To reiterate: Eat as though you are home bound due to a snow storm. I have several rule exceptions to this, but that’s the main idea. 
I began with mom’s Thanksgiving leftovers and then moved onto my pantry/freezer.  There are a few pictures and a video below. 

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I’m fairly well stocked in my pantry, and my freezer is about half dog food (all the rolls) so keep that in mind.  Veggies will become the challenge in the future.  

Day 1-6: 
Pretty boring days. Leftovers, then permutations of leftovers. I did not photograph all of it. Not photographed was my mom’s fruit salad, cause I ate it straight out of the dish one night at 9pm and a slice of pumpkin pie.  There were three exceptions to leftovers during this span.  One, is the below picture little chicken things from Chick-fil-a that I had a free coupon for – okay per the rules I set forth.  Let me assure you, they were gross and they can keep their free food.  The buns were gooey and gummy, and the chicken was super salty.  I threw the rolls away and ate the nuggets with lots of water. 

The other exception was a decision I wrestled with, but ultimately came to the conclusion that my niece and nephew should not be punished for my challenge. We went out for pancakes because they came to stay the weekend with me and we always go out for pancakes on the day I take them home.  I had breakfast with them, and the leftovers were lunch and dinner. 

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Day 7:
Breaking my Starbucks habit was really hard. I didn’t realize I used it as the impetus to get up and get dressed.   It came to me that I needed to create a new habit, and I’ve worked out a new morning routine, and I’m working on a routine for the day.  I’ve discovered a lot about how I work best during this past week and am working on creating a routine/schedule and will write about that in the future. 

Back to Starbucks…where I pulled up and placed my normal order without thinking of it and then realized halfway eating that my own rule was supposed to be NO FOOD and thus created my third exception.  However, it was on a gift card that a kind client gave me, so it did not cost me anything, but I did violate my own rules twice this week. 

We’re not looking for perfection, but for effort, work, and money savings.  All of which I am achieving.  I see week two as going easier in some ways, as the Thanksgiving leftovers are over and I can start to attack my freezer/pantry.  One thing I came to realize this week is that I have very little vegetation available to me.  I thought I had more bags of broccoli and what not buried under the meat and dog food, but I do not.  In fact, I have one bag of caulirice, one small bag of broccoli rabe, and two containers of sweet potatoes.  I have a can of peas and carrots in the pantry.  I’m missing veggies already.  I didn’t realize how much I relied on dumping meat/eggs on greens and calling it a meal. 

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Those tostadas? Were delicious.  I was shocked at how good they were.  Yay invention! 

One thing of note is that my blood sugars have run a little higher than I like this past week due to all the carb heavy leftovers.  So. Much. Stuffing. 
I’m hoping week two is better in this regard.  

OH! Almost forgot!  In addition to the leftovers from my mom a client dropped of two dozen eggs on Tuesday.  This is not unusual for her – she is always happy to clear out her fridge before going on vacation or share an excess with me.  She has no clue about the pantry challenge so it was just her kind and generous nature kicking in at just the right time.   I also received a $20 Starbucks gift card from a client.  What a great week!  It’s amazing what can happen if you just put it out there. 

I will say, I have a new appreciation for food bloggers.  All these pictures and videos and what not was a lot of work!  I hope you enjoy it and I’d love to hear how your challenges are going.