Week 1 - Eating Out of the Pantry Challenge

I thought I would share what we have been eating for the Eat from your Pantry Challenge. Week one is going good, not difficult at all as far as meals go. I can't wait to see what week 4 will be like :)

I slow cooked a large roast, from my freezer, and shredded it when it was ready. Here is what I did from there:

Meal #1-Philly Shredded Beef Sandwiches
I cooked up sliced onions, green bell peppers, and zucchini in a hot pan with olive oil until the veggies were tender and a bit caramelized. I added shredded meat and then salt and pepper, added some water, a few splashes of Worcestershire, and sprinkled bit of brown gravy mix that I have from a canister from Sam's Club. All of this was to taste. I wasn't trying to have a gravy, just to help the flavors stick to the meat.


I then piled the meat and veggies on my slice of fresh french bread with sliced provolone cheese. I also added mushrooms to my sandwich, no one else wanted them on their sandwiches. Served up the sandwiches with some chips and carrots.



Meal #2-Beef & Bean Tacos

I pressure cooked some pink dry beans that I had in the pantry and added them to the rest of the shredded beef. I put half of the meat & beans into a freezer bag and into the freezer it went for another meal later this month. The part that I kept out was put into a skillet with Chile Verde sauce form the pantry and simmered. We put the meat into flour tortillas with cheese, sour cream, and salsa. This was part of a birthday celebration at our house with a Mexican themed meal.

We also had Chicken Enchiladas that evening. One bottle of chicken with 1 pint of enchilada sauce wrapped with cheese in tortilla shells. Pour another pint of enchilada sauce over the top and baked at 325 degrees for 30 minutes till heated through. I did get a 9x13 & 9x9 pan out of this recipe.

We also had Avocado Salsa with chips and refried beans and the night ended with Fried Ice Cream!

This was an easy, super yummy dessert. I did not make my ice cream from scratch. What I had in the freezer was great. I used cinnamon graham crackers and the caramel and chocolate sauce that I had in the fridge. You have got to try this recipe out!
Meal #3- Left overs! Hello, did you read how much food I made for meal #2 :)

Meal #4- French Bread Pizza

I was not feeling well this day and was grateful I had a loaf of french bread to cut in half and to have my daughter make for us. I bottled pizza sauce this past fall and already had pepperoni and cheeses. We enjoyed cottage cheese and pears with it as well. She did a fabulous job! Thanks darlin'.

Meal #5- Eggs, Toaster Strudel, Fruit
The guys had already eaten one more serving of Beef & Bean tacos and we girls were starving after running all of our errands so we ate what sounded good to us.

Meal #6- Turkey, Squash, Pasta Soup w/ Bread
The soup recipe is on page 22 of the Betty Crocker E-Cookbook. It is cooking right now and smells so yummy. This recipe is perfect because I have a butternut squash! We will be having another helping of Fried Ice Cream tonight :)

Meal #7- Chili & Cornbread w/Slab Pear & Berry Pie
I am going to pressure cook beans tomorrow afternoon and bottle a bunch of them too for future meals. I have Bosc pears and some frozen berries that I am substituting into the recipe instead of the apples.

I will add breakfast recipes and more dinners soon :)
Please leave a comment with your recipes to share, or email them to survivingrecession101@gmail.com.