Eat from the Pantry Challenge Wrap-Up

This is a true-life picture of my freezer following the our month of the Eat from the Pantry (and freezer) challenge.  I'm really glad that we did it!  Although I had to buy some meat, dairy, and produce, it was amazing how much else I already had to use up.  Among other things, we used up an ancient can of french fried onions; almost-finished containers of breadcrumbs and taco shells; all my free samples of cereal and granola bars; and every last box of pasta and can of tomatoes!

In total, I spent about $202 on groceries this month, out of my newly lowered $315 budget.  That includes a little extra money spent on a few special events as well.  I used a small part of the savings on Christmas clearance deals, bringing my total savings to about $82.  After discussing it with my husband, we've decided to donate the majority of what's left to the Haiti relief efforts.  This is not some great gesture on our part; I was blown away with what other bloggers have done.  This is just the least we can do after a month of seeing how much extra we really have.

Now I'm very excited to start filling my newly cleared pantry and freezer again, especially with some yummy homemade goodies!  I'll be participating in Freezer Cooking Days again in February, and I'll be posting my cooking list shortly.  The girls and I made a good shopping trip on Friday to Harris Teeter and Wegmans, so we're well stocked. 

We got several inches of snow over the weekend, but we were happy inside cooking and baking!