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Friday, July 28, 2017

Dollar-S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, Cabinet-Clearing, Clean-Up-The-Food Project Update - Week #4



Week #4 of our dollar-s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, cabinet-clearing, clean-up-the-food project for July is drawing to a close and the month is nearly over. In just a few short days August 1st will be here and this challenge will be behind us. That means that this week is a transition week for us. Yeah! 😄

At the beginning of the week my husband and I did an end-of-month inventory. We were basically down to nothing in the freezer except a few containers of frozen broth, frozen nuts, dry beans, and a few grains. We figure that these will continue to keep so, for now, we are not concerned with cleaning them up. As soon as fall arrives, though, that will change. At that point we will be ready to concentrate on warm and filling bean dishes, soups, and stews of all kinds. 🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁

After inventorying the freezer, we defrosted and cleaned it, making it ready to fill with a fresh supply of meat, vegetables, and fruits. 

As for the kitchen cabinets, they were pretty empty, as well. There were a few things...spices, tea, sweeteners, and a few canned items. We will continue to clean those items up before buying more. They will be included in upcoming menus as we make the transition from this project back into regular meal planning...which may never be "regular" again. 😃

You see, as we come to the end of our clean-up-the-food challenge on one hand, I am gearing up to start Trim Healthy Mama on the other. I have dabbled with it in the past, but my goal is to jump into it with both feet and try to stay on plan as much as possible. Now is a good time. All the not-so-great food (and there wasn't a whole lot of that to begin with, but what there was) is gone now and I am pretty much free to start with a clean slate without guilt. 

It is not in my plan to buy a bunch of specialty ingredients with this. My plan is to start strong with a variety of good, basic foods and keep my menu plans simple. I want to be a good steward with what the Lord provides and plan wisely. Once I get going I will probably fall into more of the 'budgeting mama' category, but, right now, we needed everything.

On Tuesday I was able to plan ahead and get started. The nearest Aldi to us in Missouri is 40 miles away at Carthage. I had to be in Carthage that day anyway, so I went ahead and did my usual end of the month shopping, while keeping my THM goals in mind. 

Like I said, this is a transition week for us. We had already cleaned up the pancake mix and boxed cereal; now it was okay to go ahead and stock up on my Trim Healthy Mama pancake ingredients without feeling guilty. The stuff that needed used up was gone and, now, we only have the good stuff in the house. It is very freeing emotionally.

All of the meat in the house was gone, except a few cans of chicken and fish that will fit in perfectly with THM. There was no fresh meat at all, other than what had been planned out in the final week of menu plans...mostly fish...and now all of that is gone, too. At Aldi's I purchased chicken tenders, ground turkey, grass-fed beef, and lots of salmon fillets. I also purchased plenty of eggs and egg whites.

(Note: We usually only make it to Aldi once a month, so I buy a month's worth of food at a time.)

Now, as we wind down the final few days of July with the last of our dollar s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, cabinet-clearing, clean-up-the-food meals, we anxiously look forward to digging into our fresh stock of delicious, nutritious, and healthy new food stock beginning August 1st. It's not going to be easy to wait, but, hey! We've made it this far! What's three more days???

2 comments:

  1. I am so proud of you Rebecca! You've done wonderful. I believe you're going to do well with THM this time, too. You've gotten rid of the temptations!

    I'd like to follow suite when I feel better.
    Hugs,
    Laura

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Laura! I appreciate that! I hope I do well with THM. I feel like I'm going to because I feel like I much more control over food now than ever before. And, yes, you're right! No temptations!!! <3

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