Tag: food inventory

Now I have run out of things to organize SO now we are at Shelf Cooking At Its Finest.  The thought of freezer cooking for a month has been flitting through my mind.  Sadly, that can also be expensive.

Being Proactive

One of the first things I do to keep costs down is to shop in my pantry/fridge/freezers. While grading papers, Big Daddy did a sweep of everything I could use to help put together a meal.

I must say that we do buy a cow every year. Our time to get the meat is coming, and I am so thankful. We are running low, but still, we have a good enough supply to get us through at least 2 mths.

Surprise Surprise

I was pleasantly surprised to see the list that he had. As a bonus, I had a freezer meal already cooked up and frozen! It is incredible how much food I buy because I don’t realize that I had it in the first place. To me, that is not being a good steward of what my husband brings home.

I See You

I see these people who have the philosophy that if you need one can of food, buy 3. One can use now and the other 2 for later use. They stockpile groceries. That is a good idea, but what if you don’t have the money? In theory, I would love to do this. I probably could. Maybe, someday, I will have a plethora of canned veggies, frozen veggies, and such. For now, I do what I can when I can.

My Great Find

Upon looking at the list, I came up with 14 meals! That is shelf cooking! Wow. I do have to get a few things at the grocery, but my list is very tiny. I am stoked. When he inventoried the meat situation, we found that we had 7 roasts left. These must be used up before our meat comes in later this month.

I have a Plan

I plan to put the roasts from the freezer in the outside fridge to thaw out. Once that is done, I will cook up all the roasts. We will have roast/potatoes for supper the day I do this. That way, I know that dinner will be made for that night. The rest, however, we will shred up, and I will come up with about 14 more meals to freeze.

My Goal

I aim to cook up the 14 meals I have on hand and freeze those. Then, I will do up 14 more meals from the roasts. Those will be frozen too. Since I have to buy very little, I will go one step further. I have room in my budget to choose some recipes I will have to buy groceries to make. My goal is to double those recipes and freeze the rest.

In Total

I will have 42 frozen meals. How freaking fantastic is that? I believe I will make some fruit bread, pancakes, and omelet cups to freeze for the kids. I would make some yogurt if I were wild, but I’m not that wild.

Challenge

I challenge you to search through your pantry/fridge/freezer. Take a good inventory, and then cook as much as you can within the parameters of what you have on hand. You will have to go to the grocery for some things, but keep your menu doable and straightforward. Quickly, that grocery bill can be cut in 1/2. Last week, I spent $70 on groceries and $30 on misc things (nonfood things). My regular grocery budget is $500 per month. I spent about $300 last month alone. This is a $200 savings that I can add towards the debt train.

Oh, the Things I Will Cook and the Money I will Save.