Clearance At Children's Place

A lot of the stock is already sold out but if you hurry you could still scoop up some good deals.

I found cute long sleeved shirts for 1.69 for Big Girl and new fleece items for Little Guy were as low as 2.49. That's cheaper than regular price at the Goodwill.

Standard Shipping is $5 no matter how much you purchase but if you use the code C99AA you'll get 15% off.
I went through ebates for an additional 3% back.

Pantry Challenge Day 28

Breakfast- Pancakes made from the last of the corn muffin mix.
Lunch- Little Guy is eating a packed lunch at preschool. Big Girl is eating a school lunch. Hubby took leftovers. I will probably have tomato soup from a can.
Dinner- Something simple like spaghetti. Side of corn. I'll make a garlic butter spread for the leftover french bread. Rest of pudding pie for dessert.

Pantry Fog & Pet Loss Grief

Monday I took my kitty to the vet for the last time and said goodbye. I'm still second guessing that decision and remembering the last few seconds of her life and watching the light go out of her scared eyes. It has not been a happy time here. I keep thinking I see her out of the corner of my eye. I had a dream about her last night and she was not the thin sick kitty she had become. She was the fat, spunky, silky fur ball from a few months ago. Some part of me thinks that I can fix my grief by immediately adopting a kitten who seems exactly like her. But that is not an option as Hubby really(!) doesn't want another pet. I've been through this before with two of my dogs and I know the grief eventually goes away but the love and affection stay. It will just take a little while to get to that part.

I've been fighting two of my major stress relievers. Eating tons of junk food and shopping for pleasure are so appealing to me when I'm emotional. At first I had to remind myself that food is not a cure for grief nor is it a shoulder to cry on. Food is simply fuel for our bodies. That was difficult to think about when all I wanted to do was crawl into a box of donuts.
And I've been trying my best to stay out of any store unless I have a need to buy something specific. We have too much clutter already and I would like to see our stagnant checking account numbers rise.

So far this week I have shopped at Aldi and spent $11 on staples and snacks for preschool. Yesterday I succumbed to my desire to shop and went into a new Dollar Tree. I spent $27 on toys for my kids, party favors, and groceries. This particular store has a small freezer section. I found a big bag of Green Giant white shoepeg corn and a bag of frozen blueberries. I'll go back again when I need to grocery shop.

As far as the pantry challenge goes I am committed to finishing the month and going into February. My in-laws will be here on the 10th so I will have to shop for them. Even though I didn't stick to just eating from my pantry I think I did a pretty good job of eating from our pantry so far. I think we've saved money.

Breakfast- veggie sausages and banana slices
Lunch- Soup, cheese and crackers for me and little guy. Hubby has leftovers. Big Girl is buying today (cheese pizza day)
Dinner- Pickle burger using old homemade pickles, a box of augratin potatoes I found in the pantry, green beans from the freezer, french bread that's in the bread machine right now. A chocolate pudding pie using things I found in the pantry.

Pantry Challenge Day 24 + 25 And not a happy day for me.

We've made the decision to put our sick kitty down. She has no interest in food and even dry heaved at the smell of her canned food. It's time. We said our goodbyes this morning. I have to say that I'm really not that interested in cooking or cleaning today at all. And I feel incredibly guilty about making this decision but I can't face the alternative.

Day 24-

Breakfast- the rest of the fruit pie and cereal
Lunch- Taco Bell on the way to Grandma's
Dinner- Kids ate at Grandmas while Hubby and I snuck off for a special 13th anniversary dinner.

Day 25-
Breakfast- pb toast and milk
Lunch- ? Maybe grilled cheese. Maybe yogurt.
Dinner- Hamburger helper made with boca patties.

It's time for another grocery trip. But, I just don't feel up to it. I think I'll throw some flour, water, oil, and salt in the bread machine and let it make us some bread.

Pantry Challenge Day 23

Weekends are hard for eating out of our pantry. In the future, I see us trimming our budget by trying to eat out only on weekends. We'd still save a nice amount.

Breakfast- Kids and I had cereal. Hubby had fruit pie.
Lunch- Fast food. It's been a busy day. Birthday parties, preschool previews, haircuts, etc.
Dinner- I think we're going out for dinner too. I'm not sure.

Birthday Party Favors.

We have two birthday parties next month so I've started thinking about gift baggies. I need to make about 30 baggies. I'm trying my best to keep things cheap and still get things that won't annoy other parents. You know- be light on the candy and keep the plastic junk toys to a minimum.

So far I just have:

After Christmas candy sticks that do not have holiday markings on the individual packages- I bought five packages for .25 cents apiece.

A small bag of jolly ranchers and a bag of bubble gum.

Mini containers of Playdoh leftover from the after Halloween clearance bag I bought a few months ago. Some of these ended up in Christmas stockings.

To supplement I just bought a few items from Oriental Trading Company with a 20% off code. (BEMINE). Mini back scratchers, some sticker puzzles, and train shaped suckers should be on there way here soon.

I'm trying to keep the cost per bag around $1- 1.50. I think three pieces of candy and one or two small toys should be sufficient.

Anymore ideas?

Pantry Challenge Day 22

Breakfast- whole grain pancakes and veg. sausage for the whole family.
Lunch- Big Girl has tofurky & cheese sandwich, pretzels, carrot sticks and a juice box. I'm having soup. Little Guy is having pbj and mandarin orange slices. Hubby is going out to lunch.
Dinner- Homemade veggie pizza.

I made a fruit pie with a few slightly outdated cans of fruit from the pantry. Now that I know how to make an easy crust I am no longer afraid of making pie. I just whip up a crumb topping with some baking mix, oats, a little butter and some sugar and we're good to go. I didn't add any sugar to the pie as the syrup was sugary enough. I did add 1/2 tsp. of baking soda to the filling to make it a little sweeter. It turned out great. Next time I would add a little cornstarch to the syrup to make it thicker though.

Pantry Challenge Day 21

Seriously starting to get sick of my own food.

Breakfast- Kids had cereal, Hubby had a veggie burger, I haven't eaten yet- have upset stomach.
Lunch- Meeting Hubby for a much anticipated lunch out! Big Girl has pbj, pudding, cheese, and a fruit juice.
Dinner- Thawing boca burgers to shred, soaking the last of the tvp crumbles in water and seasoning for a meatloaf. I have some homemade bread hunks that I'll shred to go into it. Making instant mashed potatoes (because we are out of fresh) and probably heating a can of corn or frozen green beans.

I wish I could say our pantry is about empty. I'm waiting for that burst of delicious creativity that people say comes with a limited food supply. I'm craving boc choy, red cabbage, kiwi fruit, endive and other delicious fresh food items that we don't have. I have one sad apple and a handful of carrots left in the produce bin.

Gonna go fill up a bag of kids clothes and toys to drop off at the thrift store. I think next month's goal will be to focus on de-cluttering and cleaning.

Pantry Challenge Day 20

Breakfast- Hubby had a veggie burger, kids had cereal and I ate some cake with my coffee (bad, but at least I ate something!).

Lunch- Little Guy and I are having tomato soup, grilled cheese and applesauce. Hubby is having leftovers from the freezer. Big Girl is having a tofurkey/cheese sandwich, pretzels, cake, fruit roll and juice box.

Dinner- Am seriously considering getting a $5 from Little Caesars. If I can find our old movie tickets we will get free bread sticks with it. No it's not nutritious but tonight is going to be busy and we have a lot of homework to do tonight. Anyone else have a first grader with a lot of homework? If we weren't struggling to catch her up I might complain but as it is I think every bit of extra work we do helps. Tomorrow night I'll put on my apron and make something full of vitamins and veggies. Maybe soup? Maybe a "meat"loaf with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies?

Little Caesars had a deal over Christmas where you get a free $5 gift card when you buy $25 in gift cards. We did a few of those deals.

P.S. The pantry saves the day again. My daughter said she wanted ramens and chic patty for dinner. Luckily we had one patty left in the freezer and Daddy is at a meeting tonight. It's just enough for the three of us.


Looks a lot like what we had for dinner last night but whatever. I'll take it.

I had some leftover frosting in the fridge so I made chocolate cake yesterday so we're having that as snacks and dessert.

Pantry Challenge Day 19

Pantry Challenge-

Breakfast- Kids had the last of the instant oatmeal and shared a breakfast sausage. Hubby had a veggie burger. I had a piece of toast. (I'm doing much better at eating breakfast!)
Lunch- Little Guy and I had scrambled eggs with cheese and buttered toast. Apple Juice.
Dinner- I am seriously craving take out Chinese food. And I can never manage to recreate the same dishes when I try at home. So, I don't know if I'll end up having Hubby pick up dinner or not. Maybe we have a coupon. Maybe I'll just cook some noodles and throw some broccoli, peanuts and hoisin sauce on them and pretend.

(p.s. I made dinner after all. This is the end product.)



Whew. Tired after multiple errand stops this morning. I don't have my receipts handy so I'll have to guess at how much I spent.

Shop N Save- spent about $34 on the gift card we bought last November with our Entertainment guide coupons. Bought eggs, milk, clearance apple sauce, cheese, Gatorade, light bulbs, pain reliever, bread, a sale book for a gift, contact lens solution, and a new contact case. I had coupons for the pain reliever, Gatorade and contact solution.

Deal$- two bags of candy for b-day goody bags and a pack of Diego sandwich bags for the lunch box- Spent $3

Famous Footwear- We had our first desire for a popular fad clothing item- Skechers Twinkle Toes shoes. While I don't think I need to buy my child everything she wants (in fact I plan not to) I made a decision to please her. I spent part of yesterday shopping online doing research on prices and I checked our shoe inventory to see if we needed shoes. She asked at the right time as she is starting to outgrow the shoes we bought her for the beginning of the school year. So, I handed over my rewards card and spent 29.00 on her new shoes. I hope she likes them.
Michaels- Another birthday party invitation came this week. My budget limit for kid's birthday party gifts is $10. I typically spend around $7.50. I put my 40% store coupon in my pocket and went in search of a present or goody bag favors. I found a toob of pirates and a copy of Robinson Crusoe for the birthday boy, two plain gold after Christmas clearance baskets (for Easter), a .50 cent fridge magnet to do list/calendar for me, and a $1 clearance flash light for Little Guy's Easter basket. I love the "Toob" toys. I found Jamestown settlers along with Egyptian Pharaohs. I'll be going back with another 40% off coupon to get some for Big Girl's Easter basket.

Library- Our standard books and dvds for the weeks entertainment. I also spent $3 on books and magazines from the sale table to give as a gift.

And now we're home and I plan on doing some housework before I settle down with a fresh library book.

Grocery Shopping Time & Freezer Soup Tip

We're low on milk and sandwich bread. For some reason my homemade bread doesn't last long enough for sandwich bread.

I also need a few other non grocery items that I have been putting off buying.

You guys, I have been dreading shopping. Is that weird? I used to look forward to it and now I'm afraid I'll mess up my pantry challenge.

If I were more organized I could tell how much I had saved this month on food by eating more of what we have but I am not. I don't think we are saving that much on the eating out spectrum. But maybe we are as I have turned down multiple dinners out for the sake of the pantry challenge. Hmm.
I can't even total up how much we've spent on groceries this month because the weird bulk stuff from Costco always screws up the total.

This will be my third trip to the grocery store this month. And I spent less than $20 each time I shopped. So, I'll take that as encouragement.

Two nights ago I made wonderful freezer soup. The broth was made from the saved and frozen drained off juice from canned beans, corn, and mushroom slices. I threw in one onion bouillon cube and it was great. I don't have room for a big freezer soup container (yet) so I've just been draining my vegetables into little plastic containers and labeling them for the freezer. Why waste that good flavor?

Pantry Challenge Day 18

You guys, I am tiredy tired tired today. No school as it's MLK day.

Breakfast- The kids and I ate veggie sausage on the last of my homemade rolls.
Lunch- Took the kids to see the Chipmunks movie so we had popcorn (I earned it with my movie rewards card). Then popped thru Taco Bell and got some real food.
Dinner- I am so tired of cooking. I thought this would get easier as I got used to it. I think I'll take the easy route and make spaghetti. Cheap, easy and everyone likes it.

I didn't get to the grocery store today but Hubby made a trip to Costco without me yesterday so we're all stocked up on parmesan cheese, veggie burgers and sausage for the foreseeable future. I should never let the man go by himself. He bought boxes of light bulbs, a 50 lb. bag of bread flour, and an outfit for me as an anniversary present. Our list? Toilet paper, bread flour, and parmesan cheese. What am I going to do with 50 lbs. of bread flour? Still, I love the man.
I guess I should go throw some of that bread flour in my bread maker for garlic bread tonight.

Observations about the Pantry Challenge.

I'm hand washing baggies and pots and pans daily. Doing this helps keep my sink shiny as I can't stand washing dishes in a dirty sink. Luckily I've been doing a load of laundry a day, otherwise I'd be running out of dish cloths.


My potato bin is finally empty of the last hairy potato. I wiped it out but do you have any ideas on how to get rid of the stain? Should I just start layering newspaper in the bottom of my bin?


I've only bought one twelve pack of pop since we started the challenge. It is now gone as we shared the last one last night. I really want to the grocery store to get more. And yet I want to cut my addiction to pop. We normally drink diet but still. I know it's not good for me. I've been making lemonade and orangeade to help with the cravings for something sweet.

We're almost out of milk so soon I will have to go grocery shopping. Even though I'm not perfect about strictly eating at home I can so see the difference in the amount we're saving on food. Getting the pantry and refrigerator less cluttered is great too.

Pantry Challenge Day 16 + 17

Day 16

Breakfast- egg and cheese sandwiches on homemade buns
Lunch- $5 Little Caesars pizza bought with an old gift card
Snack- gelato and soup at a little shop by the Habitat for Humanity Restore. I had a $1 coupon.
Dinner- Homemade frankensteinish pizza made with four yeast dough rolls and two tortillas.
Popcorn for a treat.

Day 17

Breakfast- cereal
Lunch- Mac N Cheese and broccoli
Dinner- Soup of some kind. Maybe freezer soup with corn bread casserole.

We were in need of new light fixtures for our bathroom. Instead just going to Lowes I suggested we try out the Habitat for Humanity Restore downtown. We found brand new in the box lights and hardware for less than half the advertised online price.

Pantry Challenge Day 14 + 15

Day 14
Breakfast- kids had pb pancakes and milk. Hubby had a veggie burger (his normal fare) and I skipped
Lunch- I had a late breakfast of an egg sandwich and hash brown from McD's. sigh. Little Guy had a grilled cheese and apple slices. Big Girl had an apple, a cheese stick, a fruit roll up and some wheat crackers in her lunch box. Hubby ate miscellaneous leftovers from the freezer.
Dinner- I made a red sauce with veggie sausage and high fiber pasta.

Day 15
Breakfast- We're having this crock pot oatmeal. I've already got it in the crock pot. No reason for me not to eat breakfast! Thanks Jen.
Lunch- canned soup and cheese quesadillas , lemonade
Dinner- Making bread machine dough for hamburger buns now. We'll have veggie burgers. (we're out of lettuce and tomato but I might grill some onion. We still have cheese).


I made a batch of potato chips to go with the burgers. I followed the recipe but I ended up tweaking it when I had problems. It took me a long time to get all four potatoes microwaved but the chips are very good. I will not use plastic wrap next time as that melted. I ended up using a covered casserole dish and microwaving for just five minutes.
We have tortillas, pineapple, and sour cream that need to be used up.

Seeing Where the Money Goes- Amy Dacyczyn is still my hero.

Frugal Homemaker posted a video of the frugal gals heroine, Amy D. See it here.


Oh how I needed to hear those wise words about writing down every penny. This pantry challenge has highlighted my complete blindness when it comes to picking up drive thru food and eating out.
Seriously, I get something from a drive thru more days than not lately. My biggest reason- I skip breakfast and leave the house running on empty.

It would be far cheaper for me to keep bottled drinks and power bars (even bought without coupons) in my car than to get take out. Imagine how much I could save if I could actually train myself to eat in the morning whether I wanted to or not. I would probably even lose weight.
Two wins!

Ideas for Sour Cream

I have a unopened container of sour cream to use up. This site has a great list of recipes that all call for sour cream. I'm particularly intrigued by the corn casserole. I don't have any corn bread mix. Luckily I found a Jiffy Mix corn bread clone recipe here.

I think this would go well with veggie Italian sausages with onions and peppers. Since I have leftover pasta sauce I could make a sausage cacciatore.

Pantry Challenge Day Thirteen.

I'm discovering lunch is a major downfall for my pantry clean out. Today we met Hubby for lunch at Qdoba. I love the vegetarian gumbo bowl.


Breakfast- pb toast and oatmeal.
Lunch- Qdoba
Made some sweet bread with two bad bananas and a handful of raisins.
Dinner- Chinese stir fry.

My Mom brought us a pie on Monday and we've been snacking on that for dessert every night.

Kitty Update & Pantry Challenge Day Eleven & Twelve

Day 11-
Dinner- we had leftovers

Day 12-
Dinner- We have a Mexican style stir fry and refried beans topped with taco sauce and cheese.
I made extra rice so tomorrow night we're probably having Chinese style stir fry.


Our kitty is not improving despite multiple forced syringe feedings daily. She hates being fed, won't eat on her own, and frequently vomits up what we've managed to get down her throat.
We're going to try giving her some dry food but things aren't looking so great right now.

Pantry Challenge Day Eleven- Plus Goodies from Goodwill

Breakfast- kids had oatmeal and milk. Hubby had a veggie burger. And I skipped it and then succumbed to the lure of Starbucks and coffee cake while we were out this morning.

Lunch- I have a gift card for Olive Garden so I took my Mom out for soup and salad.

Dinner- Not sure yet but we have tortillas and refried beans so maybe burritos and rice.
Fresh pineapple for dessert.


Trent's post about thrift store shopping with his wife inspired me to stay out of the thrift store until I had a bag to donate. I filled a trash bag with outgrown clothes and another bag of culled Christmas decorations and dropped them off today. We still watch a lot of VHS movies (especially since we don't have cable anymore) so I love getting a bargain on cheap kiddie entertainment. VHS tapes were on sale for .50 cents each. And even better- kids and baby clothes were on sale buy one/get one free. So, I bought fourteen kid clothes items for $14.
Most of these were name brands like Aeropostale, Baby Gap, Lily Pulitzer, and Justice.

** I like my blog better with pictures. I'll be trying to put up more as I blog.

Pantry Challenge Day Ten

Breakfast- We ate the last container of yogurt, the last two slices of bread (toast), the last three eggs, and the last four slices of veggie bacon. Plus an orange that was getting old. We finished a container of apple juice. There's a simple joy in knowing you used a food item all the way up before it expired.

After breakfast I decided it was time to grocery shop. For less than $9 I bought a gallon of skim milk, a carton of eggs, a loaf of wheat bread, 3 pounds of apples, a pack of toilet paper and a fresh pineapple. Aldis rocks my wallet!

Lunch- Picked up a $5 cheese pizza from Little Caesars on the way home from shopping. I am so not a cook three meals a day person on the weekends. And for $5 plus leftovers- I don't feel guilty. Little Caesars fits my budget.

Dinner- Leftovers of pizza or pot pie. Snacks are fresh fruit. Only having to reheat our dinner from the microwave is a great pleasure.

Pantry Challenge Day Nine

I need to mix up some powdered milk and make a loaf of sandwich bread in our bread machine today. (done)


Breakfast- cereal & milk (need to buy more milk)
Lunch- egg salad, baked sweet potato and cold pizza- everyone picked their favorite
Dinner- bisquick pot pie made with our leftover roast

Pantry Challenge Day Eight- Let's Not Discuss it.

Today is an off the wagon day for the pantry challenge. Still, I can see the back of my refrigerator.

I've been enjoying reading Emily's Under $1000 Per Month blog- especially the $3 meal section.

See You Tomorrow.

Pantry Challenge Day Seven

School was cancelled and Hubby stayed home with us. We had an excellent day today though.

Breakfast- leftover pumpkin muffins, juice
Lunch- Taco Bell (I was out anyway and it was on the way home- lunch $6)
Snacks after playing in the snow- cinnamon toast, oatmeal and cocoa.
Dinner- Pizza and Salad at Cecil Whittaker's- dinner was $11.
Dessert- Drinks from QT on the way home. I am in love with their cinnamon cocoa. $2

So, we spent about $19 dollars on food out. Not great but we've done worse. Tomorrow is another chance to try again.

Diamond (Accents) Are a Girl's Best Friend

This ring is what I bought with my Christmas money from my Mom. It was originally $229 but I got it on sale for $90.99 with free shipping. I've been wanting one of these for awhile and I feel no guilt whatsoever on spending my Christmas money on something frivolous because that's what it's for.

Pantry Challenge- How This is Going to Work

My first goal is to eat up any perishables like breads and fruit and use up what can get moldy or sour in the fridge.

I plan on replenishing things we need that I can't make myself like milk or cheese. I also plan on doing a few coupon/sale combining if it's a great price and it's a thing we normally use anyway. For example, I just stocked up on cheese slices because I had coupons that were about to expire. My Hubby and son eat a cheese slice almost every day. But, I'm limiting it to staples. That works great for me because I love having a short list (with coupons) and getting out of the store quickly and cheaply.

We have quite a surplus of food in our basement. Even though it might be a weird secret wish that we end up eating dry shredded wheat with steak sauce, I don't think it will come to that. I actually made that as a snack with a friend while in high school- not bad. I think my Mom must have been doing a pantry challenge that month. Or maybe having three big kids in the house was a pantry challenge on a daily basis.

Pantry Challenge Day Six

The main problem with trying to use up the food in our house is that I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the dishes. My hands are so dry.
I splurged on a bottle of Fairy dish liquid at the ethnic grocery store so I feel a little pampered while I do a dreaded chore. There's nothing particularly special about this British dish soap. I may as well be using Palmolive. In fact, I might refill the bottle with it.

And also, I made an out loud Christmas wish that I could have a small tv in the kitchen to keep my mind occupied while I did boring chores like chopping veggies or washing baggies. Hubby delivered and I've been happily watching cooking shows on PBS while I drudge away.

Pumpkin was suggested as a high fiber food item for our sick kitty. She turned her nose up to it so I had a mostly full can of pumpkin to use up. Weight Watchers muffins to the rescue. They are baking now. Big Girl requested one in her lunch box tomorrow.


Breakfast- Veg. Bacon and pumpkin muffin, milk and cocoa
Lunch- Cheese and crackers, soup, apple juice
Dinner- Revision Instead of the Pot pie made with leftover roast, side of frozen veg I had planned we're having Crockpot Falafel. Our pitas are getting old and I have all the food in the pantry for this dinner.

Pantry Challenge Day Five

On the Menu:


Breakfast- kids had oatmeal with banana and milk, hubby had a veggie burger
Lunch- Hubby took leftovers from the freezer, Big Girl took hers in a lunchbox- pistachios, cheese stick fruit roll, apple pie, and a few pretzels with a fruitables juice box (I imagine she'll have leftovers). Little Guy and I had fast food after I picked him up from pre/k. I was starving after skipping breakfast (I know, I know).
Dinner- Spaghetti Pie without the crust, garlic bread from the freezer and leftover apple pie.


Today was my errand running day. I stopped at the vet to get more special cat food for Izzy and heartworm preventative for Abby, did the pharmacy drive thru pick up for my prescriptions, ran to Wal-Mart to get pet food and went to the library. Now I have to go syringe feed the cat, fill out some bills and rebates, throw a load of laundry in the wash, and work on putting away Christmas decorations. Got to get back to it.

Saving at JcPenney.com.

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Go through Ebates and get 3% back.

What I'm Trying Today

No roll pie crust that uses oil instead of shortening.

Hubby found a bag of frozen apple pie filling in the basement that I made last year. So far, this pantry challenge has us eating very well.

Pantry Challenge Day Three

Who else has found themselves cleaning out their 2009 coupons and getting the urge to use any valuable coupons before they expire? The 2010 coupons were abundant this weekend too.
I combined Target/MFR coupons yesterday and bought a few things we use all the time. I couldn't pass up MorningStar for .50 a box. It looks like Target put up new coupons too. I also picked up a bottle of Olay Quench Lotion. You can print the rebate here.
The rest of the grocery store circulars went into the recycling bin. I don't need extra temptation.

Sunday-

Breakfast- donuts found in the snack drawer and veggie sausage. Milk
Lunch- frozen pizza from the basement freezer. Leftover chocolate cake.
Dinner- Stir Fried Tofu from the fridge mixed with a frozen dinner kit. Fresh Mango for dessert.


Plans for Monday-

Breakfast- leftover pancakes with banana slices for the kids
Lunch- we had yogurt, tomato soup, and crackers (the eldest takes her lunch so she'll have pbj, pretzels, and orange slices)
Dinner- Potato, Carrot, Onion, and Boca roasted with gravy. Apple Pie for dessert.


Hubby found a bag of frozen bread downstairs so my plans for making bread are put off for a few days. I am making ricotta now too so I'll be thinking about making a cheesy noodle dish soon. I keep finding milk at Save-A-Lot on clearance for .99 and can't seem to pass it up. Even though some of it gets thrown out before it gets used.

Day 2 of Pantry Challenge and a Kitty Update

We're not exactly off to a roaring start with the pantry challenge. *** Foods from our own fridge/pantry.

Jan 1-

Breakfast- banana pancakes with peanut butter ***
Lunch- My Mom made a big salad ***
Snack- Hubby and I went to see Avatar and shared popcorn and soda $$
Dinner- $5 cheese pizza from Little Caesears with free bread sticks with our movie tickets

Jan 2-

Breakfast- drop biscuits and cheesy eggs ***
Lunch- Ramen noodle soup/leftovers ***
Dinner- at a friends house and I made chocolate cake (***)

Our cat is managing to eat a little of food here and there. We bought Hill's a/d and she seems to like it. Of course, she's vomiting up most of it. I still don't know what we're gonna do but I'm praying we can turn this around without a vet's intervention one way or another.