Pantry Challenge week 2

I am really digging this Pantry Challenge! I cooked up 5 pounds of ground beef that I had gotten on sale and put it in the fridge for some future dishes. I really had no direction with it though and that usually means that I forget about it and then it goes bad (read science project!). So I knew that I needed to make a plan of attack right away! I decided on taco salad and chili. The taco salad was a neccessity if I was also going to use up the salad mix that I had on hand.

For taco salad we chop up lots of fresh veggies, add some ground beef, toss in the salad and fritos. We then add a bottle of Catalina dressing. Well I am out of the dressing so I was trying to think of what to do without spending any money. So I have settled on making this french dressing from Owlhaven. We also have homemade salsa and some leftover salsa from a Taco Bueno run that my brother made last week. That should round out the meal nicely!

Breakfast is more of a challenge around here because I like to get school going as soon as possible and they think they need to eat. I try to have cereal, oatmeal or muffins on hand. Cereal is expensive and not something I buy on a regular basis. The kids lucked out though because our friends gave us 2 huge boxes from Sam's. Then someone else gave us 3 boxes of the sugary kind (which I never buy except for camping) so they are still eating it. We had some pancake mix that needed to be used so Monkey made it up this morning. I think it made 10 pancakes. That might have fed 2 of them. BUT it used it up and cleaned out the pantry just a little more.

Lunches have been leftovers lately. Especially when we have some of the chicken enchiladas left! I put a dishpan(is that what they are called?looks like the bottom of a litter box.) on a shelf in the fridge for the Zookeeper's lunches. I package some of the leftovers in smaller portions so he can just grab some of the things in there and toss it in his lunchbox. I also put things like small bags of almonds, tiny cans of fruit(given to us!) and applesauce in there. That way he has the makings for a healthy lunch. Saves money, time and energy!

What things have you been doing to stay on track for the Pantry Challenge? Any new tips or tricks you have tried?

updated: the salad would have been so much better if I had used the right oil in the dressing. Tip to you is that sesame oil cannot accidentally be used for olive oil and taste ok! They still ate it up and I am going to make the dressing again with the correct oil!