Pantry Challenge – Let’s Check In!

I’m feeling really pumped so far in my Pantry Challenge!  So far, I haven’t had to go to the store for anything other than bread & milk, and for that – I’m pretty darn proud.  I’m making a huge dent in what I have accumulated in my pantry, freezer, & fridge. That’s a good thing too since my family has 2 full size refrigerators (complete with freezers) & one big deep freezer too. That’s in addition to what’s inside my pantry & my ginormous sauce collection that I’ve got going on.

So, here’s a recap of some of the things I cooked this week.

• A big ol’ pot of mac & cheese – simply 1 box of noodles cooked mixed in with one batch of my homemade cheese sauce.  Simple yet undeniably delicious.
• Peppercorn Pork Roast – (a pre-marinated one from Hormel that was in my freezer), mashed potatoes (with the remainder of my potatoes), & a salad (with the organic spring lettuce mix & baby spinach that was left in my fridge)
• BBQ Pork Roast Hoagies – I drenched the leftover sliced pork from the night before with some of the local bbq sauce from my pantry
• Crockpot BBQ Porkchops – (pork chops in my freezer paired with one of the local bbq sauces in my pantry, 1 sliced onion, a couple tablespoons of garlic powder, salt, pepper, & 1/4 cup of water), purple hull peas (frozen peas in my freezer from last year’s harvest), & bacon cheddar potato pancakes (4 cups leftover mashed potatoes from the night before, 2 eggs, cooked bacon, & 2 cups cheddar cheese) – mixed up, dolloped into the pan with the hot bacon grease accumulated from cooking the bacon, about 4 minutes on each side)
• Mexican Style Meat – I used a large round roast I had in the freezer for this.  I didn’t have any hot sauce on hand though, so in true Pantry Challenge fashion – I did NOT got to the store to buy any.  Instead, I swapped them out for the remainder of a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce that I had sitting in my fridge, and I added a little water to it so there would be enough liquid in the crockpot for the meat to do it’s thing.  I didn’t have any tortillas, and I strongly considered going to the store to get some… but I didn’t. Instead, I reheated the leftover purple hull peas from the night before & served the mexican style meat on top of it, citing my black bean burrito bowls as an inspiration for it. Then, I made some homemade cheese sauce & served it along top.  Oh my word, was that meal ever good or what?!  It’s something I’m going to make again, and blog about, and then make again & again & again. So, soooo good!  Yummers.
• Purple Hull Peas & Cornbread – because somehow, I still had beans leftover. And, I love beans & cornbread!

What did you cook this week?  Leave a comment & let me know!