Pantry Living Weeks 8 & 9

I can see the finish line.....This summer is flying past me and I am so close to the end of pantry living! It will be a pleasure to grocery shop again but I will miss my lazy days on the beach, late nights on the boardwalk and our adventures.

My amazing 10yr old niece just left yesterday. She made our family of 6 into a family of 7. She is tall and beautiful and ate as much as I did. This didn't hurt pantry living because I was prepared! I knew long before the summer she would be our live-in mother's helper for a month so I knew what I needed. We love her and miss her!!!! Can't wait until next year!

Pantry after week 9

Down to business (hope I can remember):
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 8: 23
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 9: 19
Jars/Bottles opened: peanut butter, Italian dressing, Ranch dressing, ketchup, chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, olives, corn meal, flour, sugar, garlic powder, oreos, goldfish crackers, fruit snacks, chips, soda, box of candy bars, ziplock bags, juice, cake mix, can of pineapple, box of ramen noodles, paper towels, toilet paper, rice, tomato sauce, beans, macaroni and cheese, pasta, yellow rice, toilet bowl cleaner, capri sun, evaporated milk, syrup
Gifts: giant jar of peanut butter, baloney, clothes for my kiddos, candy
Cash purchases: doughnuts, treats on the boardwalk, Slurpee (bring your own cup day! we took a plastic gallon container from ice cream!), baskets, bday gift for a friend, picture frames, flip flops for my niece, sunglasses for me, tip at restaurant, strawberries, apples,bananas, cucumbers, lettuce, potatoes, celery, ice cream, milkshakes, pizza, bowling, chuck e cheese,
Allowable credit card purchases: bread, milk, eggs, raspberries, gas, cheese,
Cheats (hold on to your hats! I ran out of cash while I was running errands): chips(we have nacho cheese left.....this was an emergency), underwear for the kids(too good a deal to pass up), the cutest leather sandals ever for Levi (only $4), Minecraft (I've lost my mind), a dvd for Levi's upcoming birthday, a full length mirror for the boys' room (only $5), footless tights for Lily ($1.50), Lysol wipes (technically a school supplies need), an adorable and super soft jacket for Lily for Christmas ($15, I'm sure this beautiful color will be gone in 2 weeks time when this would have been allowable), lunch at Red Robin after our entire family enjoyed the open house of the Philadelphia Temple ( I was short on cash by about $10 so unfortunately I had to cheat, but at least I tipped in cash!)
Garden goodies: LOTS of cherry tomatoes, a few baskets of green beans, a few peas past their prime

Lessons learned this week: be better at watering the garden, carry more cash than I think I need, pick sugar snap peas sooner,

2 MORE WEEKS OF SUMMER!

Happy Summer!

Pantry Living Weeks 6 & 7

Wow! 7 weeks now without buying meat, potato chips, cereal, shampoo, diapers..........Time is flying! My pantry is starting to show. The cereal is a simple indicator of how much we eat. We're nearly through my large stock of peanut butter. Not sure if we'll make it through the month on what is left. Apparently we love peanut butter even more than I thought. We used to go through one giant jar in a month. Now we got through it in 2 weeks!
My freezer has more room in it now but I've done awesome with meat this summer. We still have a lot of meat left. Italian sausage, chicken breasts, chicken legs, whole chickens, meat loaf, crab meat, homemade hamburger patties. we will have leftover this summer! We finished our fish sticks and chicken nuggets, frozen french fries and breakfast sausage.

Pantry After week 7 (forgot to get pic from week 6)

Now for the stats:
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 6: 33
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 7: 29
Allowable Credit Card purchases: gas, milk, bread, hamburger buns, tomato,
Cash purchases: Trip to Storybook Land for our family (an awesome storybook themed small amusement park), school supplies (notebooks, markers, crayons, colored pencils, pencil box, headphones, heavy duty plastic folders in 3 different colors, blah blah blah ),Vic's subs, dinner at Joe and John's for the family, naan bread, cucumbers, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, apples, lettuce, peppers,  2 new school shirts for Lilia on great sales, 2 new shirts for me,  new lunch bags for Max and Daddy, new winter boots for me 90% off reg price was $89! I also bought a different pair of boots that was 90% off in a size 9. I'm still trying to find someone to give them to. I apparently am not related to women with a size 9 foot.
Cheats: new sandals for Levi on a screamin' deal $4 for OshKosh leather sandals, Christmas present Cinderella Barbie Doll for Katy for $6.99, doughnuts(next year I might have to make them an allowable purchase. I cheat with them far too often)  (*usually because I was in a credit card only line and one thing in my cart didn't qualify for panty living)
Jars/Bottles opened: peanut butter, graham crackers, cookies, cheese crackers, marshmallows, chocolate bars, chicken broth, mac and cheese, spaghetti sauce, pasta, rice, granola bars, fruit snacks, chips, soda, ziplock bags, parchment paper, powdered sugar, sugar, flour, corn starch, cinnamon, salt, ketchup, mustard, sour cream, ramen noodles, diapers, wipes, soap, handsoap, body wash, kid body wash, toothpaste,
Garden goodies- green beans, sugar snap peas, 3 cherry tomatoes a day(so weird), 2 zucchini

Zucchini plant update: we are on the final few leaves. The vine burrowing pests have entirely destroyed the one plant and I'm on the last quarter of the second plant. The wood ash I sprinkle on the base of the plants seem to slow down the demise of the plant. Best I can figure is since the plant was already infested with whatever this stupid bug is the wood ash slows down their feast allowing my plant to produce a zucchini. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a zucchini yesterday. I will probably pick it tomorrow. Sadly, this will probably be the last of the summer and maybe forever. I'm not sure I can go through this again, just so frustrating.

Only 4 more weeks left of Pantry Living!

 Happy Summer!

An apostle of Jesus Christ

My name is Melanie Brough. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I believe in the Savior, Jesus Christ. I am a mother of four. I am a wife, sister, daughter, cousin and friend. I am a daughter of God. My goal in life is to serve those around me so that we may all grow closer to our Father in Heaven. My family can be together forever because of the plan of salvation. This plan was explained to us by our Heavenly Father before we came to earth. We are here to learn and serve and become more like Him. Through faith and diligent righteous service we can make sacred covenants and return to live with Him again.

This morning I was blessed to be invited to a very special church service with one of the Lord's 12 apostles on the earth today. Elder Quentin L Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited Philadelphia. I am honored to be a choreographer for the very special Youth Temple Cultural Celebration that will be performed on September 17th. Almost 2,000 youth from our area will perform to celebrate the dedication of the Philadelphia Temple. This is an amazing project.

I am part of a committee with several choreographers, musicians, costumers, and a production team that has dedicated countless hours to pull this performance together. We were all stressed, exhausted and overwhelmed. Today we are uplifted, loved and spiritually fed. I have renewed enthusiasm and faith that I was given my talents for this cause. I was reminded that my Savior is aware of me. I was given an apostolic blessing.

My husband and I took our older two children to this sacred event. We heard testimonies of how the temple has blessed lives. Stories were shared that bore witness of the divine nature of temples. My heart was full.

The Philadelphia Temple is a magnificent structure. The architecture is exquisite. But more importantly the ground is holy. I know my Savior lives. I know the temple is the house of the Lord. I know that through the covenants made within those walls families can be sealed together for time and all eternity. The gospel of Jesus Christ is of peace and love and only by abiding by those laws and precepts can true happiness be achieved. I bear witness of this in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.