30-Day Giving Challenge

If you've been following this site for a while, you may remember this challenge, started by Keeping the Kingdom First, that I posted last year.

It is a challenge that encourages 30 days of giving from November 1 through November 30.

If you have a heart for giving, this is a great thing to do! And maybe you aren't much of a giver...maybe it's an area where you struggle?? Well, just maybe this is an area where you'd like to challenge yourself??



There are no rules or requirements, only that you document your journey in some fashion. A journal, a calendar, a notebook, or perhaps a blog.

Writing down each act of giving keeps us accountable, and prepares our hearts for a lifetime habit of giving generously. This is not about bragging… but encouraging. Not boasting… but inspiring. It can be public… or private.

Get more info here!!

Are you up for it??

Eat From the Pantry Challenge Update

Well, this is the last week of our Eat from the Pantry Challenge. This past week I didn't do any shopping really...not even to get the deals. I did have to grab a few things at Meijer...milk, bread and some fruit but that was my shopping for the week...oh, and I grabbed a couple bags of chips at Aldi for Tim to go with his favorite salsa and french onion dip. We had a very busy week so we ate a few simple meals...mac & cheese, tacos and pizza on biscuits. We also had Lemon Garlic Chicken and Meatballs from the freezer. We were gone a lot Saturday and Sunday so we didn't really eat here at home other than grilled cheese for lunch on Saturday.

I think we can make it quite a bit longer with what we have on hand so think I am going to try to limit my shopping in February a bit as well...not as much as this month though. I definitely have noticed a difference in my freezer with not stocking up on meats. I've noticed a difference in my cupboards a little bit in certain areas (mostly cereal and canned goods) but not much...the deals that I was able to get at Meijer the week before last really filled up my cabinet.

One thing I've really missed with this Eat from the Pantry Challenge is having plain meat and being able to do with it whatever I want. I would normally have packages of plain meat in my freezer but prior to our big cooking day, I had used up a lot of the meat we had in the freezer. We bought all fresh meat for the cooking day which meant all of the meat was spoken for and used in specific meals. I have had no plain ground beef or plain chicken breasts in my freezer to do with as I choose, for a whole month. If I have time at the end of this week, I hope to stock up on some meats for February so that I have a little more to work with.

Eat From the Pantry Challenge Update

We've been doing really good about Eating from our Pantry so far this month. I have made some purchases but they have been the items that I said I would purchase...dairy, bread, produce, freebies...and the deals that are just too good to pass up.

I have to admit that earlier this week, I was stressing out a little bit about the fact that I am using a bunch of stuff out of my pantry...and my grocery list keeps getting longer and longer with things that I am getting really low on. This concerns me a bit because I wonder how it will all play out next month with our grocery budget...if we'll be able to stay within our limits. I think it will probably be okay but it does concern me a bit because the little stuff all ads up....sometimes all too quickly. After shopping on Wednesday I did start to feel a little better when I came home with bags and bags of stuff...and spent very little. I came across a post today at Life as Mom...read it here. If you are doing the pantry challenge, maybe this will help you with some questions, concerns or doubts.

I thought I would be using a lot of our freezer meals while doing this challenge but I've only been using about 2 per week and coming up with the rest of our meals from what we have on hand.

Here are a couple of yummy things we have eaten this week:

I had some plain, cooked, cubed chicken left over from our big cooking day that I had froze. I pulled that out and we are going to be getting 3 meals from this container of chicken. I did not realize we would get this much from the container. I'm not sure yet what I'll be doing this weekend with the remaining chicken.

My sister gave me a recipe for Chicken Rolls quite a while ago. I used to make them A LOT. I'm not sure why, but for some reason, I had not made them in a very long time. I had some crescent rolls that needed to be used up and this was the perfect recipe for that.

You will need:
1 tube of crescent rolls
Cooked, cubed chicken (about 2 cups or so??)
About 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
2/3 c. milk

In a small pot, combine soup and milk. Heat on low till heated through and well blended (I whisk mine every so often as it warms up). While soup/milk is warming, take crescent rolls and press 2 triangles together to get a rectangle...you will end up with 4 rectangles. Spread chicken and cheese in the centers of each rectangle and roll up and place in lightly greased 9x13 dish. If you have leftover chicken & cheese, throw it in the soup mixture. Pour soup mixture over the tops of rolls (cover tops lightly otherwise they end up doughy). Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Delicious!!!

*If you have older children or bigger eaters, you'll probably want to double the recipe. This is JUST enough for our family of 5 (3 of which are young children and 2 of those are picky eaters...therefore eat little).

And...do you have one of these?


I made Chicken Quesadillas in it tonight for dinner. YUM!!!

You will need:
Burrito sized flour tortillas
Shredded cheese (we prefer a mexican blend)
Cooked, cubed chicken
Tomatoes, chopped
Cilantro, chopped
Green chiles (I used canned--chopped & peeled)

I place the cheese on the tortilla first and then layer all of the other ingredients. I place a second tortilla on top and then put in the quesadilla maker and cook for 4 minutes. So easy and good!

There are so many options for quesadillas. My kids would prefer JUST cheese but I make them eat some chicken in there too. I was also able to get away with cilantro tonight in theirs and NO ONE complained...pretty amazing! ;)

Are you doing the Eat from the Pantry Challenge? What have you been making?

Eat From the Pantry Challenge Update and more...

So my goal for this month has been to eat from what we have on hand here at home with the exception of milk, bread and produce. You can read more about that here. We've done okay as far as meals go. We've had a couple of evening things going on this week so we've had to do really simple and quick meals the past two nights.

This has been a little harder than I thought it would be already because I didn't think about some of the little things. I knew we'd be more than set for meals but I did NOT think about the kids' lunches and pop (I'm sure if any of you know Tim, you're probably chuckling). Already I have had to go out and purchase lunchmeat for my daughter's lunches because she does not do well with PB&J like my boys. It's a MUCH better choice for me to make the purchase than to deal with her complaining about her lunch...daily...for a MONTH! I've also had to purchase juice boxes for their lunches...I've tried packing water bottles in their lunch boxes before to save money and they always leak.

It is very hard for me to pass up really good deals or free stuff! I had some errands to run today and while I was out, I decided to stop at a few stores to see what I could grab for free, nearly free and a couple of really good deals! Here is some of what I found:


I ran into Kroger knowing I could use some of my I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Coupons before they expire. They have the butter sticks and tubs for $2.08 each. I was able to get 5 packages of sticks and 2 tubs for $.56 total!!

Here are the links for those coupons:
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Baking Sticks $1.00/1
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter products $1.00/1
*Note: I was able to print one of these links more than the typical 2 times (sorry, I don't remember which one)...so be sure to go back and try to print more...just in case! And also remember...you can freeze butter!! Stock up!!

I was also able to grab 4 bags of these...

ALL FOR FREE!

The link: Wonka Gummies $1.00/1

I was also able to run into Giant Eagle to grab a few things for free and I also wanted to use this coupon to get cheese for $1.00 per bag before the sale was up (today). This is a really good price and hard to pass up.

I also went to Meijer and used the Finish dishwasher detergent coupons to get it for $.99!! GREAT deal! While I was there I grabbed a couple of produce items and some free soup. Find the Meijer deals here.

I went to Target for the pop. They had 12 packs for $3.00 each but have a $1.00 coupon on their website. I had to do two separate transactions in order to use both of them due to the rules stated on the coupon. I asked my cashier ahead of time if this was okay...she said yes.

All in all, we are doing okay with the challenge. I guess it all boils down to whether or not I make the choice to live without something or not...and how far I'm willing to go with that.

Have you been trying to eat from your pantry? If so, how is it going for you?

Eat From the Pantry Challenge

Money Saving Mom and Life as Mom are doing an Eat from the Pantry Challenge for the month of January and are putting it out there for others to get involved as well. I think this is a really cool idea. I have very full cupboards and a VERY full freezer right now (currently defrosting my garage freezer...talk about creativity--trying to cram all of that into an above the fridge freezer! Wow!!). I use my stuff but with all of the deals I just keep adding...and adding...and ADDING! I think it would be great to use up some of the stuff that I have...and have the opportunity to get creative...and it's also a chance to save some money. Tonight I came home from the grocery store and Tim asked me if I'd bought a new freezer and fridge while I was out! LOL! :) I could not buy any freezer items due to our lacking a freezer right now but I would have liked to. And let's just say my fridge is a little cramped right now with all of the meat I bought.

So, I am going to give this a try. I don't know that it will be too hard considering my sister & I are doing a big cooking day on Thursday and filling our freezers with meals (hence the need to defrost the garage freezer). I might have to do it for February too to make it more of a challenge!?! Anyway...over the course of the month I know that I will need to buy milk (some people freeze milk...I cannot bring myself to do this), fresh produce and possibly bread. I may have the urge to pick up the deals that are free or nearly free though...kind of hard to pass those up! And if Skippy Peanut Butter goes on sale for a cheap price...I'll definitely have to break down and buy it. The peanut butter stash is getting really low.

Anyone else up for this??

30-Day Giving Challenge

So, for the month of October, there was a "challenge" that I mentioned here--Proverbs in 31 Days. Did anyone do this? Did you stay on target and read a Proverb every day? Was there anything that spoke to you? I have to admit I missed a couple of days but for the most part stayed on track...a couple more days and that challenge has been met. I have tried to think of something that I could do to challenge myself for November...

...and then today I saw this on Kingdom First Mom. It sure is a good thing that there are creative, thoughtful people out there because this is WAY better than anything that I had strummed up in my head!!



From Kingdom First Mom:
Next month is November, which just so happens to have 30 days and also includes Thanksgiving. A light bulb went off in my mind. The 30-Day Giving Challenge was born, right there in church.

I am challenging myself, and whoever wants to jump on board, to grab a journal next month and GIVE in some fashion every day in November. This could be large or small, simple or extravagant.

If you have a blog, I welcome you to accept the challenge or simply help spread the word!

Here is how it will work:

* On Sunday, November 1st, I will post a Mr. Linky and invite all participants to RSVP.
* Post about the challenge on your blog, with a few ideas about how you plan to give each day.
* Update weekly with your results, as little or as much as you feel led to share.
* On November 30th, I will post a final update with a linky so we can all see the impact of one month of giving.

Are there prizes?

Nope. If my pastor is correct, the blessings that come back to you each day during this challenge will be better than any bloggy swag.

I think this is a neat challenge...I don't know that I will get all that involved with the "bloggy" stuff but am going to challenge myself in the giving aspect. Most of us have SO much...and speaking for myself, I know that I don't give nearly enough. I was made fully aware of that last weekend...there is SO much more that I could be doing to help other people.

So are you on board? Got any ideas going through your head...how can you give over this next month? What are you going to give? Remember it doesn't have to be big or extravagant...it can be, but doesn't need to be. Giving comes in ALL shapes & sizes!