It has been quite a week here in our household!

We got to baby-sit the sweetest little one year old girl on Monday.

I made a fantastic new running shirt for a 5K coming up.

My girls started a tumbling class for the first time.

We watched the new live action Cinderella. If you haven’t watched it yet, it is beautiful! “Be KIND, Be COURAGEOUS.”

One of my girls came down with the flu… boo-hoo!

Today I was able to talk on the phone with another blogger whom I highly respect and look up to. Wow!

Today is my husband’s birthday and our neighborhood block party called Open Porch Night. I cannot wait to show you pictures of Open Porch Night! I will do a whole write up on it when all is said and done and tell you how to do one in on your street.

Instead of giving you a meal plan for next week I would like to issue you a challenge. For some moms this will be a REAL challenge. For others, you have done it before and shrug your shoulders with an “eh.” I have a feeling most moms are somewhere in the middle. Curious, yet unsure.

Here is your challenge: (drum roll please…)

EAT OUT OF THE PANTRY, FRIDGE AND FREEZER for one week’s worth of meals ‘Til It’s Empty!

We are going to call it T.I.E. (‘Til It’s Empty) food week.

But… But… But…

There are so many excuses, trust me I have used them on myself.

Just please think about all the food in your pantry that is just SITTING there because it’s half gone, items in your freezer in the WAAAAY back that have long been forgotten about (*sniff sniff*) and those two lonely hot dogs that are in your meat and cheese drawer are begging to go to the “Party in your Tummy” (Speaking of “Party in your Tummy”… haha. That was one of our favorite songs when our kids were little. We would sing it to them when we were trying to get them to finish their meals. Anyone else with me?!).

I am not going to leave you completely alone, though. I want to give you  FEW IDEAS and help you FORMULATE A PLAN… oh and some MOTIVATION might be good too! We have a few days before your meal plan will actually start, so this post is going to be a part of a blog series called T.I.E. week (‘Til It’s Empty)

For today, some Motivation…

Eating out of the pantry ‘Til it’s Empty will help you:

1. Save $$$ & Time

Have you always wanted to try and save up some of your grocery budget so you could go out for a nice dinner, make a bunch of make ahead freezer meals or just buff up your grocery budget for a special occasion? Now is the time! Save up the cash you WOULD OF SPENT going to the store this week to buy waaaay to many groceries and Treat yourself! Plus not having to go to the grocery store for a MAJOR shopping trip is going to save you so much stress and time. That in and of itself is something to look forward to!

2. Be Frugal

Once you begin to look through your pantry, fridge and freezer you begin to take stock of all that you REALLY do have on hand to make meals. The first time I did an Eat out of the Pantry week many many years ago it helped me to think simple. Not all meals have to be from pinterest or include 20 ingredients. This changed my mindset about meal planning in the future. I do like to make new meals and some are not cheap, but for the most part I create a balance within my weekly plan.

3. Be Creative

I just got done saying that this challenge will help you think simple, but it will also help you to start being creative in the kitchen. For my challenge this week we made pancakes because I had half a box of gluten free Bisquick that was just sitting there. Since I am trying to use up what I have at home I decided to heat up some apples to go on top of the pancakes (well, mine at least!). It felt like a treat! You will have side dishes or main meats that you are going to be forced to do something with. Chances are they have been sitting in your pantry because you’re not sure how to cook them or aren’t sure you’ll like them. Now is the time to pull all of those things out and just give it a shot! What else have ya got to eat?!

4. Be Thankful

We, as Westerners, take so much for granted. The next time you walk through your grocery store stop and notice all of the CHOICES we have. So many choices for cereal, brand of meat, chips, salad dressing… Stop and be thankful you have food. You can go to the store and get what you need when you need it and you have the money/transportation to do so. Gratitude will come for what we have already in our refrigerators, freezers and pantries without the need for more choices.

 

Tomorrow I will post a plan to help you get started on this challenge.

Then the day after I will share some more of my experiences with eating out of the pantry this week.

I have loved it.

I hope you will join us!

Pin this and share it with your friends… Because every challenge is more fun when you’re friends join in on the fun!

 

Go HERE to read Part 2 of T.I.E. Food week and get FREE printables to help you with this challenge!