Pantry Challenge!

Merissa from Little House Living has challenged her readers to eat down their pantries and freezers. This challenge came at the perfect time for me as I have just under 2 weeks until my next big grocery shopping trip and my hubby has challenged me to spend as little as possible over the next two weeks.

Tonight  I did a quick freezer and pantry inventory and then made a list of meals that I think I can make completely out of the times in my fridge, freeze and pantry.

Breakfast

I have a gallon bag full of scones in the freezer. These are either from Jessica Fisher or Alana Chernila, 

Lunch

(1) grilled ham and cheese
(3) cinnamon apple oatmeal
(1-2) Tuna salad on Triscuits

Supper

(3-4) Curry porkchops with rice and broccoli
(2) Turkey Pasta Salad
(1) Bacon Egg and Cheese sandwich
(2) Turkey, black bean and tomato bowl
(1) bacon, egg and grits or bacon, egg and toast
(3-4) HomemadeTuna Helper
(4-5) Quiche (either veggie or leftover turkey/bacon with onions and bell pepper)

Snacks
Apples
Raisins/Raisins with PB
Popcorn
Biscuits
Hot chocolate or chocolate milk


If my leftovers don't give me enough lunches once my "lunch menu" is finished I will allow a purchase of deli meat and cheese to go with the loaves of bread in my freezer.

I'm also planning on tidying up my freezer by making a batch of chicken broth and vegetable broth out of the assorted bags of bones and veggies hiding out in my freezer.

What are your favorite "go to" pantry meals? Also, have you ever done a challenge like this? How did it go? Any tips?

H is for Homemade

I love things that are homemade-whether made by me or by others. I love things that are homemade because they are often one of a kind, heart felt and twice as tasty as store bought. One of my roomies, "Lyric" knitted me a scarf for a birthday gift and I couldn't have loved it more- its was the perfect shade of red and had my initals knitted into it- how lovely.

I love to make homemade desserts because they taste so much better than store bought, they're better for me-fresher ingredients and less processing -and making them is a great stress reliever. For the same reasons I can't wait to begin cooking dinner nightly.

I love to make homemade cards. I get to make beautiful things to share with my friends and family. I feel like the homemade cards says "I care" on a so much more personal level than a store bought card. That being said, I still love my frequent trips to Hallmark. With my leftover cardmaking supplies I've started to make bookmarks and gift tags.

Becaise of my love for homemade I want to expand my DIY skills and learn to make more things on my own- and if not make them completely than personalize them to better suit our tastes.

My love of all things homemade has led me to become an etsy addict. I can spend hours searching for a homemade something or other. I've recently bought a super cute apron (my sewing skills are subpar), my wedding garter and wedding earrings from etsy.

What are your favorite things to make at home? What is the best homemade gift you've ever recieved? What do you wish you had the skills to DIY?

Cleaning in Korea

Whew.

I've done a lot of cleaning this week.

I sweep several times a week anyway, but I think I defintely swept twice as much this week. We have hardwood floors and I shed like an eighty pound long haired dog with a balding problem, so if I don't sweep every other day then it starts to look like we have carpet. Yeah, it gets that ick. There are two problems I have with sweeping. One is a local problem: The only brooms we have are half the size of regular brooms. And thats the only kind of broom I've seen here. Shopkeepers and street sweepers sweep with half brooms. I don't understand why. I mean, there are tons of skyscrapers and cellphone stores- can't someone here make a full size broom? The second problem I have is more personal. As I sweep, my hair falls out. So its like theres no end to the chore. So I just sweep until I reach the point where I just give up. PS: I registered for a pet hair vaccum and we don't have any pets.  And I want it really bad.

At the beginning of the week I cleaned out the fridge and cleaned the water dispenser. I started to clean the bathroom until I realized Mr. Groom had beat me to it. And after he came home from work, I thanked him and he said something along the lines of "Man these kitchen floors need some work". How's that for a hint?

So Wednesday I got in there and swept twice and then scrubbed the hard woods in the kitchen with a dishrag, swept the living/bed room and spot scrubbed that room since it wasn't as dirty. After  everything dried I had to sweep again. Bleh.

So now all I have left to do this week is clear the clutter off the coffe table and the suitcases and do laundry. There isn't much room to store the clutter so I'll either just end up rearranging it or stuffing it int a suitcase until its time to head home. As for the laundry, I alternate between washing towels one week and sheets the next because the washer takes almost two hours and we don't have enough space to hang up both towels and sheets and our clothes at the same time. And I'm too lazy to do laundry more than once a week. Unless its an emergency. Oh how I miss America-where even if you dont have a dryer you probably have somewhere to string a clothesline.