Pantry Challenge

Have you heard of the Pantry Challenge? Well, I'm about to take it, because my pantry is a MESS!!

A Pantry Challenge is when you make a concentrated, focused effort to "eat from the pantry" rather than buying groceries. Many do this as a way to lower the monthly grocery bill, some do it simply to make sure they use and get to those items that you bought once but haven't exactly found the time or a way to use them, and rotate stock. OR in my case, I know I need to do a major clean, organization and overhaul of my pantry, so why do that when it's full? Right? I'm going to try to empty it first by eating!

Also, I have recently noticed that there have been some of my pantry items that have gone stale or WAY past their expiry date. Gross, and what a waste. Anyway, I'm starting the challenge, and I'm giving myself a month to have a clean, organized pantry full of new, fresh food!

Care to join me? I'm not setting any real rules for my challenge other than having my "after" pantry be better than my "before" pantry! But here's what, I'll be doing:
1. Take a quick inventory of what is in my pantry.
2. Toss out any old, stale or expired items.
3. Plan some meals around what I find.
4. Clean and wipe down.
5. Organize into areas.
6. Use storage containers, and all that Tupperware I bought to store and group items.
7. Go grocery shopping to re-stock!

Let me know if you have done a Pantry Challenge or would like to join me by leaving me a comment below. For some inspiration, check out these other bloggers who have taken their own pantry challenges!
Good (Cheap) Eats: Pantry Challenge
Balancing Beauty & Bedlam: January's Pantry & Freezer Challenge
The Vintage Butterfly: The Pantry Challenge
Going Crazy Wanna Go: Boost Your Budget Pantry Challenge

So, time to start going into the deep, dark corners and planning some meals around what I find. This should be interesting!

Crock-Pot Whole Chicken

This fall my husband brought home about a dozen chickens from our Hutterite neighbours. Perfect! My freezer was full! But then it dawned on me, I better figure out how to cook these birds. So after 11 chickens, and 11 trials, I know that I've found the best, tastiest, juiciest, easiest recipe. I find that the paprika gives it a nice warm flavor. Proudly I roasted my last one up tonight!

Prep Time: 10 Minutes | Cook Time: 4-6 Hours | Serves: 8-12

Ingredients:

1 medium/large whole chicken

1 onion

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

- Thaw and clean chicken.

- Quarter onion and place inside chicken cavity and place in Crock-Pot.

- Mix spices together in small bowl.

- Sprinkle spices over chicken. No need to rub, just cover generously. (And you don't need to add any water or liquid.)

- Cook on high for 4-6 hours, using meat thermometer to ensure it is thoroughly cooked.

24 Clever Ideas

I received this email from several friends, and thought the ideas were so clever it was worth sharing. Kudos to the smart cookie who came up with these and the organized one who put the email together!

1. Hull strawberries easily using a straw.

2. Rubbing a walnut over scratches in your furniture will disguise dings and scrapes. 

3. Remove crayon masterpieces from your TV or computer screen with WD40.

4. Stop cut apples browning in your child's lunch box by securing with a rubber band.

5. Overhaul your linen cupboard, store bed linen sets inside one of their own pillowcases and there will be no more hunting through piles for a match.

6. Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone & iPod in a bowl.  The concave shape amplifies the music. (Hmmmm not sure about this one... )

7. Re-use a wet-wipes container to store plastic bags.

8. Add this item to your beach bag.  Baby powder gets sand off your skin easily, who knew?!


9. Attach a Velcro strip to the wall to store soft toys.


10. Use wire to make a space to store gift wrap rolls against the ceiling, rather than cluttering up the floor.

11. Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a stocking over the vacuum hose.

12. Make an instant cupcake carrier by cutting crosses into a box lid.

13. For those who can't stand the scrunching and bunching: how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet.

14. Forever losing your bathroom essentials?  Use magnetic strips to store bobby pins, tweezers and clippers, behind a vanity door.

15. When travelling, store shoes inside shower caps to stop dirty soles rubbing on your clothes. And you can find them in just about every hotel.

16. A muffin pan becomes a craft caddy.  Magnets hold the plastic cups down to make them tip-resistant.

17. Bread tags make the perfect cord labels.

18. Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones, so much more fun and easier for kids to eat. (Old school! I totally remember these from when I was a kid!)

19. Microwave your own popcorn in a plain brown paper bag. Much healthier and cheaper than the packet stuff.

20. Install a tension rod to hang your spray bottles.

21. Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough over the top and voila, you have cookie bowls for fruit or ice-cream.

22. Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing sunburn relief.

23. Create a window-box veggie patch using guttering. (Exactly what I need for my new garden shed!)

24. Use egg cartons to separate and store your Christmas decorations.

Isn't this a cute collection of little tips, tricks and ideas that make life easier and solve everyday problems?

Miss Pattimore

I finally made time to read a book that has been quite popular here on the prairies, I Am Hutterite by Mary-Ann Kirkby. I wanted to read it because we have so many colonies around us and down our gravel road, and also because there are several mentions of my mom, Miss Pattimore, who taught some of Mary-Ann's siblings when they first left their colony. Here's an excerpt:

My brother and I were both in grade five. Alex had failed grade two on the colony. The teacher had failed everyone in the second grade that year and, typically, nobody thought to ask why. Rosie was in grade four. Our teacher was Mrs. Erb. She wore nice clothes and sensible shoes and wasn't as glamorous as Miss Pattimore, Phillip's grade-three teacher who taught the primary grades downstairs. But more than attractive, Miss Pattimore made a concerted effort to help us fit in and wouldn't tolerate other students sneering at us. Once a week, on Friday afternoons, she came upstairs and taught our grades French. It soon became my favourite subject. "I really like the Frenchman, " I once overheard Father telling Mother over Lunschen in Fairholme. I feel myself at home with them." I knew he was referring to the milk truck driver from Modern Dairies who came each week to collect the milk. He was so affable, the company kept him on after he lost his driver's license due to careless driving. They just ad someone else drive him.

Miss Pattimore was young and kind with the most amazing dark hair. Sometimes she startled us by wearing a wig. It was a lighter colour and a different style than her own, and it gave her a whole new look, which I found fascinating. 

Yep... sounds like my Mom.

See You Soon!

After many weeks of struggling through internet, technical and hardware issues, I feel I need to take a little blogging break. You can still find me on Facebook and on Twitter, and please come back to Prairie Story in the Fall! Prairie best to you all until then!