The other day I wrote about some goals or things I want to accomplish over the winter. On the list of things I talked about was “eating down the pantry”. Just look at that pantry cupboard up there! It is ridiculous that we have that much stuff crammed in there for just two people! But wait! There’s more:
And more:
don’t stop–there is more:
I knew it was time to stop and get a plan to do something about it when I was putting potato chips in the cabinet under the television!
The plan now is to use up all this food before we leave Alabama in the spring. I am going to make myself get organized like I used to be in the winter of 2008. I will take an inventory before every grocery shopping trip, and make menus using things I already have. I KNOW I can do this.
Last night was the first night of the Personal Pantry Challenge. I dug around in the cupboard and found a packet of gluten free mushroom gravy mix, a can of mushrooms, a can of gluten free mushroom soup, and a can of sliced pears. I made some Mushroom Goulash and a pear salad to go with it. With some leftover rice from Sunday, it was an easy to prepare dinner. Here’s the recipe:
Gluten Free Mushroom Goulash
3/4 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup frozen chopped bell pepper
6 large fresh mushrooms, chopped or sliced
1 small can mushrooms
1 packet gluten free mushroom gravy mix
1 can gluten free mushroom soup
salt and pepper to taste
cooked rice
Sautee the onions, garlic, and bell pepper until the onions are clear. Add the ground beef, and cook until it is browned. Add the can of mushrooms, the mushroom soup, and the packet of gravy mix. Cook until thickened. Serve over rice.
This one meal used up three cans of stuff from the pantry, one mix packet, and some mushrooms that were on the way to spoiling. And it was quite tasty. No picture because I forgot.
Tonight, I made chicken corn chowder. I found a package of gluten free corn chowder mix, a can of evaporated milk, and a can of chicken in the pantry. In the fridge, I had a pint of milk, three ears of corn, some leftover roasted chicken, and a half of an onion. Using them all together was another quick, easy meal, with leftovers for tomorrow.
Gluten Free Chicken Corn Chowder
1 package Mixes From The Heartland Gluten Free Corn Chowder Mix
1 large can evaporated milk
2 cans water
3 ears corn
2 large potatoes
1 can cooked chicken
1 onion
1/2 stick of butter
1 pint of milk
Scrape the corn off the cob. Peel the potatoes and dice them up. Place in a small pot, cover with water, and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Melt the butter in a dutch oven, add chopped onion, sautee until the onion is clear. Add corn, chicken, evaporated milk, water, potatoes, and regular milk. If you have any leftover chicken handy, toss that in too. Cook over medium heat for 25 minutes.
This was a very good, thick soup, with plenty left over for another day. It used up 2 cans of stuff and a packaged mix from the pantry. Whooo Hooo! I’m on a roll!
geogypsy says
Ha, I already met this challenge when I moved out of the RV into the house. Well, OK, there’s still a few cans of something in there. Better to do this kind of organizing when we move into a new place.
Sallie (FullTime-Life) says
Girl, you are very brave to show pix of your pantry! You do have a job — but as I said I’ve been there and sometimes still am.
Congrats on being blog of the week on Modern Nana (that was a new site to me, but I checked it out from your link. Looks interesting and I’ll go back.
Susan Adcox says
I don’t live in an RV, but I still have pantry problems. When my husband goes to the grocery store, he loves to buy multiples of items on sale. But now that we’re down to two, we don’t eat that much. The last time I cleaned out the pantry, I actually had to throw out canned goods that were out of date. I didn’t even know that canned goods had a date!