It's that time of year again! I'm not very well stocked up but I'm determined to stay at home (in this unseasonably warm weather lol) and cook from my pantry! Let's get into this 2025 NO SPEND Pantry Challenge with a few MEAL IDEAS and a PANTRY TOUR! I'm so excited for this year's season! I spy some things that have been hanging around in my pantry for far too long and I'm excited about using things up! Are you ready for PANTRY CHALLENGE SEASON?! What items are you struggling to use up?
My parents grew up during the great depression. My mother told me that they used to buy one or two bay leaves at a time and rinse them after each use and keep them in a little dish at the back of the stove. They used them over and over until they were utterly spent. Which apparently took a very long time.
I went to my Amish bulk store the other day and bought a package of bay leaves which cost me 18 cents. I couldn’t believe it - there are probably 20 or more bay leaves in there. I’m still laughing about it - bet the plastic container they were costs close to that.
That would have worked perfectly! Great idea 💡 I have a couple of other grinders I could have used that would have worked perfectly but that’s an awesome tip!
Im soo excited for your challenge! And this year you will be even more creative! For recipe suggetions id highly recommend an asian inspired Winter Squah with beans braised stew. There are lots of combinations (Kambucha/Adzuki, Butternut/blackbean, wintersquash with navy bean etc) and you can season it with your own canned sauces or any of the cool flavored spicy sauces you have. Can be a lunch just with rice vegetarian or a hearyier meal with a small amiunt of stew meat added. Lots of choices with all tjose winter squahses and beans and spices galore. So many flavor profiles to try! Enjoy the winter challenge.
One of my favourite times of the year is the pantry challenge. Being summer in Tasmania, I have access to a lot of fresh produce so I prefer to do the challenge in June and July. However, I love watch others doing the challenge. I also enjoy watching your other food challenges through out the year.
Hi Desiree! It's great having you here watching from the other side of the globe! :D Yes, it's the lean time of the year over here but it inspires me to start thinking about planning the garden!
I'm excited for the Pantry Challenge this year! With my pantry so low I'm looking forward to a bit more of a challenge than usual! It's great to have you watching Jennifer :)
It was very good but I might add a bit less powdered sugar next time, it was very sweet. Or maybe add some kind of fruit to it? I'll definitely be trying it again! I hope you enjoy :)
I made chicken and rice with Boursin. I put chicken, rice and chicken broth in a casserole dish. I put the Boursin in the middle and baked it. I would add broccoli or something green next time. It would make it go farther, and I think it would taste better with something green added. Don't know if I could do pasta for breakfast. I would add some vegetables to the walnut pasta and have it for lunch or dinner. Good luck with your pantry challenge! I love pantry challenges!
I love the idea of adding vegetables to the pasta! I don't have a ton of fresh things at the moment but a lot of the recipes I find in the Pantry Challenge I try again during the garden season! :D
Have you ever tried taco soup? It’s very flexible. I make it in my crockpot. Just add in several different kinds of precooked or soaked dried beans, a large can of crushed tomatoes, some corn and taco seasoning. Add as much water as needed to cook the beans and make it as soupy as you want. You can add cooked hamburger or leave it vegetarian. It freezes very well also. We also add slice hot chilies to spice it up. I’m sure lentils or even rice would be yummy as well. We serve it with sour cream and shredded cheese but it’s also good with corn or tortilla chips. Great video. Thanks for your great ideas.
Awesome! It's the perfect time of year to use what you have and save on some grocery bills after the holidays! I'm a bit unprepared but I'm up for this challenge! We got this! :D
You need to put any leftover cheese in a food processor and turn it into a cheese spread! Just type in Jacques Pepin makes cheese spread from pieces of cheese. I never knew you could do this! He used all different types and kinds of cheese! Looked easy and delicious! You can use a can of tomato soup and some shredded cabbage to make a deconstructed cabbage role casserole. Use your leftover cheese to make a cheese sauce for homemade Mac & Cheese with a bagel of your elbow pasta. Use semolina flour to make couscous, a lemon semolina cake( if only have lime juice use it in place), make some homemade bread with the semolina, to have with the jams or jelly you made. You can use the strawberry-lemonade to make a lemonade pie or cake. Make a homemade pizza crust use barbecue sauce as your pizza sauce then add some of your shredded cheese and top with some seasoned baked chicken cut into small cubes, and some thinly sliced red onion. Drizzle some more barbecue sauce over the toppings and bake until crust golden and cheese is melted. Make some homemade spaghetti out of the semolina for spaghetti or use the spaghetti squash in place of pasta. Cook up one of your acorn squash seasoned with cinnamon, your cain sugar until soft. Scoop out the flesh to use in place of pumpkin ( or use pumpkin if you have it) to make some muffins, bread pudding or quick bread. Marmalade can be used to make a sauce to pour over a pork shoulder to season for carnitas. You can also make cranberry muffins with canned cranberry sauce. Use some of your onions to make French onion soup place a piece of your homemade bread in your bowl of soup and top with some cheese and place under broiler until melted. Make some bean patties and some bean enchiladas. Use a couple cans of the tomato soup…doctor it up with some basil and fresh tomatoes cooked in it, then blend , and serve with grilled cheese sandwiches. You really need to use your bread machine and make some homemade bread! You can make homemade ketchup out of your tomatoes! That would be interesting to watch! Can some too! You really do have more than you think. You have ingredients to make a pot of chili too and serve some cornbread with it. Is it work to do this…yes, but everyone loves watching people get back to basics and roll up their sleeves and really cook from scratch! You can do this! 🙂
Great ideas! I haven't made cheese sauce in ages, thanks for the reminder Nancy! Your deconstructed cabbage roll sounds so yummy! I bet Mr. Wanders would love it! I feel like I'm pretty well stocked...except for a few basic things like milk lol I always love hearing all of your suggestions Nancy! :)
You've got a good selection in your pantry, if not the perfect one you'd like. I did smile at the "so little sugar" - 500g of sugar lasts us about a year, but I don't bake often
I was just surprised that it got so low without me noticing. I store a lot because canning jams and jellies can use a lot. I was MORE surprised at the lack of Kraft dinner LOL Just too many times me sending Mr. Wanders to the pantry and not keeping an eye on things myself :P I'll definitely be able to work with what I have creatively!
U can use the salad topper on green beans to zaz them up. I've added ranch mix or salsa before. They are kind of a blank slate. I love your challenges.
You should can up some of those dried beans so you don't have to soak and cook them for hours. I love to can up navy beans for quick baked beans or bean soup with ham or bacon.
I know they're not normally used in savory dishes, but our family absolutely loves them added to beef soups and stews. They're small enough that we can get away with soaking them if need be. We don't add much. Just ¼ to ½ cup per family sized pot
@JessicaWanders Oh my goodness! I really do need to get better about proofreading. I meant the adzuki beans. However... now that you mention it, I bet tapioca would be a good thickener for soups and stews. I think it would be best to grind them first, though.
zucchini bread jam??? whaaaat's thaaaaaat? 😮 If you're like me and you looove tapioca pudding, and you don't mind the texture of the pearls, they would make a nice pudding. some types of pre-made puddings have the bigger pearls. I love it. Or maybe you could try making bubble tea? Not sure how big those pearls will get, the ones in bubble tea are pretty big and usually black from my experience. But it would be neat to try. I'm gonna see if I can find those...lol. The strata looked *bleeping * AH- mazing. I would have dumped all that cheese in, lmao. Or put it on top at the end for extra melty goodness. But hey I'm half Dutch I can't resist cheese 😋 I love watching your videos. You always make me laugh. We haven't known each other that long but I can safely say I adore you 🥰 Looking forward to the next challenge vid!! 👍🫱👉
Happy New Years Jessica!!! Last year was the first time that I loosely followed the pantry challenge, this year I am jumping in both feet first. My only rules, right now, are I am able to spend $20 a week for milk eggs and fresh fruit, however as of right now Jan 6/2025 I still have plenty of milk and eggs. We get a veggie box every two weeks, and a meat box once a month from an organic farm, and that was paid for last September. I enjoy canning, both water bath and pressure canning and have a pretty well stocked pantry. I started taking inventory last week of my canned goods, and just finished inventory of my pantry. Freezers will be next to get inventoried,as we get them down a little. Now that the cold weather is here, in Atlantic Canada, I am able to empty a freezer and place the food outside while I clean and defrost the freezer. From one Canadian to another, GOOD LUCK!! I truly am hoping to continue on for a couple months at least. Thank you for all that you do!!
I love your plan! That’s a great way to keep things fresh while sticking to the challenge! I was thinking I could give a freezer tour in the next video...I just ran out of time this week lol I'm hoping to have time to REALLY do a lot more canning and stocking THE PANTR this year! Good luck to us all in the Pantry Challenge Season! :)
You could do some bean burgers. Or maybe a white chili with the navy beans. You could also try to do an imitation ranch bean recipe. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Those are all great ideas! I'll have to look into those recipes! I do have a TON more beans in a different cupboard that I forgot to show lol I love your great bean suggestions and it's great to see you watching! :D
Hi there The green mung beans can make a terrific curry with cauliflower, you just have to make sure the mung beans are quite soft. There are lotsvof recipes for green mung beans My sister even tried cookies....not so bad, kinda like shortbread. She milled the beans to a flour.😊
Yaaa it's been so warm! I can't believe it was +2C here today and the snow was melting where it fell! It's January!! so strange! I hope that my garlic doesn't start sprouting...
@@JessicaWanders this winter storm that just hit had recorded breaking snowfall for some areas. Where I live at had 17 inches of snow which was the third most snow in a given day. The state sent out a state wide alert telling all drivers to stay off the roads because of the road conditions as well as subzero temperatures. Most areas had ice then snow.
For me last week was eat leftovers put into the freezer. Made cabbage rolls and froze leftover sauce several weeks ago. Thawed it and made cabbage rolls tonight. Got cabbage rolls out of freezer and that sauce. Very interesting dishes you made. I’ve got some good meat deals as of late. Freezers full. I’m in need of things to do with beets. Garden did great with beets. Knorr sides are great. You should see my stash. It looks like a pantry restock is in your future. I’ve got zero ideas, sorry. I’m in a serious food rut. Stromboli maybe. Can shove anything in it. Good luck and looking forward to freezer tour! 💚🩷❤️💙🧡🦋🦋🦋
Great to see you Carol! I've got some interesting things in the freezer from xmas but, of course, lost a lot in the freezer melt down. I feel like I have a fair stock of meat for this challenge though! I might have to try making cabbage rolls eventually because Mr. Wanders is a big fan ;)
What's a challenge without a challenge?!?! 😂😂. I didn't stock up in preparation....the only things on my to-buy list is dairy and fresh fruits (after I eat up the apples that has been sitting two weeks in my fridge).
@@JessicaWanders I typically spend like $30-40/ month on dairy (for homemade kefir) and produce. You are doing a true pantry challenge. If a freak storm came, you'd have to survive with what you have on hand. Sometimes we don't get to prep. I love your videos ....... actually your personality that shines through in your videos! 💞
Looking forward to the pantry challenge 2025 edition. I put red lentils in my rice 1 cup rice, 3/4 cup red lentils . It uses them up and adds fibre and protein to the rice and doesn’t really change the flavour. Also I don’t think you needed to cook your lentils for an hour in your soup. Red lentils cook quickly.
You finally made Strata!!!! I kept saying "it'll be fine" all the way through that segment. HaHa!!😂 Any mix ins you use for quiche can be used in strata, by the way. I like topping it with Hollandaise sauce. As for suggestions for year's challenge, try making "Butter Chickpeas"! It's the vegetarian version of butter chicken. I'm sure you'll love it. Another suggestion is Tomato Macaroni soup. You can use ground beef in it or use some beans or lentils to go vegetarian. Split peas might work, too. Spice it up any way you want. Chili seasoning works well in this, but your choice. By the way, I've seen recipes that use the boursin cheese to make a creamy sauce for pasta. Keep showing the pantry items you want to use up. I may think of other ideas! I really enjoy this series. It is so fun to watch you try everyone's suggestions!!!
I was thinking of you through the whole strata! It was so long ago that you started suggesting strata and I finally made it! LOL It was soooo good! Great suggestions for this year's challenge! Butter chickpeas sounds interesting and i'm sure that tomato macaroni soup would be a big hit! It's always great to have you watching Rhonda
Yum. The beet soup reminds of borsch, a Christmas staple for my husband’s family. Do you have ingredients to make ketchup? It’ll be tough with one Kraft and no ketchup! Enjoyed the video, thanks.
Borsch is such a wonderful winter soup! It's great to have those familiar flavors that warm us up! i have some ketchup packets and one bottle of ketchup in the fridge. I know! I can't believe that we let the Mac and Cheese get so low!!! It's great to see you Mobo and so happy to have you watching :D
The other hungarian best of is pasta with grinded poppy seed and powdered sugar. In my opinion it’s better than the walnut one. Try it! But we always eat it for main course, not breakfast. 😊
Just curious…will you be increasing your grocery budget back up to $300 this year do you think? Was thinking that might help with the restocking efforts!! 😁
Hi Sarah! I'm not sure about the grocery budget this year. I was thinking that I could save a grocery budget amount for January and February and do a small pantry haul at the end of this challenge? However I do it the pantry does need a big overhaul and stock up this year!
Those prices are crazy! It doesn't seem to be coming down at all! I'm thinking that I'll be hitting the gardening hard this year! It's getting rough out there for my $21 a Week Grocery Challenge...ughh
The other day my mom used up some butternut squash. She made butternut squash fritters. They were pretty good. I had salsa with mine instead of syrup. I was talking with my mom. I told her these remind me of potato cakes. She said yeah. She always called them poor man’s food.
It's that time of year again! I'm not very well stocked up but I'm determined to stay at home (in this unseasonably warm weather lol) and cook from my pantry! Let's get into this 2025 NO SPEND Pantry Challenge with a few MEAL IDEAS and a PANTRY TOUR! I'm so excited for this year's season! I spy some things that have been hanging around in my pantry for far too long and I'm excited about using things up! Are you ready for PANTRY CHALLENGE SEASON?! What items are you struggling to use up?
My parents grew up during the great depression. My mother told me that they used to buy one or two bay leaves at a time and rinse them after each use and keep them in a little dish at the back of the stove. They used them over and over until they were utterly spent. Which apparently took a very long time.
That's pretty rough but makes sense! I can see that they would last quite awhile! Thanks for sharing!
I went to my Amish bulk store the other day and bought a package of bay leaves which cost me 18 cents. I couldn’t believe it - there are probably 20 or more bay leaves in there. I’m still laughing about it - bet the plastic container they were costs close to that.
If you put the walnuts and icing sugar in the grinder at the same time, it will keep the walnuts from getting oily.
That would have worked perfectly! Great idea 💡 I have a couple of other grinders I could have used that would have worked perfectly but that’s an awesome tip!
If you don't have dill for that soup recipe, you can substitute three tablespoons of dill pickle brine for the tbsp of vinegar.
Thanks for the tip! I never thought about using pickle brine, I'll have to try that! :D
Im soo excited for your challenge! And this year you will be even more creative! For recipe suggetions id highly recommend an asian inspired Winter Squah with beans braised stew. There are lots of combinations (Kambucha/Adzuki, Butternut/blackbean, wintersquash with navy bean etc) and you can season it with your own canned sauces or any of the cool flavored spicy sauces you have. Can be a lunch just with rice vegetarian or a hearyier meal with a small amiunt of stew meat added. Lots of choices with all tjose winter squahses and beans and spices galore. So many flavor profiles to try! Enjoy the winter challenge.
One of my favourite times of the year is the pantry challenge. Being summer in Tasmania, I have access to a lot of fresh produce so I prefer to do the challenge in June and July. However, I love watch others doing the challenge. I also enjoy watching your other food challenges through out the year.
Hi Desiree! It's great having you here watching from the other side of the globe! :D Yes, it's the lean time of the year over here but it inspires me to start thinking about planning the garden!
Yay, pantry challenge! Also, congrats to you and the rest of Canada today!
I'm excited for the Pantry Challenge this year! With my pantry so low I'm looking forward to a bit more of a challenge than usual! It's great to have you watching Jennifer :)
Sweet Walnut Pasta different. I will have to try it
It was very good but I might add a bit less powdered sugar next time, it was very sweet. Or maybe add some kind of fruit to it? I'll definitely be trying it again! I hope you enjoy :)
I made chicken and rice with Boursin. I put chicken, rice and chicken broth in a casserole dish. I put the Boursin in the middle and baked it. I would add broccoli or something green next time. It would make it go farther, and I think it would taste better with something green added. Don't know if I could do pasta for breakfast. I would add some vegetables to the walnut pasta and have it for lunch or dinner. Good luck with your pantry challenge! I love pantry challenges!
I love the idea of adding vegetables to the pasta! I don't have a ton of fresh things at the moment but a lot of the recipes I find in the Pantry Challenge I try again during the garden season! :D
Have you ever tried taco soup? It’s very flexible. I make it in my crockpot. Just add in several different kinds of precooked or soaked dried beans, a large can of crushed tomatoes, some corn and taco seasoning. Add as much water as needed to cook the beans and make it as soupy as you want. You can add cooked hamburger or leave it vegetarian. It freezes very well also. We also add slice hot chilies to spice it up. I’m sure lentils or even rice would be yummy as well. We serve it with sour cream and shredded cheese but it’s also good with corn or tortilla chips.
Great video. Thanks for your great ideas.
Thank you for the suggestion! I have a ton of beans to use up and this sounds really tasty! :)
"It will be fine. It will be fine. It will be fine." Whenever I say that, I think of you. LOL I love it! (Happy New Year!)
That's so awesome Adrienne! Whatever comes...we got this! I think I'm going to be saying that a lot this year 😂 Happy New Year!
@JessicaWanders Same Jessica! Same!
Not shopping this month also. Need to use what we have. Let's do this!!! It's snowing here Va.
Awesome! It's the perfect time of year to use what you have and save on some grocery bills after the holidays! I'm a bit unprepared but I'm up for this challenge! We got this! :D
You need to put any leftover cheese in a food processor and turn it into a cheese spread! Just type in Jacques Pepin makes cheese spread from pieces of cheese. I never knew you could do this! He used all different types and kinds of cheese! Looked easy and delicious! You can use a can of tomato soup and some shredded cabbage to make a deconstructed cabbage role casserole. Use your leftover cheese to make a cheese sauce for homemade Mac & Cheese with a bagel of your elbow pasta. Use semolina flour to make couscous, a lemon semolina cake( if only have lime juice use it in place), make some homemade bread with the semolina, to have with the jams or jelly you made. You can use the strawberry-lemonade to make a lemonade pie or cake. Make a homemade pizza crust use barbecue sauce as your pizza sauce then add some of your shredded cheese and top with some seasoned baked chicken cut into small cubes, and some thinly sliced red onion. Drizzle some more barbecue sauce over the toppings and bake until crust golden and cheese is melted. Make some homemade spaghetti out of the semolina for spaghetti or use the spaghetti squash in place of pasta. Cook up one of your acorn squash seasoned with cinnamon, your cain sugar until soft. Scoop out the flesh to use in place of pumpkin ( or use pumpkin if you have it) to make some muffins, bread pudding or quick bread. Marmalade can be used to make a sauce to pour over a pork shoulder to season for carnitas. You can also make cranberry muffins with canned cranberry sauce. Use some of your onions to make French onion soup place a piece of your homemade bread in your bowl of soup and top with some cheese and place under broiler until melted. Make some bean patties and some bean enchiladas. Use a couple cans of the tomato soup…doctor it up with some basil and fresh tomatoes cooked in it, then blend , and serve with grilled cheese sandwiches. You really need to use your bread machine and make some homemade bread! You can make homemade ketchup out of your tomatoes! That would be interesting to watch! Can some too! You really do have more than you think. You have ingredients to make a pot of chili too and serve some cornbread with it. Is it work to do this…yes, but everyone loves watching people get back to basics and roll up their sleeves and really cook from scratch! You can do this! 🙂
Great ideas! I haven't made cheese sauce in ages, thanks for the reminder Nancy! Your deconstructed cabbage roll sounds so yummy! I bet Mr. Wanders would love it! I feel like I'm pretty well stocked...except for a few basic things like milk lol I always love hearing all of your suggestions Nancy! :)
I add the Boursin in with my mashed potatoes and it is so yummy :)
Ooh! That sounds so delicious! I might have to try that!
You've got a good selection in your pantry, if not the perfect one you'd like. I did smile at the "so little sugar" - 500g of sugar lasts us about a year, but I don't bake often
I was just surprised that it got so low without me noticing. I store a lot because canning jams and jellies can use a lot. I was MORE surprised at the lack of Kraft dinner LOL Just too many times me sending Mr. Wanders to the pantry and not keeping an eye on things myself :P I'll definitely be able to work with what I have creatively!
Whoo hoo let’s GO! 🙌🏼
And so it begins! :D
U can use the salad topper on green beans to zaz them up. I've added ranch mix or salsa before. They are kind of a blank slate.
I love your challenges.
Great idea Samantha! I wouldn't have thought of that! Thanks for the suggestion :)
You can mix equal parts powdered creamer and hot water to make a liquid creamer. I also use it for recipes that way, and cold drinks.
Wow! That's a great tip! I wonder if I could make some kind of vanilla creamer like that...hmmm Thanks for sharing!
You should can up some of those dried beans so you don't have to soak and cook them for hours. I love to can up navy beans for quick baked beans or bean soup with ham or bacon.
That's a great idea for easy beans! Thanks for the suggestion :)
That strata looks great, I probably would have added cheese on top, cause I love cheese.
That would work great too I bet! More cheese is always better :)
I know they're not normally used in savory dishes, but our family absolutely loves them added to beef soups and stews. They're small enough that we can get away with soaking them if need be.
We don't add much. Just ¼ to ½ cup per family sized pot
Do you mean the tapioca? or the beans? I’m going to have to try adding them to stew. Thanks for the suggestion!
@JessicaWanders Oh my goodness! I really do need to get better about proofreading. I meant the adzuki beans.
However... now that you mention it, I bet tapioca would be a good thickener for soups and stews. I think it would be best to grind them first, though.
@@mustwereallydothis lol I thought about it a fair amount when I wasn't sure haha I thought maybe tapioca would be cool too! :P
zucchini bread jam??? whaaaat's thaaaaaat? 😮
If you're like me and you looove tapioca pudding, and you don't mind the texture of the pearls, they would make a nice pudding. some types of pre-made puddings have the bigger pearls. I love it. Or maybe you could try making bubble tea? Not sure how big those pearls will get, the ones in bubble tea are pretty big and usually black from my experience. But it would be neat to try. I'm gonna see if I can find those...lol.
The strata looked *bleeping * AH- mazing. I would have dumped all that cheese in, lmao. Or put it on top at the end for extra melty goodness. But hey I'm half Dutch I can't resist cheese 😋
I love watching your videos. You always make me laugh. We haven't known each other that long but I can safely say I adore you 🥰
Looking forward to the next challenge vid!! 👍🫱👉
Happy New Years Jessica!!! Last year was the first time that I loosely followed the pantry challenge, this year I am jumping in both feet first. My only rules, right now, are I am able to spend $20 a week for milk eggs and fresh fruit, however as of right now Jan 6/2025 I still have plenty of milk and eggs. We get a veggie box every two weeks, and a meat box once a month from an organic farm, and that was paid for last September. I enjoy canning, both water bath and pressure canning and have a pretty well stocked pantry. I started taking inventory last week of my canned goods, and just finished inventory of my pantry. Freezers will be next to get inventoried,as we get them down a little. Now that the cold weather is here, in Atlantic Canada, I am able to empty a freezer and place the food outside while I clean and defrost the freezer. From one Canadian to another, GOOD LUCK!! I truly am hoping to continue on for a couple months at least. Thank you for all that you do!!
I love your plan! That’s a great way to keep things fresh while sticking to the challenge! I was thinking I could give a freezer tour in the next video...I just ran out of time this week lol I'm hoping to have time to REALLY do a lot more canning and stocking THE PANTR this year! Good luck to us all in the Pantry Challenge Season! :)
Alfredo might be a good way to use the leftover cheeses. Just toss them all in.
Mmmm that would be great too :)
Add the boursain cheese to some cream or milk and make a pasta sauce with it. It would've been great in that chicken penne pasta!
It would be a tasty pasta sauce! I missed the chance to add it to the chicken pasta! That would have been perfect :)
You could do some bean burgers. Or maybe a white chili with the navy beans. You could also try to do an imitation ranch bean recipe. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Those are all great ideas! I'll have to look into those recipes! I do have a TON more beans in a different cupboard that I forgot to show lol I love your great bean suggestions and it's great to see you watching! :D
1 can of milk to 2 cans water is what I use. When I was a kid, this was almost always the milk we had.
That does seem to be the best ratio! I always have some on hand for camping and emergencies!
You are my Favorit TH-camr🥳
Awww thank you so much! It's great to have you here watching Martina! :D
Boursin Cheese is awesome in mashed potatoes!!! 💜
I might have to try that! It sounds so delicious! It seems like a fave recipe!
If you grind your tapioca pearls you will have an excellent thickener for pies etc
Ohhh great idea! I love adding actual minute tapioca to my cherry pies! sooo yummy :)
The Boursin cheese would be great on a baked potato, especially with broccoli.
I love that idea! I definitely need to use that cheese up this week!
Hi there
The green mung beans can make a terrific curry with cauliflower, you just have to make sure the mung beans are quite soft. There are lotsvof recipes for green mung beans
My sister even tried cookies....not so bad, kinda like shortbread. She milled the beans to a flour.😊
Ohhh mung bean flour is something I'll just have to look into! What an interesting idea! Thanks for sharing Deborah! :D
We use Boursin cheese in zucchini boats that has a bit of pasta sauce and sausage. A gluten free side or meal.
Ooh zucchini boats sound delicious! I'll have to try that!
I would add the Boursin to the middle of an omelet or as a sauce for pasta (think alfredo).
Mmm that would be tasty :)
It’s been a warm December here. We finally got our first snow this past weekend.
Yaaa it's been so warm! I can't believe it was +2C here today and the snow was melting where it fell! It's January!! so strange! I hope that my garlic doesn't start sprouting...
@@JessicaWanders this winter storm that just hit had recorded breaking snowfall for some areas. Where I live at had 17 inches of snow which was the third most snow in a given day. The state sent out a state wide alert telling all drivers to stay off the roads because of the road conditions as well as subzero temperatures. Most areas had ice then snow.
For me last week was eat leftovers put into the freezer. Made cabbage rolls and froze leftover sauce several weeks ago. Thawed it and made cabbage rolls tonight. Got cabbage rolls out of freezer and that sauce. Very interesting dishes you made. I’ve got some good meat deals as of late. Freezers full. I’m in need of things to do with beets. Garden did great with beets. Knorr sides are great. You should see my stash. It looks like a pantry restock is in your future. I’ve got zero ideas, sorry. I’m in a serious food rut. Stromboli maybe. Can shove anything in it. Good luck and looking forward to freezer tour! 💚🩷❤️💙🧡🦋🦋🦋
Great to see you Carol! I've got some interesting things in the freezer from xmas but, of course, lost a lot in the freezer melt down. I feel like I have a fair stock of meat for this challenge though! I might have to try making cabbage rolls eventually because Mr. Wanders is a big fan ;)
What's a challenge without a challenge?!?! 😂😂. I didn't stock up in preparation....the only things on my to-buy list is dairy and fresh fruits (after I eat up the apples that has been sitting two weeks in my fridge).
I never manage to get stocked up but some people I've seen really go all out in preparation LOL No milk though....it's about to be a tough one! lol
@@JessicaWanders I typically spend like $30-40/ month on dairy (for homemade kefir) and produce.
You are doing a true pantry challenge. If a freak storm came, you'd have to survive with what you have on hand. Sometimes we don't get to prep.
I love your videos ....... actually your personality that shines through in your videos! 💞
Looking forward to the pantry challenge 2025 edition. I put red lentils in my rice 1 cup rice, 3/4 cup red lentils . It uses them up and adds fibre and protein to the rice and doesn’t really change the flavour. Also I don’t think you needed to cook your lentils for an hour in your soup. Red lentils cook quickly.
@susanchoja6800 I sometimes add quinoa to my rice. I have to try lentils as I have plenty on hand. Thanks for the suggestion
You finally made Strata!!!! I kept saying "it'll be fine" all the way through that segment. HaHa!!😂 Any mix ins you use for quiche can be used in strata, by the way. I like topping it with Hollandaise sauce.
As for suggestions for year's challenge, try making "Butter Chickpeas"! It's the vegetarian version of butter chicken. I'm sure you'll love it.
Another suggestion is Tomato Macaroni soup. You can use ground beef in it or use some beans or lentils to go vegetarian. Split peas might work, too. Spice it up any way you want. Chili seasoning works well in this, but your choice.
By the way, I've seen recipes that use the boursin cheese to make a creamy sauce for pasta.
Keep showing the pantry items you want to use up. I may think of other ideas! I really enjoy this series. It is so fun to watch you try everyone's suggestions!!!
I was thinking of you through the whole strata! It was so long ago that you started suggesting strata and I finally made it! LOL It was soooo good! Great suggestions for this year's challenge! Butter chickpeas sounds interesting and i'm sure that tomato macaroni soup would be a big hit! It's always great to have you watching Rhonda
@JessicaWanders You are my absolute favourite TH-camr 😍
You should freeze your nuts so the oils don't go rancid. Just a suggestion 😊
You could use that Boursin cheese and stuff some mushrooms and throw in oven to cook. Or stuff chicken breast/pork chops with it
Ohh those are great ideas! Thanks for sharing Dawn!
Yum. The beet soup reminds of borsch, a Christmas staple for my husband’s family. Do you have ingredients to make ketchup? It’ll be tough with one Kraft and no ketchup! Enjoyed the video, thanks.
Borsch is such a wonderful winter soup! It's great to have those familiar flavors that warm us up! i have some ketchup packets and one bottle of ketchup in the fridge. I know! I can't believe that we let the Mac and Cheese get so low!!! It's great to see you Mobo and so happy to have you watching :D
I like to use boursin cheese as a base for a creamy pasta sauce.
Yum! Great idea :)
Would it work with goat cheese as a substitute?
The other hungarian best of is pasta with grinded poppy seed and powdered sugar. In my opinion it’s better than the walnut one. Try it! But we always eat it for main course, not breakfast. 😊
I'm loving all these great ideas! I'll have to wait until I have some poppy seed to try this one but it sounds wonderful :) Thank you for sharing! :D
Just curious…will you be increasing your grocery budget back up to $300 this year do you think? Was thinking that might help with the restocking efforts!! 😁
Hi Sarah! I'm not sure about the grocery budget this year. I was thinking that I could save a grocery budget amount for January and February and do a small pantry haul at the end of this challenge? However I do it the pantry does need a big overhaul and stock up this year!
Pantry challenge was my plan too and then I went to the store for dairy and veg…..$300 later after two stores 😓 our Canadian prices are so expensive
Those prices are crazy! It doesn't seem to be coming down at all! I'm thinking that I'll be hitting the gardening hard this year! It's getting rough out there for my $21 a Week Grocery Challenge...ughh
The other day my mom used up some butternut squash. She made butternut squash fritters. They were pretty good. I had salsa with mine instead of syrup. I was talking with my mom. I told her these remind me of potato cakes. She said yeah. She always called them poor man’s food.
Those fritters sounds amazing! I might have to shred some squash! Thanks for sharing :)
Muy buen video
¡muchas gracias! ¡Me alegro que lo hayas disfrutado! (google translate working hard for me lol)
Use the borsin cheese to make a pasta sauce
Great Idea! I with I had more boursin now with all the great ideas :P Thanks for the suggestion!
If you get Splenda you can use same as sugar =same measurements
Thanks Diane! That's great to know :)
Put extra cheese in Mac n cheese, potato soup, pizza
mmm boursin in potato soup would be great I think! thanks for the idea :)
Enquiring minds need to know! What does a redwood tree taste like?
haha! It was a pretty strong cheese and Mr. Wanders said it tasted a bit like a forest fire lol It wasn't our favourite :P
There is no such thing as too much cheese. Nobody and nothing can change my mind, but you're welcome to try.
Haha I would have to agree with that! I am trying to pace myself a bit...pantry challenge and all that :P
How are you gonna get by with just ONE kraft Mac dinner!??!😮😮😮
Right?? I do have a ton of macaroni noodles apparently LOL
@@JessicaWanders if you were close, I could spare a few boxes. I have my neighbor doing the pantry challenge with me this year!
35:15 I believe the other name for this dish is “Marry Me Pasta”
Ohh I checked that out and it looks the same! I've never heard it called that before. Thanks for sharing :D
@ with a name like that you know it’s gotta be good, right 😜
I mean…it’s pretty tasty! I might marry IT! YUM 🥰
I suggest being careful in feeding the birds, since bird flu is spreading.
It's a good idea to be mindful of that for sure! Keep yourself washed up!
Navy beans are traditionally used in bean and bacon or ham soups.
Interesting...I think I have a ham hock around here somewhere!
your pronunciation of pasta is sounding more and more American. 😅😅
OooOOOoo I might have to adjust it :P LOL