michele7

This was an interesting challenge. I did spend money on stocking up some sale items. Our small chest freezer went from filled to the brim to half full. I emptied out one shelf that had home canned foods. I know we still have enough canned foods to last longer. I have a ton of empty canning jars waiting to be filled. It was a good challenge to use things that have been lingering in the pantry.

I kicked off this two month pantry challenge by menu planning for the first week. I pulled some items from our pantry that have been sitting in there for awhile and a few items that I need to use up. I've been baking bread for ourselves and for family members. I always include a leftover day while meal planning. If you have an item you don't know how to use, search on the internet for recipe ideas. Check out your local library for cookbooks that focus on a particular cuisine (ex., Japanese or Southern) or that use a type of kitchen tool (ex., slow cooker or cast iron).

Items I pulled:
cans of clams
bottles of clam juice
kudzu starch
nuts and sugar blend I made for a Korean sweet

I've been using my jars of ghee for bread making since it's safe at room temperature, I don't have to wait for butter to soften in order to start making bread.