Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Challenge Check-in and My Amazing Hubby

Well, week one of the Eat From the Pantry Challenge is over and I'm pretty proud of the progress I made. I took a trip to the grocery store and spent $20 and a few cents. I completely underestimated just how much dairy I'm going to need to eat while pregnant--the equivalent of one whole QUART of milk per day! I'm going to keep my budget at $65 right now, but I will mostly likely go over on dairy.

This week, I will have to purchase at least one staple--flour. I used the last of my flour last night making bread, and the flour is much cheaper than buying the bread itself. I can buy one loaf of bread or an entire bag of flour, which will make 12 loaves of bread using my recipe. Hmmmm, that's not a difficult choice.

Here's where I'm at on my meal list. I added two meals from my backup list because my husband asked for them.
Broccoli & Ham Quiche (mix is already in the freezer), salad
Homemade Veggie Pizza & Salad
Chicken Pot Pie & Cut veggies
Chalupa (pork and pinto beans already in freezer) served over shredded lettuce with tomatoes, avocado and Spanish Rice
Turkey Sausage & Eggs Florentine scramble
Spaghetti & Turkey Meatballs, Salad
Italian Wedding Soup, Homemade Bread
Turkey Tacos, corn
Crockpot Beef Roast and Veggies
Shepherd's Pie, salad
North Carolina BBQ Pork, Homemade Coleslaw, served on Buns
Spicy Pork, Vegetable Gumbo Soup served with Rice
Turkey Burgers, Oven Fries, Green Beans
Philly Cheesesteaks, Sweet Potato Fries
Hoisin Pork Stirfry (includes veggies), Rice
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole, Peas
Turkey Chili, Green Beans

Speaking of my awesome husband, look at what he made for Midget!

It's a learning tower! She can use it to wash dishes, help Mama cook, make cookies--all kinds of fun stuff that I used to put her on a chair to do! These sell for nearly $200 and he was able to make it for about $60 in materials. It could be done even cheaper, but he wanted to use oak to match our cabinets. Midget loves it so much and put it right to work washing dishes!






Speaking of Midget, I've barely put any Midget pictures on here lately. Here's an adorable picture of her while she was washing dishes.

10 comments:

Dr. Wifey said...

i love the learning tower! kudos to hubby! and midget has grown SO much

Brandy said...

Isn't she cute in her little apron! And she does dishes to boot!

Hey lady I want that Italian Wedding Soup recipe. In exchange here is a french bread recipe I've been using:

http://www.gourmetmomonthego.com/2009/11/no-fail-quick-french-bread.html

Very easy; very good!

Jen said...

Love it! He did a great job on the tower!

Texasholly said...

Love the tower. He is handy! The challenge is great. I love what you are doing.

Camilla Millar said...

She's adorable.

Thanks for the info on creating a button. . . . cause I know SOOOOO many people who want it!

Deanna said...

That learning tower is amazing! And sweet "midge" is growing so much!

LadyStyx said...

What a great idea, and to make it to match the cupboards as well!

Anonymous said...

Hey girl, good to see you again!

Many congratulations on your pregnancy!! How exciting! I'll bet Midget is tickled too. :)

Speaking of Midget, she is more and more gorgeous by the day! (And your dh is a totally awesome carpenter...wow! I love that tower!

Jaclynn_kyuss said...

I LOVE IT! What a great idea for when my niece comes to visit! Put that kid to work! haha :)

Shanna said...

Love that learning tower! What a nifty idea...he ought to sell them. I think there would be a market for them.

Midget is a doll baby!