Whole House Challenge Update

The turn that cooking has taken since I started the whole house challenge has been interesting--and very simple. Since you can use only what you have in the cupboards and fridge already, you have to think of some interesting solutions to making simple food. I found something in the back of the cupboard that I had forgotten about: a box of "mashed potatoes." The box instructions called for 1-1/2 cups water (no problem), 2 tbsp of butter or margarine, and 1/2 cup of milk. I ended up stirring in 1/2 cup of low-sodium chicken broth instead of the milk, and Parkay spray instead of butter. They tasted almost identical but had a slightly stiffer texture. With the potatoes, we had chicken that I stir-fried in the wok and steamed sugar snap peas.

It's amazing that I have been cooking without buying groceries for almost 2 weeks now. I had no idea how many boxes of pasta were in the cupboard and how much meat was in the freezer. Now I am finally down to my final bag of chicken breast tenderloins and my last 2 boxes of pasta, though I still have lots of other items. I also found some vacuum-packed beef--I'm not sure what cuts, though. I'm going to have to defrost it before I can know what to do with it. I also have 7 pounds of wheat flour!! Thanks to my bread maker I will be able to make bread for sandwiches (Rich will like that for his work lunches!) I have plenty of jam (4 jars of various flavors) but I will probably get some peanut butter. Based on the average amount we spend for groceries each month, I have saved about $265 in groceries alone in less than 2 weeks. Also (it's part of the challenge) we have not eaten out at all since January 26. We went out today to a burrito place with our friends and spent $20--and we have enough leftovers for Rich to have for lunch tomorrow. :)

Taking this challenge has made me realize something that I hadn't thought about. I thought the challenge was just about saving money and using up some extra food, but it has made me think about how much excess I actually have sitting in the house in the back of the cupboards, unused. I usually make a quick stop for groceries on the way home from work when I run out of "convenient" items instead of only buying what we will truly use up. A lot of the items I bought were on great sales, or buy-1-get-1, but it's only a deal if you use it! I'm actually excited about running out of everything in a couple of weeks. Then I can complete the final stage of the challenge: reevaluating what should actually be in my shopping cart when I do start shopping regularly again.

Happy Sunday!