That’s not so difficult!
Pesto = Mozzarella tomato basil sandwiches, pesto grilled cheese, pizza, pasta, on chicken for bf, in a veggie wrap.
Tomatoes = huge pot of chili, pizza sauce ^, mild salsa (could use some peppers), tomato bisque (uses a ton at once)
Hot Peppers + Corn = Salad, just add bean, apple cider vinegar, etc.
Jam + Pumpkin = Thank you/going away gifts! Basket of pumpkin bread and jam would be perfect.
Ooooo pesto grilled cheese. Actually, I think I might put it on flatbread too for pesto pizza. YUM. Mostly it goes in pasta. Boyfriend doesn’t like pesto (that’s fine, more for me!) Also: Eat from jar with spoon. YUMMMM.
My homecanned tomatoes are basically a chunky sauce and I find it too runny for salsa. (I do have a few jars of homecanned salsa too but that won’t be a problem finishing that off. Tomato soup is a good idea. The roasted tomato soup that someone suggested here came out fantastic but these are too runny to oven roast. Regular tomato soup should work though! Maybe stir some dairy into it?
I could do a lot of baking and give it away. Or put it in the mutual aid fridge. I’d just have to do it before Boyfriend inhales it all. 
(he asked me to stop baking after the Xmas baking extravaganza, we both SUPER overindulged. Also there is still homemade pie.)
Another idea for pumpkin is a crustless pumpkin pie/custard. I used to make it all the time in college and eat it for breakfast! It’s got everything, protein + carbs + fat, and pumpkin is a veggie! What a nutritional breakfast haha. But seriously, it’s really good! I used to hoard canned pumpkin so I could make it every week
Thank you! I just realized I can also put it in smoothies with some honey and spices. I did this once a long time ago when Boyfriend had wisdom teeth surgery around Thanksgiving and thus I had a lot of pumpkin around.
That’s not a problem, you can still use them! Either strain them (put in a colander and press down to release water) or you can pour out the excess liquid and mix the remaining tomatoes with a bit of tomato paste and sugar. The third option is to heat it and cook it down a bit, and then you can still thicken if you need to, with either corn starch or paste.
Pesto rice is also delightful, if you’ve never had it.
Taco/burrito bowls could use up some of the peppers and corn. I usually make taco meat and then add rice, frozen corn, black beans, and all of the taco fixing you like (cheese, sour cream, salsa, etc).
Okay! A few of you got to witness the meltdown leading to this meal plan and further grocery shopping.
But here we go - covid meal plan for plant based preggers and keto husboo and meat loving toddler
Breakfasts
Oatmeal, cereal, fruit, toast, rice cakes, boiled eggs, (might do a frittata later in the week)
Lunches
Cauliflower soup
Butternut squash soup
Greens with cheese or canned fish
After Thursday - sandwiches and quesadillas with corn tortillas
Midnight snack - leftovers, rice cake and hummus, Lara bar
Dinner
Monday - cauliflower soup, salmon and roasted green beans, rice and hummus
Tuesday - sausages with frozen cauli mash, fried rice or rice bowl with sauteed cabbage and bean patties
Wednesday - pasta and jarred sauce
Thursday/could switch with Friday depends on what time delivery happens - fancy bahn mi salad, ginger beef stir fry kit
Friday - chicken drumsticks, veggie sautee, tofu? Bean patties?
pumpkin soup is incredible. saute some onions, add some ginger, add the pumpkin and some broth, cook it down for a while, and add a little cream or maybe some of that yogurt at the end. YUMMY
Oh, hmm, I think I have a recipe bookmarked somewhere that’s similar. It might have potatoes in it too?
I do love pumpkin chili but, uh, it did not love me. Pumpkin plus black beans plus pinto beans may have =, uh, too much fiber?
Oh yeah I think it was budget bytes had a sausage and pumpkin soup that was to die for, let me see if i can find that-
Maybe not budget bytes can’t find it it was similar to this-
I spent $132 at Aldi and got a boatload of stuff including 10 lb. ground beef and 10 lb. flour plus a lot of veggies including some salad kits which I figured I’d try since they were cheaper than plain greens. The sales were great this week! I stocked up on a lot of basics too, like red wine vinegar, butter, and eggs. Here’s my meal plan for the next little while, I’m all mixed up schedule-wise since I did a mid-week shop last week and again this week! I normally only plan 3 dinners per week (with leftovers it makes 7 nights worth of food, sometimes more) but I think 2 will work this week since the lasagna is going to be large and filling, plus I have plenty of pantry and freezer stuff if I need to whip something up.
Breakfast- Hash Brown + Vegmeat Frittata / Rice and Avocado
Lunch- White Bean and Chicken w/ Sour Cream
Dinner #1- Butternut Squash Lasagna + Garden Salad (lettuce, tomato, zucchini)
Dinner #2- Pad Prik King + Orek Tempeh + Pork Larb + Rice
Not expecting to do anything tomorrow, so I can report that this was mostly how things went. Split groceries and gas was actually $60. Unexpectedly bought a bunch of stuff off of a friend’s baby registry. Spent more than we would have usually because it is a friend of both fiancé and I. I am a sucker for the nostalgic board book titles. I had forgotten about Color Zoo! Baby noodle loved that one.
Stopped myself from buying a perfume–I should get through more samples first, there might be something I like more! And I could ask for it for my birthday in March. Wedding flower deposit due 1/20 but I can pay myself back quickly with the remaining 1/12th of 2021 bonus we’ll get in February. Slowly accepting that I just won’t be able to save much til the wedding is over.
Saving for a home is going well! Just transferred another $500 to savings and I already paid the balance on both credit cards. Now I need to do some strategizing for future purchases. I need quite a few kitchen things because I put off replacing stuff for too long. I wish there was a large midrange cooking store I could go to, because I prefer to feel things before I buy them, but the only brick and mortars are really expensive or department stores (poor selection). I think I’ll just accept I may have to do a lot of returns to get what I want via online shopping. Ok, so here’s the list:
caldero
medium skillet (12 in. w/ lid)
large saute pan (w/ lid)
deep frying pan (w/ lid)
1 tbsp cookie scoop
silicone baking mats
steamer mat
muffin tins (standard)
sifter (easy to use option?)
casserole pan (bigger than 9x13)
bread knife
I think I’ll try and buy one thing a pay period (every two weeks) and alternate expensive and inexpensive items. The first thing I want to buy is a bread knife, specifically this bread knife:
ETA: Just purchased it. I’m so excited!
ETA II:
Sur La Table Classic 5-Ply Stainless Steel Sauté Pan, 5 Qt. | Sur La Table (I have eliminated this one from the running. It’s the only one that isn’t oven safe and it’s the most expensive. I also couldn’t use metal utensils with it, so it is out. It’s the prettiest one of course, lol!)
https://www.crateandbarrel.com/green-pan-valencia-pro-ceramic-nonstick-4.5-quart-saute-pan-with-glass-lid/s227127 (This pan has been eliminated due to a fellow OMDer’s experience of it only lasting for 2-3 years. I use my cookware so heavily there’s no way that’s good enough! Thanks to panda for the inside scoop!)
https://www.crateandbarrel.com/all-clad-ha1-hard-anodized-non-stick-4-qt.-saute-pan-with-lid/s643316
I’m surprised crate and barrel has such good selection for cookware! I bought my couch there so I know a local store but I don’t even remember a kitchen section. Maybe I’ll call them and see if they have these in stock so I can compare in person!
Ohhh it’s so fancyyyyy!
I really love their knives! They stay sharp forever.
I let fiancé pick the last round of knives we needed and he didn’t get a bread knife with a cover and next time that will be a requirement!
I was reading through your post and about to reply “show us what you end up choosing!” and then I saw you are listing what you are thinking about purchasing…awesome! I am also looking to purchase a lot of the items on your list since I’m going to have my own kitchen for the first time in a while. Interested to see what items you end up choosing!
Also, I don’t know how you feel about used cookware, but I’ve been stalking a lot of Ebay listings for All-Clad since using them when I was house sitting, and there are some pretty good deals!
I love used cookware! Almost everything I have now is used but I haven’t had a lot of luck in thrift stores here lately. I’m not sure if they aren’t getting as much stuff or what but I do want to try again because the markup for new is so high. I hadn’t thought of eBay!
I’m so messed up from midweek grocery shopping that I sent my husband to Aldi today even though we went so recently. I have to get back on schedule! So now I have a sort of extended meal plan; I haven’t made the pad prik king dinner yet but I have other lunches/dinners planned for after that.
Dinner #2- Pad Prik King + Orek Tempeh + Pork Larb + Rice
Dinner #3- Beef Chili Cornbread Casserole + Salad
Dinner #4- Falafel + Pita + Tomato/Onion/Cucumber + Tahini Sauce + Hot Sauce + Pickled Beets + Spicy Pickled Carrots
Dinner #5- Arancini (beef/pork) + Marinara
We’re still eating the white beans and chicken for lunch and when that’s done I’m going to make corn chowder. I’m also planning on making massive portions of Arancini so I can freeze a bunch (they freeze so well!) and I’ll also make a huge double pot of Beef Chili because I need to restock my freezer with easy meals. It’ll be a lot of cooking this week but worth it!