Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Homemade Pizza (er, how not to improvise when making pizza!)

The pizza might not look that bad, but let me tell you, looks can be deceiving!

As you all well know, we've been eating from the pantry this month. We've used up lots of odds and ends, we've tried some new recipes, and we've been eating better than usual because it's inspired me to cook and bake more.

And so far, the challenge has gone on without much mishap. Until last night, that is.

I had planned to make Homemade Pizza--something I've made countless times before. I already had the dough frozen and the meat cooked up, so I thought it would be a snap to pull off.

Well, it spiraled downhill quite quickly.

First off, the dough just didn't feel right when it thawed. Something seemed "off" but I couldn't place it, and I didn't have time to re-make it so I just rolled it out and went with it.

Then, I went to get the barbecue sauce out of the refrigerator and discovered we had used it all up. Oops.

Necessity is the mother of invention, right? So I attempted to replicate barbecue sauce using ketchup, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Bad idea.

I pulled the thawed browned turkey out of the bag and noticed it also seemed really tough and dry. But I threw it on the pizza anyway along with some cheese. And then I stuck it in the oven without waiting for the oven to heat up entirely--which was also a dumb mistake.

When I pulled it out of the oven ten minutes later, I was congratulating myself on my improvisations and felt so happy that the pizza looked just fine despite the issues which had arisen while making it.

We cut it and starting eating it and I quickly stopped patting myself on the back. While the pizza looked just fine, it tasted awful. The crust was doughy and yeasty, the "barbecue sauce" was icky, and the meat was anything but appetizing.

All put together, the pizza was disgusting. In fact, I'm pretty sure it is the worst pizza I've ever had in my entire life.

We did our best to try and eat a few pieces, but we finally gave up and pulled out some Tyson Any'tizers we still had lurking in the freezer. And we did something we've never done before--we threw the homemade pizza out!

Maybe that seems wasteful, but the pizza wasn't fit for anyone to eat, believe me. However, the flopped pizza was good for something--we all had a hearty laugh over how bad it tasted. And we also were very relieved to remember that the Eat From the Pantry Challenge is almost over. Almost!

Eat From the Pantry Challenge: Week 3 Menu Plan

 

We've been Eating From The Pantry for over two weeks. The first week was hard but it seemed to get easier the second week. My creativity kicked in and I had fun experimenting in the kitchen, trying some new recipes, and using up a whole lot of odds and ends from our freezer, cupboards, and refrigerator.

There was only one night when Jesse and I both just felt really tired of the whole Pantry Eating thing. So we decided to forgo the Chicken Tetrazinni planned on the menu that night and eat at Taco Bell instead. It was a nice diversion--and then we just skipped our planned dinner out on Friday night!

Here's my list of ideas for Pantry Meals this coming week (some of these are repeats from last week because we still have more ingredients or I ended up making something else last week instead of what I'd planned--yes, I'm giving myself lots of freedom to experiment on this Pantry Challenge!):

Breakfasts Ideas:

Cereal x 3 (we're still using up some of our free or $0.50-$0.99 cereal!)

Whole-Wheat Blender Pancakes

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls (A reader sent me a yummy-looking recipe to try out in my bread machine so I'll post it if these turn out well.)

Whole-Wheat Waffles

Oatmeal with cinnamon, apples, and sucanat

Side options: Fresh Orange/Apple Juice, Oranges, Grapefruit

Lunch Ideas:

Creamy Mac and Cheese

Tuna Salad

Homemade Stromboli

Taco Potatoes

Beans and Rice with cheese sour cream, and lettuce

Leftovers x 2

Side options: oranges, apples, carrot sticks, frozen veggies

Dinner Ideas:

Barbecue Chicken, Cornbread Muffins, Oranges, Chocolate Pudding

Hot Wings/Chicken Nuggets, Steamed Mixed Veggies, Twice-Baked Potatoes, Oranges

Sweet and Sour Chicken Stirfry over rice with Chow Mein Noodles, Apple-Pineapple Salad

Turkey Meatballs, Sweet Potatoes, Homemade Rolls, Corn, Grapefruit

Chicken Tetrazinni, Mixed Green Salad, Broccoli, Homemade Bread

Homemade Pizza, Carrot Sticks, Apples, Brownies

Dinner out

Snack Ideas:

Popcorn, Crackers/Cheese, Popsicles, Fruit, Cereal, Hot Cocoa

How's your Pantry Challenge going? If you've been blogging about it, be sure to stop by FishMama's place tomorrow morning and leave your link so we can all be inspired. See more menu plans for this week over at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Bread Machine Buttery Rolls

My dad surprised me with this brand-spankin'-new bread machine for Christmas! My other bread machine was on its very last leg after being used countless times over the last seven years, so I was thrilled with this gift. Plus, this new one is more high-tech, larger, and has two kneading paddles. I've already been extremely impressed at the difference in texture of the dough I've made as opposed to my other smaller bread machine.

The new bread machine came just in time for the Eat From The Pantry Challenge and has proven to be a very useful tool to have at my disposal--especially on days when I don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen.

I tried a new recipe yesterday since we needed some bread to go along with dinner. This is a recipe from my brother, it uses basic ingredients you usually will always have on hand, and it literally took me 5 minutes of labor!

The rolls turned out beautifully and my whole family thought they were very delicious. It's definitely a winner recipe and one I'll be making many times again.

Bread Machine Buttery Rolls

1 cup warm milk (70-80 degrees)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar (I used sucanat.)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour (I used half fresh-ground whole-wheat and half unbleached flour.)
2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

Add ingredients in the order list to your bread machine. Run on dough cycle. When dough is complete, divide into 20-24 portions and shape into balls.

Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 13-16 minutes until golden brown. Yield: 20-24 rolls

The only thing I think I'll do differently next time is try adding in a little more sucanat or brushing the rolls with a honey/butter mixture as soon as they come out of the oven. My husband and I both thought they would be even yummier if they were a little sweeter.

Now that I have a bread machine which makes beautiful dough with only a few minutes of work, I think I'm going to be doing a whole lot more baking. I might even attempt making cinnamon roll dough in the bread machine--something I've never had success with before.

Do you have any favorite bread machine recipes which only take staple ingredients that I'd likely have in my pantry? Leave me a link to them so I can consider trying them during our Eat From the Pantry Challenge!

Pantry Challenge: My Update and Menu Plan (Share Your Progress, too!)

 

Well, we've officially been Eating From The Pantry for a whole week. And I'll admit, it's definitely been a challenge.

We always have surplus since I practice the "Buy-Ahead Principle" in my grocery shopping, but I didn't do a whole lot of shopping in December, so we actually started this month a little low on reserves.

I'm okay with that, though, because I wanted this to be a true challenge. A learning experience. Something to force me to be creative.

You see, I've been feeling stuck in a rut when it comes to cooking recently. I've been making a lot of the same things over and over again. Sure, they are good recipes--and we like them!--but too much of the same thing quickly becomes lackluster and boring.

So this Pantry Challenge and spending a few days eating at a gourmet chef's house has been exactly the motivation I've needed to experiment in the kitchen again. And while it was hard at first to get my momentum going, I'm starting to get all inspired. In fact, I keep coming up with new ideas and am beginning to wonder if the month will be up before I have a chance to make all the recipes I want to try with our pantry ingredients. I suppose that is a good problem to have.

We made a quick trip to the store yesterday to pick up fresh produce, milk, and cheese and then I made up a list of meal ideas for this coming week based upon those ingredients and what we already have on hand. These ideas are just to serve as a starting point as I'm giving myself free reign to be creative in the kitchen--so long as I can make the recipe with what we already have on hand!

Breakfasts Ideas:

Cereal x 3 (trying to use up some of our extra boxes of free or $0.50-$0.99 cereal!)

Whole-Wheat Waffles

Pumpkin Pancakes

Oatmeal with cinnamon, apples, and sucanat

Side options: Fresh Orange/Apple Juice, Oranges, Grapefruit

Lunch Ideas:

Creamy Mac and Cheese

Tuna Salad

Mixed Green Salad with Hard-Boiled Eggs, cheese & crackers

Chicken Nuggets

Fish Sticks

PB&J

Leftovers

Side options: oranges, apples, carrot sticks, frozen veggies

Dinner Ideas:

Lit'l Smokies with Potatoes, Onions, and Carrots in the crockpot, Cornbread Muffins, Oranges, Chocolate Pudding

Sweet and Sour Chicken Stirfry over rice with Chow Mein Noodles, Apple-Pineapple Salad

Turkey Meatballs, Sweet Potatoes, Homemade Rolls, Corn, Grapefruit

Chicken Tetrazinni, Mixed Green Salad, Broccoli, Homemade Bread

Barbecue Chicken in the crockpot served on buns, Steamed Mixed Veggies, Twice-Baked Potatoes, Oranges

Homemade Pizza, Carrot Sticks, Apples, Brownies

Dinner out

Snack Ideas:

Popcorn, Crackers/Cheese, Fruit, Cereal, Homemade Funnel Cakes, Hot Cocoa

So there's my list of ideas to work from this week. I'll let you know how it goes. And if I have any colossal flop or discover a really incredible recipe, I'll be sure to let you know.

How's your Pantry Challenge going? If you've been blogging about it, be sure to leave direct links to your update posts below so we can all be inspired!

Ready or not, our Eat From The Pantry Challenge is beginning!

Now that we're back from vacation, our almost-month-long Eat From The Pantry Challenge commences today. I'm excited and just a little bit scared as to how it's all going to work out. Whatever the case, it'll certainly be an adventure!

I'll keep you posted on how it goes and will be sharing recipes and pictures as the next four weeks unfold. My husband has promised to be a willing participant in this whole thing (bless his heart!), so I'm hoping my creativity in the kitchen doesn't turn out to be a whopping failure.

I'm usually sort of a make-do-with-what-you-have cook anyway, so it's not a completely new concept. However, I've never "made do" for four whole weeks, so I'm positive there'll be some flops along the way. Be prepared to laugh along with me!

Are you participating in the Eat From The Pantry Challenge? If so, I'd love to hear about how it's going for you. And if you've been posting about it on your blog, you can link up your progress over here.

Eat From the Pantry Challenge: Are You Ready for an Adventure? (Guest Post)

Guest Post by My Friend Kelly

Let's face it: we're all busy. No matter if you are married, single, in a career or working at home, mother to seven, one or none, we all have enough to fill our days and then some. Maybe the thought of adding one more challenge to an overflowing Resolution list is too much to consider right now.

Relax, the Eat From The Pantry Challenge isn't boot camp. Money Saving Mom and Jessica are quite the opposite of screaming drill sergeants. These are women who are willing to spend considerable time and energy to share their struggles, successes, and failures in order to encourage us.

This month-long challenge doesn't require you to create a blog, starve your children, or eat leaves and wild roots. It's closer to finishing the unread books on your shelf before buying new ones.

At the end of November, I embarked on my own challenge to clean out my pantry and freezer. I am proof it can be done even if you’re not a master baker or planner. If this pantry month seems too difficult let's start with a new perspective.

This is not a challenge, it's an adventure! Adventures are fun and exciting, full of surprises and exploration. Here’s just a taste of what you might learn on this adventure:

Re-discover Creativity

Remember the days when an empty plastic container and cardboard from the paper towels could entertain you for hours? Or times in college when you made pasta in the coffee pot and grilled cheese sandwiches with an iron?

It's time to get creative again! Whether it's breakfast for dinner to finish up some pancake mix, using stale bread for croutons, or finding substitutes, cooking is about enjoying the process and breaking out of the mundane.

Creativity comes when you have seventeen cans of tuna and need a new recipe. Creativity is testing new sauces on pasta and trying new recipes, ingredients, and styles of cooking. 

Discover Thankfulness

As we settle into our routines, grocery shopping can become a tedious chore. Take this month to focus not on what you don't have in the pantry but what you do. Instead of focusing on the deals you might miss, enjoy the ones you found already! It's simple to grab chili on sale and celebrate a great deal but it's a little harder to make chili and cornbread or chili on a baked potato three times a week to use it up.

Look at all the opportunities we have to buy food and utilize discounts, coupons, and rewards. It's easy to take that for granted. When was the last time your family gave thanks for having a local grocery store, fresh produce, and the funds to pick up a treat or two?

Discover Usefulness

Once you embark on the Eat From the Pantry "Adventure", try a little trick I call 'spelunking.' Simply dig through your stock and find something you can use in place of going to the store. Crunchy salad toppers can be used in soup. Top macaroni and cheese with the last tablespoons of bread crumbs. Turn mushy apples into applesauce and juice into popsicles.

Try Amy Dacyczyn’s Universal Casserole Recipe. Or, if you get stuck without an “essential” ingredient this site on substitutions is one of the easiest to reference.

I know my great grandmothers would be ashamed to see the amount of food I let spoil each week. They didn't waste; the mantra was to "use it up!" In that spirit during my Pantry Month I rescued a ham from the work potluck that was to be thrown away. Ham omelets, sandwiches, added to beans and soup helped stretch many meals. If you're thinking your stock can't possibly last 31 days give it a shot and find out how long it WILL last. The worst that can happen is you'll find your answer.

Discover Giving

Crystal has connected her savings to a charity, would you do something similar? Soon we'll be collecting 2009 receipts and income information for taxes. Do you find yourself wishing you could give more in time, donations or money? Food banks are struggling this year so whether you donate some of your savings of that can of creamed corn you don't want to eat, this is a great time to give back.

How about making a Saturday trip to a soup kitchen to volunteer your time? Encountering people in your own city who really do struggle for daily meals can add some much-needed perspective.

Discover Purpose

What are you saving money towards in 2010? Do you have a family vacation, new baby, cash-only Christmas plans, or need new clothes?  Remind yourself with pictures posted on the fridge that represent your savings goal. When you sit down to a meal get excited about your next adventure and what it means for your family. If you have kids, talk to them about the importance of paying back debts, saving for summer camp, or giving to others.

Check out some books on frugal cooking, there are hundreds available from the library and paperback book swap for just the price of postage. Or check out a new food blog for recipes that utilize what you have on hand.

Re-discover Family Time

When you've got all you need right at home to prepare and share a meal, the time really does center around family. Instead of running out to pick up one or two things, find a substitute and create a new tradition--you may even discover a new taste when you introduce variety!

Set the table, light a candle, and share about your day. And don't dismiss family time if you're single like I am; use this time to decompress and relax. Enjoy your quiet time and then call your parents or a friend and ask about their day. Or pick up some nice cards and write a note to a friend or family member.

What I discovered

While I've never had a baking day or tried to prepare a month's worth of food in one weekend, I survived the month of December without grocery shopping. When I found myself thinking of eating out or running to the store for “just one little thing” I would immediately challenge myself to recreate the meal at home. And on the days when I was busy and pressed for time, a bowl of soup and peanut butter with jelly sandwich worked just fine.

You will find yourself accomplishing more on this adventure than you ever thought possible. Case in point: I've gone 31 days without Starbucks coffee!

In the end I still survived and I'm stronger for it. I certainly believed I'd be down to mustard, olive, and spaghetti sandwiches by now but I'm eating just as well as before. I've learned a lot of lessons which I share on my blog.  And I’m looking forward to reading what y’all learn as well.

Are you up for a little adventure?

Kelly is a 25 year old single homeowner living in Northern California. Despite a high cost of living and tough job market, Kelly has created a cozy home without acquiring debt. Now just $3,000 away from eliminating student loans (the last of consumer debt), Kelly looks forward her first trip abroad, thrift store decorating, and teaching financial awareness. Kelly blogs at My Friend Kelly.

photo by ex.libris

My Pantry Looks Different Than Your Pantry

Are you planning to join in the Eat From The Pantry Challenge? If so, you'll definitely want to check out this excellent article by FishMama on the importance of tailoring this challenge to the needs of your own family.

Remember, this is not a competition; this is an individual challenge and you get to make your own rules! Everyone's Eat From The Pantry Challenge should look different. Do what works for you.

For the record, I don't even have a pantry. Maybe someday, but for now, I'm happily using a metal shelf in our basement laundry/storage room. It works well--even if it's not some beautifully organized closet!

(Photo shown above is Myra's pantry. Read her post here on her Eat From The Pantry plan.)

Eat From the Pantry Challenge: My Goals and Plans (and come link up yours, too!)

It's so easy to think we have to go to the store every single week (or maybe even more often!), but I've found that when I challenge myself to make do with what I already have on hand, we can usually eat pretty well. Plus, we can save a lot of money in the process!

In recent weeks, I've been feeling like we have all sorts of odds and ends in our pantry, refrigerator, and freezers which need to be used up. But with the busyness of the Christmas season, I didn't have much creative juices or energy to come up with ways to use this random assortment of items. Thus, the Eat From the Pantry Challenge idea was born.

I'd been contemplating how I wanted to pull it off, when FishMama wrote and asked if I'd be interested in doing an Eat From the Pantry Challenge in January since she was also feeling like her cupboards were bulging. I guess great minds think alike, huh?!

So we brainstormed for a few days and decided we'd co-host an Eat From the Pantry Challenge on our blogs January 1-31, 2010. We're attempting to avoid grocery shopping as much as possible and will be blogging what we're feeding our families, creative recipes we're concocting, and how we're pulling this whole thing off.

To be perfectly honest, I'm still not exactly sure at this point how I am pulling this off because I've never done something like it before. Let's just hope it doesn't royally flop seeing as there's no such thing as backing out now!

The good news is that I have all of you and FishMama so if I get in a bind or run out of ideas, I'll know just where to turn. Whatever happens, I know it will be an adventure!

Now, let me say right upfront that I am not going to completely avoid buying any groceries for a month. We like to have fresh eggs, milk, and produce, so I plan to buy those at least three times during the month.

So here are our family's goals for the Eat From The Pantry Challenge:

1) Stop at the store a maximum of three times in January.

2) Only buy dairy (milk, eggs, cheese, etc.) and produce (fruits/vegetables).

3) Spend a total of $75 or less on groceries during the month of January.

4) Donate the extra $85 leftover (or more) that we would usually spend on groceries to Gleaning the Harvest.

Now for some caveats: we usually have dinner out once a week as a family (this comes out of our "Dates and Eating Out" envelope and is separate from our grocery money) so we plan to continue that. We also often eat a meal at our extended family's house at least once per week and we plan to continue that, as well. Plus, we'll actually be in California for the first few days in January visiting FishMama and her family so we aren't going to officially start our Eat From The Pantry Challenge until we get home.

You can see FishMama's goals and plan for her family here.

Would you like to join us in this Eat from the Pantry Challenge? We'd love to have you along! However, I want to encourage you to make your own rules according to what works best for your own family's needs. Don't feel obligated to do things the way we've decided to do it; do what works for you!

You can join in the entire month, or for two weeks, or just a week--it's up to you! It's not a competition, we just hope to encourage you to get creative and save money by wisely using things in your freezer, refrigerator, and pantry.

So, set goals for your own family for the Eat From The Pantry Challenge. And, if possible, consider setting aside the money you save by participating in this Challenge and either applying it towards debt, putting it into savings, or donating it to a worthy cause.

This is a simple way that you can squeeze a little extra out of a tight budget to help meet a financial goal or give to someone in need. It's not required that you do this to participate, it's just something I'd encourage you to consider.

At the end of each week in January, we'll have a post with a Mr. Linky for you to share about what you ate from your pantry the past week and how the Challenge is going for you. You can also interact with others participating in this challenge on Facebook or follow along here on Twitter with the hashtag #pantry.

If you're participating in the Eat From The Pantry Challenge, post about your goals and plan and then come back here and leave a direct link to your post below so others can read about it and be inspired. If you don't have a blog, you can tell us about your plan and goals in the comments section of this post.