Pantry Challenge: Week 1 Recap #30DayMom

Alright everyone, this is about to get real.  I’m sharing photo’s of my pantry today and giving you a little idea of what we are up against with this Pantry Challenge business.  If this is the first you’re hearing about our challenge, be sure to read my Pantry Challenge Intro post where I shared all the details!

Let me give you the abbreviated version quick so you have an idea about what’s going on.  Basically, I spend a lot on food when it comes down to it and I have a pantry full of ingredients that I could and should be using.  This is where the challenge comes in, I’m going to try and make meals from only food that we have at home this month plus $100 for produce, milk, etc.  I was going to try and make it on $50 but let’s face it, I’m a food blogger and I would DIE!

Today I wanted thought I should share with you a peak inside my cabinets so you have a visual just how ugly it is.  Now, in my defense, it was just the holiday’s and I did a lot of baking plus my kids were home on break.  They don’t always put things back nice and neat.  It’s turning out to be one of the perks of this challenge though, my cabinets are getting cleaned and everything we have on hand is getting noted.  Love it!

This first photo is in my kitchen and it’s a cabinet that’s up high, I can’t see in it unless I stand on a chair or step stool, so as you can imagine I shove things in it.  It’s the first cabinet to be cleaned out!

My Mom grows a HUGE garden in the summer, I think she could easily feed their entire town if she needed to.  So, I’m blessed with all the delicious foods that she cans and I steal she brings me when she comes to visit.  I go through the pickles and green beans pretty quickly but I have a lot more I need to use.

I’m not exactly sure that I can use all that sugar to make meals for us, but I’m ready when it’s time to glaze donuts and cookies!  I think I may have picked up too much for the holidays, but it will all get used someday.

I honestly think that I have 6 half bags of chocolate chips in my basket there, don’t ask me why but it seems like I need to make some Chocolate Chip Cookies ASAP!  Am I right?

I realized that I missed taking a photo of my main cabinet that’s full of canned foods, snacks, and more.  Maybe I neglected this on purpose, it’s so bad!  But, I’ll be sure to snap a photo before I clean it out and show you the before and after’s of everything next week!

So, now you know what my mess looks like!  Since this was the first week, it went pretty well, I mean it’s only been 3 days since the start!  I am going to share our recipes as we go along.  We have had:

Pizza Casserole (this freezes well)

I also found a box of Quinoa in the back of the pantry and made

Strawberry Quinoa Breakfast