The $21 challenge

We took the $21 challenge and actually spent $14.60 for the week.   We bought mushrooms, oranges, mandarins, beetroot, lettuce and a capsicum at the market and later in the week we bought milk.  For the rest, we used what we had at hand in the freezer, the pantry and the garden and we ate a lot better than you might expect. 
If you are going to try this - and you should - start with a meal plan and focus on using the things you've had tucked away for a while and haven't got around to using.  You might find some interesting things!  For Sunday lunch we ate some corn muffins from the freezer while for dinner we had mushrooms and chard with pearl barley.  This was another great find from the New York Times in the 'recipes for health' section, so it has to be good.  We bought the mushrooms from our allowance and everything else we had in the cupboard or garden.     
We certainly had most things on hand for lunches, including a lamb backstrap in the freezer. We have some lamb's lettuce in the garden & a few remnants of rocket plus sorrel & herbs so we were able to rustle up a salad every day.  When the lamb ran out we had falafels from the freezer. 
Day two was the last of the pea & ham soup from the freezer.  This was the soup we made with the end of the Christmas ham. Accompanied of course, by a slice of trusty sourdough, lightly toasted. Mmmm.
Day three was spicy bean stew from the freezer.  We had planned to make this fresh because it mostly uses beans & vegetables we already had in the fridge or pantry, but then I discovered we had some in the freezer from a previous week so used that instead.  This is a meal that always has left overs when we we make it for two and it freezes well.  This used to be a family standby and it's quick to make, so I often did it when we had to go to an event at school in the evening.  Phoebe said that this was the meal we always had when she was going to perform in a musical recital and so she associated it with butterflies in her stomach.  I hope she likes it better now.  You can make it go further by adding a chopped chorizo.  We always keep some in the freezer. The stew calls for a dollop of pesto  but we didn't have any so I used some zhoug left over from another meal at the weekend.  Note I make my zhoug from parsley because of that coriander thing. 
Day four we used one of the pumpkins from my autumn display and made a pumpkin risotto.  I roasted the  peeled, diced pumpkin at 180 for 1/2 an hour.  Just toss it in a little olive oil, salt & pepper & grate on some nutmeg.  I made a basic risotto using a leek from the garden.  At the end I folded through the roasted pumpkin, some Serrano ham (that I had bought for another meal the week before and not used) & some Parmesan.  There were a few roasted almond slivers in a small container so I sprinkled them on top.
Day five, we had a khoresht from the freezer.  I added some frozen peas and served on rice.  There was a small container of chopped pistachios & rose petals in the pantry so I sprinkled them on the top.
On Friday we usually have an omelette and we had saved the eggs left from the previous week for this.  We were really low on cheese but had just enough for the omelette & used up the last of the Serrano ham.  We also still had enough fresh veg and some buche zickli (that was for the same meal as the ham...) for a salad.
Saturday lunch we had some toast with the last few slices of cheese - sliced very thinly, and some lemon chutney. 
But I felt day seven's dinner was the master stroke.  We had had a shoulder of lamb earlier in the year when we had guests & the left overs weren't going to get used at the time, so I just shredded the meat & froze it.  Perfect for a delicious pie, perhaps?  I sauteed a leek & carrot from the garden with half an onion from the fridge & some garlic.  I added some rosemary & bay leaves & the last of the lentils I'd cooked for the lunches.  There was a jar of artichoke hearts in the pantry (naturally) so I added a couple of those, a dash of quince splash, some grated lemon rind & juice, the end of a bottle of white wine from the fridge & the lamb.  I put the mix into individual ramekins and covered with the last lonely sheet of puff pastry languishing in the freezer & brushed with milk.  I would normally have used an egg but that seemed like an extravagance.  I baked the pies at 180 for 1/2 an hour and they were truly delicious.
A friend had given is some windfall Granny Smith's for juicing and we used a couple of those to make an apple crumble which we served with the last of the feijoa ice cream from the freezer.
So, we ate really well on our budget and even had $6 left at the end of the week.  I definitely plan to do this again - possibly once a month.  It was a great idea to get things used up and we did have to think a bit more carefully about what we were eating - no coffees at work, except what's provided, for example.  The toughest thing was fruit.  Peter went without bananas because they are expensive and we didn't buy feijoas & passionfruit.  Using up freezer stock was great.  We just used what had been there the longest.  The other thing I will do next time is look more carefully in the pantry and use the things that I don't usually think of. Harriet did well too and like us found it easier than she expected.  Next time I am hoping more people will join us.