July Pantry Challenge - 30 Meals for Under $50.00?

July Pantry Challenge – 30 Meals for Under $50.00?

This deal was posted by Adventures in Coupons on July 8, 2012 at 3:29 pm

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So this month we found ourselves in kind of a bind. Due to one circumstance or another, I am without a working stockpile and/or any reasonable amount of cash to work with. So when I sat down and really started paying attention to what I had to fix for dinner, I was shocked! I have SO little compared to what I did have! What to do? What to do?

Then it hit me:

A PANTRY CHALLENGE!

I LOVE pantry challenges! I get to see just how resourceful I really am and how little we can actually make things stretch.

So here’s the challenge: We eat off of what we have in the freezer, fridge, and pantry and no more than $50.00 out of pocket from now until August 7, 2012.

Can we do it? I think we can!

We started last night with homemade pancakes for supper! I love eating breakfast at dinner time. It’s very cheap and easy and the Monkey Child loves it! Since we have no syrup in the pantry and no workable cash for a week, we had to make due with what we had. Peanut butter and butter. The Monkey Child and I used just plain butter on our pancakes and Tom used peanut butter. Yes, syrup would have been preferable, but they still weren’t all that bad!

Here is our menu for the next 30 days:

Chicken and rice

Chicken, chicken gravy and biscuits

Basic Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Shepherds Pie

Stove Top Chicken Casserole

Hamburgers

(2) Spaghetti, Garlic Bread Sticks

Steaks, white rice with salsa, corn

Pan Seared pork chops, augratin potatoes, biscuits

2 Hot Dogs, Mac n Cheese, Vegetable

Burritos

Potato Soup

Vegetable Barley Soup

2 Cheeseburger mac

2 Fish sandwiches, mac and cheese

2 garlic and herb talipia, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes

Pork Chops and Rice casserole

Tater Tot Casserole

Tacos

Mock Chicken fried Steak, biscuits, broccoli and cheese, potatoes

Homemade pizza

Pizza casserole

Chicken Fajitas

Bacon, egg and cheese biscuits/sandwiches

~~Homemade Pancakes~~

So we’re one meal down! 29 more to go!

Remaining grocery budget: $50.00

Wish me luck!

Last night’s dinner was homemade pancakes. Have you ever made them? If not, you should! Check out the recipe below:

Homemade Fluffy Pancakes Recipe

You will need:

2 egg
1.5 cup milk
4 tablespoons margarine, melted
2 cup flour
2 tablespoon sugar
6 teaspoons baking powder
1/2-1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Beat eggs until fluffy and melt margarine. They will turn a light yellow color when sufficiently “fluffy.”

Add milk and melted margarine to eggs.

Add flour, baking powder, salt and sugar and mix well.

Grease a heavy griddle or fry pan with a bit of butter and heat until a drop of water breaks into several smaller balls of water and “dance” around the pan. That’s when your pan is hot enough to cook with.

Pour a small amount (1/4 cup or so) of batter in your pan and spread to just the right size.

Wait until bubbles start to form on the top and flip.

Only flip once if you can. Flipping more than that makes for a tough pancake.

Photo Credit: A Well Feathered Nest

Comments

Erline says:

July 9, 2012 at 2:42 pm

Oh, and you can always make a homemade Breakfast pizza, using eggs, sausage, tomatoes, peppers, cheese, etc. Another yummy change
Erline says:

July 9, 2012 at 2:41 pm

Awesome menu. Thanks Monika for the fruity syrup idea. I tend to run out of syrup regularly.
Here’s a couple other ideas you can add to a menu if you have some extra stock or are looking for something different and inexpensive.
I take a small can of refrigerated biscuits and drop them in heated oil. You cook them 2-3 min then flip (they will float). You remove and drain on paper towels. Add powdered sugar and serve homemade donuts.
I also tend to have tons of extra hotdogs all the time, so you can mix up some pancake batter (I add a couple drops of honey to sweeten it), dip your hotdogs in them (whole or slices). Drop in your batter. Flip a couple times. Homemade corndogs. I buy only the hotdogs on sale, so I am able to make 8 Corndogs for less than $2 (including the ingredient prices).
Stacy says:

July 9, 2012 at 1:26 pm

LOL! I know we will. We *do* have some ramen in there and plenty of rice!
Stacy says:

July 9, 2012 at 1:24 pm

Yay! Thanks for the idea!
Stacy says:

July 9, 2012 at 1:21 pm

Stick around! We’ll get you spending less! Feel free to email me if you need any help. You can use the contact form up in the link bar.
amber says:

July 9, 2012 at 10:40 am

I’m impressed. I spend a ton on groceries menu and all!
Monika Hayes says:

July 8, 2012 at 11:40 pm

Oh you have such a great menu here.One suggestion.If you have jelly or jam just melt it in a pot and use it as syrup for your pancakes.This can be used as a topping for ice cream. Cheap version of Ihop pancakes with fruit on them. You still get the fruity flavor with jam. :0)
Carrie Medford says:

July 8, 2012 at 4:50 pm

Wow! I’ll be watching to see how you do! When we get like that at my house (six of us!) we live on rice, vegetables and good ol’ Ramen noodles! haha
You’ll get through it! That’s what we do!
Patti Salinger says:

July 8, 2012 at 4:50 pm

God Bless you during this trying time…….