Day 1 of Pantry Challenge

Breakfast - Oatmeal for the boys, cereal for Jimmy & coffee for me.

Lunch - packed lunches for the boys (ham sandwich, cheese stick and a cupcake) that saves me $4.50 a day. Jimmy and I were out and ran through McDonalds (boo, not a good start there!).

Dinner - Potato soup. I had 5 lbs of potatoes that needed to be used soon. Added cheddar cheese that I had plus a bag of frozen corn. This will last for a few days and be great for leftovers. I think potato soup is better the second day. Sam liked the potatoes and ham, not a fan of carrots and corn. Daddy and Jimmy are playing basketball, I will let you know how they like it.

Stopped at the store to get a few needed items for the week.

Starting balance - $40.00
Giant Eagle - $22.17
-------------------------
balance - $17.83

Potato Soup (from my favorite cook, Mom, with a few add-ins from me)
5 lbs. potatoes
3 stalks celery (I didn't have celery and forgot to get it today. No biggie for me, not a big fan anyway)
3 large carrots ( used 1/2 bag of baby carrots that I already had)
3 small onions
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
2 quarts milk
 3 ears of corn (I used frozen)
1 ham steak (cut up into small pieces) *optional
2 cups cheddar cheese *optional

 Peel potatoes. Cut into bite size chunks. Put in large pan, add water until covered and boil till tender. Dice carrots, celery and onions. Melt butter in soup pot and saute until tender, stirring occasionally. Add flour to vegetable mixture and stir 1 minute. Add 2 quarts of milk and continue stirring and heat to almost a boil (but don't let it boil!). Drain potatoes and mash half of them. Add to veg mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cut kernals of 3 ears of corn and add to soup. *Add ham and cheese. Heat until cheese is melted.