Pantry Living 6th time around!

Here we go again! I am Melanie. I am a dancer and choreographer. I am also a mom and wife. My roles in our home include: cook, chauffeur, personal shopper, errand runner, comforter, laundry lady and cleaning woman.  My amazing hubby shapes minds and behavior as a Special Education Self-Contained Behavior Teacher for 10 months of the year. He just completed his 7th year at this school, and this is our 6th Summer in our beautiful home.  We are happy and healthy and blessed with enough. We have four growing children and a dog. Summers are difficult because despite teaching a summer program the teacher’s salary is only a 10 month contract. His district does not offer a 12 month option. I started Pantry Living to help us through July and August. It can be tricky, but I think it is a fun challenge.

 So here are my self imposed rules

• Live off my pantry stores and my freezer
• No grocery shopping
• Allowable purchases with a credit card: Dairy, eggs, bread, produce, and gas
• Any other purchases must be made with cash (I have a small stash I squirreled away.)
• Start Date: David’s 1st day of summer vacation
• End Date: David’s 1st day of school in September (usually 10-12 weeks)

Technically, this started 2 weeks ago. But my life has been a bit intense the last month so I'm late to the game. I've been generally following all my rules, but i have cheated a few times and my dear hubby has taken over as cook in my absence. So our stats start today. 

Pantry on June 26

We begin our journey with

• 59 boxes of unopened cereal
• 36 boxes of pasta
• 9 jars of spaghetti sauce
• 3 giant tubs of peanut butter
• 40 rolls of toilet paper (this won’t be enough)

I don’t stock up a ton in June. That would defeat the purpose. I try to space out my shopping all year, shop sales, and keep a good food supply as a just in case. When cereal is on a good sale I buy 6 boxes instead of 2. I buy meat in bulk on sale and then bag it and freeze it in our family serving size.This year I've been consumed with dance so this is a true experiment on how prepared I am.  I usually inventory our pantry, and our freezer, and our bathroom closet. This year I just bought what I thought we needed and I never got around to my filling out my inventory. I have a master list of food but this year we are living off the cuff. My goal is to finish the summer without breaking my rules, without running out of cash, and to have fun!We have a good head start on the fun part, I don't expect to run out of cash, but I have got to buckle down and avoid breaking my rules.

our raspberry bush which was an experiment last year

Our garden June 2

2 peppers, 4 tomatoes, 2 cucumbers

A handful of green beans planted and 2 zucchini

 My garden is growing! This year I’m growing cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and green beans.

ignore the weeds.

Our garden July 6

our first cucumber!

our cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes

My family is amazing! My parents live nearby and have already dropped off boxes of cereal, pasta and rice. They supplied all the food for our July 4th picnic. They understand why I do this and hope to make our lives easier at every turn.My sister even brought over 6 boxes of cereal when she was visiting. Such an awesome family!

My hubby is fantastic! He supports my cooky ideas and especially loves it when I can go many weeks without swiping my credit card. 
My children are goofballs, but totally understand my rules. They treat our pantry like a grocery store and love to "shop" for the next cereal we get to open or what we get to eat for dinner. 
My friends are awesome! I love all the feedback and encouragement you give me. Thanks for your continued support!!!

Let's get this party started!