Pantry Challenge: On The Menu This Week

The second week of January I shared that I have embarked on a Pantry Challenge in which I intend to be intentional about using up what I preserved from my garden last fall and have stocked up in my pantry over the last year.  If you want to know more details about how I plan to accomplish this, check out my post here.

As I sat down today, I not only looked back at this last week, but also glanced back at the last several weeks of this pantry challenge. I noticed a pattern that has emerged in my meal planning... I don't think there has been more than one week in which I completely stuck to my planned menu.  This is not terribly surprising as 'life happens' every week and that is ok with me.  It did make me thankful that I intentionally build a lot of flexibility into my menu plans.

How is your meal planning going?  Have you had to adjust your menu to fit your life better now that we have been doing this a few weeks?  Are you accomplishing the goal of being intentional about using what you raised & preserved from your garden?  I am beginning to see empty space in my freezer and pantry.  It makes me happy to know that my energy/time last summer & fall are being put to good use and feeding my family. :D


Here is what I have on the menu plan for this week: 

Meals:
-Spaghetti - using homemade spaghetti sauce I made last fall (I also 'sneak' some minced frozen zucchini into the sauce... it is too small to be noticed but adds some more good veggies to the mix. ;P  My family doesn't do chunky cooked veggies of any sort well, but this works for us.)
-Homemade pizza- uses homemade pizza sauce I made last fall (This next year I need to freeze some sweet bell peppers to have for homemade pizzas!)
-Slow cooker Pork loin & baked candied buttercup squash 

Breakfasts/Snacks:
Oatmeal Squash cookies (This is a great kid snack that I cut out of a baby magazine a few years back.  I'll try and post it when I get it made!)

Happy Garden Eating! :)