Pantry Living: Week 9 and beyond

Okay. So week 9 ended two weeks ago. Here is the update.

I didn't shop for food. I actually did the opposite. I was taking my leftovers from the fridge to my mother's house and giving her food for a change. I needed to clean house and try to not leave anything sweet and sticky out for my neighborhood ants. We were preparing to leave on vacation.

At the end of week 9 my pantry looked like this

Unopened boxes of cereal: 7

I am dangerously low on many items and I've already started my shopping list for my first trip come Sept. I'm so excited to grocery shop again, but at the same time I've gotten such a thrill out of this experiment. I just might try it again next summer and see if I can improve my results.


WEEKS 10 & 11 UPDATE:

Okay, so the Pantry Living Experiment really only lasted 9 weeks because weeks 10 and 11 were spent enjoying life with my in-laws. They provided all the meals and groceries. I still stuck to my rules of no grocery shopping but that's cause they are so nice to us :)

We returned late last night. The pantry looks much as it does above minus one box of cereal my son opened this morning.

Unopened boxes of cereal: 6

I will refrain from grocery shopping until Sept 3rd when my husband officially returns to work. The end is in sight.


Happy Labor Day!

Pantry Living Weeks 7 & 8

I'm still here, avoiding the grocery store as much as possible. Summer company arrived and I cheated once to buy syrup for waffles at 8am. A friend sent me a recipe for homemade syrup, which I plan on trying but that also requires an ingredient I need to buy.

Pantry after 8 weeks

Unopened cereal box count: 10

 I'm on the home stretch of Pantry Living. It will last only 3 more weeks, 2 of which we'll be visiting family on vacation! In anticipation of our family vaca I set aside snacks for the plane ride weeks ago. So glad I did. The plane snacks include: 4 granola bars, 1 bag swedish fish, 4 fruit snacks, and 2 notebooks (not for consumption). 

My current concern is my baby and her food supply. She likes to feed herself, but she has only the beginnings of a first tooth. I struggle to find a variety of foods she can feed herself that are healthy. That search continues.

One more thing. I am out of bagged long grain rice. I do have a 20yr long term can of rice in my emergency food supply. Do I really save it for the next 20yrs waiting for a disaster? or do I rotate it through? Not gonna open it this summer but still not sure what to do.

I've begun my shopping list for the beginning of Sept. That will be fun!