Pantry Cooking update!

I have not been to the grocery store since July 20. On that trip I purchased the staples I usually get (bananas, apples, grapes, milk...), plus the ONE item I needed to make dinner for that whole week. Dinners have turned out great and I'm slowly emptying out the pantry. I'm even going to go an extra week without going to the grocery store since I was just given a ton of extra food.

My mom and stepdad threw the husband and I a baby shower on Saturday and they catered way TOO MUCH food. I was sent home with about 5 lbs of beef and chicken, 2 gallon containers each of rice and beans, about 1 lb of shredded cheddar, 1 quart of sour cream, 2 quarts of salsa, 2 gallon sized bags of tortilla chips, and about 50 tortillas. Also a large fresh vegetable tray. That's a lot of food.

We've eaten fajitas for Sunday and Monday dinners. Tonight I made a King Ranch-ish type casserole with some chicken, tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese, and salsa.

I'm thinking I'll use some of the beef and the rest of the sour cream and some egg noodles I have in the pantry for something beef stroganoff-ish. I'm not sure what I'll do with the rest of the chicken, but it's always handy to have cooked chicken in the freezer. I've frozen everything else.

Also! My bananas from last week were getting brown, so I used two of them and the rest of the Bisquick from the pantry and some applesauce from the fridge and made more muffins. The applesauce was a substitute for eggs. Very tasty! Breakfasts for the week are done. The one banana I had left was sliced up and frozen for smoothies.

I'm digging not wasting all this food, and saving money at the same time! I wonder how long I can make all of this last without having to spend a bunch of money on groceries again. With that fresh veggie tray, some applesauce and canned (and frozen) fruit, and a stockpile of frozen veggies, we should be good to go for a while.