21 Day Pantry/Freezer Challenge; Day 1

First, what inspired this? We have had a LOT of expenses lately; the new dog's supplies, 2 trips, Daniel will be starting school soon, etc. Second, I am a stocker. I buy way too much on sale and forget what I have. We toss out a good bit of food and for the past few weeks, we have been relying on take-out more and more. We need a way to save money and a plan to make use of what we have.

My Rules:
I can buy fresh produce as needed and as planned for (ie. no wasting.)
I can buy bread, milk, eggs and cheese when we run out.
I can replenish staples as needed, but after they are all gone.
I can buy the foods that Daniel eats. (With Daniel's sensory issues, he can be picky. So I have to make sure I have things he likes to eat on hand. He also goes on food jags and will eat the same thing all week. I indulge; at least he is eating.)

I can not buy extra cause it's on sale.
I will not buy meat.

The first step was cleaning out and organizing my pantry. I have to be able to see what's there, ya know. I was able to get rid of any spoiled items and make everything else neat and easy to access. See? I even got all OCD and made the labels face front.


I also cleaned out the fridge, freezer, deep freezer and spice cabinets. After counting, I realized that we should have enough meat on hand for 24 days if I
s-t-r-e-t-c-h a few things and get creative. So, here we go!







Day One; White Beans with Ham and Turkey Sausage
(Eliminated one lb white beans, 1/2 pack of ham, 2 leftover links sausage, leftover onions and peppers from weekend!)
I have my white beans recipe posted in my blog if anyone is interested. Beans are easy, cheap and Logan loves them. I will make rice and maybe some cornbread to go with them.