I’ve been busy this weekend getting us ready for The Great Pantry Challenge. We’ve got a crazy week ahead of us with a day trip to the coast to visit the aquarium on top of everything else. The Pumpkin Patch carnival at our church gets sandwiched in there between our regular activities too. So what this means is that I’ve had to do a bit of prep to get us ready for the week ahead.
Last night I baked a few things for easy, portable breakfasts. In reality I typically do this every Saturday night because I am not a morning person. Baking these types of things allows my kids to get up and feed themselves breakfast independently. A little work Saturday night blesses me all week long.
One other thing I’ve done today is something I do almost every week. I soaked about 5 cups of pinto beans last night. This morning I rinsed them, put them in the crockpot (I have a very large one), added water up to the top (chicken broth is good too), a sliced up onion, some garlic, salt, and diced green chilies. This makes a huge pot of beans that we will use all week long. Typically, I freeze half and use the rest for the current week.
I took a look in my pantry and here is what I came up with for the week:
Breakfast baking:
Pumpkin Scones
Banana Bread w/ Chocolate Chips
Zucchini Muffins
They also have these things available to them for breakfast (most of these are at the end of their boxes, but I’m hoping there will be enough to get them through the week!):
Oatmeal
Tr*der Joe’s Os Cereal
TJ Cereal Bars
Nature’s Path Organic Fruit Toasters
They will have these things available for lunch (fruit alongside it for as long as it lasts!):
Annie’s Organic Mac-n-Cheese
Top Ramen Soup (plus frozen vegetables & eggs)
Oatmeal
Beans (from the crockpot) with hot dogs
Quesadillas
Cinnamon-Sugar Tortillas
Sandwiches (Peanut Butter, Banana & Honey or Egg Salad)
Dinners until Nov 1:
Sunday, October 25
Burritos (with beans cooked in crockpot)
Fruit
Monday, October 26 (Field trip day)
Lunch on this particular day will be sandwiches, chips and fruit.
Not sure when we will return so we may scrape up enough to go to In-n-Out Burger for dinner, but if not I will probably throw together one of our lunch options together in a hurry.
Tuesday, October 27 (Take one child to choir)
Hamburger Stroganoff served over Kasha (a grain we grew to love while in Russia)
(I make my stroganoff from scratch because the MSG in canned Cream o’ Mushroom soup gives me headaches)
Cesear Salad
Wednesday, October 28 (AW*NA night)
Scrambled Eggs w/ Tortillas, Cheese & Olives Skillet
Toast
Fruit
Thursday, October 29 (Soccer practice so something that can cook in the crockpot)
Hamburger Soup
Whole Wheat French Bread
Friday, October 30 (Life Group at our home)
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Fruit
Saturday, October 31 (Pumpkin Patch Carnival at church)
Beans & Rice (We try to have this once/week to stop & meditate on what others around the world eat daily.)
Fruit (if there is any left at this point)
I tried to link the recipes for these items that I could. If you want the recipe for any of these items, please comment and I will try to post it later this week. I also will have to do some further thinking about what to serve on that last night, November 1st. I’ll get back to you on that one…
Also later this week I will write out the snacks we conjured up, how I menu plan and grocery shop for two weeks at a time, how I stretch what we eat, and how our lunch system works. Got go make some of the beans from the pot into refried beans for our burritos for dinner!
I agree with Heather. I always love to see what bigger families are eating. And I feel privileged to be sharing a meal with you guys on Tuesday! š Thanks for joining us on The Great Pantry Challenge!
Thanks for sharing your meal ideas…I love seeing what other people eat! They all seem pretty simple…except making stroganof (however you spell that) from scratch. Do you do anything besides beans in the crockpot? That seems so easy but our family is not a big fan of beans….except for baked beans :).