The Testosterone Palace: Happy New Year! And the semi-annual Pantry Challenge

We savored every moment of the holiday season, and now the time has come to get back to the reality of the routine.
Hubs is taking an online grad class this semester, which will be a new experience for him. So dinners on that night will be quick and easy so he can get to work.

Every January, we also participate in FishMama's Pantry Challenge to help get our budget back in check. This year will be no different - I will be out of town for almost a week at a conference, so hubs & ds#3 will be on their own during that time - but when I'm at home, I've already notified the family that we're eating in and using what we've got! You can see our progress here.

So here is our plan (I'm starting with Jan 1 because that's where I began planning!):

Jan 1 - Ham slices, scalloped potatoes, butternut squash gratin, broccoli (ds#1 was home and wanted to go out with friends, so he took ds#3 with him... it was just hubby & me for lunch...which left more food to save for another day)
Jan 2 - Smoked turkey (that hubs smoked last week), pan gravy, cherry-apple chutney, broccoli, leftover scalloped potatoes
Jan 3 - Taco salads

Jan 4 - Steaks on the grill (hubs came shopping with me and insisted we buy them...), tossed salad
Jan 5 - Tomato soup (back to work for hubs & me, and first night of grad class)
Jan 6 - Leftovers (there are plenty!!!!)
Jan 7 - bowling night for hubs Ds#3 & I will eat leftovers at the house
Jan 8 - Rotisserie-style chicken, broccoli, leftover scalloped potatoes
Jan 9 - Vegetable soup
Jan 10 - Burgers & fries

Jan 11 - Crockpot sausage & peppers (I will also make some chicken for ds#3 - not a sausage fan). We still have oodles of frozen bell peppers from our garden and I am trying to come up with creative ways to use them.
Jan 12 - Chicken tenders, salad, fries
Jan 13 - I'm headed out of town until the weekend. The boys are on their own!! (I could plan food for them here, but the reality is, they will probably go out more than they stay home.)

Jan 18 - Hawaiian BBQ chicken (crock pot) - chicken with bbq sauce, pineapple, onion and bell pepper we also have lots of pineapple in the freezer!
Jan 19 - HOLIDAY! Pioneer Woman's chili
Jan 20 - Leftover turkey slices in the freezer, Swiss beans, sauteed greens (growing in our garden)
Jan 21 - bowling night for hubs Leftovers
Jan 22 - Orange chicken, stir fry veggies (a veg medley that I've had in the freezer and haven't used yet!!)
Jan 23 - Swedish meatballs w/gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans
Jan 24 - Stuffed peppers and fried eggplant (both in the freezer)

Jan 25 - Ham slices (frozen from Christmas), green beans, tossed salad
Jan 26 - Leftovers
Jan 27 - Chicken tenders, tossed salad, sweet potato fries
Jan 28 - bowling night for hubs Ds#3 & I will eat leftovers at the house
Jan 29 - Soup of some sort
Jan 30 - my sister's b-day... probably a family dinner
Jan 31 - Grad school graduation party for a friend - we will bring a finger-food/appetizer

AND.... that's it! Hopefully all will go according to plan... but if it doesn't, you know what they say...
"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape." :)