Eat-From-the-Pantry Challenge Week & Pizza Friday

It's the time of year for saving and spending on Christmas so this week I skipped grocery shopping and vowed to feed us well with whatever we already had on hand. I think I did a pretty good job! Here's what we ate for dinner this week:
Monday: Pasta with Meat Sauce
Unfortunately below is only a picture of the leftovers because I didn't remember to take a picture the night of. This pasta was SO good. I simmered 3 leftover grilled burgers with a jar of marinara sauce and served it over this cool organic pasta. The girls loved the shape of the pasta and the grilled burgers added such a great flavor to the sauce. We all had leftovers for lunch the next day. Two meals for the price of one!

Tuesday: Chicken Soft Tacos
For this dinner I threw 2 organic chicken breasts into the slow cooker with 2 T of homemade taco seasoning and about a 1/2 C of water. I cooked it all day until it shredded up really easily, and then stuffed it into tortillas with leftover brown rice, cheese, and mild salsa. I served it with a green salad. Not only was there was enough chicken for Daddy to have a leftover chicken taco salad for lunch, but I also made 8 burritos for the freezer so he can take them for lunch a few times over the next couple of weeks! SCORE!

Wednesday: Wegman's Carry Out
Tonight's dinner was courtesy of Nana and Pee Paw. Due to a logistical error they weren't able to use this food for a meal they had planned to give a friend so they gave it to us instead. Lucky us! I figured the girls would be reluctant to eat it so I tried to win them over with my presentation. I made harvest veggie grass beneath a stuffing sun and mashed potato clouds. It didn't work too well so they supplemented their meal with PB&J sandwiches. I myself thoroughly enjoyed the carb overload :)

Thursday: Orecchiette with Toasted Breadcrumbs
I found this dinner in one of my favorite cookbooks: Giada's "Everyday Italian". It was SO budget friendly (obviously I had everything on hand!) and super duper yummy. The girls even ate it! I will definitely be making this again. Daddy and I both had leftovers for lunch and there is still another serving in the fridge.

Friday: Pizza Friday Cheese Pizza
Not much explanation needed here. I made the dough from the recipe on the back of the yeast packet and topped it with the last little bit of marinara sauce we had in the fridge, and the last of the bag of mozzarella. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED and we didn't starve!!!