Pantry Challenge Week 4- The Last Squash

So we've made it through 4 weeks and remarkably, the cupboards are not nearly as bare as I would have thought. The freezer definitely has more room in it now but the fridge looks pretty full even if most of it is half empty jars of preserves. Still I'll be grateful when I can hit the grocery store later this week.

We were able to get through last week without any repeats of the previous week's slip ups. We even went to a hockey game and didn't buy any snacks - although the poutine was tempting and the pulled pork smelt divine...

I think we have finally adjusted to making do with what's on hand, and with the nasty late season blizzard hitting midweek it was actually nice to know I didn't have to run out to shop for food. Also the bonus birthday cheese did go a long way in helping me feel less deprived. And the mushroom kit did its thing and produced ten of these beauties!



Sunday
Pierogies with bacon
Pasta shells with 4 cheeses and dried tomatoes
Monday
Oatmeal porridge (me)
Homefries (the Russian)
Pork with apricot mustard sauce (apricots I canned last summer and homemade mustard)
Asparagus Risotto (last of the frozen asparagus from last spring)
Tuesday
Thai beef and rice noodle stir fry
Carrot coleslaw
Pasta with chicken, pickled wild leeks and roasted peppers in an herbed cream cheese sauce
Wednesday
French Onion Soup
Chilled shrimp with tomato horseradish jam
Squash gnocchi with sage, garlic and brown butter
Thursday
Tortilla chips with salsa and sour cream (last of the sour cream, home canned salsa, homemade chips)
Stuffed pork tenderloin (stuffing made from a mix of frozen herbs and bread crumbs)and boiled potatoes with mustard sauce
Roasted beet salad with cucumber and walnuts and a goat cheese and horseradish dressing.
Friday
Crackers and cheese and mixed pickles
Homemade chicken soup
Popcorn with olive oil and titch of butter
Saturday
Fried bacon sandwiches with maple syrup (we were craving french toast so I fried the bread in bacon grease)
Grilled pork shoulder and potatoes (on the BBQ, for Earth Hour), mashed carrots and parsnips with maple syrup.
Apple cherry rhubarb pie- all from fruit I picked and froze last summer and Red Fife whole wheat pastry
Sunday
Turkey Lentil Mushroom stew (hooray for fresh shiitakes!)
Grilled chicken breasts with mashed potatoes and baked squash
Roasted squash seeds

We still have 4 days to go to make it through the month and I think we'll be okay. As mentioned I baked the last squash today but we only ate half; we are also out of carrots, beets and rutabaga but we have frozen beans and corn, plenty of onions and now mushrooms. There's still some beef, seafood and turkey in the freezer. Butter is all but gone but we still have plenty of olive oil and other fats- I used bacon grease to baste the squash tonight. Speaking of bacon, there's even a small amount of it left- I'm amazed that we've stretched a pound to last this long considering how often we use it- good thing I dole it out in small portions, more for flavour than anything. For starches there's a few potatoes, some pasta and rice noodles and half a loaf of sour dough bread. We'll be fine and we won't even have to eat all the pickles to do it either!

I'll do a final wrap up when we finish the challenge on Thurs!