Now to help you out, here are a few sites which can help you find a recipe with what you have on hand.
For example,
canned tuna
canned chick peas
cream cheese
When you go to Supercook you can pop in what ingredients you have on hand and it will come up with a list of recipes that you can make using these ingredients.
Another great one is Cookin With Google, same thing, just list your ingredient(s) and they will list a whole slew of recipes links for you.
All Recipe Ingredient Search is a interesting site, as you can also exclude ingredients, which in my case would be celery, as you all know I hate that!!!
This is a super site Big Oven has a leftover wizard function where you list what ingredients you have and up pops recipe suggestions.
Cooking By Numbers I find doesn't give you the variety like the other sites do, but its more interactive and fun to use, I like ticking boxes and seeing what pops up...LOL
Mealopedia isn't as good as other sites, but still worth a mention, it doesn't have the same flexibilty as the other sites, but still has some good recipes on it.
I know I average around $300 to $400 a month on my grocery budget, that includes all cleaning stuff, all paper items, and all toiletries. I would so love to try and spend only $100 for the month of January.
I hope this sort of explains things more. Also if you have any good sites that are worth a mention let me know and I'll include them in this post. Also please feel free to blog about this challenge on your blog, as the more that join in, the more money everyone will save!!
Now off to do an inventory of what I have in my freezer and pantry!!
Now off to do an inventory of what I have in my freezer and pantry!!
Tomorrow, I am going to talk about the Daily Savings Plan for 2010. For those of you who have been around a while its a refresher, and for those newbies, its a simple neat idea on how to save money on a daily basis.........
24 comments:
Thanks for clarifying that. I think it is a great idea and today I got a pizza out of the freezer, topped it with thinly sliced left over roast beef from our Christmas dinner and sliced onions, with a side salad. Never thought of putting roast beef on a pizza before but it was delicious. Thanks for the links. I shall enjoy going to them.
What fantastic sites...thanks for the links. I'm now off to see whats in my cupboards and freezer, then I'm going to Tesco ...Yuk! xxx
good luck with it !
I think I ws visiting you when you were visiting me! I am keen on this idea... think it could be a goer!
What a great idea. It also forces you to be imaginative when it comes to cooking. I bet some of the ideas you have during January, you will continue to use through the rest of the year.
Ah, that does indeed clear things up a bit! I'm normally already a pro at trimming back spending since my salary doesn't leave me much leeway, particularly in a month when I just happen to need all the stuff I only need every few months, but new tricks for saving are always handy!
A super challenge, I think I will play along as well. I have no excuse, as my freezers and pantry are full to bursting. I will buy fresh veg/fruit and milk though.
Thank you for the links as well, they will come in handy.
Have a great day :)
Niki
Thank you for posting the sites i love them i am going to try to do the challenge for a month.
sue.m
Hi Gill,
My car was in the shop for 8 days in December, so already took this pantry challenge. Was I happy to see the inside of a grocery store again? May try this again in January just for the challenge, maybe 10 days without a grocery trip.
Kim U. - USA
Thanks so much for the links. What a gold mine!
Liz, in the Republic
Glad you clarified that. Although we are going to see if we can go w/o going to the grocery store at all. It's going to be interesting. My family said as long as I baked homemade bread they'd go for it, lol. We will see what they are saying the middle of the month.
I can't wait for you to post your "daily savings" challenge. It's a great one!! Hugs
What a great idea, after the fuss and expense of Christmas! I'm with you.
You also nudged me to clean my own oven last night. Hubby complained about the smell, but now it is lovely and clean. Thanks!
Great article thanks! That website Supercook sounds fantastic, such a good idea.
Thanks for this post. What a great idea, and great link!
Add me to the challenge, I am going to see if I can use all of the meat in my freezer, as I know there is a lot in there. Fruit, veg and milk products will have to be bought on a weekly basis. I use www.recipezaar.com alot for recipes, take a look. Patricia
I'm so curious to see how you will do in January :-) $100 for 2 people in Canada would be awesome !! (I say Canadians because our groceries cost more here).
I might do my own version of the pantry challenge... it would help clear space in the freezer and pantry!
Can't wait to see the daily savings challenge tomorrow!
Yes! I will be joining you in this challenge, Gill. I'm in the middle of rearranging my pantry and taking a detailed inventory, so this is coming about just at the right moment.
I will be writing about it over on my blog, as well. Let's have fun sharing ideas!
As you requested, I have spread the word to one of the groups that I belong to, and posted a link back to your blog.
Here is a link to a website that gives tips on how to make do with what you have. The link here will bring you to a page that has inventory sheets that you can use to take stock of what is in your fridge, freezer, and pantry, to help you plan your January non-shopping meals - http://www.cindysporch.net/kitchen/kmain.shtml
Thanks for the links! I just have a hard time eating out of the pantry. I have worked so hard to build it up. I know I could eat out of it for a month if I had to, but man would that hit my security nerve. LOL
Good luck with the challenge.
Can't wait to here about the Daily Savings Plan. It has been a while and I need the refresher.
Hope you had happy holidays...lots of love to you
Jess
Thats a great idea, one I have tried to do recently with relative success but then it was made easier by the fact that it snowed and I didn't have any transport and we don't have a shop in the village! Will be much better once I have got to those websites as that is what I was missing before - thank you!
great links thanks Gill. Today I noticed I had 7 cans of chickpeas LOL so I should dwindle that down a bit.
I do this every so often and feel the need to do this now. Except for cat food, kitty litter, white vinegar, and fresh items (veggies, fruit, yogurt), i'm good to go.
Since the weather can get bad here, i don't want to take myself down to nothing, but i do need to use up some of what's on hand.
megan
Gill~~ Thanks for the links.
Blessings, GG
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