Pantry Living Season Finale

It is over! We survived!  I went grocery shopping for the first real time last Tuesday and it was exhilarating. The experiment lasted just over 11 weeks and I am thrilled with my results. I cheated a few times. I used lots of my cash anytime I wanted to splurge and buy a needed item or doughnuts......I really like doughnuts. So here is my quick review of it all:

Pantry Living Take 3 beginning

 

Pantry at end of week 11

Unopened boxes of cereal before Week 1: 55
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 11: 4 (*note my dad gave me about 5 boxes of cereal throughout the summer. I probably wouldn't have bought any boxes myself, just forced a few other breakfast options other days.)
Items we were completely out of: fruit snacks, box drinks, gallon bags, quart bags, tin foil, minced garlic, water bottles, strawberry jam, strawberry applesauce, rice, ramen noodles, olives, raisins, frozen broccoli
Items I used my cash to buy more of since we were out: graham crackers, chocolate bars, marshmallows, brown sugar, paper plates, light bulbs, egg noodles, syrup
Items we had lots left of: mac and cheese, variety of salad dressing (except Italian), pickles, cake mixes, pudding mixes, pasta, spaghetti sauce, sauerkraut, beef broth, paper napkins, bathroom cleaner,  canned pineapple, frozen spinach, frozen ravioli

Lessons learned:

1. The small size water bottles are great for my kids in the car. I bought two big packs on a special clearance before the summer. That is about the right amount for them and they don't sully a big bottle I want to drink :) Don't think I'll pay full price for them though. Just have to wait for another screamin' deal.
2. I set the rules. I hold myself accountable. Others are interested in my progress but no one is shaming me when I cheat or screw up. I cheated a few times but I didn't take it so emotionally this year. Other years I've lost sleep over the matter. This year I tried to keep myself in check but I was more chill about it. I had to cut myself some slack when we'd have visitors and remember it wouldn't break the bank if I bought a few extra things to feed the masses. 
3. I started the summer with only a few packs of cookies and ended the summer with some still unopened. I keep them on the top shelf in the pantry and only bust them open occasionally. It is better for all of us. 
4. Indulgent Trail Mix is my Achilles heel. Cashews, almonds, peanuts, semi-sweet, white and peanut butter chips, craisins, golden raisins. I eat it too quickly, but it isn't a bad snack. I seldom buy it from Wal-mart (the only place who makes it) and when I do it is gone too quickly. I started making my own in small batches and it is way cheaper. Also my kiddos love it too, but they tend to pick out all the yummy chips. 
5. I hardly made beach burritos this summer. It is a three bean salad with Italian dressing and optional other ingredients (ie parm cheese, corn, olives, tomatoes) and you serve it cold in a tortilla at the beach. So I ended the summer with more canned beans than expected.
6. Levi loves applesauce and I would clip the corner of a ziplock bag and dump the applesauce into it. I could easily squeeze it into his mouth at the beach and it was way cheaper than buying those bags of baby food. 
7. My garden was great and I'm excited to try a second raised bed next year. I want my kids to be more involved in the planting and tending. I hope to grow zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, and peas. I'm so sad my zucchini plant died so early this year. I only got three zucchinis. I read it was probably a vine burrowing bug that attacked it. Next year I hope for better!
8. I have amazing friends and family who support me in this. My parents, my in-laws, and several friends pitched in and helped make this project less painful. 

I love being self sufficient. We are so blessed with enough. I find myself with an immature mindset sometimes thinking "I don't want enough. I want more." (one of my children actually said that one day. It was such an eye opening experience.) I am grateful for enough. I love enough. And this year we had enough. Heavenly Father is mindful of me and my family. He is mindful of you. It is my prayer you will see His hand in your life.

Until next year..........Happy Autumn!

Weeks 8 & 9

Two more weeks down and summer is slipping by me. The weeks are starting to blend together so let's see how good my memory is.

Pantry after week 8

Pantry after week 9

Boxes of unopened cereal after week 7:18
Boxes of unopened cereal after week 8: 16
Boxes of unopened cereal after week 9: 16 *my dad gifted us 3 boxes on the last day to up it from 13.

Cash purchases: clothes, shoes, tacos, bananas, apples, cucumbers, oranges, burgers and fries,  gifts for bday party, school supplies, trail mix,
Allowable purchases: gas, veggies and fruit, milk
Cheats: my new cell phone(This was a very necessary purchase plus new phone and first month payment was only $60 because of a rockin' promotion). hubby's new sneakers (another necessary purchase), a few small christmas gifts for extended relatives, and light bulbs, dry erase markers. NOTE: I deposited a large sum of cash to make up for most of this.
Jars/bags opened: Spaghetti sauce, chips, cookies, jam, flour, pop tarts, strawberry applesauce, nutella
Items we are totally out of: fruit snacks,

My poor dead zucchini plant

our garden

Only two more weeks left. WOW!

Happy Summer!

Weeks 6 & 7

Family time is the best! We've had a month of visitors and it was dreamy. My sweet niece that stayed with us for July just left and her place was quickly filled with more family that we haven't seen in years. We spent a few fantastic days together hitting the beach and rides and loving life. We are so blessed.

Pantry after week 6

Pantry after week 7

Quick pantry recap:
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 5: 29
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 6: 22
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 7: 18

Allowable purchases: gas,
Cash purchases: ham, bread, pepperoni, cheese, raspberries, blueberries, apples, bananas, grapes, potatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, graham crackers, chocolate bars, marshmallows, root beer, ice cream, pencils, contact solution, curtain rod, bug zapper, clothes, flip-flops,
Gifts purchased with cash: board games (christmas presents), toys(christmas presents), pillows & wash cloths (wedding gift), play-doh (b-day gift)
Cheats: originally my amazing deals for christmas were done with a credit card but I put my cash in the bank the next day so it forgave the cheat. These were the most amazing deals at Target! I spent $113 and saved over $156. Seriously so good!
Jars/bottles opened: ranch dressing, graham crackers, choc bars, marshmallows, root beer, sprite, sandwich bags, peanut butter, spaghetti sauce, rice, applesauce, chips, vanilla wafers, cookies, pudding mix,
Food gifts: cereal, milk

Garden update: my zuchini plant is dead. I am so sad. I only got three beautiful zucchinis from it this year. Last year I got 8. It suddenly died in a matter of days. Everything I reseached says it was probably a vine burrowing bug that killed it. My tomatoes are unaffected.  They are flourishing. My green beans have been plentiful but are starting to turn yellow and aren't looking so good. We've been very dry lately and I'm not the best at watering them because it usually rains every few days to help me out. I need to improve for their sake.

Exactly one more month of pantry living. Wow! Time is flying by.

Happy Summer!

Pantry Living Week 5

I didn't cheat this week! I'm really proud of that.

We kept busy this week at the beach twice, the aquarium, playground, Grammy's pool, and lots of playing.
This week I lost my cell phone and my two year old, separately. I am pleased to announce both were found!

Pantry after week 5

Here our the stats:
 Unopened boxes of cereal after week 4: 33
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 5: 29
Cash purchases: cilantro, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pencils, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, flip-flops, rash guard, silly cups, parking, tortilla chips
Allowable credit purchases: gas, oil change
Gifts: 2 mangos, milk
Yummy treats I made: banana crumb cake, mango salsa
Items opened: ketchup, flour, goldfish, large box of granola bars, ranch dressing, toilet paper, water bottles, sandwich bags, plastic wrap, salsa

This keeps happening

 The garden is practically throwing tomatoes at us. My zucchini plant is still only half alive, but the alive side is growing a nice zucchini for me. I've also decided next year I want to build a second raised bed garden. But this one I want to be for my children. They regularly get scolded for harvesting veggies without permission. They need plants to tend and responsibility. We discussed it and they have grande plans, so far they want to plant tomatoes, green beans, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and zucchini. We'll work out those details later. But they are entirely thrilled!

Let me know how what you're doing for fun.

Happy Summer!

Mango Salsa

 

 My kind daddy bought me two mangoes. They were delicious! I ate one accidentally one night. I just wanted to taste it and then it was gone. oops. With my second I made yummy mango salsa that my children won't eat. In my opinion, they decided before tasting it they didn't like it. I'm not that upset, more for me!  :)

I found a recipe on pinterest, reduced it greatly (they wanted me to use 6 mangos). Ran to the grocery store at 10pm to buy fresh cilantro. And made up the quantities that I thought would be best.
 

 

I used a bunch of my fresh tomatoes, one small onion, and one mango.

 

I chopped all of those up.

Then I chopped some cilantro. 

I added three cap fulls of lime juice 

and one dollop of olive oil,

and a little salt.

That's it!

Super tasty Mango Salsa!

Pantry Living Week 4

Another week has zipped along. We are blessed to have our niece staying with us this month. She is a beautiful nine year old who helps lots with little Levi and plays wonderfully with the other kiddos too. We are going through a touch more food than usual but I'm glad to have her here.

Pantry after Week 4

Week 3 unopened cereal: 36
Week 4 unopened cereal: 33
Allowable purchases: bread, sour cream, yogurt, OJ, bananas, juice, margarine, whipped cream, carrots, gas, renew Sam's membership
Cash purchases: pizza, $1 summer movie and popcorn, dumpling wrappers
Yard sale finds: kid clothes, books
Cheats: doughnuts, inexpensive christmas present
Opened jars/boxes: pancake mix, bbq sauce, french dressing, Sprite, graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate bars, plastic wrap, twizzlers
Gifts: 3 boxes of cereal from my sweet Daddy 

Garden Gains: one monster zucchini, 8 tomatoes, a bushel of green beans

I'm worried about my garden. My strawberry plant I've given up on. The birds stole all the strawberries it grew except for three. My green beans are doing fine. One tomato bush is big and full of green beauties. The second tomato bush is trying to take over my back yard. It is pulling over the cage. It is resting its arms on the green beans and in the other direction on the zucchini. I've had to reinforce the cage and add a second cage beside it to hold up the weight. But my real concern is for my zucchini plant that was beautiful and healthy until we had a foot or so of rain dump on us on Wednesday. It appears the down pour damaged one half of the plant. I'm not sure if it will recover. But I'm keeping it in my prayers. Yes, I pray for my vegetables. It can't hurt. 

Confession: Yes, I am on "pantry living". No, I'm not supposed to buy anything except my originally designated items. But I can't allow an amazing deal to get passed up if I am certain it will cost me significantly more if I wait until September. Last week, I had a long list of cheats.Some were food items that were needed to help me host 33 people at my home for our family reunion. Several had nothing to do with my reunion. I bought my hubby really nice new flip-flops that were on clearance for $4.81. Seriously, I couldn't pass that up. Also I got each of my potty trained kids underwear in the next size up because I encountered an amazing deal. 10 pairs for $6. If you've ever shopped for kid underwear you'll understand how crazy expensive they are. And when you have as many kids as I do I can't pass those savings up. This week I bought an item that a certain family member will really appreciate. I got it for about $6. It is worth the tiny cheat in my book.

Confession #2: I really like doughnuts. That was my other cheat this week. I could have rung that order up separately at the grocery store since it cost $3.39 and freed myself from the "cheat". but it is just easier to confess it than hassle the clerk and the already long lines at the grocery store and the 4 children I had holding on to my shopping cart.

Hope you're filling your bellies with good food and your home with good fun!

Happy Summer!

Pantry Living Weeks 2 & 3

This last two weeks have been crazy! We hosted a marvelous Vigue family reunion. There were 33 of us eating and playing at our house for a week. Each family took turns providing a dinner but my pantry helped fill in the gaps. Some of the details of these days is foggy but I'll try and recap what happened with our pantry.

Pantry after week 2

Pantry after week 3

After Week 1 unopened cereal: 51
After Week 2 unopened cereal: 43
After Week 3 unopened cereal: 36
Cash purchases: swimsuit and shirt for my niece, dress for my daughter, ice cream, funnel cake, bananas, apples, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, peppers, burger king, pizza,
Cheats:  plastic forks, Italian dressing, ranch dressing, styrafoam bowls, peanuts, juice, frosted brownies, cookies, notebooks, socks, flip-flops, kids' underwear,
Allowed purchases: watermelon, sour cream, milk, eggs, gas, bread, cheese
Items opened: strawberry jam, spaghetti sauce, napkins, case of water, corn starch, vanilla, hand soap, several Italian and Ranch dressings, cookies, soda, Powerade, box of margarine, flour, tortillas, corn chips, mayo, fruit snacks, veg oil, syrup
Good Gardening: 1 monster zucchini, 1 bushel of green beans, 5 very large grape tomatoes, a few small strawberries(the birds are stealing them)

My first harvest! The tomatoes were all devoured before they could be photographed.

Our reunion was fantastic and we made wonderful memories together. My sweet family was concerned about depleting my pantry. They are so kind and respectful of this summer project I impose upon myself. I tried to be accommodating and allow them to anything they might need from our pantry. In the end we used more than usual but we still have mountains of food left. We used gobs of toilet paper but I was prepared for that one ;)

I told you there were a lot of us. The 3 of us pic below weren't even it this one.

We were the photographers for the group photo.

We take this reunion thing very seriously.

All the grandkids with Grammy and Pop storming Vigue Beach!

Happy Summer!