the veggies and seal into a pkt. 350 for an hour or so. Good excuse to have the oven on with these sub-zero temps! 

Tonight it is crockpot lasagna with the other half lb. of burger. We always try to get two meals out of our home grown beef. And do it in 1 # pkgs as more frugal. More than enough for two meals for the two of us. Notice son and his wife go thru their ground beef way faster than we do. Do their half beef in 1-1/2# pkgs. Do believe too much red meat makes our arthritis worse...or is it these sub-zero temps? 

Tomorrow will be beef barley soup and corn bread. Have home canned stew beef to use in that.


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## Ohio dreamer

Due to the cold I have switched some meals around. So today is:

B - peanut butter cereal (wheat flour, peanut butter, b sugar and milk - cooked. Top with a few choc chips - A kid favorite)
L - left over beef stew pie from last night
S - Ham and potato soup (using left over celery sticks from the holidays) - today's more of a soup day then a pizza kind of day.


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## Vosey

Tried a dried soup mix made up from some of my own dried veggies and some commercial potatoes flakes and such. Not as good as the first one which was a cheesy potato mix. But i think I just needs to change the spice ratio an add some dried cheese, everything's better with cheese! I'm using a book of recipe's, jotting down notes and changes, and when I get a good one I'll mix up a bunch. I feel a bit like those Honeyville video's with the woman surrounded by #10 cans!


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## manygoatsnmore

My corned beef hash turned out too moist and not "fried" enough, so yesterday, I re-fried it, cooking on low until the water content was much reduced and then turning the heat up to brown them. That worked really well. It also needed a lot more potatoes to balance out the amount of corned beef I'd used, as well as the abundance of pepper I'd accidentally overdosed it with, so I cut up 5 more Yukon Gold potatoes and cooked them on low until tender and fairly dry, and again turning the heat up to brown them. Yum! Now that I know how to adjust my cooking to fit this pan, I really like the non-stick, easy clean. 

I made apple juice from the apples that were reaching the end of their storage life in my fridge, using my steam juicer. From about 8-10 pounds of apples, I got a gallon plus a quart of juice, and I have the remains fermenting for apple cider.

I tried to use up some aging broccoli and provolone cheese by trying my hand at making cream of broccoli cheese soup in the Vita-Mix. Well, that was a mixed bag at best. I think if I'd just used cheddar it would have been okay, but if I'd used fresher broccoli and cheddar, it would have been AWESOME! I'd never made soup in the Vita-Mix before, but now that I know it really works, I'll be doing it more often. Very creamy smooth, and it grinds up the stalks and all so that you can use the whole broccoli, not just the florets. I have some dehydrated broccoli...may try it next time. BTW, I used home canned broth, Nido dry milk, flour, salt, pepper, butter, onion, garlic, broccoli and cheese in the soup.


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## Kristinemomof3

We had beef stew tonight, cooked it in the oven to help warm up the house. Our cable was out from last night until this afternoon, so I am behind on some stuff, but was able to get other work done today.


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## viggie

I made scones last night, that served as breakfast for me and my co-workers.









Recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/kittencals-jumbo-bakery-shop-blueberry-sour-cream-scones-229860


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## lindamarie

I wad having a rough day yesterday and washing laundry by hand didn't help. Dh took over meals with dgds....
B..cold cereal, a real treat here
L..pb&j homemade spiced peach jam
D..fried eggs, toast and sliced apples
Snack...graham crackers and yogurt 

Today we have frozen water and milk froze in icebox.

B...oatmeal with dried blueberries
L...hotdog and applesauce 
D..rice, green beans, corn, and chicken

Applesauce, green beans and corn was put up from garden; chicken was breasts that I had canned. 

Hot chocolate, milk. I keep dry milk and I had canned some up.

This is working out well, too cold to get out, too cold for truck to start. I love my pantry!!


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## Jan in CO

The scones look lovely, Viggie! I'll have to make up a batch for Mama for her tea.

Linda, There are days I don't get on here, and I don't have the excuse of the little ones any longer to distract me! How are they all doing now? Hope you've all gotten over the illness.


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## manygoatsnmore

Oh, those scones look heavenly! I'm thinking maybe I'll try making some tomorrow morning. I have bananas that need used up so I'll have the oven on for banana bread, might as well make it do double duty. 

I do need to go to town tomorrow or the next day, and will be doing a bit of grocery shopping. I don't need much, though. As far as eating out of storage, I have nearly 8 dozen eggs in the fridge. I need to make some egg dishes to catch up with my hens. I finished the hash today - I think it improves on the 2nd or 3rd day. I'm thinking maybe spaghetti or similar next.


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## Ohio dreamer

B - DD made us french toast 
L - Leftover potato ham soup
D - Sloppy Joes (home canned) - We need a quickie as we are running in, eating, and running back out


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## Vosey

So far, so good this week. Breakfast has been leftover bagels from work (love good scrounged food!) and lunch has been leftovers. 

Last night we had almost freezer burned ribeye steaks (thanks to the freezer inventory!), our carrots and couscous. The couscous is from a 10# bag I bought incredibly cheap on Amazon. I'm still trying to figure out how to make it super tasty like the NearEast couscous mixes. I threw in some dried cheese powder and dried scallions last night. 

Today is harder. I have a work meeting in town so can't take lunch and I mistakenly have no frozen lunches at work. So I think I'll splurge on Subway. Oh well. Dinner will be eggs or a pork roast.


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## Kristinemomof3

This is what we are having tonight: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/06/chicken-cordon-bleu-the-easy-way.html


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## lindamarie

Water still frozen, so trying to conserve on what we have stored up.

B...cold cereal and toast, really need to finish off the fruit loops as it is comfort food for grandma late at night.
L...grilled cheese
D...pasta, spaghetti sauce with meat, left over green beans and corn. Sauce was home canned from summers garden and ground beef was canned up in summer

Applesauce and graham crackers.

Since I don't have a refrigerator I can all of our meat, our apple trees were very prolific so we have lots of applesauce, apple juice and fresh stored in root cellar.


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## Ohio dreamer

Ok, we cheated yesterday, we ended up at Taco Bell for lunch. I was craving fresh veg too much to not go to the store and get some, which meant we had to leave before lunch to do that, the library and get DS to his 1:00 class.

BUT we are being good today!
B: Pumpkin Zucchini bread - I had too....the zucchini's told me to do it!!
L: Left over potato soup (that I added fresh spinach to - YUM!)
D: Venison sausage, cheese, pepper, and spinach calzones with a salad on the side.


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## Vosey

LindaMarie - I'm going to crave fruit loops now! I haven't had them in years, pretty addictive little buggers fro snacking aren't they?

So I got really sick yesterday, worked this morning for half a day and came home and napped. I did stop at Subway yesterday, but got a foot long and ate the other half for lunch today. DH was very upset I was eating "such crap food", really, it could have been much worse :shocked:

Back to food storage.

Dinner last night: Scrambled eggs with rehydrated home-dried veggies

Today:

B: Oatmeal
L: Subway leftovers
D: Quart of beef stew with a pint of potatoes 

Cookies from storage for a snack (I do store the good stuff too!)


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## viggie

Mac & Cheese using my powdered cheese and milk


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## lindamarie

Vosey....i will be glad when the fruit loops are gone! They are like potato chips, you can't eat just one.

B.....scrambled eggs, toast, sliced bananas and hot chocolate 
L....leftovers from last night dinner and applesauce 
D...bean and cheese burrito, rice, carrot sticks, sliced peaches and pears

Peaches and pears were put up over summer. Why I decided to feed beans and cheese to 4 kids I will never know. They sure enjoyed it though.


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## tryskal

Wow! Great thread. You guys are pretty awesome the way you use what you have. I'll definitely be learning a thing or three from you all.

Tonight I was going to make homemade mashed potatoes to go with supper. I ended up adding too much milk. Okay....I went ahead & boiled another potato & added it to it. Declared it potato soup & taking it for lunch at work tomorrow.


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## lindamarie

Vosey....the fruit loops are Gone!!!!!


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## Kristinemomof3

I am using up what we have, but still spending a bit at the grocery store. These were my shopping trips the last two days:
1/9 $44.05
groceries
Sam's Club
joint juice for dh 16.82
2 gallons milk $2.19 each
Heavy Cream $3.16
Whole Carrots 2.98
swiss cheese slices $6.74

Total $35.26

Menards-I don't normally grocery shop here, however I had and $18 rebate check from free brats in November.
Olive Oil 2 liter was on clearance $7
2 pkgs garden seeds .35 each
Apple Cider Vinegar gallon $3.83
9 lives 12 ct cat frood $4.69
Choc. covered pretzels $2.00
Paid $1.04 oop an dgot another rebate for $2.09 (11% back on all purchases)

Walgreens
$3.98 for 4 dozen eggs
Walmart
plastic wrap $1.58
rubber gloves $2.73
Wheat bread $1.28
Almond Breeze $2.88 for dh he's lactose intolerant
Total 3.77 after a $5 ecard from cereal I bought last week.

1/9
I ended up running to Meijer, we needed balsamic vinegar and I spent a little more than planned, but was also able to get a box of bananas for $5. What we could fit on the dehydrator are dehydrating and we froze most of the rest, I left a few better ones out to eat and then I will make a banana cream pie later, I have a graham cracker crust leftover from Thanksgiving to use up anyway. I also found a flask for .79, a cake ball mix .69, a thing of liquid pump soap, slightly leaked at the top & dried, but it was .11 Also a cloth table set for $1.49, there were two and so I grabbed both, I have a red set, but it would have been nice to have more during Christmas for the table. 
Old Orchard juice (mainly so I could finish the Ibotta deal if I bought three items, get an extra $2.50, also 4 Lunch Meat, 4 sliced cheese, 2 boxes cereal, balsamic vinegar & spicy mustard. I spent $35.74 after coupons and saved $60.33. Paul weighed the bananas, and it was 40 pounds.


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## Vosey

Kristinemomof3 - stop going to the store if you don't want to spend any money :spinsmiley: although you did get a few good deals. 

I am sick, sick, sick. So this is week 3 without me going to the store. Saving lots of money! And I am so glad I have spent the last 2 years since moving out to the boonies stocking up. But I will need to do a big shop sometime. DH did pick up 1/2 & 1/2, milk, cheese and juice last week when he was in town. I made enough yogurt last week to last. Our dependence on dairy and juice is what really dictates regular shopping. So far have spent $20 this month.


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## Kristinemomof3

Haha, my goal is under $200 for the month, I can still make it. I will be working about 50 hours next week and won't have time to go to the store. Some stuff, like the joint juice, we were almost out of and it's something dh "wants."


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## manygoatsnmore

Took a family pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts from the freezer and poached them in herbs - yielded about 10 meals worth of chicken and over a gallon of yummy stock. I'm trimming bits off the breasts as I slice them and re-heat for meals, and will make a big pot of chicken noodle soup in a few days. 

Haven't been to town since Christmas Day and haven't been shopping since the Sunday before Christmas.


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## lindamarie

Haven't been off my mountain since January 2. My only purchase was 6 gallons of milk and 2 bunches of bananas, milk 2.99 gallon and about 3.00 for bananas.
So just about 21.00 all our meals are coming from what we had canned and stocked up on. Not to bad for 6 of us.

Yesterday....
B... Pancakes with sliced cinnamon apples, we have a lot of apples
L...pb and homemade peach jam sandwiches 
D...tri color pasta w/ peas and diced kielbasa and sauce sprinkled with mozzarella cheese and baked, sliced mixed home canned fruit.


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## Vosey

Since I'm sick I haven't eaten much. Dinner was a beautiful bowl of homemade peach yogurt, granola and home canned peaches.

Does anyone here have a recipe for homemade granola they love? That's another store dependent item. I think I could get DH to make it as he is the one who usually eats it. I don't have much time to make anything else with this irritating thing called a job!


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## jkhs

Vosey, here's the granola recipe that I use. I vary what dried fruits I put in it, and sometimes add chopped nuts. I also sometimes put a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon in with the oil.

6 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (optional-I usually don't add them)
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
chopped dried fruit (optional, can also add mini chocolate chips, nuts, etc)

Place oats into an ungreased 13x9 inch pan and bake at 350* for 10 minutes. Mix honey, oil, vanilla (and cinnamon, if using). Add to oats. Add sunflower seeds. Mix well. Bake until uniformly golden and dry. Stir every 3 to 5 minutes. Allow to cool and add dried fruit and nuts, if using.

The recipe says this takes about 15 minutes to bake, but it almost always takes a little longer for me.


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## Vosey

Thanks jkhs! Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow and can get up off the sofa and make some! I like the simplicity of this, think I'll just add a few nuts.


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## Kristinemomof3

Tonight we had steak bites, similar to these, but I just use bacon grease since dh is lactose intolerant and I drizzle with a balsamic reduction. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/01/steak-bites/ I also made spinach balls to go with them, but I subbed arugula & swiss chard that I froze from the garden. These are awesome:
*[FONT=&quot]Spinach Balls[/FONT]*
[FONT=&quot]1 frozen package of spinach (16 oz), thawed and thoroughly drained[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2 cups of shredded mozzarella[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1/4 cup flour[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1/2 teaspoon sea salt[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1/4 teaspoon garlic powder[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1/4 teaspoon onion powder[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2 eggs, beaten[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Fresh ground pepper[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Preheat oven to 400Âº F. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with homemade marinara dipping sauce.[/FONT]


They are adapted from here: 

http://bigeatstinykitchen.com/2012/...ach-cheese-balls-with-marinara-dipping-sauce/


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## lindamarie

A day behind again.

Yesterday
B....oatmeal with dried fruit
L....leftovers 
D....hamburgers no buns, mashed potatoes, peas

I figured out that I am preparing 6 meals, 3 times a day, 7 days a week....126 meals per week; all with food from my pantry and my big spend of $21.00. Not bad.


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## manygoatsnmore

Decided to make a pot of chicken and noodles rather than all out soup (I figure soup needs carrots, celery and other veg in it for some reason :shrug: ) last night and have snacked on it all day today. I'm getting close to wanting a town trip for things that I prefer store-bought...nothing I MUST have, but I'd like to have a few things. I like the sliced potato bread at Winco, but I can make bread at home, of course. I like Yoplait Light yogurt, but I can make yogurt at home from dry milk and a glop of yogurt as starter, and flavored with home canned fruit.


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## Vosey

I'm starting to feel better! Last night we had a year old pork roast rescued during the freezer inventory with the last of our acorn squash and some store-bought cauliflower (part of the $20 listed above).

Today:

B: Oatmeal
L: Thin pork slices on toasted Naan found in the freezer (dated 02/2012!, had to cut off dried out ends)
S: Hard boiled egg
D: Spaghetti with home canned tomato sauce mixed with an expired TJ jar found in the backstock cupboard and old italian sausage found in the freezer. That was luckily only 6 months old.

So appetizing when I list how old everything is! <g> but really quite delicious. 

I also made a lentil soup with some linguica found in the freezer, onions, garlic (down to the last of the garlic), the last of my store bought celery, dried carrots and zucchini. And of course homemade stock.


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## viggie

Got tomorrows dinner brineing. Sweet and Sour Hasenpfeffer from my very first backyard meat rabbit.


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## Vosey

Just looked up what Sweet and Sour Hasenpfeffer is! Sounds delicious and I have a frozen rabbit that needs to get out of the freezer soon. But I don't have any sour cream or heavy cream, I will have to finally go to the store. 

What do you serve your with?


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## Ohio dreamer

I'm eating what tastes good today. I'm still a bit "off my feed"

B: oatmeal with cranberries and almonds
L: smoothie (banana, apple, alvacado, spinach, blueberries, milk, and honey....honest it tasted great!!)
D: kids are making pancakes and bacon


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## Vosey

Since my last posting 1/12, DH got my bug, but was even sicker. We have been eating lentil soup EVERY night since as he usually cooks when I work. I was too tired to care. I'm not one to usually eat the same thing for days in a row. 

The bright side is that was a pretty cost effective pot of soup! Lentils, some linguicq found in the freezer, home dehydrated veggies and home canned stock. And I didn't have to freeze the leftovers.

Tomorrow I go to the store for the first time in 3 weeks!


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## manygoatsnmore

Tomorrow is the first shopping trip in over 3 weeks for me, too. Costco is on the list. I like to buy several of their rotisserie chickens when I go there...they are delicious, fully cooked and cheaper than whole, raw chickens. I can get a number of meals from each one, too. Need to go to Winco, too, for bread, bagels, milk, and produce, and I need to pick up some red paste food coloring somewhere (Michael's, etc) for the Berky filters, since I don't trust them unless they filter out the red.

Got a family pack of steaks out of the freezer, cooked one and re-froze the rest properly in food saver bags. That's been the main meat today, and will likely be alternated with chicken over the coming week. Vegies have been frozen peas and sweet corn, or home-canned green beans. Have been eating tangerines and apples as my fruits. Could also have home-dehydrated or purchased dried fruits for a change of pace. It's been eye-opening to me to see just how little of my stores I've eaten over the last 3 weeks...I probably have over 5 years of food in storage, if I were only cooking for myself. Of course, if the SHTF, I'd likely have at least some of my family here eventually.


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## viggie

One of my "very homemade" meals. Sweet and Sour Hasenpfeffer made with my first backyard meat over rice, boiled homecanned carrots, homecanned applesauce, and carbonated water flavored with homecanned strawberry kiwi lemonade concentrate.


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## Vosey

I'm getting some rabbits from a friend and am definitely trying the Hasenpfeffer! And I'm going to need more room in the freezer. 

I thawed some burger and bacon from the freezer to eat tonight with roasted sweet potatoes. 

My shopping trip felt like a dairy fest, milk, 1/2 & 1/2, sour cream, cheese and more cheese! 

I've realized that our dependence on dairy is the biggest issue with eating from storage and probably the biggest prepping issue. I store dry milk and dehydrated dairy products but I know they are not going to taste or cook the same.


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## Kristinemomof3

We've been doing well, it's just been a crazy week, I worked about 45 hours this week.


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## manygoatsnmore

I made that shopping trip and have been grazing on 1 of 3 rotisserie chickens since (other 2 in freezer for later). I stocked up on yogurt, milk, bread, vegies and fruit, as well as a bit of junk food and a case of granola bars, which are marginal. Tomorrow I plan to make cream of broccoli cheese soup in the Vita-mix, and I have more chicken breast meat to cook up. I'm thinking herbed chicken breast with stuffing and cauliflower.


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## Vosey

Over the weekend I soaked 2.5 lbs of garbanzo's, canned a bunch and made the leftovers into soup. Used mostly dehydrated veggies, canned pork, a little bacon and the frozen roasted tomatoes from 2 years ago found when I did the freezer inventory! Delish. 

I store a lot of dried beans and really, if the SHTF they'd be a lot easier to use canned.


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## Ohio dreamer

B: Breakfast cookies
L: ate out - we were on a field trip
D: Taco or Taco salad.

Stopped at the "re-claimed" grocer while on the field trip (I don't know what else to call them, lol). Picked up taco dinner kits as the kids think taco shells are cooler then salad over corn chips :shrug:. They also had yogurt for $0.25 a cup and they were all 30% off, so 4 for $0.70....tomorrows breakfast!


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## lindamarie

Hi to everyone. Been nuts here, always running behind it seems. Still eating out of pantry, sprihghouse and cellar. 

Our meals have been.....pancakes, oatmeal, eggs, sausage, biscuits
Grilled cheese, mac and cheese, pb&j, leftovers
Spaghetti, hotdogs, soups, chicken, pork, rice, potatoes, assorted veggies. 
We have made butter nut squash cake, cookies, pudding.

Today...
B.....oatmeal with brown sugar and maple syrup 
L....peanut butter and peach jam
S...popcorn
D...black bean chili (black beans, onions, corn, diced tomatoes, seasoned tomato sauce, ground beef), rice

I am so grateful for all the canning that I did. We put up peaches, pears, blueberries, apples, assorted meats veggies sauces jams, etc. Feeding a family of 5 out of the pantry isn't as hard as I thought it would be. Actually its what we usually do. Besides we are snowed in and have been for a bit


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## Vosey

So I managed to spend 1/2 of our usual food budget this month. Would have been less if there hadn't been so many good deals at the store on Friday! But we have made headway on the freezers. 

B: Bagel & cream cheese (not from storage, part of my store splurge!)
L: Omelet with cheese and rehydrated green peppers, salsa
D: A large acorn squash stuffed with rice from the freezer, a jar of tomatoes and cheese.


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## manygoatsnmore

I made one shopping trip this month, and have been mostly eating out of the pantry and freezer. Haven't posted what I eat each day because it tends to be a bit boring - I can eat the same thing for days in a row if that's what I'm in the mood for. Knowing what I have on hand and what I've eaten this month, I think I can decrease my grocery budget by quite a bit this year, which will help as I need to stretch my $$ until I'm able to start drawing my retirement funds in October or decide to "un-retire". I've been enjoying my time at home since taking early retirement, and even though I have a feeling I'm going to go back to work sooner or later (I like being an RN), it's nice to know that I can eat well out of my pantry and save my $$ for more important things.


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## sss3

Ohio Dreamer Can you post exactly how to make PB cereal? For one serving. Thanks.


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## Vosey

The freezer is 1/2 empty! Took out a 10 lb bag of ground beef for dog food a few days ago. Will can it up this weekend. I'm hoping to get the 12 bags of tomatoes out soon as well. 

I still have a lot of weird things left and 3 big ham bones. 

Now I'm getting a little anxious that we don't have much meat in the freezer! Although we have a fair amount canned (but not enough). Not sure what 'enough' is, enough to make me sleep well at night....


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## Ohio dreamer

Sandra Spiess said:


> Ohio Dreamer Can you post exactly how to make PB cereal? For one serving. Thanks.


It's based on a recipe I found years ago on Hillbilly Housewife (not sure if it's still there)

I'm guessing on the "one serving" part.....you may have to tweak it to fit your appetite, the the ratios are right.
1/4 c wheat flour
1 c water (I use milk)
2T brown sugar
2T peanut butter (I use a bit more to up the protein/sticking power)
dash of salt.

Wisk flour and water over med heat. Once well mixed add in the rest. KEEP STIRRING! This is not a walk away thing, lol. Bring to a boil...reduce heat to low. Keep stirring and cooking for another 3-5 minutes. I like to add about 10 choc chip to the bottom of the bowl, then pour the hot cereal on :gaptooth:


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## 36376

manygoatsnmore said:


> Tomorrow is the first shopping trip in over 3 weeks for me, too. Costco is on the list. I like to buy several of their rotisserie chickens when I go there...they are delicious, fully cooked and cheaper than whole, raw chickens. I can get a number of meals from each one, too.


I do this too. I pull the meat off and package into meal sized portions and freeze. I've used in homecanned chicken noodle soup. I also use the carcuses for homemade stock and then can that as well. Such a versatile thing!


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## Vosey

So I'm thinking I need another month of eating from food storage. We've been off our budget for a few months with family visiting and other expenses and I'd like to save as much as possible for a month. Starting May 1st (or sooner!). We have a little bit going in the garden; kale, spinach and lettuce. My freezer is somehow full again : ) and I need to make room for 10 chickens come July. I also opened some #10 cans of potatoes and corn to experiment with and need to eat them up. 

Anyone else interested?


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## Jan in CO

Sounds good to me! I'm trying to use more and more of our pantry foods and less from the grocery.


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## Vosey

So it starts today, as today's paycheck covers the first part of May. I went to the store for the usual milk, cheese, cat food, beer and a few other necessities. Morton's salt was on sale for .89, although the container looked smaller than I remembered. So I had to buy two for back stock. Couldn't resist a 2.99 bag of potatoes. Next trip is in 2 weeks.

Took a pot roast out of the freezer, it's a cold rainy weekend so that's perfect. Making pizza's tonight; pesto (from the freezer) and leeks and a breakfast pizza as we're over run with eggs. Also took out some italian sausage from the freezer, I'll make a frittata/ quiche thing tomorrow with lots of eggs and sausage. 

I just realized the thread title is for January, oh well.


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## Vosey

2 weeks in update:

I ended up having to "go to town" - the big city of 70,000 an hour and a few towns away from us. I couldn't miss out on the opportunity to go to Target haven't been there in 2 years, some of the prices were incredible. So I stocked up on sundries and got some storage bins we needed as DH has converted all the ones we had into worm bins etc. 

But we're still eating from storage except for dairy products. And this week we are low on dairy! I just made yogurt from dry milk, hope it's palatable. The milk powder was old so need to be used up anyway. We're out of cheese, I have dried, but that's not really the same thing. 

A few meals I've scrounged up: 
a frozen pizza dough thawed with pesto and the end of the leeks in the fridge served with a salad of little greens from the garden. 
an old jar of ham and a quart of turkey soup mixed together with a pint of garbanzos and dehydrated veggies.
a pork butt cooked slow on the grill, a pint of pinto's made into refried beans and a pint of carrots​some old italian sausage from the freezer cooked up with dehydrated potatoes and eggs.​
Now we're out of our stock of store bought molasses cookies, I have some dates that need to be used up so will turn them into oatmeal date cookies this afternoon. 

But despite the Target trip, I was able to put $200 in savings already.


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## margoC

Tag for interests. I'm needing to eat up some of my older stores. I need to plan meals better. 

Great thread!


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## pixiedoodle

I REALLY ENJOYED ALL THE POSTS IN THIS OLD FOOD STORAGE MEALS FROM 2014! LOTS OF GOOD IDEAS & LOTS OF INSPIRATIONAL IDEAS . SOUNDS LIKE A PANTRY CHALLENGE WOULD BE A FUN IDEA AFTER CHRISTMAS & NEW YEARS AS WE ALL SETTLE INTO A WINTER ROUTINE.


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## LostCaper

lindamarie said:


> Hi to everyone. Been nuts here, always running behind it seems. Still eating out of pantry, sprihghouse and cellar.
> 
> Our meals have been.....pancakes, oatmeal, eggs, sausage, biscuits
> Grilled cheese, mac and cheese, pb&j, leftovers
> Spaghetti, hotdogs, soups, chicken, pork, rice, potatoes, assorted veggies.
> We have made butter nut squash cake, cookies, pudding.
> 
> Today...
> B.....oatmeal with brown sugar and maple syrup
> L....peanut butter and peach jam
> S...popcorn
> D...black bean chili (black beans, onions, corn, diced tomatoes, seasoned tomato sauce, ground beef), rice
> 
> I am so grateful for all the canning that I did. We put up peaches, pears, blueberries, apples, assorted meats veggies sauces jams, etc. Feeding a family of 5 out of the pantry isn't as hard as I thought it would be. Actually its what we usually do. Besides we are snowed in and have been for a bit


Are you still canning and have food storage? I am looking at getting into it.


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## Bikram chhetri

seems interesting i will try to add too.


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