Day 6 of Pantry Eating Challenge

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Day 6 of eating out of the freezer and pantry
Money spent so far? $11.38 (ouch!)

I am going to a Morrocan Dinner party tomorrow night and am not including the ingredients of that dinner in my $50. However, I did do some shopping for the week... I bought the following and was SHOCKED at how quickly $10 is spent!
1 pkg English Muffins high fiber $2.97 - craving them for some reason
1 pear $0.77 - I have no fruit in the house except for frozen stuff and wanted ONE piece of something! (crud, just remember I have a ton of apples in the bottom of the fridge.. shoot if I had remembered that I'd have not spent the 77 cents! LOL)
1 ff cottage cheese $2.98 - I know I'll be buying this each week
1 celery $0.68 - just seemed cheap and crunch... figure it will come in handy sometime
1 pkg lettuce $3.98 - another thing I'll be buying about every week

Breakfast - the old standby but kicked up a bit.. oat groats, 1/2 banana, 1 tsp almond butter and a smidge of shaved dark chocolate... mmmmmm

Lunch - the last of a new years party plate, cheese and pepperoni/salami

Dinner - I had 2 egg yolks left over from adding egg whites to my oat groats earlier this week, added one egg to them and a bit of cheese, cilantro and bacon bits and made an omelet... I put some orange pepper strips on the side for some cold crunch



I am thinking I'm not going to have to start getting REAL creative til Wednesday or Thursday of next week.... then I think things will start to look a bit odd.. LOL

I'm not even at 1000 calories for the day... gotta get a snack in before bed... mmmmm

Battle On!
LeAnn

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

IFDEEVARUNS2 1/9/2010 10:54PM

I need to put my daughter on your challenge. She buys and buys, cooks and cooks, and then we have to throw away..... Sigh! Report Inappropriate Comment

CECINOAKLAND 1/9/2010 10:46PM

i love your challenge! honestly, i should try this too. i often buy things i'd like to try "sometime" and then they pile up in my pantry! and the freezer door will hardly close. you've inspired me to hold off on my next shopping trip! Report Inappropriate Comment

2FUN2B_LAZY 1/9/2010 9:38PM

That's a pretty neat challenge! I don't think I could do it haha.. Well, maybe.. I'd have a hard time finding the things I actually want to eat Report Inappropriate Comment

DAY 5 of Pantry Eating Challenge

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Money spent so far? $0
Day 5 of eating out of the freezer and pantry

Breakfast - oat groats, 1/2 banana (I had frozen) and 1 tsp almond butter YUMMO
Lunch - salad and cottage cheese
Dinner - I had a bag of tofu-shiratake yam noodles I had never tried but were in the fridge... unlike regular yam noodles these have some calories but not much!

Again I had some chicken (but it's dwindling I did find some hamburger meat today which I'm thawing out).. diced up the chicken and spiced it up and grilled it in the cast iron skillet. Then I found some single serving bags of brussel sprouts (they were still in the freezer cuz they're NOT one of my fav veggies)


Put it all together and you have a pretty darn good meal for 283 calories and 64 grams of protein! (sorry for the bad color - I didn't have time to get the good light!)

Snack - I found some tunafish, boiled an egg, added some onion, different colors of peppers which I better use in the next 3-4 days or they're going to be goners.. ate in on the last of some crunchmaster multi grain crackers you get at Sam's Wholesale (they are the bomb!)...I don't have a pic of the tunafish.. but I did snap a pic of the veggies and walnuts I added... oh and I put it all to gether with mustard (no mayo)

I'm throwing away a lot of expired and freezer burned stuff... and am pleased with my efforts so far!

Battle on!
Annie

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

CHRISTYK08 1/9/2010 9:09PM

Saw your blog title on the boot camp thread--what a great idea! Congrats on going 5 days so far! This week I've been going through my pantry and freezers (small one in the garage) and I've been using a few items each day. It's amazing how things get lost & forgotten! Report Inappropriate Comment

TERRI289 1/9/2010 7:23PM

Excellent!! Report Inappropriate Comment

CARILOUIE 1/9/2010 7:02PM

What a great idea... I did the same thing tonight. I made pizza and instead of buying all new toppings for it, I put some grilled chicken thigh, broccoli rabe, and roasted garlic on it. Yum! And I didn't even have to buy anything new for it. Report Inappropriate Comment

TOASTERLISA 1/9/2010 6:57PM

Annie! Wow, what a good project and it is really testing your creativity. Keep up the good work and enjoy the experience. -- Lisa Report Inappropriate Comment

Day 4 of Pantry Eating Challenge

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Welp, this is day 4 of my challenge to spend only $50 this month by eating what's already in my freezer and pantry - and keeping my calories in range. Please note I did NOT prepare for this... Sunday was grocery day and when I opened the freezer and 5 things fell out and then I opened the pantry and the same thing happened. Enough is enough! So, my goal is to eat for the next 4 weeks (3 weeks and 3 days) on $50.

Breakfast today was oat groats with frozen peaches.

Lunch was a salad with cottage cheese "dressing" and chicken breast cut up in it.

Dinner, ahhhhhhhhhh, dinner. Now is where it gets creative. Tonight I found some Tofu that I bought months ago (good thing it keeps) to try but never did. It is extra firm. In the freezer was a bag of summer vegetables and in the pantry were some sun-dried tomatoes.

The Tofu is supposed to take on the taste of whatever you cook it with so I decided that spicy can cover a multitude of sins. First I made the veggies following the directions, then I added the sun dried tomatoes and the tofu. I let everything cook together for a bit and then deglazed the pan with garlic vinegar. Added 1/2 tsp of sesame oil (full of flavor) and some chili sauce and did a poor man's version of a stir fry!

And here's my dinner for a mere 264 calories, 6 grams of fat and 8 grams of protein. I wish it'd been a bit heavier on the protein end.. next time i'll use a bigger serving of Tofu.



This was the first time I've cooked with Tofu and I clearly have a lot to learn! It wasn't bad but... the Tofu at the restaurants is much much better.

Pretty sure my dinner will get weirder and weirder as the month goes on... he he.. but this is actually pretty fun!

Battle On!
Annie

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

GEE-KNEE 1/8/2010 8:07PM

This is a fun idea, and it sounds like good stuff so far. I have never cooked tofu either... or maybe I have at my sisters house. She had me cook something (she is vegetarian), but I don't really know what it was that I was cooking. It very well could have been tofu. Report Inappropriate Comment

BELIEVER104 1/7/2010 8:08PM

This is an awesome idea-- I know my freezer could use an overhaul. I'm going to make some menus now! Looking forward to more pantry challenge entries :) Report Inappropriate Comment

MONSTERDECOOKIE 1/7/2010 7:52PM

I like your idea of eating what you already have! Report Inappropriate Comment

AXISLADY 1/7/2010 7:49PM

My daughter is going through a rough patch and she called to say they didn't have much money for food. I said, go to your refrigerator now and write down eveything in it. Go to your pantry and do the same thing. Then..sit down and make out menus. And you know what, she did and was able to spend about $30 to back it up. Is it the greatest meals in the world...no...but one must learn to deal with life every day and this was a good lesson for her. Report Inappropriate Comment

A Regular Day ... and a feast pictorial

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Okay, as I said yesterday, I'm trying to eat out of my pantry and refrigerator and see if I can make it through the month of January. So, I thought I'd share what I ate today:

Breakfast
I had oat groats that I spun in the vitamix with 1 1/2 cups water, soaked overnight and then cooked this morning with 1/2 cup of peaches and a smidge of cinnamon. I wanted to add some protein so I whipped up two egg whites to stiff peaks and then folded them in during the last couple of minutes of cooking. I got a huge serving of fluffy, protein packed oats.. yummmm... What normally would be one serving of oats turned into 2!!

Lunch
I had a salad at work sans cheese, eggs and nuts but with green peppers, broccoli, carrots and cucumbers with 1/2 cup of cottage cheese for dressing. It was pretty darn good. (No picture available)

Snack
Honey Crisp Apple, small

Dinner
UNBELIEVABLE. I admit it. I was STARVING when I got home. Time to be creative. I knew I had a skinless chicken breast in the fridge, check! I looked in the freezer and found some Green Giant Simply Steam Garden Veggies, check!

mmmmm something else... ahhh Shiratake Noodles (AKA yam noodles), Check!.. they have next to no calories..

mix it all together, season it up and I had a FEAST

All this for a whopping 235 calories!! And look at those carbs!! and i'm STUFFED!


WOWSY WOW

I can I will Hell Yeah!

Battle on!
Annie

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

GEE-KNEE 1/9/2010 1:42PM

I've heard of those noodles with no calories, and I sent my husband out with a list once. He bought the wrong noodles. I need to go look for those. Report Inappropriate Comment

SKINNIKKI 1/6/2010 9:36AM

I'm so, so, so glad you are back. I've missed you. Don't you love the Tofu noodles. Had some last night with some homemade spaghetti. I love that they are little to no calories too!!! You can do it. Great idea eating out of the pantry/refrig. We need to do that. I might mention this to hubs. After he looks me like I've lost my mind maybe he will try to help with this idea. Report Inappropriate Comment

DIFROMWYOMING 1/5/2010 10:13PM

Wowzers! That is amazing and you did a great job! Thanks for sharing your pics, too, I'm feeling inspired! Report Inappropriate Comment

GAPEACH1972 1/5/2010 8:42PM

You go, Girl! Report Inappropriate Comment

January Plan

Monday, January 04, 2010

At first when I looked back on 2009, I was irritated with myself. Here I am AGAIN struggling with the same old thing .. but that's not exactly right.. I did accomplish something pretty darn big - I QUIT SMOKING!! I declared my Indepence from smoking on July 4th.. I had some set backs but I never allowed myself to think "okay I'm a smoker again" and because of that I have been completely smoke free with no relapses for several months (not quite sure since I always held on to that July the 4th date).. anyway.. YEAH ME! No more sneaking around, no more bad breath or stinky clothes and I have the chance to live a longer healthier life - without having to tote around a cylinder of oxygen!

Now, on to the January Plan:

Nutrition Plan: Based on knowing that my body responds VERY poorly to refined carbs which causes me to have unbelievable cravings and is VERY addicting for me... so here it is.. not sure how to categorize it but it probably leans more towards low carb (sort of)..

1. Eat between 1200 and 1700 calories a day; keeping more towards the 1200 end of the spectrum. I'm a HUGE believer that you can't out train a bad diet (see this video on you tube www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQbuzsY_34Q .
2. Eat whole foods and minimal refined foods/sugar; keep the carbs complex except for fruit... fruit is good but try to keep on the low glycemic end of the spectrum
3. Eat 5-6 small meals a day
4. Eat breakfast everyday
5. Include plenty of protein to help keep my satiated.
6. Try to go the entire month buying less than$50 groceries while still meeting my nutritional goals (I am ONE person and I have a ton of food in the freezer/cupboard.. I'm going to see how long I can make it and will report each week on how much money I spend at the grocery store and what I buy)
7. Log food daily

Exercise Plan
1. This feels a bit lame.. but it's a different approach than I've ever done before - baby steps - so.. my goal for the Month of January is to be working out at 1 hour a day by the end of the month but accomplishing this by starting out at 10 minutes a day and working up from there on the following plan.

Jan 4, 2010 10 minutes monday
Jan 5, 2010 11 minutes tuesday
Jan 6, 2010 12 minutes wednesday
Jan 7, 2010 14 minutes thursday
Jan 8, 2010 16 minutes friday
Jan 9, 2010 20 minutes saturday
Jan 10, 2010 0 minutes sunday
Jan 11, 2010 20 minutes monday
Jan 12, 2010 20 minutes tuesday
Jan 13, 2010 25 minutes wednesday
Jan 14, 2010 25 minutes thursday
Jan 15, 2010 30 minutes friday
Jan 16, 2010 30 minutes saturday
Jan 17, 2010 0 minutes sunday
Jan 18, 2010 30 minutes monday
Jan 19, 2010 35 minutes tuesday
Jan 20, 2010 35 minutes wednesday
Jan 21, 2010 40 minutes thursday
Jan 22, 2010 40 minutes friday
Jan 23, 2010 40 minutes saturday
Jan 24, 2010 0 minutes sunday
Jan 25, 2010 40 minutes monday
Jan 26, 2010 45 minutes tuesday
Jan 27, 2010 45 minutes wednesday
Jan 28, 2010 50 minutes thursday
Jan 29, 2010 50 minutes friday
Jan 30, 2010 55 minutes saturday
Jan 31, 2010 0 minutes sunday

2. Complete the following Tabata Training schedule
Week 1 - 1 round 3 days
Week 2 - 2 rounds 3 days
Week 3 - 3 rounds 3 days
Week 4 - 4 rounds 3 days

3. Participate in Spark Your Body Boot Camp

4. Log fitness points daily

Other:
1. Participate in others success 3x week
2. Post to teams 3x week
3. Post a summary blog each week
4. Take before pictures and measurements
5. Invest in me purposefully... not an after thought

I am officially DONE... I can, I will, HELL YEAH!

Battle On,
Annie

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

SWEETZMIX 1/5/2010 3:20PM

BATTLE ON!! You have it all laid out! I also know what you mean about the food. There is only 2 people in my apartment, so I cleaned out the cabinets for the New Year. So much stuff was expired, so we decided to eat whatever that was in there before we buy more! Good luck! Report Inappropriate Comment

CHRISPYLEE 1/4/2010 10:21PM

Annie!! I say if you can quit smoking...you can do anything!! I am so proud of you!! I am still puffing on the dang things and hating it!! I know if i make up my mind to do it..i can do it...just wont make up my mind...so stupid!! Your January plan sounds like a great plan to me!! Hell yeah...you got this!! Report Inappropriate Comment

PPLUNICORN 1/4/2010 10:09PM

Good goals!!! I like your approach to working out....That's how I did it! slow and steady. Works every time :) good luck with your goals. Report Inappropriate Comment

DIFROMWYOMING 1/4/2010 9:39PM

Oh good for you, Annie! I think I should probably sit down and do some major goal setting. I don't do it always, but lately I'm feeling a little lazy again...so time to re think where I'm at. Thanks for the motivation! Report Inappropriate Comment