Food and Fiber Friday - February 'Eat From My Pantry' Update

Yes, the cheesecake was made totally from ingredients I had on hand. 

There was some cream cheese which I needed to use. In January, during one of the Costco runs, I had bought a 6-pack of cream cheese for Texter. She only wanted a couple of bars of it, so I had 4 bars of cream cheese to use up. And I had some Girl Scout Thin Mints which I hadn't started eating yet. 

So one sleeve of Thin Mints became the crust and two bars of the cream cheese became a small cheesecake I made in the Ninja Foodi. So easy! And very tasty. Definitely a repeatable recipe.

But overall, how have I done in February?

Very well, thank you very much.

Granted I have 4 more days left in the month, but I have no plans to pick up anything over the next 4 days. 

So...

With a planned budget of $300 for food, which includes eating out, how did I do?

I spent $236.12!!!!!

This is the breakdown for the month - 

Eating out - this includes High Tea with Savvy and a friend, Starsbucks and two meals out with Lady K - $108.51

Which means I spent only $127.61 for stocking up on staples or to add what was in my pantry.

Am I feeling 'deprived'?

Not in the least. In fact, I think I have gained back some of the few pounds I had lost. I am laying the gain in weight to the cake Lady K and I made, to which we added a scoop of ice cream.

There are still plenty of meals to be made from the freezer and pantry. 

One thing I have learned is I can make a small Mac and Cheese which will last me a couple of meals and not enough to feed the neighborhood. 

Another thing which helped with the budget was I didn't do any Costco hauls in February. What I had bought for Texter and me have lasted in February. I think I will plan on one haul every quarter. So I am going to save up the money for a 'run' in April. That should also give me a chance to clean out more of the items currently in the freezer. Plus, we will have Lady K for Spring Break in April, so we will need items for her to eat. 

March will be the third month of 'Eat From My Pantry' challenge. I know in March I will be making a trip to Cary to help a friend go through boxes in her basement. That means I HAVE to stop at La Farm and get some items - so a bit of a splurge there. But nothing else planned as far as eating out next month. And based on the way I feel after eating fast food, that's out too.

Hopefully, in the next month or so, I will be picking lettuce and spinach from my garden. And I am looking forward to the summer where I will have plenty of tomatoes if nothing else. Plus I have my fingers crossed over my potato experiment and will have a lot of potatoes to consume. There will be some costs for more canning jars this summer because I plan on canning a lot of tomatoes, spaghetti sauce and salsa. 

Two months into this personal challenge and I am looking forward to see what my budget for food is by the end of the year. 

Come on March!