February 1st - Day ONE

So....Upon attempting to complete several online challenges (Eat Local, Grocery Budget, Weekly and Monthly Cooking Challenges, to just name a few) I have discovered a few things about myself - one being that I simply do not have the time or dedication to complete such challenges. I have appreciated each of them that I have done and have gained a lot of personal insight as well as some very positive lifestyle and household changes from these. However, I find them too limiting/restrictive and don't prioritize the blog postings required for the challenges. That being said, I am attempting to challenge myself this month. I might not post every day or ever step of the way, but I am going to use this blog as a means of accountability for me in one way or another.

So, on to today.....(oh, and the goal is to do menu planning and cooking that will decrease the amount of food in our (1) freezer and (2) pantry. Including all the self canned and frozen items as well as the large meat purchases I have recently made (1/2 lamb and 1/4 hog to name a couple!)

Today we ate lunch from the fridge and freezer remains instead of making
"new" food.....one kid and hubby ate spaghetti with homemade marinara and broccoli and sourdough bread. The other kiddo and I ate homemade tomato basil soup and bread.

For dinner we are having nachos/burritos/taco salads depending on what member of the house you are. I roasted a chicken (from the freezer) so people can put that on their Mexican entree, as well as a pot of black beans (Rancho Gordo from the pantry) are boiling away right now.....I have lettuce, homemade guacamole, will stirfry up some green bell peppers and onions, have home-canned salsa and some local organic sour cream to top them with.

For the leftover chicken, in no particular order, I have the following plans (some of the meat will get frozen and used later for these ideas, some will be this week)....Oh, and I will also be making some homemade chicken stock with the carcass.

**Pumpkin Sauce Chicken Enchiladas
**Thai-style Chicken Soup with Black Rice
**Asian salad with cabbage and chicken