Wednesday is becoming my kitchen day. Friday is too, to a lesser extent. For whatever reason, after being out all day on Tuesday at a faith study and a local food ministry, I want to spend time in the kitchen making food for my family and stretching what we have for my January pantry challenge.
Apparently, since I missed posting this last weekend, you’ll be getting a twofer today. And, the January pantry challenge is going pretty well. While I can’t say we’ve saved a ton of money at the grocery store, I can say the pantry and freezer are starting to look more empty and I’m able to keep our spending down. Next month, I plan on challenging myself to set aside money for stock up items. More on that later since I will be doing it in a different way.
After Christmas, we had a ton of lemons and other citrus left over in the fridge. My big plans to make something with them fell by the wayside. Instead of buying lemon juice for my morning hot water with lemon, I decided to zest and juice the lemons I already had. I’m so happy I remember to zest the lemons in case I had a recipe only calling for lemon zest.
No knead bread is a staple in our home. The hubs and I have a slice of it every morning with our coffee. He also adds a slice to his homemade onion soup.
This Cuban Black bean concoction comes from the More with Less Cookbook. I’ve had the cookbook for a long, long time. I like to dip into it every so often for more international recipes. This recipe turned out really well and is going into the rotation.
Finally, I made my favorite apple spice dump cake which comes from The Frugal Family Kitchen Book, another well-loved cookbook. Being short on applesauce, I cut the sugar in half and used little bits of homemade jams and canned plums from the fridge to make up the difference. I also tossed in 1/2 cup of chopped pecans leftover from Christmas baking. The cake turned out really well. I’d like to make a few more for the freezer just in case I need a last-minute baked item.
2 dogs and a house 
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