February 2025 Pantry/Freezer Challenge

[K_in_the_kitchen]

February is my month to eat from the pantry and freezer as much as possible, as January still has too much celebrating going on.  Some specific goals this month are to NOT buy any meat, no matter how on sale it goes, and to make a big dent in the individual meals I’ve frozen to avoid food waste.

2/1: DH and I were gone for most of the day, but DS took leftover pasta for his work lunch.  For dinner the plant based folk had Beyond burgers using burgers and buns from the freezer, plus avocado from our neighbor, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and condiments.  I had a TJs freezer mac & cheese.

2/2: I made smoothies for breakfast using canned and a frozen fruit, refrigerated dates, and ground flaxseed.  I poured off my basic smoothies first, refrigerating 2 servings for later, then I added protein powder, leftover homemade cashew cream, and frozen blueberries to the Vitamix for the plant based folks — all things I can’t have.  For lunch I had egg salad on toasted homemade bread, as I’m working through some eggs I hard cooked because they were a month past the sell by date.  For dinner I made tamale pie for the plant based folks, using leftover beans, rice, and TVP from the fridge, cornmeal from the freezer, plus 2 cans of creamed corn and a can of diced chiles from the pantry.  I cooked the tamale pie in 2 individual casserole dishes for last night’s meal, and the other 4 servings were cooked in 2 cup Souper Cubes, with 2 planned for Wednesday’s dinner and 2 vacuumed sealed this morning (after freezing) to add to the frozen meal stash.  I had steak I’d cooked sous vide on Friday, along with leftover mashed potatoes.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

2/3 I ate egg salad for lunch again, DH ate leftover pasta, DS scrounged around.  We were away from home at dinner time.

2/4 For lunch I ate a leftover smoothie, DH had leftover tamale pie, and DS took a meal from the freezer.  Dinner for the plant based folk is a pantry taco soup.  I made a double batch, so that uses 2 cans each of kidney, pinto, and black beans, plus 2 cans of diced tomatoes with chiles, and 2 cans of corn.  It also uses dried minced onion and various seasoning, as well as TVP.  A double batch is 8-9 servings, which will be dinner for the 2 of them twice, plus lunch once, plus a couple of servings to freeze.  A single batch isn’t enough, and I can’t do a 1.5 batch when it comes to using cans, lol.  I’ll be eating lamb chops I sous vide cooked Friday, plus leftover mashed potatoes.

[Serendip]

Oh I'll join this!
Have been raiding the freezer as I'm doing a low-spend month.

Random freezer/pantry items used in the last few days
-frozen kale, sorrel, peas
-leftover tahini dressing (turned into a spread for toast)
-dried mint
-garden potatoes (only two left--sprouting now)
-lots of spices
-chia seeds
-coconut flakes

[K_in_the_kitchen]

Oh I'll join this!
Have been raiding the freezer as I'm doing a low-spend month.

Random freezer/pantry items used in the last few days
-frozen kale, sorrel, peas
-leftover tahini dressing (turned into a spread for toast)
-dried mint
-garden potatoes (only two left--sprouting now)
-lots of spices
-chia seeds
-coconut flakes

Yay — I’m glad I’m not alone!

[Avolonte]

I'll join in this challenge! Our goal is to eat down the pantry and freezer over February and March. We have a lot going on at work and home, and the grocery budget has been cut in half or more. I knew we were going to be crunched for time and cash so over the course of mid-December to mid-January I did lots of food prep. We made a list of what's in both freezers (fridge and small standalone) and in the pantry, and we update it as we pull from it; I used to rely on memory and things were forgotten. We buy half of what we used to buy and round it out from the freezer and pantry.

This week from freezer - perogies and chana masala. Pantry - 2 cans salmon for salmon patties and instant mashed potatoes. Fresh this week was a beef stew and chicken and potato curry. Lots of leftovers for lunches and remaining dinners.

[TheFrenchCat]

Within the past two weeks or so, I decided the freezer was too full and have been trying to use it up.  I actually have my pantry decently under control, so there's only a few cans that are kind of lingering.

Things to eat from the freezer:
-About half a dozen cooked chicken thighs that DD decided she doesn't want for lunch anymore, but will eat at home for dinner-These I'll use up when I make a meal for DH and me that DD won't eat
-Three marinated petite sirloin meals (three servings per ziplock-there's three of us)
-2 pounds ground beef
-about a dozen cooked sausages for DD lunches (she doesn't eat sandwiches so I have to be creative)
-half a bag of frozen tater tots-should do breakfast for dinner again soon
-half a bag of frozen berries that I eat with whipped cream
-three chicken quesadillas that we have for work lunches
-two sticks of pepperoni for sauce
-one meal's worth of Italian sausage
-salmon-enough for 5 servings
-shrimp-enough for at least two dinners with leftovers

So that's at least ten dinners and a good number of lunches.  I think I'll try to focus on eating down that in the next month, and that should save a good bit.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

Within the past two weeks or so, I decided the freezer was too full and have been trying to use it up.  I actually have my pantry decently under control, so there's only a few cans that are kind of lingering.

Things to eat from the freezer:
-About half a dozen cooked chicken thighs that DD decided she doesn't want for lunch anymore, but will eat at home for dinner-These I'll use up when I make a meal for DH and me that DD won't eat
-Three marinated petite sirloin meals (three servings per ziplock-there's three of us)
-2 pounds ground beef
-about a dozen cooked sausages for DD lunches (she doesn't eat sandwiches so I have to be creative)
-half a bag of frozen tater tots-should do breakfast for dinner again soon
-half a bag of frozen berries that I eat with whipped cream
-three chicken quesadillas that we have for work lunches
-two sticks of pepperoni for sauce
-one meal's worth of Italian sausage
-salmon-enough for 5 servings
-shrimp-enough for at least two dinners with leftovers

So that's at least ten dinners and a good number of lunches.  I think I'll try to focus on eating down that in the next month, and that should save a good bit.

Same here, it’s the freezer that’s full to bursting and the pantry is under control, although there are some things we used to eat in the pantry that we don’t eat much anymore, so those have to be figured out.

That a great idea to use tater tots as part of breakfast for dinner!  We have a lot; i just unloaded another 8# bag to the young adult kid who lives on their own, but we have a full 8# bag and about another 1-2#.

[TheFrenchCat]

I had no idea what to do for dinner tonight, so I pulled out a bag of the sirloin steaks to defrost!  I'll make some rice and steamed broccoli to go with it.  Now I'm actually looking forward to dinner!

[K_in_the_kitchen]

2/5 I made a quesadilla for lunch, and am really over the old stale flour tortillas that I didn’t even buy.  I shredded a block of Dubliner cheese I bought last month, so that will go into rotation.  I like it less than I remembered, so I won’t mind using it as the cheese sprinkle for the dog until we get more cheap shredded cheese.  The guys both had leftover taco soup for lunch and for dinner ate the tamale pie I cooked Sunday, while I had creamed eggs on toast to get through the hard cooked eggs.  Not much came from the pantry or freezer, except the soup was a pantry soup I made Tuesday, and a few items in the tamale pie were from the pantry as well.  Mostly we just worked through leftovers.

2/6 DS took a freezer meal for his work lunch.  DH ate a noodle cup from the pantry and potato tacos from the freezer.  I had leftover creamed eggs on toast, using a heel of homemade bread from the freezer.  Dinner for the guys is leftover taco soup, salad, and a baguette from the freezer, mine is previously sous vide cooked beef and leftover mashed potatoes.

I think I’m going to take the rest of the month off from making soups and just pull out soups from the freezer.  I freeze them in 2 cup Souper Cubes, and it seems likely I have the 12 servings needed based on the meal plans.  DS never wants to take the frozen soup because it takes to long to heat up in the microwave at work (he never really has time for lunch, he heats something fast and eats while he works).  I’m going to plan ahead and have it defrosted and ready to take.

I also realized the Souper Cubes don’t fit in the containers he takes his lunch in, which are round.  Going forward, I’ll freeze some soup and chili leftovers in those containers.  But first we need to get through the backlog of frozen soups and other meals in the freezer!

[Serendip]

SO is cooking chili using our frozen garden tomatoes for dinner and last night we had fried rice and dumplings ..the dumplings are locally made and super tasty so we actually ordered more for the freezer.

I have been giving our dog frozen organ-meat cubes which I bought a while ago from the pet store and think were supposed to be used within three months.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

SO is cooking chili using our frozen garden tomatoes for dinner and last night we had fried rice and dumplings ..the dumplings are locally made and super tasty so we actually ordered more for the freezer.

I have been giving our dog frozen organ-meat cubes which I bought a while ago from the pet store and think were supposed to be used within three months.

I would give my dogs the past date frozen meat cubes too.  I don’t think my dogs would stop long enough to say they meat tasted a little less than fresh.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

We were away most of the weekend, but took food with us.

2/7 I had mac and cheese from the freezer for lunch, the guys had sandwiches.  For dinner (pre race) we ate pancakes from mix in the pantry and vegan sausage from the freezer.
2/8 DS was racing, DH had peanut butter and honey for lunch, I don’t recall what I had — I probably just snacked on the foods I’d taken with us.  For dinner DS made veggie burgers for himself, DH had vegan chicken nuggets and rice,
2/9 DS was racing (different venue different discipline), DH couldn’t eat (bowel prep), I had cheese, crackers, and some prosciutto I unearthed from the freezer for lunch.  DS made himself vegan chik nuggets and tots for dinner, I ate a sandwich on ciabatta I also found in the freezer, along with cheese and prosciutto again.
2/10 I had mac and cheese from the freezer for lunch, DS fended for himself, DH wasn’t allowed to eat.  Dinner was Beyond Burgers for the guys, plus DS made rice.  I ate pierogi.

DS will be traveling for 11 days, and I suggested DH and I challenge ourselves to base every dinner on foods from the freezer, and not just the stuff that gets replenished like veggie burgers and TJs frozen meals.  I’ll have to be the one to plan it, but I think it will really help us get through the backlog, and hopefully we’ll also base most of our lunches out of the freezer as well.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

2/11 For the guys’ dinner I heated frozen leftover pinto beans and frozen leftover TVP, made a pot of fresh rice, and cooked frozen vegetables so they could make burrito bowls.  We are 3/4 through this 4# bag of vegetables, which was a mistake buy on my part as I didn’t realize it had mushrooms in it, and DS hates mushrooms.  I defrosted and seared a pork chop (previously sous vide cooked) for myself and made mashed potatoes.

2/12 Lunch was burrito bowls for the guys, I had frozen mac & cheese.  For dinner I’d defrosted two servings of black bean chili for the guys, and I added in more TVP from what I’d defrosted Monday.  I defrosted and seared a ribeye steak (previously sous vide cooked) and ate leftover mashed potatoes.  Once I get through the ribeyes I cooked previously I’ll take them off the list, as they’ve very hit or miss.

There are now no zero leftover beans or TVP in the freezer, thank goodness.

I inventories and reorganized the freezer so DH and I can go all in on our freezer challenge.

[TheFrenchCat]

Used up some ground beef and the last half of a large bag of tater tots.  But then the grocery store had a good sale on meat.  At least it was easily able to fit, and the freezer still isn't full, because I've been using it up.  Next up, chicken drumsticks from the way back.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

Used up some ground beef and the last half of a large bag of tater tots.  But then the grocery store had a good sale on meat.  At least it was easily able to fit, and the freezer still isn't full, because I've been using it up.  Next up, chicken drumsticks from the way back.

I’m doing my best to stay away from the sale ads so I don’t buy meat for the freezer, lol!

[K_in_the_kitchen]

2/13 For lunch DH ate more of the beans/rice/TVP leftovers, this time in tortillas as small burritos, to make the meal feel slightly different (this being the 3rd day in a row eating beans/rice/TVP.  I made a quesadilla, which is always tastier when made with the cook at home tortillas.  At dinner DH had lentil soup from the freezer, and I cooked a baguette from the freezer as well.  I sous vide cooked some small filets that had been in the freezer since July, and ate one of those with leftover mashed potatoes.

2/14 For lunch we had a french toast casserole made with the leftover baguette from Thursday night.  For dinner DH had tamale pie from the freezer.  I sous vide cooked some pork belly that had been in the freezer since June, and ate one piece along with searing the tiny filet I didn’t eat Thursday, and also ate leftover mashed potatoes.

2/15 We were away from home for lunch.  The freezer deep dive continues, DH had dal and rice from the freezer, which I think I made back in May.  I also defrosted and toasted a ciabatta roll I unearthed a few days ago, for him to have with the dal and rice.  I ate a piece of the pork belly I cooked Friday, and a small filet I sous vide cooked back in July.  That is the last of the filets I dug out of the freezer, which is good as they were mostly 3-4 ounces and not very filling.  I also finished off the most recent batch of mashed potatoes.

[Serendip]

We have been using things from the freezer, some pizza dough and frozen greens (beans, bok choi).

Made a delightful bread pudding with a stale sourdough baguette. Soaked coconut flakes to make a coconut milk and added pecans/dates/cardomom/eggs/cinnamon/sugar. So tasty.

Also made quinoa which I tend to avoid for some reason (and I have a LOT of it)

[41_swish]

I have some frozen veggies that have been in there longer than I would like to admit... I think it is time to throw them in a stir fry and make some more room in the freezer.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

We have been using things from the freezer, some pizza dough and frozen greens (beans, bok choi).

Made a delightful bread pudding with a stale sourdough baguette. Soaked coconut flakes to make a coconut milk and added pecans/dates/cardomom/eggs/cinnamon/sugar. So tasty.

Also made quinoa which I tend to avoid for some reason (and I have a LOT of it)

The bread pudding sounds super creative —  I love when I come up with something like that!

I’ve given up on quinoa.  DS hates it, I can’t eat it, and it’s not worth making just for DH as he won’t go through it fast enough.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

I have some frozen veggies that have been in there longer than I would like to admit... I think it is time to throw them in a stir fry and make some more room in the freezer.

Frozen veggies are a doubled edged sword for me.  I like to have them for times when we’re busy, but then we don’t end up eating them quickly enough and they languish in the freezer.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

2/16 DH ate a noodle cup from the freezer for lunch.  We ended up away from home at dinner time and ate at a food court — there’s a Brazilian place that’s by the pound and a good value for the price.  They have pricing at 3 tiers: buffet items only, buffet + meat, and meat only.  I always add a few pieces of plantains to my plate to get the middle tier price, even though my plate is overwhelmingly meat.  DH doesn’t eat meat but enjoyed a vegetarian corn dog, and we shared a lemonade.

2/17 DH ate the last of the beans/rice/TVP leftovers for lunch, I had frozen mac&cheese.  For dinner DH had taco soup from the freezer, while I ate the last of the pork belly I’d cooked a few days prior (which came from the freezer), along with pierogi.  I also baked half a baguette in the toaster oven for DH to have with the soup.

2/18  DH ate a noodle bowl from the freezer along with some “chik” nuggets for lunch.  For dinner DH had mujadara from the freezer, with another 1/4 of the baguette I defrosted Monday.  I had mashed potatoes and a ribeye I had sous vide cooked and frozen back in September.

2/19  I’m having pierogies for lunch, DH is having red curry with roti frozen meal from Trader Joe’s (DS purchased several of these and then found the roti doesn’t heat up well in the microwave at work).  Dinner is planned as split pea soup from the freezer for DH, along with the final 1/4 baguette.  I’ll be having pork chops from the freezer and leftover mashed potatoes.  I still have a lot of pork chops to get through.

In future, I’ll probably scale back how much meat I cook ahead.  It does make things easy for me since I also cook a plant based meal each night, but I think I’ll aim to not make more than I’ll eat in a month.  The only hard thing is the pork chops, which I cook from loin purchased at Costco that I cut myself.  One of those makes enough pork chops for several months!

[K_in_the_kitchen]

We were out of town 2/20 - 2/23 but still mostly ate from the freezer and pantry.

2/20 We left right after breakfast and showers.  For lunch we ate sandwiches on the road, pb&j for DH, egg salad for me.  My dinner was cottage pie from the freezer, DH ate take out with his family, which I couldn’t have, but we still sat at the table and ate together.  We traveled with the dogs, which made eating at a restaurant difficult, but MIL and SIL didn’t want to cook, so they ordered pizza and pasta, and made a salad.

2/21 My egg salad froze in the van fridge overnight :( DH had pb&j for lunch, I had cheese and crackers, plus a hard cooked egg (not frozen since only the back of the fridge froze completely).  For dinner DH had tamale pie from the freezer and I ate frozen mac&cheese.

2/22 Same lunch again, only this time I remembered I had also packed some prosciutto, so I also had that on my crackers.  For dinner I ate cottage pie again and DH ate chili from the freezer.

2/23 We at lunch at In n Out, which still has to be the best fast food value out there — a cheeseburger, a “veggie” (which is just a burger without meat or cheese), 2 orders of fries, a shake, and a soda came to $17.  For dinner DH ate a frozen Pad Thai meal from Trader Joe’s and I had frozen mac&cheese.  DS joined us on the road trip home and ate a pb&j sandwich for his dinner, along with a carton of non-dairy ice cream I’d brought for him.  We arrived home late Sunday night.

2/24 DH had a grilled cheese from lunch, I wasn’t hungry.  For dinner the plant based folks had beans, rice, and TVP, while I had beef stew and mashed potatoes from the freezer.  We finished the 4# bag of mixed vegetables with peppers.

One thing I learned from being on a freezer challenge while also traveling, is that it is far easier to take meals I’ve cooked and frozen already versus cooking in the van each night, especially since the two of us eat very different foods.  I did put the home cooked frozen meals into ceramic dishes with silicone covers, and had them in the fridge slowly defrosting during the trip.

[41_swish]

I have some frozen veggies that have been in there longer than I would like to admit... I think it is time to throw them in a stir fry and make some more room in the freezer.

Frozen veggies are a doubled edged sword for me.  I like to have them for times when we’re busy, but then we don’t end up eating them quickly enough and they languish in the freezer.

I try to not let them sit in there for more than a month, but I am not perfect...

[Serendip]

We have been using things from the freezer, some pizza dough and frozen greens (beans, bok choi).

Made a delightful bread pudding with a stale sourdough baguette. Soaked coconut flakes to make a coconut milk and added pecans/dates/cardomom/eggs/cinnamon/sugar. So tasty.

Also made quinoa which I tend to avoid for some reason (and I have a LOT of it)

The bread pudding sounds super creative —  I love when I come up with something like that!

I’ve given up on quinoa.  DS hates it, I can’t eat it, and it’s not worth making just for DH as he won’t go through it fast enough.

The bread pudding will definitely be made again..it was a major win.

In my quinoa efforts= cooked coconut curried quinoa. Will continue to try to find new ways to eat it so that I can use it up! This was simple and fairly tasty.

[Serendip]

-Finished off the thawed mushroom/pea risotto

-am using frozen oranges & bananas in lunch smoothies
-adding powders/seeds into above-mentioned smoothies (chia, ashwaganda, flax, collagen, maca, etc, etc)

-making different loose-leaf herbal teas daily to move through these immense stashes

-new batch of dry beans in the pressure cooker each week (black beans yesterday)

[K_in_the_kitchen]

Catching up on the last few days of our February Pantry/Freezer challenge.  Lunches have all been som variation of sandwiches, leftovers, and pantry/freezer convenience foods.

2/25 The guys had taco soup I’d previously made and frozen, I had a cheese quesadilla.

2/26 The guys had an early dinner of black bean chili I had previously made and frozen.  There were gone at the usual dinner time and I decided to have ice cream.

2/27 The guys had potato soup I’d previously cooked and frozen, along with a baguette from the freezer and a green salad.  I had frozen macaroni and cheese.  My youngest came over and took some of the things I didn’t want from the freezer.

2/28 I made pasta for the guys, using pasta and sauce from the pantry and vegan meatballs from the freezer.  Once again I got grumbling from DS, who is just tired of pasta.  I ate pierogi bought in bulk and then frozen.

We did a great job of getting through the backlog of meals I’d cooked and frozen, making a lot of room in the freezer(s).  I also enjoyed the break from cooking on those nights.  Our plan going forward is to hit those homemade freezer meals (there are sure to be more) the last week of each month rather than letting them build up.

[41_swish]

I purged my fridge of the frozen veggies that have been in their longer than they should... Time to buy more and repeat the cycle

[K_in_the_kitchen]

I purged my fridge of the frozen veggies that have been in their longer than they should... Time to buy more and repeat the cycle

I’m working through them slowly but surely.  I added a 10 ounce bag of peas to a curry I made Wednesday, and cooked 12 ounces of green beans to go with pasta on Friday.  I think the green beans are the last bulk bag of frozen vegetables we have.  I used to make cooked vegetables (either fresh or frozen) to go with all meals while DH made a green salad more nights than not, but now that I can’t eat vegetables (not forever, I hope) the guys tend to prefer to just have the salad.

My goal is to get through all of the frozen vegetables (including diced potatoes and sweet potatoes) and then start buying them similar to how we buy fresh food, only when I expect to cook them for a specific meal.

[41_swish]

I have gotten to the point where if I am putting something in the freezer, it is a staple item that I can use for basically any meal.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

I have gotten to the point where if I am putting something in the freezer, it is a staple item that I can use for basically any meal.

That’s how I stock my freezer as well, but since last October we’ve had two household members move out and I was diagnosed with IBD and still haven’t been able to eat vegetables.  It’s a big change going from 5 people eating the frozen vegetables to just 2.  A 1# bag of green beans wasn’t enough when it was 5 of us, so I bought them in the big bags at Costco.

I went to Costco with my young adult son yesterday, and he showed interest in some sheet pan vegetables, but I told him a 4# bag is just too big for us now.

[41_swish]

Buying freezer items from Costco is dangerous. Be prepared to eat whatever you buy for a month haha