For those of us who celebrate Passover, we all know that food is a big expense that can break the usual food budgets.  By using some of my frugal strategies I’ve shared here, I’ve managed to spend the same amount I always do monthly, in spite of having so many expensive holiday meals to prepare, and buying lots more meat and poultry.  I’ve gone through huge amounts of food, and though I’ve depleted my pantry/freezer significantly, am determined not to go out and buy anything else until the 15th (that’s when I replenish my monthly food money).  So I’m making my own personal pantry challenge, to see if I can make it through almost two more weeks without doing any shopping, and continuing to serve nutritious and tasty meals. 

I’ve always found menu planning to be a very helpful tool, but on a month like this, it’s indispensable!  If I wasn’t forcing myself to be a little more creative, it would be the most natural thing in the world to run out and stock up on some staples (like rice, potatoes, carrots and cabbage).  I inventoried my fridge and freezer today, made a list of what I have in the house, and have based my menu for this week strictly on that.  It’s similar to the approach I usually do, but since I have so much less variety (and quantity) in my pantry than usual, I have to be more creative and committed to make this work. 

Here’s what I have to work with:

– steel cut oats, millet, buckwheat, cornmeal (lots of all these things), nuts, and some flour and dried beans

– canned pumpkin, some canned beans and 2 cans tomato sauce

– freezer – 2 pkg. lamb breast, 4 lb ground meat; 3 lb chicken, some chunks of banana, 2 lb cottage cheese, 3 lb ricotta; prepared frozen stuff: chicken stock, 1 pan of turkey stew, 1 pan vegetarian stuffed peppers, 2 pans of moussaka

– the veg are really low – onions, celery, butternut squash, cabbage, a few carrots, a couple of turnips, tomatoes and lettuce, some broccoli stalks, bok chok, napa, no fruit

So the fun begins today!!  Though I’m planning now for the next two weeks, to be sure that there will be enough of everything until I go shopping, I’m only sharing this week’s menu here with you.  Just remember that the items above are for a family of ten, three meals a day, for almost two weeks.  Whenever you don’t see something listed for lunch, it’s because I’ll make a larger amount of dinner the night before and have planned leftovers the next day:

Sun – b – eggs; l – leftovers from yesterday; d – bean soup with bok choy (using lentil flour – I ground the lentils – and chicken stock in the fridge)

Mon – b – steel cut oats; d – lamb cassoulet (I have a pot of cooked lima beans in the fridge, and some lamb and stock in the freezer), cornbread

Tues – b – pumpkin bread; d – lasagna (with polenta as the base instead of pasta), and I’m going to shred and saute some broccoli stalks I have to use in place of spinach

Wed – b – steel cut oats; l – lasagna; d – moussaka (from freezer)

Thur – b – banana nut muffins; l – stuffed vegetarian peppers; d – lentils and rice

Fri – b – steel cut oats; l – lentils and rice

– for the baby: I’m going to cook up the last carrots and blend them together with butternut squash with some coconut oil.  He also loves drinking rich chicken broth. 

My kids usually like having fresh fruit daily, but I told them this morning that they’re going to have to focus on how much they’ll appreciate when I go shopping on the 15th!!   It’s important to me that we have ample, not just adequate, amounts of nutritious food, but if their taste buds miss the fruit, I’m not going to feel too bad about it. 

Would any of you like to join me for the week?  If so, inventory your foods, and get busy making a menu, using only what you have in your house.  (If you get something for free from someone or somewhere, that’s fine, too. )

Avivah