So my participation in the Pantry Challenge has ended. Last night I made an interesting meal of brats simmered in beer (no buns), curried sweet potato fries, and pumpkin pie (which caused Emma to literally shout and dance for joy). Yes, there is still a lot of food in my house. Mostly condiments, rice, beans, and sweets. My fridge and pantry have a lot more empty space (although the pantry is as messy as ever) (see original pictures here).

It was strange to go the grocery store and I approached how I shopped differently. I do think I will be more aware of my shopping and cooking habits after this experience.

Mike and I did have an interesting discussion about hording food last night. Some of us who lived during the cold war (or just read too much apocalyptic fiction) have somewhere in the back of our minds the need to be "prepared" in case of an emergency. In most of those scenarios (nuclear war, mass viral epidemic, ice age, alien invasion...) the food issue is the first big struggle. Modern people, dependent on convenience and prepared foods, would face a crisis. Do you share precious food, horde, loot, fight for it? While this is a science fiction scenario for most Americans it made us think about the ethical issues involved where food is always a scarce resource. What motivates those of the brink of starvation? Do you horde or share or work together? Is altruism even possible? What are the moral boundaries when it is your child that is starving? Do you steal, cheat, kill for food? Then what right would those who may have food stolen from them have to condemn the action if they were part of the system that led to the problem in the first place? It was an interesting conversation full of "what-ifs."

Labels: Pantry Challenge

So we continue. Actually I think we are at the end. The last couple of days have been interesting foodwise. I've been sick and have no energy to cook creative stuff and we are all out of the easy stuff. I'm craving salad and Emma's begging for bananas and we're hosting a Superbowl (ha CBS I said it!) Party for our church... so I think tomorrow will hold a grocery store run. My fridge is fairly empty (kinda hard to finish off those bottles of salad dressing without salad to put in on...). There is still a lot of food in my house which I will be more diligent about eating through (I had no ideas we had so many unused brats from the last church cookout in my freezer - too bad the grills in storage for the season!). So what have the last few days held?

Wednesday

Breakfast
leftover biscuits and muffins, coffee and milk

Lunch
leftover potroast

Dinner
pasta and frozen mozzarella sticks with sauce

Thursday

Breakfast
Fried eggs on homemade bread toast

Lunch
Tuna on crackers

Dinner
Mike - dinner meeting out
Julie - organic frozen pocket sandwich
Emma - organic canned vegetable soup (which she insisted on eating with her hands - needless to say it was a straight to he bath afterwards meal...)

So there we go. I'll post pictures later.

Labels: Pantry Challenge

And so we continue... Emma's been asking for bananas. I don't know if she really wants bananas or if that is just one of the food words she actually knows. It's hard to tell sometimes. For awhile she was calling "ice cream" "soup", so it can get confusing. (and for those who care - I got her to say all of her aunts and uncles names today as we pretended to call them all on the phone, so Alan and Xio whenever we actually get to see you guys again - be ready!).

But back to the food stuff. I've been amazed today at how much stuff I could make if I put the effort into it. Basically I could bake a ton of stuff with the flour and sugar I have from that holiday baking that never happened. I never make bread products, but now I realize that I can and that they are way way better than crappy sliced bread. But it takes effort, but that's how most of the world does it. I'm so used to convenience that I forget that its hard work to just eat in a lot of places.

So what odd combo of easy and efforted foods are we eating?

Breakfast
Mike - eggs on homemade bread
Julie - chocolate chip muffins and coffee
Emma - chocolate chip muffins and milk

Lunch
Mike - grapefruit, pita chips and hummus, homemade bread
Julie - frozen organic burrito
Emma - canned vegetable soup and bread

Dinner
Pot Roast with potatoes and carrots
homemade drop biscuits

Labels: Pantry Challenge

So we're still attempting to do the whole pantry challenge thing. It feels weird having gone away for a few days to jump back into it. My sister-in-law apparently survived at our house watching Emma on what was left (I'm assuming mac n' cheese and the like). We went to the store for just the milk and eggs and my fridge is really clearing out. I finally got around to baking so we have some bread products. I made some chocolate chip muffins this morning - all the while wondering why I had bought chocolate chip muffin mix in the first place. Then tonight I made some wheat bread in the bread machine. So not real baking, but we now have bread. I thought our meals would be a lot more random by now, but I'm amazed at how much normal stuff I still have lurking in the recesses of the pantry and freezer. Note to self - frozen broccoli while decent in soups and casseroles is horrid as a side dish...

So what are we eating?

Breakfast
Mike - fried eggs
Julie - coffee, muffins
Emma - milk, muffins

Lunch
Mike and Emma - leftover Chinese food and applesauce
Julie - frozen Trader Joe's Chicken Masala

Dinner
Parmesan and Pecan crusted Tilapia over brown rice
Steamed frozen broccoli

Labels: Pantry Challenge

So I'm in Oregon for the weekend at the NW Emerging Women Leaders Gathering. So far its been great and I'm meeting some wonderful people. I've been posting blog updates over at Emerging Women.

So for the pantry update... Mike went to a denominational gathering so Emma got left at home with my sister-in-law. And I left them whatever was left in the pantry, so they get to experiment. I get to eat amazing food out here and sample beer and wine made here at Edgefield. Super yummy stuff.

I'll post more updates later... but that's life right now.

Labels: Pantry Challenge, Personal

So the pantry experiment continues. I spent some time today cleaning out my fridge of the stuff that is a little too scary to even try to eat. I like to buy all natural and organic foods, but with no added preservatives, they just don't last very long. I know I will try to buy more of just what I need, but do I want to buy added poisons in my food just so I can keep it longer and actually finish it? Its a weird way to have to look at it. As for what we are eating -

Breakfast
Julie- coffee
Emma - milk and cereal
Mike - cake and coffee

Lunch
Mike - leftover pork roast and rice
Julie - leftover tuna, rice and beans
Emma - leftover pasta and applesauce

Dinner
Vision Team Potluck night here. I made the last of my frozen IKEA Swedish meatballs with gravy and ligonberry jam. I also made coffee, iced tea, and put out what pop we had left and contributed some Girl Scout cookies. It's getting interesting...

Labels: Pantry Challenge

So it's been a full week already. Stuff is going faster than I thought it would. I sent Mike to the store for milk. With our milk-processing machine named Emma we go through a lot of it. I can't help but think of how the scarcity of milk played such a huge role in The Grapes of Wrath. It was truly the substance of life - the necessary thing that determined if a child (or man) survived - and it was beyond the reach of the starving masses. And we go through a lot of milk. It's so basic and assumed so as to be a stable in this challenge. Just made me think...

So as for what we are eating -

Tuesday

Breakfast
Mike - muffin at work
Julie - coffee
Emma - milk and oatmeal with a very mushed banana

Lunch
Mike - sandwich at work
Julie and Emma - lunch at playgroup (PB&J on fresh baked bread, yummy)

Dinner
Tequila Lime grilled Tuna on rice, beans, and corn. (although without the lime part...)


Wednesday

Breakfast
Mike - cereal
Julie- coffee
Emma - milk and a breakfast bar

Lunch
lunch out while shopping

Dinner
Mike - dinner meeting, Chinese take-out
Emma - leftover pasta, Mandarin oranges
Julie - TJ's frozen quesadillas

Labels: Pantry Challenge

So I didn't get around to posting last night, we got home rather late from our emergent cohort meeting (up-rooted). But day 6 of the Pantry Challenge came and went. Still going strong - mostly out of fresh veggies and leftover, so things should start getting more creative from here.

Breakfast
Julie - coffee
Mike - coffee, yogurt, cake
Emma - milk, breakfast bar

Lunch
Julie and Emma - leftover pasta
Mike - leftover pot roast

Dinner
We spent the afternoon in Wheaton before up-rooted. Mike had a dinner meeting at Noodles and Company and Emma and I stopped by Boston Market.

Labels: Pantry Challenge

So it's the weekend - our crazy time and this weekend was even crazier because it's Emma's second birthday (see separate post). Mike's parents came into town and we threw a birthday party for 30 people. So as per my aforementioned rulebreaking, I went to the store. But I did my best to serve stuff we already had. I had lots of pasta, chicken, sauce and cheese - so I decided we would have Parmesan chicken (it helps that Emma loves both chicken and pasta). And with all the juice, pop, wine and beer in the house we were set on drinks. I went to the store and got some salad, cake and ice cream. It was weird, I felt guilty. Now that I'm in the mood of eating what we have, buying stuff was just strange. And we ended up eating a couple of meals out, so the weekend was crazy...

Saturday

Breakfast
Out with Mike's parents

Snack
Emma - cereal bar and milk

Dinner - Emma's Party
Parmesan Chicken, Noodles, Salad
Cake and Ice Cream

Sunday

Breakfast
Coffee and oatmeal
snacks at church

Lunch
Out with church friends to the Chinese buffet

Snack
leftover cake and ice cream

Dinner
Mike - leftover potroast
Julie and Emma - leftover Parmesan chicken and noodles

Labels: Pantry Challenge

So here are the pictures of my fridge and pantry. Scary right. So much of it is 90% finished jars of whatever left at my house after some church function. I don't want to waste it, but so often I do just that. I don't make the point of eating what I have and only what I have. The elements of creativity and health come into play. But eating healthy is a privilege of the "rich." It is a lot cheaper to buy food that is low in nutritional value and is full of preservatives and other unhealthy substances like trans fat. It is sad that taking care of one's body and making it a truly "holy temple" is something only an elite group of people is allowed to do. I know that there are answers and programs in place to help end that imbalance, but its just a lot easier to not put forth the effort.

Which brings me to day three of this challenge. No issues yet although I have started running out of a few things.

Breakfast
Mike - egg and toast
Julie - coffee
Emma - milk and oatmeal with a banana

Lunch
Mike and Emma - leftover pasta
Julie - leftover chicken, asparagus and rice

Dinner
Pot roast with potatoes and carrots
Cheddar biscuits (that's the end of the cheddar cheese and the Bisquick)
Wine

Labels: Pantry Challenge

Today's Cooking -

Breakfast
Julie - coffee
Mike - cereal
Emma - milk and a breakfast bar

Lunch
Julie and Emma - leftovers at a friends house
Mike - provided at work

Snack
Mike - green tea
Julie- green tea, 1/2 nutella sandwich
Emma - milk

Dinner
Roasted chicken breasts and asparagus with almonds
Brown rice

Then for our church's leadership meeting I served my last box of IKEA cookies, chips and salsa (I have quite a few bags of red and green tortilla chips from after christmas clearance), coffee, and pop. The kids got juice boxes (my last 3) and animal crackers (from my huge Costco vat).

It was weird thinking about this in terms of what to serve at a meeting. Hospitality is a huge thing for me - I want to serve people and serve them well. Not so that it will make me look good, but I just want to provide the best that I can to those who come into my home. So just pulling out what I had tonight instead of planning some involved array of snacks was strange. I think that is partially why I stock a pantry - I want to be able to be creative and serve. So will I be okay with opening the vat o' animal crackers for the adults at upcoming meeting? That remains to be seen.

Labels: Pantry Challenge

Okay so day one of the Pantry Challenge... There isn't much to blog about yet, nothing reallys happened yet. Our pantry and fridge are still very full. I think I should take a picture and post how scary they look. But to post what we did eat today (and I'm sure it will get more interesting as things go along...)

Breakfast
Julie - coffee
Mike - cereal and coffee
Emma - milk and fruit and yogurt bar

Lunch
Julie - salmon, avocado, and lettuce on pita bread
Emma - 1/2 banana, applesauce, leftover chicken
Mike - lunch meeting out

Snack
Julie - cheese and crackers and green tea
Emma - milk

Dinner
Pork roast (dug that out of the freezer)
Brown rice
Salad with pecans and strawberries

So eating very very well. It will be strange when the fresh stuff is gone. I have a bit left in the fridge and some potatoes and squash stored in the pantry, so we shall see...

Labels: Pantry Challenge

So Will Samson has challenged the blogging world to the Pantry Challenge. What is this you might ask? Well the idea is that as the richest people in the world (we blog, we have computers, we have pantries) one of the signs of our wealth is the extra food we have in the house. The challenge is - how long can your family eat from the food in our house without going to grocery store?

Here are the rules:

*The contest begins with breakfast tomorrow, Wednesday, 17 January. If you came
here late, bummer.
*You are allowed to buy staples, which for this contest we will say are:
1.Milk/Soy Milk
2.Eggs
3.Butter/Margarine/Vegan Butter
4.Any food that is part of a prescribed health regimen
*Other than that, everything you serve should come from your pantry, refrigerator
or freezer.
*You need to record your experience, including the meals you were able to make.
If you are a blogger you need to blog about it.
*The contest ends when the last person playing buys something not on the list.

So I'm intrigued. I want to play. And if you've been to my house recently, you know I need to play. I'll give it a go, and blog about it here. I have no clue how long this will last, but it will be fun to see what I can come up with.

But I have to admit to not fully playing by the rules (does that automatically disqualify me?).

- I will buy food for Emma's birthday party this weekend. I already sent out the invites for dinner and cake...
- I will buy stuff for church (creamer, communion elements)
- I will go out to eat when needed - with the church group, when I'm out of town...

We'll see out it goes. See how quickly I fail or how interesting it gets. Anyone want to play?

Labels: Pantry Challenge, Social Justice