The Pantry Challenge - Update

Just thought I'd leave a quick post on what's been going on in my pantry. As you may recall, I'm not buying any meat, I'm aiming for $50 a week on groceries while trying to restock my pantry and use up all my frozen fruit as jam.  Well, I've had success and failure.

I've only bought produce and dairy products for weeks!  Week 1 I spent less than $50, but this past week I spent $116.  I'm not sure how that happened!  I did buy a large pack of cheese, a flat of canned beans and a few other $10+ purchases, but somehow I thought I was okay.  Guess not!  On the other hand, I've yet to buy a speck of meat, as promised.  I've been really working the meal planning around my bin of free produce and the eggs I get from our chickens and whatever else I've had on hand, which has really made me feel smug and thrifty!

As far as the jam goes, once again, no progress.  It's the same excuse - where do I find time to do this?  I think I'm over-estimating how much time this takes.  It's not that difficult of a process, yet I find myself convinced I'll need hours of kid-free time and I haven't had that at all these past weeks (or months!).  So I may have to bite the bullet and get her done any old time, kids or no kids.  And more than likely, that'll be just fine.  Think of all the freezer space I'll have!  And all the pretty jars of jam lined up in my cold room!

Here is my plan for the upcoming week:

Monday:  Frozen waffles re-toasted (that I made on Sunday) with fruit, Muffin Tin Monday snacks from around the house, Hamburgers with carrots and collard greens.
Tuesday: Oatmeal, Cheesy noodles, Deer Roast with fried cabbage and crock pot Horseradish Scalloped potatoes.
Wednesday: Frozen waffles re-toasted (also from the giant batch I made on Sunday).  I work on Wednesday so the kids are at my mom's and we stay for dinner - yay!
Thursday: Scrambled eggs and toast, Ichiban noodles, crock pot meatloaf with peas, corn, turnip and noodles for supper.
Friday: Fried eggs and toast, canned beans (for the boys, leftovers for me!), and crock pot chicken masala with rice and asparagus.
Saturday: Cranberry orange muffins, lentil mix with sweet potato, Broccoli soup with cheese.
Sunday:  Pancakes (extra large batch for the upcoming week!), grilled cheese and tomato soup, and of course, spaghetti for supper.

I'm linking to Menu Plan Monday.