New Year's Pantry Challenge: A Conclusion or a New Beginning?

I survived. Actually, I knew I would survive because I've done this before. It's kind of like attempting a 10k or a half marathon when I know I've completed them before. I continue to run those races because I know it's good for my body. I love the challenge and the discipline of training for a race. I treasure the comradery of running with friends or my husband. I feel inspired with a goal in mind. There was no doubt I would survive the pantry challenge this time around but I wanted to press myself toward thankfulness. I wanted to reject the temptation to get lazy about food, to complain about living off less. My spirit needed to be buoyed up by the bounty of community and creativity.

These few weeks have bonded me together with old friends and new friends. I'm blessed by so many who have shared meals with us. We have pooled our resources and learned from each other. I'm thankful for our Life Group that shares a meal every other week. Right now I'm taking the fococcia bread out of the oven and putting in the Butternut Squash Lasagna to serve to them tonight. I'm celebrating this bit of abundance. I'm grateful for times of sharing in community.

I've thought a lot about this guy Leo from our church who just moved into his first apartment after being homeless for 3 years. He's a veteran who has been on the streets. Our abundance, a meager bag of leftovers, graced his cupboards this week. My dad delivered it to Leo after our Pantry Party early in this challenge. I felt blessed that we could share with someone else in need. I like the idea of donating money or goods to a food pantry our soup kitchen but it doesn't get personal until you get involved with a real person. Really, couldn't we all do a little more? Some of our friends are raising money to feed babies in Ethiopia through Samaritan's Purse. That cause is personal to them since their son is adopted from Ethiopia. I know I need to get brave and actually invite Leo to dinner. What would happen if he joined hands around the table with my kids, my husband, my parents? What about you? Maybe you need to get brave and search out a cause, offer a meal to a friend who needs a break, serve up soup to a neighbor you've never met.

This week I've also been reminded why I love cooking. There's a quiet, creative space in cooking for me. As a busy mama of two and auntie for one or two more children who are frequently at my side, I seldom find solitude at my house. I choose quieting tasks like knitting or cooking to find space to breathe. I know that cooking brings me closer to praying. I was reading Ann Voskamp's "A Holy Experience" blog today and she pressed that part of my soul that needed reminding that "Housework is really being about the work of God — praying, serving, praising. And in these domestic chapels, God, The Very Person of Peace, offers Himself to the congregants." When I'm methodically peeling and chopping a butternut squash or adding spices to a sauce or kneading dough and watching it rise and bubble, I ponder the day. I pour out my failures, my worries, my struggles. A little elbow grease, a little flour on the hands, helps me wade through the dirtiness of a day to the other side where God whispers peace that passes understanding to my soul.

I have to admit I was giddy this weekend, knowing that I had a trip to the farmer's market and grocery store ahead of me. I started making my list in my head and scratching meal plans on paper. I believe there is a kind of worship in feeding my family healthy and delicious foods. Don't hear what I'm not saying. I didn't say I worship food. I worship God by honoring this temple he gave me. I fill up the temple with whole, healing foods.

When we got to the farmer's market in Ontario near my brother's house, my girls and I gravitated toward the berries. These morsels were pricey in the dead of winter but spending money on berries is worth it to me. I'd rather spend my weight in organic berries than fork out cash on medicine. We build berries into our budget especially during these winter cold and flu months. We lovingly call berries the superheroes of the food world. They are ripe with antioxidants for fighting off the bad guys. There's nothing that pleases a foodie mama's soul more than to see my two little girls with berry-stained lips and fingers.

I feel grateful that I have the choice to fill up my pantry. These next few weeks I still have a limited budget but I know I am choosing to line the cupboards and refrigerator shelves with good food. I am thankful for my husband's hours coaching at the gym this month. I am thankful for this season of waiting as our family prepares to move to Haiti and reach out to many there who are hungry.

I want this New Year's Pantry Challenge to truly be a new beginning as we learn more about what it means to live simply, to eat whole foods and to share our abundance. When I'm tempted to whine, I will whisper prayers on behalf of the hungry here in Fresno and in Haiti and around the world.

"For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness." - Psalm 107:9

What did you learn these last two weeks?

New Year's Pantry Challenge, Small Bites offer Big Flavor, Day 12

Today's Menu:

Breakfast:
Meyer Lemon & Cranberry Scones with Lemon whipped cream
Fruit Smoothie

Lunch:
Leftover Chicken Curry Masala
Leftover Wheat Berry Salad
Kids: Grilled cheese sandwiches
Hard-boiled eggs
Sliced apples

Snacks:
Tangerines
Raisins
Spiced Popcorn

Dinner:
Red Lentil & Squash Soup
Sourdough Toast with Salmon Salad

Today I surveyed my cupboards and refrigerator hunting for something unique. Now that we're nearing the end of the second week without grocery shopping for wants or cravings I find myself digging deep for that spirit of creativity and challenge. Why do a Pantry Challenge if I'm not willing to press in when the shelves look bare?

Ok, I should clarify, nothing around here looks bare. Who am I kidding? Isn't that the lesson of this kind of "grocery shopping fast." We in America live in complete abundance every day. And even when I deprive myself a little. Even when I discipline myself not to give in to convenience and excess I'm still really sitting right here in the middle of it. I've got grocery stores and restaurants and fast food havens practically in my backyard. The farmer's markets in California's Central Valley are pregnant with ripe fruits and vegetables and it's January for crying out loud. We truly live in the land of plenty.

My lesson for today's Pantry Challenge is remembering the beauty of small bites. The Spanish have it down; they serve up delectable small bites aka "tapas" all the time. I *love* tapas. I love the idea of a small, artful plate before me. I adore the idea of eating slowly, contemplating each bite. When I was a swinging single girl I had room for small bites. I could afford the time. Now I'm a busy mama constantly fighting the clock, the incessant requests, the turned-up noses, the thrown-down food, the dietary needs of others. I seldom get a chance to breathe between bites. Today I'm reminded that if we stop to savor, we can find beauty in quality over quantity.

I found this Lemon-Cranberry Scone recipe and tweaked it with my kids in mind. I found a bag of cranberries from Thanksgiving. (Seriously, they were still good!) I dug out some lemons shared from a neighbor's tree. Meilani and I got out a small flower cookie cutter and had fun making something simple look sweet and fancy. The babies devoured them. (Ok, they licked the lemon whipped cream off and asked for more.) We all were surprised at the beauty in simple ingredients - butter, organic sugar, whole wheat flour, meyer lemons.

Cranberry-Lemon Scones with Lemon Whipped Cream

Ingredients:
-2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest (from about 3 lemons; preferably Meyer)
-1 teaspoon lemon juice
-2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
-1/3 cup organic raw sugar plus 3 tablespoons additional if using fresh cranberries
-1 tablespoon baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon sea salt
-1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
-1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped coarse
-1 large egg
-1 large egg yolk
-1 cup organic heavy cream

Lemon Whipped Cream:
-1 tablespoon lemon juice
-1 cup organic heavy cream
-1 tablespoon honey or agave syrup or organic sugar

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Chop cranberries and zest lemons. Reserve zested lemon for juice later.
3. In a large bowl add flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add eggs and lemon juice.
5. Cut butter into cubes and add to mixture. Stir in cranberres and lemon zest.
6. Use a pastry blender or fork to mix until dough comes together.  Gather in a ball.
7. Dust a cutting board with flour. Press the ball into a 9" round. Use a small cookie cutter or glass to cut out mini scones.
8. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil.
9. Bake approximately 15 minutes or until lightly browned on top.
10. Meanwhile, beat cream, adding agave syrup and lemon juice. When soft peaks form, stop beating.
11. Remove scones from oven. Cool on a plate and serve with a small bowl of the lemon cream for dipping.

New Year's Pantry Challenge, A Spicy Adventure, Day 10

Today's Menu:

Breakfast:
Smoothie
Free Chik-Fil-A Egg & Cheese Biscuit

Lunch:
Potato-corn Chowder
Sliced apples & kiwis
Hard-boiled eggs

Snack:
Tangerine
Raisins

Dinner:
Curry Chicken Masala with Cauliflower
Basmati Rice
Yogurt-covered raisins

As I've been digging through my "pantry" this week, I discovered I have a mountain of spices. Since it's a challenge to use what's in my pantry, I had to reach back into my memory and cookbooks to try some recipes from long ago. More than five years ago, my friend Anjali was visiting. She took me to a local Indian grocery store and introduced me to the world of Indian spices. Anjali also showed me that buying these spices in bulk from these little markets is much cheaper than hunting them down at the traditional grocery store. They also have "spice mixes" for traditional dishes like Tandoori Chicken or Curry Masala. This saves time in mixing a bunch of spices and their mix often tastes more authentic.

My all-time fave Indian dish is Chicken Masala, which has a creamy tomato sauce and tastes divine served over basmati rice. I wanted to try to find a way to simplify this dish, make it child-friendly (not too spicy) and use what I found in my pantry. We also wanted to use up some fresh cauliflower we scored at the farmer's market. I recognize you all might not have these specific spices in your pantry but the lesson for today was rediscovering spices and recipes from my past. My 2-year-old was signing and saying, "More, more" for this chicken. I had to keep filling up her plate.

Easy Curry Chicken Masala with Cauliflower

Ingredients:
-1 cup plain yogurt
-1 tablespoons curry masala spice mix (*available and many Indian grocery stores)

-3 boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

-1 large yellow onion, chopped
-2 tablespoons butter
-1 large head of cauliflower, chopped into large florets
-1 teaspoon turmeric
-1 small 6-oz. can of organic tomato paste
-1 pint whipping cream

1. Stir together yogurt and spice mix in a bowl. Add chicken pieces and lemon juice. Set in refrigerator to marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Saute onions in butter in a large skillet.
3. Add chicken and marinade to skillet.
4. Add cauliflower and saute additional 10 minutes.
5. When chicken and cauliflower are cooked, stir in turmeric, tomato paste and whipping cream. Bring to boil.
6.  Reduce heat to simmer. Stir occasionally until sauce thickens.

Serve over basmati rice or with Indian naan (flatbread).

*This mix includes coriander, cumin, chilies, turmeric, black pepper, salt, dry ginger, fenugreek, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, caraway, garlic powder, onion powder. (I have a lot - so come borrow mine if you want to try this out!)

Serves 6.

New Year's Pantry Challenge, Beef Strogonoff Made Simple: Fancy doesn't have to be extravagant, Day 9

Today's Menu:

Breakfast:
Smoothie
Granola and milk
Tangerine
Trader Joe's Peanut Butter and Crackers

Lunch:
Potato-Corn Chowder
Cornbread Muffins
Kiwi slices
Cupcakes (made by Amy)

Snack:
Raisins
Hard-boiled eggs

Dinner:
Butter Lettuce Salad with raisins, pumpkin seeds and feta cheese
Beef Strogonoff
Brown Rice
Chocolate Truffle Peppermint Cookies


People have the misconception that a "fancy" meal has to be expensive to make. I would like to argue today that a special meal doesn't have to cost the big bucks. I learned this from my friend Brandy who makes Beef Strogonoff with ground beef. According to my "Children's World Cookbook," Beef Strogonoff originates in Russia. This delicious recipe was created in the 1700s for Count Alexander Strogonoff. The recipe uses expensive steak like fillet or rump steak. But it doesn't have to be expensive.

A good meal doesn't have to take all day to make either. Don't get me wrong; I love intense cooking. I savor our Christmas Day tradition of rolling homemade raviolis or the occasional inspiration I get to make homemade Wonton Soup. These meals are fancy and time intensive. We all know that just isn't a reality every day of the week. I like to look for meals with an ethnic flair that are different, healthy and take a reasonable amount of time to make on a busy weeknight. Beef Strogonoff can be one of those quick meals. This Russian inspiration great for a quick comfort food for your family or decadent enough for company. I used what I had in the pantry for this version.


Beef Strogonoff

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 pound white mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 pound grass-fed organic ground beef
2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons sherry (or some other sweet wine)
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt

1. Saute onions in butter until translucent. Add the mushrooms to the pan.
2. Stir in dijon mustard.
3. Add ground beef and cook until brown.
4. Sprinkle flour on top of beef. Do not stir but let cook for 2-3 minutes.Then stir in with beef-onion mixture.
5. Add milk and sherry to skillet and gently stir. Lower heat when sauce begins to bubble and thicken.
6. Add black pepper, paprika and salt. (I didn't have it but you can add 1/2 cup sour cream at this point to make the sauce more creamy. You can also add milk or cream back into the sauce to adjust if it seems to thick.)

Serve over rice or egg noodle pasta.

New Year's Pantry Challenge, The name of the game is flexibility, Day 8

Today's Menu:

Breakfast:
Fruit Smoothie (Persimmon, Orange Juice, Raw Milk, Kiwi, Flaxseed)
Leftover french toast
Scrambled eggs

Lunch:
Wheat Berry Salad
Sliced Apple
Sourdough Toast
Hard-boiled Eggs

Snacks:
Raisins

Dinner:
Sweet Potato Fries
Sourdough Toast with Marinara & Ricotta Cheese
Sliced Oranges
Chocolate Truffle Peppermint Cookies

It's kind of funny that I wrote about my Meal Plan yesterday because today I already rearranged my plan. I guess that's why it's important to have wiggle room; life happens. Tonight I had my Writer's Group, which meets once a month. Our family was invited to a Monday Night Football party as well. I sent Ericlee and the girls to the football fiesta with Sweet Potato Fries (since they were to bring finger foods to share). Meanwhile, I ditched my plan to make Potato-Cheese Soup and opted for a simple sandwich with leftover marinara sauce and ricotta cheese I had in the fridge. This afforded me some extra time to work on my writing and bake some cookies for the ladies in my group. (Yeah, I know Christmas is over but my tree is still up and I needed one last hurrah.)

I decided to work on the Potato-Cheese Soup tonight before bed so it would be ready for lunch tomorrow when our friends the Toslands are coming over. The winter months are a perfect time for experimenting with soups and chilis; they also make great leftover for lunches throughout the week. I scored a bag of potatoes at Fresh & Easy a few weeks ago for 33 cents. Yep, you read that right. I'm all about the deal.

I have a fabulous recipe for Potato Cheese Soup that my friend gave me years ago. It's something like what they serve at Marie Callender's restaurant. As I looked over the recipe, I realized I didn't have the chicken broth it called for, and I didn't want to use the 16 oz. of cheese it required. (My girls are little mice and I have to ration out my cheese this week.) I decided it was time to make my own Potato Soup Recipe with the ingredients in the pantry. A creamy, chowder-like soup sounded like the perfect comfort food for a cold winter's afternoon.

If you're the type who likes to follow a recipe line by line, here you go. Otherwise, you can review the basic idea and use what's in your pantry or winter garden. I can imagine leeks or chopped kale or even sweet potatoes adding something interesting to this recipe. Unfortunately, I didn't have any of those. I chose to make the cheese my soup's garnish so I didn't have to use up expensive cheese but still got that comfort-food-melty-goodness on top. (My girls were fooled.) Enjoy the journey.

Potato-Corn Chowder

Ingredients:
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-1 large yellow onion, sliced
-6 cups or about 3 lbs. russet potatoes, cubed
-1 purple carrot, chopped
-1 orange carrot, chopped
-1 teaspoon paprika
-2 teaspoons salt
-1 teaspoon black pepper
-1 teaspoon celery seed
-2 tablespoons dried parsley
-3 cups water
-4 cups milk
-4 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
-1 15-oz. can corn or 2 cups fresh or frozen corn

Garnish:
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated

1. Saute onions in 2 tablespoons olive oil.
2. Add potatoes and carrots. Sweat in pot about 15 minutes.
3. When vegetables are tender, add water and spices (paprika, salt, pepper, celery seed, parsley).
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Meanwhile, stir together flour and milk. Add to soup pot and boil 5 minutes.
6. Lower heat and simmer until liquid thickens. Add corn.
7. Serve with garnishes sprinkled on top.

New Year's Pantry Challenge, Meal Planning for the new week, Day 7

This week's dinner plans:

Sunday
Pad Thai Noodles with Broccoli, Carrot and Green peppers
Sliced oranges

Monday
Wheat Berry Salad
Potato-Cheese Soup
Cornbread Muffins
Persimmon Cookies

Tuesday
Salad
Beef Strogonoff
Brown Rice

Wednesday
Indian-spiced Chicken with Apricot Chutney
Cauliflower
Basmati Rice

Thursday
Veggie Pizza
Salad
Popcorn

Friday
Salmon Salad
Rosemary Biscuits
Lemon Bars


Meal Planning is an important part of my week. My philosophy is if you plan ahead then you are less likely to get in a pinch or get lazy and opt for takeout food. I'm flexible. I know things come up throughout our week. That's why I make dinner plans with wiggle room if I need to change my mind partway through the week.

I try to plan on the weekends for the week to come so I can go to our Saturday farmer's market, which always promises fresh food and great deals. Since we're doing the New Year's Pantry Challenge, I'm going to forego my usual trip the grocery store on Sunday evening. My hubby and I decided we wanted to save by eating out of the pantry but we were not going to sacrifice on our organic fruits and veggies or our weekly supply of raw milk. We know these are critical to good health and fighting off all the winter cold and flu germs. If it were summer time, I might be braver to live out of the garden but my garden has zilch right now so we headed for the market. (Sadly, I didn't get any lettuce or other winter veggies planted this year since we are selling our house.)

I started this week's meal plan by checking out the fridge, freezer and pantry. Then I got out my go-to recipe binder and a few cookbooks that have special sections for winter vegetable entrees. I also starting perusing this blog and others like Eatingwell.com and the Epicurious iPhone app for winter-inspired meals. AllRecipes.com is also a great resource for figuring out how to use random ingredients. You can use their search tool to add ingredients or put in ingredients you don't have/like.

After I had compiled the grocery list, we prepared for the market. My hubby and oldest daughter volunteered to go on the treasure hunt this week. First stop: Organic Farmer's Market on Barstow and First in Fresno in front of Kristina's Market grocery store. Second stop: Vineyard Farmer's Market on Shaw and Blackstone Avenues at the NW corner.

Here's what they got:
-2 half gallons raw whole milk
-1 bunch purple and orange carrots
-1 head cabbage
-1 head butter lettuce
-1 large bunch green onions
-10 apples
-broccoli
-cauliflower
-1 quart fresh-squeezed raw orange juice

They ended up spending $35 total and that will be our "food spending" for this week. Total score! I will add that we have a $20 certificate (LivingSocial coupon that we paid $10 for last month) in our arsenal for more fresh fruits, veggies and eggs. Technically, we're spending $45 this week until Friday. We'll see how it goes!

What are your tricks for getting fresh fruits and veggies into your diet during winter months? We would love to hear your ideas.

New Year's Pantry Challenge: Make leftovers an Event, Day 5

Today's Menu:
Breakfast:
Waffles with Strawberry Jelly & Honey

Lunch:
Pizzadillas
Leftover Fried Rice
Leftover Mashed Potatoes

Snacks:
Pretzels
Cherries

Dinner:
Falafel sandwiches on Naan bread (which I found in the freezer yesterday)
Garlic-yogurt sauce
Hummus
Popcorn

Friday is Fun Day in the Gilmore house. That means I try to put on my creative mama hat and think up fun outings and ways to spend quality time with my girls. Today I also learned a very important lesson about leftovers: They taste so much better when you make them an event.

This morning the sun was hiding in our neck of the woods but there was plenty of fun inside. We set the table like a tea party - complete with Giada's new Magic Tea Party Set from Christmas - and had a par-tay! I toasted yesterday's leftover waffles, got out the honey and surveyed the condiments. Strawberry jam sounded very tea partyish so we got that out too. I poured some milk as our English-style "tea" and we had fun dipping our "tea cakes" and licking honey off our fingers. Mama even licked the honey jar - much to my girls squealing delight. (Take that, Pooh Bear!) This meal would even be fun for lunch or dinner, which may even add to the novelty of it all.

Tonight's meal was Falafel sandwiches, which is another one of my "Budget Bites" or cheap meals to make on the fly. They are little patties made out of chickpeas that are wonderful with hummus and a garlic-yogurt sauce. I think the traditional way to make them is to deep fry them, which creates a crispy outer shell. I prefer to saute in olive oil. My friend Leslie like to bake them and she says they turn out very good. Ericlee will always request these if I let him choose dinner. Get the kids involved and make it an event.

New Year's Pantry Challenge, Sharing Abundance, Day 4

Today's Menu:
Breakfast:
Fruit Smoothie
Waffles with honey

Lunch:
Pizzadillas
Apple slices

Snack:
Tangerines
Cherries

Dinner:
Taco Soup (Made by Forest)
Honey Cornbread Muffins with Butter
Oranges
Chocolate-dipped Peanut Butter Cookies (Made by Cori)

Today's highlight was the opportunity to share our abundance with others and live in community. For those of you who have been following along, you know that Monday we had a Pantry Party. Four friends showed up with extras from their own pantries and we all traded items and brainstormed new recipes. We also put together a bag of "abundance" to share with someone in need. The original plan was to donate this to our church pantry. I actually found out about a more tangible need through my dad. My dad volunteers with a program at our church called Celebrate Recovery. He told me about one of the veterans he works with who has been homeless for a while and is just getting his first apartment. My dad happily delivered the extra food to his friend. Other people from our church have been collecting furniture and kitchen items for this man.

Tonight we had dinner with our Life Group. Four of us couples from church have been meeting for dinner every other week for almost seven years now. Not only is it a great chance to encourage each other in our faith journeys,  as parents and in our marriages, but it's also an opportunity to share in community. For this meal, our friends the Benedicts hosted and made a crockpot full of Taco Soup. I brought corn bread muffins. My friend Cori brought oranges fresh from her tree and made peanut butter cookies dipped in chocolate. I didn't have all the ingredients for those different parts of the meal but when we pooled our resources we had quite a feast!

New Year's Pantry Challenge: Cleaning out the Freezer, Day 3

Today's Menu:
Breakfast:
Granola
Hard-Boiled Eggs
Leftover Fried Rice
Fruit Smoothie

Lunch:
Pita sandwiches with Ground Beef-Cabbage-Onion mixture (aka leftover wonton filling from last night but don't tell my kids)
Almond Butter & Strawberry Jelly Sandwich (Ericlee made this to take to work.)
Oranges

Snack:
Apple slices
Banana-Oatmeal Power Cookies

Dinner:
Sole with Sherry Sauce
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Collard Greens
Brussel Sprouts with Lemon Butter

Today's dinner was created out of what I dug out of the freezer and what we had on hand. We actually don't have too large of a freezer but it is easy to lose things way in the back after a while. Every so often I need to take inventory on what is in there and force myself to use it.

I made it a treasure hunt and I discovered I have a lot of different types of beans (that's where I store my beans), a bag of amaranth (suggestions welcome!), wheat berries, some frozen bags of basil from our garden, all the fixings for our homemade Peanut Butter Coconut Granola, frozen cranberries that we can use for smoothies. And then I happened upon the Sole fish. I had two packages that I got on sale a few weeks ago at Fresh & Easy. I like to buy off their sale shelves once in a while. What I can't use right away I freeze. We only buy "Wild Caught" fish because it's healthier than "farm-raised." I frequently use Salmon or Mahi Mahi sold at Trader Joe's. Mind you I don't have any "regular" recipes for Sole so I decided I needed to experiment.

I also had a bag of collard greens and a bag of brussel sprouts passed on from another friend's pantry. These are two veggies I also do not have much experience. Time to dive in. I read through several fish recipes and perused several recipes on my favorite http://www.eatingwell.com/ for brussel sprouts. There had to be a way to make those things edible and appealing!

I decided to saute the Sole in butter because as Julia Child says, "With enough butter, anything is good." I also created a sauce by deglazing the pan with Sherry, which was also randomly in our pantry. The result was yummy and both my kids were fighting over the last pieces. The same sauce went over the sauteed brussel sprouts with a squeeze of fresh lemon. If I had walnuts, I would have made this recipe, but I didn't so I had to wing it.

My dad, who claims to hate brussel sprouts, asked for a second helping of the "delicious little cabbages." My hubby scarfed the collard greens, which were similarly sauteed in olive oil and chopped fresh garlic.

What are your favorite ways to cook fish? What about collard greens? Brussel sprouts? I'm always open to suggestions, especially when that's what's in the pantry.

New Year's Pantry Challenge: Getting creative with condiments, Day 2

Today's Menu:

Breakfast -
Fruit and Veggie Smoothie
Peanut Butter Coconut Granola cereal and raw milk

Lunch -
Pita bread with Hummus Egg Salad
Sliced apples

Snacks -
Oranges & Trader Os

Dinner -
Wonton Soup
Chicken Fried Rice (with brown rice, eggs, green beans, carrots, onions
Chocolate Banana Coconut Power Cookies and Candy Cane Joe Joe's Ice Cream

Today I had to be creative and resourceful with the new items in my pantry and the leftovers in my fridge. That, I suppose, is what the New Year's Pantry Challenge is really all about: creativity. And I'm sure as the days go on I'm going to be required to be more and more creative. I do know from experience that this is how new recipes are born.

One area I had to be creative was in making our egg salad for lunch. We are all out of our favorite Trader Joe's mayonnaise. I've taken the pledge not to set foot in a grocery store until next Friday so I had to make do. I suppose I could have made mayonnaise (any good recipes out there?) but I didn't have time today. I was watching two other boys besides my two girls and feeding my raging-metabolism hubby. I had to think fast. I decided to substitute hummus (which I made from scratch the other night) for mayo and *voila* a new lunch creation was born. The hummus was a bit thicker than traditional mayonnaise but it did the trick. My hubby was the most excited about this one.

What's hummus?

It's a spread often used in Mediterranean food made out of garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas). Hummus uses garlic and tahini (sesame butter) and tastes great on pita bread or chips. I love hummus because it's cheap to make - you can buy a few cups of dried garbanzo beans in bulk for less than a dollar. I also love hummus because it's full of protein and it helps serve my need to dip. Are you a dipper? I'm a dipper. Love to dip chips, sandwiches, pretzels, you name it. And I've passed on the need to dip to my kids. Now I know it's a condiment and a dip all rolled into one. Give it a whirl!

Tonight we had our friends, the Fords, over for dinner. I promised Matt I would make wonton soup - his all-time fave. Unfortunately or fortunately we got a call to show our house (which is for sale) just hours before dinner. That meant I had to clean the place instead of prepping dinner. The Fords still wanted to come and happily decided to help us make dinner. I was reminded that the process of cooking with friends is even more fun that setting out a perfectly-plated meal.

Matt and Bev and their kiddos, Bethany and Josiah, showed up with some veggies to add to our meal. We made a fried rice dish to go with the soup using their fresh carrots and green beans mixed with chopped cabbage, egg and onions I had in the fridge. Bev helped me roll wontons. I didn't have all the usual ingredients to stuff wontons but we improvised. I used collard greens, cabbage and onions with ground beef I had leftover from last night's Manicotti. Surprisingly, we had extra wonton filling left in the end. That is sure to be a creative challenge for one of tomorrow's meals...

For dessert, we each savored a small scoop of Candy Cane Joe Joe's Ice cream and homemade Chocolate Banana Power cookies. This was a little hit of sweet at the end of the meal with a healthy twist. And the picky kiddos had no clue I was sneaking flaxseed, coconut and fruit into their dessert.


Hummus

-2 cups dried garbanzo beans, soaked in water overnight and boiled for approximately 30 minutes until soft
-2 garlic cloves
-2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed butter often found near the peanut butter)
-1/4 cup lemon juice
-1/2 teaspoon paprika
-1 teaspoon sea salt
-1/2 teaspoon cumin
-1/4 teaspoon black pepper
-7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. Throw all the ingredients into your blender or food processor except olive oil. Blend. Add water if necessary.
2. Stir in olive oil.
3. Taste and season according to your desire.

Hummus Egg Salad

-6 hardboiled eggs, chopped
-1 cup hummus
-1 teaspoon oregano
-1 teaspoon sea salt

1. Mix ingredients.
2. Spread on bread for a sandwich.

New Year's Pantry Challenge: Hosting a Pantry Party, Day 1

Today's Menu:

Breakfast -
Smoothie (persimmon, banana, cranberries, pineapple juice, raw milk)
Veggie Egg Scramble (with collard greens and onions)

Lunch -
Leftover Southwestern Bean & Barley Soup
Whole Wheat Quesadillas
Tangerines/Cuties

Snacks:
Apple slices
Zookies

Dinner -
Salad with
Stuffed Manicotti
Garlic Bread
Zookies

Today was the first official day of cooking through our New Year's Pantry Challenge. The first day is always a fun day in my mind. I'm flush with the thrill of the challenge, surveying my goods and feeling like it's all manageable. Today was especially ripe with inspiration because I hosted the Pantry Party with some of my friends. I invited people to survey their own pantries, make a list of items they would like to use creatively, and pack a few things to share with others at the party. I wasn't sure how the whole thing would go over.

 Susan (who joined me for the last Pantry Challenge), Mary, Carrie and Forest showed up. We were all surprised by the abundance of food there was to share. My 4-year-old Meilani right away started lining up all the goods on a table and we had our own "Trading Grocery Store." We had fun perusing each other's pantry leftovers. Would you like Chai Tea? Would you use Pad Thai Noodles? How about some Organic White Wine Vinegar? Do you need more oats or lemons?

Mary really cleaned out her pantry - even donating Ziplock bags and toiletries - because she is having her hubby build her a new organizer for her pantry space. That benefitted all of us. We even had an extra bag of groceries that we plan to share with our church's food pantry. These items will be given out to people in the community who are in need.

I got out my favorite recipe binder and my binder of Cooking Club faves to share with our friends. We all dove into my cookbook collection and even searched out some new options online. Susan brought her planned month of meals to inspire us. Forest had a great cookbook to share as well. As a group we brainstormed how to use certain items like lentils, sweet potatoes and apricots that different people had in abundance. Can't wait to taste Carrie's Apricot Chutney using frozen apricots she got from a friend's tree.

In the end, I think we all solidified a week of planned dinners, gathered some new recipes and went home with a bag full of "new groceries." I was pretty stoked about pita bread, Trader Joe's barbecue sauce and a bowl full of lemons and tangerines. Talk about living in community! Today I was struck anew by the abundance we all have in our pantries. I know our finances are limited this month but we truly do have so many resources, especially if we share with other families.

For today's meals, I was able to use ingredients I had bought earlier to bless two other families. Our friends, Troy and Allison, just had a baby and my mom just had surgery. I made one of my favorite "Meals for Company," which is Stuffed Manicotti. I generally make this meal with a Tomato-Meat Sauce but this time I made it a Marinara Sauce. This saves a little money on extra meat and it's really not necessary since there's already meat and cheese in the filling along with spinach. Both of these sauces are great for making in batches and freezing. I was able to give an extra container of sauce to my friends for their fridge and freeze one of my own. I can use Marinara for pizzas at lunch or over pasta for a dinner on a different day.

What's in your pantry? What ingredients do you have that you need to use up? How were you inspired to use what you have or trade with others? Please share your stories.

January Resolve: Great Pantry Challenge, Part 2

The beginning of a new year is the natural time for resolutions. The time for creating goals. The time for assessing and reviewing and reorganizing. Our family likes to use this time of year to reflect on the past and make new plans for the future.

We started our healthy living journey and this blog in January 2008. How far we have traveled in these past three years in terms of what we eat and how we live a "health-full" life! It's been all about baby steps for us but those baby steps add up over months and years. (That's exciting to think about!) We've been able to save money and spend less time sick and going to the doctor's office.

This year we're taking on some new baby steps to continue the journey. Our big goal is to try and eat 10 servings of fruits and vegetables each day and continue exercising regularly (3 or more times a week). We also desire to experiment more with gardening and eating more raw fruits and vegetables.

To start off, we're pressing the reset button so to speak on our pantry. Some of you might remember we did the Great Pantry Challenge in October 2009. This was a fun way to embrace the very real challenge ahead of us - to live off the abundance we already had instead of buying excess. The best part was - we survived and we learned some amazing lessons in the process. We also came away with some new favorite recipes. We're hoping for the same this time around.

For the last week, many in Fresno have been consumed by Walmart's "Fighting Hunger Together" contest. I thought it was a cool contest. I clicked "Like" several dozen times on my Facebook account in an effort to help Fresno win the $1 million. That contest also got me thinking: what if we all put our heads together and creatively worked as a team to feed the hungry in Fresno? What if we each gave a few extra dollars to a local homeless shelter each month? What if once a year or once a quarter or once a month we each surveyed the excess in our own pantries and donated it to a local food bank? What if we just ate what we have in our pantries for an extra week and the money we saved was available to bless someone else? What if?

Looking ahead, we know for our family that January is going to be a tight month financially. We also have in mind the goal on the horizon, which is to move to Haiti to serve among the people there for a year. We want to continue to challenge ourselves to live simply, but allowing good food and community to be our medicine.

Our goals:
1. To save money in the month of January, while still maintaining a healthy diet.
2. To think about ways to use, recycle and share food and recipes with our community of friends.
3. To challenge our family and others to brainstorm creative ways to feed the hungry in Fresno.

The following is what our family is taking on for the next few weeks. We invite you to join us. You feel free to make your own plans, your own rules. Maybe you want to take on one of these plans. Maybe you want to tweak it to fit your needs, your lifestyle. The challenge is all yours. We're not here to be the pantry police; we just love to share with friends.


Our plans:
1. To avoid grocery shopping starting today and continuing through Jan. 14 (approximately 2 weeks). The exception for our family will be to buy our regular 1 gallon of raw milk, 1 flat of eggs, fruits and vegetables at our local farmer's market. We still believe these items need to be fresh and local.
2. To host a Pantry Party at our house where friends can swap pantry items, extra produce and brainstorm meal plans together. (Monday, January 3 - let us know if you're interested.)
3. To donate unused pantry items to a local food bank.
4. To share at least one meal with a homeless person in Fresno or volunteer at one of Fresno's shelters.

Check back in. We plan to share our recipes, our meal plans and our lessons learned. We invite you to share yours.

Saturday Pantry Challenge: Grand Finale Harvest Pumpkin Chili

What's for Breakfast:
Pumpkin Pancakes

Snacks:
Pretzels
Almonds
Dried Fruit
Zookies

What's for Lunch:
Leftover Italian Wedding Soup
Spiced Egg Salad Sandwiches
Organic Applesauce

What's for Dinner:
Harvest Pumpkin Chili (Recipe below)
Whole Wheat Toast
Toasted pumpkin seeds

Today was Day 6, our grand finale to this crazy Great Pantry Challenge. We are pretty excited to have made it through this week. The goal was to save money and reflect on what it is like to use what we have (not what we buy or import) like so many others in the world are forced to do on a regular basis. The result was eating pretty creatively and learning some great lessons in the process.

Lessons we Learned this Week:
1. Monday: Cooking extra servings or batches makes an easy meal for another night.
2. Tuesday: The key to good eats is living in community.
3. Wednesday: Be creative with what you have.
4. Thursday: You save more if you stay out of the store.
5. Friday:  Fresh fruits and veggies are a must.
6. Saturday: The more you save, the more you have to give away.

The best part of this challenge was doing it with friends. I know several friends including Brandy, AnnMarie, Jen, Katie, Sandra and Susan were joining us. I gained a lot from walking the journey with them, reading their blogs and hearing their comments and encouragement along the way.

Our family has decided to start a new challenge as a result of what we've learned this week. Our friends inspired us to do this one. We plan to eat rice and beans every Monday night from now until Christmas. In a small way, this will force us to eat simply like many of our friends in Haiti and across the globe. Sure, we will save money in the process. Beyond that, we also hope this meal will serve as a time for meditation and prayer for those who have less than we do.

Today is Halloween, which we don't really celebrate, but we do feel the effects of lots of candy and treats being around. We struck a deal with our daughter Meilani that if she trades in all the candy people give her(the yucky stuff full of high fructose corn syrup and harmful dyes) than she can pick out a toy or other treat. Last year she picked a coloring book and trip to Jamba Juice. When I asked Meilani today what she wanted, she asked if I could buy her this T-shirt. Our friends are adopting two kids from Ethiopia and the proceeds go to the Phillips family adoption and an orphanage in Ethiopia. I did not prompt her to ask for this. She saw me admiring the T-shirts online the other day and remembered. Sure, $15 is a little more than I planned to spend on this trade but how could I pass up such a cause - especially when we just saved a load of money on our Pantry Challenge.

I challenge you to think about ways you and your family can share your abundance with others. Maybe it's inviting a neighbor to a meal. Maybe it's sponsoring a child in an orphanage. Maybe it's having your kids pick out a Christmas gift from the World Vision catalog or Compassion International that they can give to someone across the globe this year. Maybe it's packing sack lunches for the homeless and dropping them off throughout the season when you run into someone hungry on the street. These are just a few ideas of things our family has done in the past. We would love to hear your ideas for other ways to share.

Sometimes this little voice inside me asks, why did I just work so hard to save money on something like a Pantry Challenge when I'm going to give it all away. Seems a little backwards. In reality, it's forwards. Some call it a "Pay It Forward" principle. Others call it "The Treasure Principle." In our family, we have learned that the more generous we are with the food and resources we have, the more blessing we experience in our own home. Pass it on.

Today's meals included Pumpkin Pancakes, a regular on our meal list at this time of year. My hubby loves big breakfasts and we can always use an excuse to throw pumpkin and cinnamon in something. (Ericlee tells me that speaks love to him.) Lunch was a smorgasboard of leftovers - egg salad and Italian Wedding Soup from earlier in the week. Then we assembled our Grand Finale Dinner: Harvest Pumpkin Chili. I keep hearing people talk about "pumpkin chili." I've never had it before. I read a bunch of recipes and took a look at what was left in the pantry. Voila! This new recipe was created. We made it mostly vegetarian because of our lack of meat by the end of the week but next time I might saute up some ground turkey or beef to add to the pot.

A Note from our Nutrition Guy (aka my hubby Ericlee):
Pretty colors on your plate are not only a feast for your eyes but also for your heart.  The pigments that give fruits and vegetables their bright hues are called carotenoids.  The most carotenoid rich foods are the yellow, orange, and red vegetables like pumkins.  These carotenoids are similar to an antioxidant.  They neutralize free radicals (oxygen molecules that cause havoc in the cells) by offering up their own electrons. Thus it helps to prevent your cells from being damaged.  If you want to stay away from cancer, then enjoy this Fall season by eating pumkins in all varieties.  There is actually a higher concentration of carotenoids in canned pumkins than in a raw whole pumkin. 



Harvest Pumpkin Chili

*As is, this is a vegetarian chili because that's what we had in the pantry. I would add 1 lb. grass-fed ground beef or ground turkey for a meat-eater's version.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter (or olive oil)
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cups butternut squash, 1/2-inch cubes
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 15-oz. can organic tomato sauce
1 6-oz. can organic tomato paste
2 cups pumpkin puree (We halved and cooked a small sugar pumpkin for one hour at 250 degrees & then scooped out the flesh for our puree. You could use canned puree as well.)
2 cups organic chicken broth
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chives, dried or freshly chopped
2 cups black beans (canned or soaked & cooked until tender)
2 cups frozen or fresh corn
*Garnish: Fry up 3 slices turkey bacon and crumble on top or finely chop a small bunch of green onions and put on top chili with sour cream.

1. Heat butter or olive oil a large stock pot. Add chopped onion, carrots, green pepper and garlic and sweat until soft.
2. Add chili powder, chipotle, cinnamon, salt and chives. Stir in and let simmer 15 minutes so flavors meld.
3. Stir in cooked beans and corn. Cook additional 10 minutes.
4. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped cooked turkey bacon or green onions.

Friday Pantry Challenge: Egg Salad Three Different Ways

What's for Breakfast:
Pumpkin Oatmeal
Trader O's
Banana
Juice

What's for Lunch:
Egg salad sandwiches
Grapes
Dried fruit

What's for Dinner:
Black Olive, Green Pepper & Basil Pizza
Baked Sweet Potato Fries & Spiced Aioli Sauce
Zookies



Admittedly, Day 5 has been the hardest because we were used to the challenge but the refrigerator was looking more and more depressing. My eldest daughter also came down with a runny nose. Usually I would work to cure that with a tall smoothie and a bowl of berries or other antioxidants. My choices were slim since we have no more fruit and no freezer stash either. I poured a cup of raw milk, found an Airborne tablet in the cabinet and added that to a glass of water and hoped for the best. In many ways, we could probably go a few more weeks on this challenge but in the fresh fruit department we would be compromising our health if I don't head to the farmer's market this weekend! Lesson learned.
I was still determined to be creative and have a good attitude today about eating what we have. After all, people in the Developing World have maybe one or two - if any - choices a day. My whining would be embarassing.

My creativity today included my own "Pumpkin Oatmeal" by adding 1 tablespoon pumpkin puree along with 1 tablespoon organic raisins to a bowl of oatmeal. I sprinkled the top with cinnamon and the result was a yummy different flavor. (If you want to sweeten it, try a drizzle of a natural sweetener like honey or maple syrup and throw in some nuts for good omega-3s.) My hubby is the type who could eat the same granola for breakfast and the identical sandwich for lunch day after day. Not me. I need variety and so does my daughter.

This afternoon I realized that are usual stash of fruit, veggies and whole grain bars that we use for snacks was seriously depleted so Meilani and I used the last zucchini to make Zookies. This is a recipe we got from a friend and it incorporates healthy plus yummy (chocolate!) all into one great little cookie. Our friend's daughter calls them "Vegetable Cookies" because you can see the shredded zucchini inside but that didn't deter us. They taste like a chocolate-chip macaroon with the extra zest of zucchini flavor.

For lunch, I decided to be creative with Egg Salad. Now I know most people hear "egg salad" and think boring, blah and maybe even barf. But when I'm looking at a nearly-empy refrigerator with more than a dozen eggs left I'm thinking Egg Salad = Extra Special. My first version of Egg Salad earlier this week was a twist on my Curried Chicken Salad, a regular on our lunch menu. My classic version of Egg Salad is an Italian Egg Salad. Must be my roots but I tend to gravitate toward oregano, basil and bay leaves when it comes to the spice department. Our Classic Egg Salad includes those things. The new "snazzy" egg salad we made today used the rest of yesterday's "spiced aioli sauce" from our Baked Sweet Potato Fries. The result was a new salad with incredible nuances of flavor. Meilani and I gobbled ours down. (Recipes below.)

Our dinner tonight was a mainstay for Friday nights - pizza! There's something about Friday that just makes me crave pizza. It's also a great chance to use some of the extras from the week for creative ingredients. Since we've been doing The Great Pantry Challenge this week there wasn't much left in our produce drawers in the fridge. We did find green peppers and basil. We also opened our last can of sliced black olives to top off our Veggie Pizza. And, thank you, God, we had just enough cheese. Tomorrow is our grand finale day - we will see what it holds.

A Note from our Nutrition Guy (aka my Hubby)

A lot of people have misconceptions about the healthiness of eggs. Several years back Americans got all up in arms about eggs causing high cholesterol. The truth of it is that God created eggs as a perfect protein. Usually people who have cholesterol issues do not have it because of their consumption of eggs. Not only have studies shown that eggs do not significantly affect cholesterol levels, but the latest research suggests that eating whole eggs (both whites and yolks) may actually result in improvement in a person's blood lipids (cholesterol) profile.
When we buy eggs, we want the freshest eggs possible. The A Choice would be to buy from a local farm. In Fresno, we get our eggs from Simonian Farms in the Valley. There's also a new egg vendor at the Vineyard Farmer's Market on Shaw & Blackstone. These are fresh eggs laid by cage-free chickens who have been fed organic food. The B Choice would be to buy cage-free organic eggs from a grocery store like Trader Joe's or Costco. The difference is these eggs are from a bigger operation where the stress on the chickens could be more. Stressed out chickens do not lay healthy eggs.


Curried Egg Salad

6  hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon curry powder (I use the Frontier Indian Curry powder from Whole Foods, which is a salt-free, all-natural blend)
1 small zucchini, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon parsley, minced
3 tablespoons dried cranberries or raisins
1/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1 cup mayonnaise

1. Boil eggs. Meanwhile, chop zucchini and combine with salt, pepper, curry, parsley, cranberries and pecans.
2. Chop eggs.
3. Blend eggs with mayonnaise and add spice-vegetable mixture. Serve on your favorite bread.



Italian Egg Salad

6 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil (dried or fresh)
1 teaspoon chopped bay leaf
1 tablespoon fresh parsley

1. Boil eggs. Meanwhile, chop celery and combine with salt, pepper, oregano, basil, bay leaf and parsley.

2. Chop eggs.
3. Blend eggs with mayonnaise and add spice-celery mixture. Serve on your favorite bread.

 
Spiced Egg Salad

6 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 tablespoon cilantro or fresh basil, finely chopped
1 cup mayonnaise

1. Boil eggs. Meanwhile, chop celery and combine with salt, pepper, cumin, coriander and cilantro.

2. Chop eggs.
3. Blend eggs with mayonnaise and add spice mixture. Serve on your favorite bread.

Thursday Pantry Challenge: Sweet Potato Fries

What's for Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with green peppers and feta cheese
Cranberry-walnut bread
Fruit Smoothie

What's for Lunch:
Butternut Squash Soup (from Trader Joe's by Stacie)
Sweet Potato Fries with Spiced Aioli Sauce (recipe below)
Plantain Chips (from Trader Joe's by Cori)
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Made by Mary)
Popcorn

What's for Dinner:
Italian Wedding Soup
Honey-Whole Wheat Bread
Baby Greens Salad with Goat cheese, sunflower seeds and raisins
Sauteed Cinnamon Apples



Is it really Thursday? It's hard to believe how quickly the week is flying by. I'm over the "hump" of the week and the halfway mark of this challenge. I'm already starting to think about next week - and not just because I have permission to go to the grocery store. I've actually been contemplating what lessons I've learned from The Great Pantry Challenge and how I can apply them to my future eating, spending, saving and giving habits.

One of the biggest "money-saving tips" I've learned - or at least been reminded of this week - is that you save more if you stay out of the store. In other words, less time shopping equals less time spending. Seems obvious but more so since I've been practicing. I have not walked into a store - any store - since October 19 when I left Trader Joe's with my normal groceries. At the time, I didn't realize I would be doing this crazy challenge. Somehow this moratorium on grocery shopping has extended beyond the grocery store. I haven't had the desire to shop for anything else. I secretly challenged myself to use the toiletries we have (one roll of toilet paper left and counting!) as well as be content with the clothes I'm wearing, the craft supplies I have in my closet, and even go without other entertainment spending.

The revelation: my life is not boring. Each day has been ripe and full of good food, priceless people and a long list of reasons to be grateful for what I have.

In the process of this challenge, I've found some great resources and blogs that have really inspired me. I started this whole challenge because of a post I read by Money Saving Mom. MoneySavingMom.com is an encouraging blog dedicated to helping you find great deals, stretch your hard-earned dollars, and live on less than you make so you can save more and give more. Another mama blogs about her Menu Planning every Monday and shares tips and recipes, not to mention a host of great ideas on how to organize your home, your pantry and your life. I definitely need that.

My friend Susan turned me on to the blog of another woman who takes a "No Spend Month Challenge" every July. She and her family of three live off $250 for all their groceries, gas, toiletries and extras. Her ideas and reflections were very inspiring. I'd like to figure out how to do that one. One family committed to eat rice and beans for a month not only to save money on their grocery bill but then to "pay it forward" by helping another family with their adoption fund. So humbling.

I'm a big fan of A Place Called Simplicity, a blog that has challenged me to appreciate my family and to think of creative ways I can share our abundance with those in need, especially the world's orphans.

I've also been inspired by some of my personal friends. Brandy explains her Menu Planning philosophy for her family of seven and how she keeps sane by visiting the grocery store every two weeks. Then there's AnnMarie who is bent on "shopping and saving NOT spending" and sharing how she does it. Let me tell ya, she's the coupon queen bee.

What resources have you found? What has inspired you? Leave us a comment.

***

Today's meals included a little more "on the edge" creativity. For example, we are used to making smoothies every morning for breakfast. We've skipped that several days this week simply because we did not have the fresh fruit available. (In the future, I will be stockpiling on cheap fruit when it's in season and filling up my freezer.) This morning I begged my hubby to make me a smoothie. We used a measured quantity of our juice (Hibiscus-Cranberry from Trader Joe's), raw milk, some applesauce, sweet potato, zucchini, banana and honey. It actually tasted great and we started our day with some good antioxidants for this flu and cold season.

I sent my hubby off to work with a large leftover helping of Fall Flavors Veggie Lasagna and Chicken Cacciatore from early in the week. My girls and I made up a batch of Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Spiced Aoili (recipe below) and headed to Playgroup at our friend Stacie's house. I love sweet potato fries but I've never made them from scratch before. I usually buy the flash frozen fries from Trader Joe's or order them at a favorite restaurant. Sure, it takes some time to wash, peel and cut these babies but I can afford the extra time if it's saving me money.

For Playgroup, the other mamas raided their pantries and we feasted on Butternut Squash Soup, our fries, plantain chips, popcorn and homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with organic ingredients. Yum-o! Not to mention Organic Puffs for the babies...

Dinner tonight was a classic Italian meatball soup called Italian Wedding Soup with a few changes. I swapped out the spinach and swapped in three bunches of chopped bok choy from our garden. (I know, I know. I am really a black thumb but something is actually growing in those planter boxes out back. Amazing.) I also didn't have the beloved cannelini (white) beans so I used some leftover whole wheat pasta from our dinner on Monday to make this meal a little more hearty. This is feel-good food on a budget. Tonight's Italian Wedding Soup was full of mini meatballs. This will be our only beef for the week and it's all about quality, not quantity.

A Note from our Nutrition Guy (aka my hubby Ericlee)

We buy organic, grass-fed beef from Trader Joe's or our local farmer's market. Why spend 5-6 smackers per pound when you could be catching a sale for $2-$3/pound on ground beef? The answer is quality counts. Most American cows are fed corn - not just any corn but genetically-modified corn. What did God design for cows to eat? Grass. When cows eat corn, their tummies become quickly acidic and they die sooner than they should. To combat this, many ranchers pump their cows with hormones and antibiotics. They also keep them confined so they can put on weight faster and then be moved down the line to the butcher. The poopy part for those who eat this beef is that now they are consuming four times as much saturated fat, not to mention hormones, antibiotics and genetically-modified junk that wreaks havoc on the human digestive system.

We've decided to spend the same amount of money on our meat, but to buy a smaller quantity. For example, Italian Wedding Soup serves 6-8 people with one pound of organic, grass-fed ground beef fashioned into mini meatballs. You don't have to become vegetarian to be healthy, just eat quality meat in moderation.




Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Spiced Aoili

Ingredients:
-4-5 sweet potatoes
-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
-2 tablespoons rice flour
-1 teaspoon sea salt

Spiced Aoili Sauce:
-1 cup mayonnaise (Trader Joe's brand)
-1 teaspoon paprika
-1 teaspoon cumin
-1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
-1/2 teaspoon sea salt
-2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
-1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Serves 5

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with tin foil.
2. Wash and peel sweet potatoes. Cut into 1 by 5-inch wedges.
3. In a small bowl, drizzle olive oil over fries. Toss with rice flour.
4. Spread fries out on baking sheet and bake 30 minutes until soft. Using tongs, separate and turn.
5. Meanwhil, stir together ingredients for aioli sauce.
6. Turn on broiler. Stay close by and broil fries for 3-4 minutes until crisp on top. Be careful not to burn.
7. Cool and serve with aoili sauce.

Wednesday Pantry Challenge: Dessert = Chocolate-Pumpkin Ravioli

What's for Breakfast:
Cranberry-walnut toast with Butter (Dorina)
Trader O's (Meilani)
Ellie Krieger's Maple Granola (Ericlee)
Banana (Ericlee)
Hibiscus-Cranberry Juice (from Trader Joe's)

What's for Lunch:
Curried Egg Salad sandwiches
Leftover Fall Flavors Vegetarian Lasagna (dinner last night)
Grapes

What's for Dinner:
Taco Bar with tortillas, ground beef, cabbage, cheese, salsa, tomatoes, sour cream, avocadoes & rice (by Troy & Allison Vasquez)
Green Salad with Almonds and Avocadoes & Ranch Dressing (by Stacie & Forest Benedict)
Dessert: Chocolate-Pumpkin Ravioli (recipe below)

Day Three of The Great Pantry Challenge solidifies more of my theory from yesterday: Living out of our pantry has been no real sacrifice because we live in community. Tonight we enjoyed a fabulous dinner with our Small Group friends. We get together with three other couples and their kids every other week for a shared meal and a chance to support each other in this season of life. We each bring an assigned part of the meal - Salad, Side Dish, Entree or Dessert. We rotate houses so the family hosting doesn't feel the burden of the Entree (and the dishes) too often. For the last five years we have celebrated community through food, conversation around the table, prayer and encouraging our kids to play together.

Tonight it was our turn to bring the dessert. Since it's fall, I had to bust out my favorite fall flavors - pumpkin & chocolate. (Yes, that's what was in the pantry!) At first, I thought about some kind of chocolate tart but I didn't really have time to mix up a crust, chill it and roll it out. After scrounging through the refrigerator and cupboards, I also found some wonton wrappers from the cooking contest I entered at The Big Fresno Fair two weeks ago. I thought about a dessert I saw an Italian chef once make - Chocolate Ravioli. What about Chocolate-Pumpkin Ravioli? That's a Harvest party in your mouth as far as I'm concerned. (Find recipe below.)  The warm chocolate melded with the spiced pumpkin inside a crispy wonton is so flavorful we all wished there were more.

My favorite part of this challenge is that it forces me to be creative with what I have. Who says we can't eat healthy and delicious food? Who says eating out of the pantry has to be boring? Not me. That's why I tackled dessert tonight with the enthusiasm of a die-hard football fan at a home game. This is how new recipes are created. I encourage you to try something new this week. Grab a few ingredients you always have on hand and see what happens when you marry them together. It might just be a family hit!

A Note from our Nutrition Guy (aka my hubby Ericlee):
Chocolate is not only a yummy treat, it also happens to be a great choice for dessert if you do it right. Some chocolate choices are high in sugar, high fructose corn syrup and other harmful chemicals for your body. Chocolate with a higher percentage of cocoa is better for you. Choose chocolates that are labeled "semi-sweet" or "dark chocolate" and avoid milk chocolate or chocolate with other additives.

You've probably heard that chocolate is full of antioxidants. What are antioxidants? They are compounds that protect our cells from damage. Call them the policemen of your body. Policemen keep our city safe and fight off the offenders. Antioxidants do the same. They keep our body healthy and fight off cancer cells.

With Halloween right around the corner, you might choose a chocolate bar over a piece of hard candy filled with poisonous dyes. Trader Joe's as well as other stores are selling small-sized chocolate bars (with no additives) just for the occasion. That is, if you're looking for an alternative to the mainstream Halloween treats. We trade our daughter for non-food items or Jamba Juice cards.



Chocolate-Pumpkin Ravioli

Ingredients:
1 cup organic pumpkin puree (canned or from a baked sugar pumpkin)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate bar, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon cream cheese or mascarpone cheese, softened
1 egg
30 wonton wrappers
olive oil spray or 2 tablespoons olive oil (& pastry brush)
3 tablespoons organic butter

Garnish:
mini chocolate chips
mint leaf
whipped cream

1. Mix together filling ingredients: pumpkin, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, chocolate and cream cheese in a small bowl.
2. Cover two cookie sheets with parchment or waxed paper.
3. Beat egg in small bowl and set at work station with pastry brush.
4. Brush the edges of a wonton wrapper with egg. Add teaspoon of filling to corner of wonton wrapper. Fold wrapper at a diagonal, forming a triangle shape. Press edges together . Lay out on cookie sheet. Continue filling wontons, (I like to do two at a time) until they are all filled.
5. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray wontons with olive oil spray or brush with olive oil. Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
6. Remove from oven and serve 3-4 at a time on a dessert plate. For garnish, sprinkle with mini chocolate chips, a mint leaf or add a spoonful of whipping cream.

*This is a dessert you will want to do the final steps right before serving so the chocolate is warm and melty.

Tuesday Pantry Challenge: Zucchini Flat Breads

What's for Breakfast:
Trader O's
Cranberry-Walnut Toast with butter/cream cheese
Banana-Pumpkin Muffins
Banana

What's for Lunch:
Grapes & Pomegranate Seeds
Zucchini Flat Breads (recipe below)
Leftover Butternut Squash soup
Banana-Pumpkin Muffins

What's for Dinner:
Fall Flavors Vegetarian Lasagna
Whole Wheat Honey Bread (made by Maria Lazo)

Thanks for joining us on our healthy living journey. Today marks Day Two of The Great Pantry Challenge. To be honest, this whole eating out of the pantry thing has not been hard at all so far. I was expecting to be mopey and have major withdrawals for my weekly Trader Joe's run. Sure, it's only day two, but already I'm discovering I have so much more food than I thought I had when I originally made my careful menu plans last Thursday. (It's amazing what joy a small bag of dried black beans discovered in my freezer can bring!)

One of the main reasons we are in plenty instead of want is because we have family and friends who continue to share with us. My mother-in-law had extra grapes and almonds from a Valley farmer who goes to her office. My mom decided to get creative in her baking and then shared a bread made in her bread maker. For lunch, we invited our friends the Freelands over. They are also doing this Pantry Challenge. They shared extra pizza ingredients for a second flatbread. Sure, they have five kids but our food supply wasn't really depleted when we considered what they shared and the great feeling one gets when sharing fellowship around the table. This evening another couple shared with us a bag of organic raisins from the farmer's market because they couldn't make it through their abundance.

Unbelievable. Mind you, I never solicited food from friends or family members; they just happened to have extras to share. Most of them don't even know we are doing this challenge. Imagine what would happen if people decided to share the abundance we have in the city of Fresno with the homeless. What about sharing the abundance we have in the United States with other countries that are experiencing food crises? Could be revolutionary. I have this feeling this week is going to teach me a lot more than just how I can save a few pennies eating out of my pantry.

Ok, on to dinner. One of the items I discovered when menu planning was a box of whole wheat lasagna noodles. I decided to dig out a recipe I created last winter and try it again with what I had on hand. First, I had to consider the sauce. I didn't have any tomatoes (fresh or canned) so I had to use two cans of organic tomato sauce instead. That was easy enough. I also substituted sliced zucchini from lunch for the mushrooms and chopped swiss chard instead of the purple kale. We didn't have ricotta cheese or anything really close so we tried the lasagna without it. The result was a really yummy entree. The most amazing part of the meal is that my parents joined us and my carnivore of a father actually gobbled up two slices of my mom's homemade wheat bread and two servings of lasagna and then said, "I'm full!" He didn't even realize he had just eaten a mean VEGETARIAN lasagna. Mangia! Mangia!

Don't worry meat-eaters: we have no intentions of going totally vegetarian. Over the last two years we have taken "baby steps" to eating more healthy. We have seriously amped up our daily intake of vegetables and fruits and taken our carnivore tendencies down a notch but we still eat meat. We are just attempting a vegetarian meal once or twice a week to save money, clean out our systems and fight the bad guys (sickness and disease). I like to think of it as a part of prevention rather than paying the big bucks in doctor bills and meds later.

A Note from our Nutrition Guy (aka my Hubby):

What a lot of people don't realize is that our bodies need foods that are filled with nutrients, not just calories. For example, a bowl of raspberries and a bowl of Oreo cookies may have the same amount of calories but the amount of nutrients they contain are drastically different. Nutrients provide more than just energy; they also fight the diseases and chemicals we encounter daily in our environment.

Raw leafy greens have the highest nutrient density of any food. Our family tries to incorporate a serving of raw leafy greens in our menu each day. They are kind of like the superheroes of food. Examples include Swiss chard, kale, spinach, collards, parsley, romaine and more. In this day an age, you don't need to do it Popeye-style and force down a can of spinach. Instead think of creative ways you can incorporate leafy greens in your regular meals. We sneak a handful of greens in our morning smoothies, chop and add them to soups and layer them in lasagnas. Then, of course, there's always the classic salad option.


*Today's featured recipe was created in the kitchen using what we had on hand. I've seen lots of chefs do a kind of zucchini appetizer or pizza like this but I wanted to try for a new crust. After reading several recipes, I put together this one which incorporates spelt flour for added nutrition. The dough was surprisingly tender and easy to make. And the whole ordeal is quite cheap but elegant enough for a fancy holiday party.

Zucchini-Garlic Flat Breads
Makes 2 flat breads, 9-inch diameter
Ingredients:

Crust:
-3 cups unbleached flour (Trader Joe's chemical-free brand)
-1/2 cup spelt flour (bought in bulk from Winco)
-1/2 teaspoon quick-rising active dry yeast
-1 teaspoon honey
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-2 teaspoons sea salt
-1 cup warm water

Toppings:
-Zucchini, thinly sliced
-5-6 cloves garlic, minced
-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1. Combine all crust ingredients in a heavy duty mixer (like Kitchenaid). Using dough hook, mix together on low speed until dough comes together and away from the sides of the bowl (approximately 2 minutes).
2. Remove hook and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest for 20 minutes.
3. Reattach dough hook and beat dough for 5 minutes. Cover bowl with a towel and let rise for 1 hour until dough puffs.
4. Divide dough in half. Refrigerate for later or roll out on a floured pizza pan or stone.
5. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, add toppings to flatbread dough.
6. Bake approximately 10-15 minutes or until dough is golden brown and cheese is melted.
7. Serve plain, cut into wedges or drizzle with a favorite sauce like honey mustard or Goddess dressing.

Monday Pantry Challenge: Chicken Cacciatore

What's for Dinner:
Baby greens salad with Fuyu persimmons, Feta Cheese & Almonds (Our garden & Farmer's market) 
with Champagne Pear salad dressing (Trader Joe's)
Mama Maria's Chicken Cacciatore (recipe below)
Rotini Whole Wheat Pasta (Trader Joe's)

Today is the official launch of our Great Pantry Challenge. We skipped our grocery shopping for this week in an effort to save money, live out of our pantry and contemplate the abundance we are blessed with in the United States. If you're just tuning in, find out more details here.

We just returned from a weekend hanging out with my brother and his family in Los Angeles. Since most of our weekend meals were provided by them, we'll say that tonight's dinner is our starting point for reflection. Our meal began with a Baby Greens Salad. The greens are the first we have ever harvested from our own garden. No, we didn't plan for them to be ready today. We have been aspiring to garden for years but never really got around to it. A friend helped us build planter boxes from Sunset magazine in June. Then we had to wait until we returned from a month-long trip to Haiti before we could plant.

Our 3-year-old picked out seeds at the local garden store for bok choy (her fave), a variety of greens (for salads) and a mix of sunflowers. We also plan to do carrots. We finally planted the seeds about six weeks ago and then waited. We've been watering (when we remember) and checking on the plants every few days. Finally on Friday we were able to harvest our first two bunches of bok choy and then today a handful of greens was ready. This was a perfect quantity for a salad. We sliced up a fuyu persimmon and sprinkled feta cheese on top. The "fuyu" persimmon is like an orange, squatty tomato and firm when ripe. These are great in place of apples or pears in your fave dishes. We have a few fuyus left from our last farmer's market trip (October 17). We pretty much always have feta cheese or goat cheese in our fridge so we added that with a handful of whole almonds we had from a local farm.

Our main entree was Chicken Cacciatore, an Italian dish I learned to make from my mom. This comfort food dish melds together the flavors of onions, green peppers, tomatoes and black olives with tender chicken. We only had frozen chicken thighs so I substituted them for the usual chicken breasts. I also had to ditch the mushrooms since we didn't have any and I threw in some fresh zucchini instead. I stock up on canned organic tomatoes (when they're not in season) and sauce from Costco at the start of each month. The great thing about this meal is that I actually made it last Thursday to feed my family (including my parents). We had enough to feed our family (of 3 minus the baby) tonight when we rolled in from L.A. and even more for at least one lunch leftover. I love making meals that I can freeze or refrigerate extra portions for another meal. I try to make at least one of these kinds of meals a week so I can save time on another busy night.

A note from our Nutrition Guy (aka my hubby, Ericlee):

Tonight's pasta was whole wheat "rotini" (curly-Qs) from Trader Joe's. We try to eat whole wheat pastas in place of the typical enriched pastas. Since Bible times wheat has played an important role in our diets. Today, we seldom think about where pastas and bread come from or what is used to make it. The life of a wheat kernel begins once it is broken open through a process called milling. Essential nutrients immediately begin to oxidize when the kernel is milled. Within 72 hours of milling, 90% of more than 30 nutrients have oxidized or disappear.

Looking back in history, the 1920s brought new technology which allowed enterprising millers to separate wheat components. They removed the germ, germ oil, and bran, and the remaining white flour could be stored forever. Now white flour was accessible to the common person and not just to royalty and the wealthy. White flour also became a status symbol; the whiter the flour, the richer the household. But while some people were feeling rich, they were eating white breads and pastas with very few nutrients and thus were getting sick. In the 1940s, the U.S. government made it mandatory that some nutrients be returned to flour so the large mill companies “enriched” the flour by replacing 3 vitamins and 1 mineral.

For more details about grains and personal grain mills, read Grains of Truth by Donna Spann or check out her web site.

Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients:

3 lbs. cut –up chicken pieces

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cage-free eggs, well beaten

1/4 cup raw milk

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Sauce:

1 29 oz. can organic diced tomatoes

1 15 oz. can organic tomato sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon garlic powder or 2 cloves, crushed

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil

1 green pepper cut up in 1 in.x 2 in. slices

3 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1. Wash chicken and pat dry.
2. Heat oil to medium heat in large skillet.
3. Mix flour with salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and garlic in a plastic bag and shake together.
4. Combine eggs, milk, and parsley in a shallow dish. Shake chicken 2 pieces at a time, coating all sides. Roll in egg mixture and place skin side down in skillet. Brown all sides, turning pieces as necessary with tongs (about 20 minutes).
5. Sauce: While chicken is browning, sauté onions in a Dutch oven a few minutes, then add peppers and garlic.
6. Add all other ingredients of sauce and cook on low until chicken is browned. Carefully add pieces of chicken to sauce.
7. Cover tightly and cook on low for 30 to 45 minutes or until thickest part of meat is fork tender. Add a small amount of water if sauce becomes too thick. Chicken Cacciatore may be served plain or over cooked pasta of your choice.