Eat from the pantry challenge: Week 1

I love this challenge so far. Dan has embraced it whole-heartedly and is trying not to spend a dime on food all month. I think we've eaten better this week than we usually do since I can't just grab pasta and chicken at the last minute. I'm actually planning meals which as been fun. We even have a few desserts thrown in there for good measure. Lunches have been left overs for the most part, but I did thaw a soup that was in the freezer (pork posole, yum!). Here's our progress so far

2/1: pulled pork sandwiches, green beans
2/2: BBQ beef short ribs, rice a roni, peanut butter bon bons for dessert
2/3: cheesy chicken broccoli casserole
2/4: honey glazed teriyaki chicken, rice, stir fried veggies
2/5: bowtie pasta with italian sausage and peas, pumpkin bread for dessert
2/6: steak, rice a roni, green salad
2/7: enchiladas, spanish rice, green salad

I splurged a bit this weekend and stocked up on a few things, but I'm hoping that this will save us money later in the month. I bought 2 gallons milk, 2 coffeemate creamers, 1 pound Starbuck's coffee, sour cream, gorgonzola, 3 pizzas, 2 bags tortilla chips, 9 cases pop, 4 bags salad, 2 avocados, 6 bell peppers, cauliflower, apples, asparagus, 10 boxes of rice a roni, 12 tubs of baby food, baby yogurt, baby wagon wheels, baby puffs, and one grande caramel macchiato for me! Grand total: $118.73 (saved $63.44 with coupons and sales). This was my first time using coupons and it wasn't too bad, although it definitely took some planning and a great deal of time since I'm new to it. The way I see it, I just paid myself $63 for a few hours of work and I should get much faster as I figure this stuff out.