Summertime Pantry Challenge: The Results

Now that our Summertime Pantry Challenge is over, I would like to review the good and the bad that came out of our challenge.

The Good

• We ate a lot of food from our freezer and pantry, making way for fresher veggies, fruits, and meats and using up older canned and dried goods.
• We tried some new recipes that we really enjoyed that will be a part of our regular repertoire, namely Grilled Ground Beef Gyros, Lentil Hummus, and Chicken Souvlaki.
  
• I shopped at the farmer's market, and we ate fresh, locally-grown, chemical-free produce instead of doing the bulk of our shopping at a conventional grocery store.
• I really limited my grocery shopping to produce, eggs, dairy, and dried beans although when chicken breasts finally went on sale at my stock-up price ($1.99/lb.), I filled the freezer. This helped me stay focused on only what we really needed and avoid the extras.
  

The Bad

• I didn't save any money like I had hoped. This was probably due to my frequent trips to the farmer's market, which, I will say again, is not as economical as the grocery store. However, we did eat "organic" and local foods.
• My freezer is already full again! {I stocked up on more meats and made a few meals. I'm not sure this is such a bad thing though!}
• Said freezer needs reorganizing already!

All in all, I enjoyed participating in the Summertime Pantry Challenge and think I'll keep it going for the month of August, too, less my much-needed trip to Aldi.

If you participated in the Summertime Pantry Challenge, what are your thoughts about how it turned out for you?