My Pantry Diet
I’m loving what I call my Pantry Diet. In the last 2 1/2 weeks I’ve probably only lost a pound or so, but that’s not the real goal anyway. The goal is to use up everything usable in my pantry / refridgerator. I’m still doing well.
I signed up for the May Grocery Challenge at Give Me Back My Five Bucks and made my goal $100. Since I usually spend MUCH more than that, I figured that it was a good goal. Also, when I run out of food, I’m going to have to go to the grocery store and stock up on everything I’m missing which I’m guessing will be around the middle of May. And since I’m still letting myself buy milk, eggs, and vegetable oil, I’ll definitely have to shop before the week is out.
I considered myself to be “out of food” two and a half weeks ago when I decided to go on the Pantry Diet, but I still have plenty to last me. How often do we let things sit around because we’re not in the mood to eat it, and then go drop $150 at the grocery store getting more appetizing things that are gone before we know it?
I have one bag of potato chips (given to me by my parents / left over from my party) and one or two bags of kettle corn left as ready made snack food. Everything else in my pantry is stuff that needs to be cooked or baked or something else that takes more steps than just opening a bag. I’m not eating as much because I’m often too lazy to cook something. Yesterday, I baked some gingersnaps with a box mix I had (also from my parents) and ate a few (delicious). I didn’t feel like cooking a real meal, so I had ramen noodles. This morning before work I cooked up spaghetti, half of which I brought to work with me and the other half I refridgerated for tonight or tomorrow’s lunch. And I have TONS more spaghetti where that came from. I’m counting on being well under my $100 goal, and I hope to keep it under that limit for the foreseeable future as well.
Twig said,
Wednesday, 30 April 2008 at 6:09 pm
One question. Is what you are eating on a daily basis “a balanced diet”?
That is, how healthy are you really eating from your pantry/quick meal.
The only reason I bring this up is because this is probably one of those times in your life that you need to think about not just the bottom line but also your nutritional health.
livingpaychecktopaycheck said,
Thursday, 1 May 2008 at 8:32 am
Oh, it’s absolutely not a balanced diet; I mentioned that in an earlier post. Obviously nutrition is quite important, but I’m okay with waiting another couple of weeks before I start buying better food.
To be honest, I eat so much processed food on a regular basis, that even though this isn’t nutritious by any means, this is still somewhat better for me than constantly eating bags of potato chips or getting fast food from McDonald’s. Once I clear out my pantry (and it’s getting very close to bare already) I’m going to aim for grocery shopping for a better diet.