Pantry Challenge Menu Plan + Plan to Shop!

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As you know, we've been trying to eat from the pantry intentionally this month by creating a meal plan. It has been great so far, but another hiccup taught me a valuable lesson last week.

I mentioned in the Cash Wise Weekly Deals that chili sounded like a good part of the menu plan for the week, since beans were the free item and Fritos were on sale. (I can't eat chili without Fritos, of course.)   The problem didn't arise til Wednesday when I decided to make the chili (we were feeding guests that night), but I only had time to stop by Hornbacher's. Unfortunately, the Fritos and beans were on sale at Cash Wise, and cheese (which we were completely out of, of course) was on sale at SunMart. I obviously did not plan that meal well, because I didn't plan to shop at SunMart or Cash Wise til the end of the week. I ended up getting a better deal on Shopper's Value Fritos ($1.50!) at Hornbacher's and spent the difference on a small block of cheese that was definitely not on sale.  And, I already had beans in the pantry.

Lesson learned: you can't use it in your meal plan til you bring it home from the store.  Obvious?  Not so much to me apparently.  :)  Here's this week's plan:

Breakfasts:
Strawberry Spinach Peach Smoothies
Waffles
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Breakfast Burritos
Cereal, Yogurt, Fruit

Lunches:
Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup
Wraps, Sandwiches
Salads
Leftovers

Dinners:
Vegetable Stir Fry with Rice
Chicken Blurkey (Turkey Blurkey made with chicken.  I know that doesn't explain it well.  It's a family thing and others have compared it to Turkey ala King?), Biscuits, Watermelon
Chicken Fajitas
Homemade Pizza (Crust recipe found here)
Homemade Macaroni and Cheese, roasted potatoes (Still searching for the best homemade Mac and Cheese recipe - anyone have one to share?)

Snacks:
Cucumbers, Carrots, Applesauce, Cantaloupe, Muffins, Energy Bites, Zucchini Cookies

My husband and I did the preparation for our meals for the whole week this afternoon, to alleviate some stress through the week.  We also preserved quite a bit of fresh produce this weekend and I baked 5 dozen muffins to last us awhile in the freezer.  I hope to post more details on our freezer cooking adventure later this week.  We'll see how the week goes...

Care to share your menu plan?  Are you eating from the pantry?  If so, what creative uses have you come up with for items we all probably have sitting in the pantry?