A pantry challenge can help you to reign in those rising costs, reduce your food waste, and eat through the food that is currently sitting in your pantry.
There is no denying that food prices are on the rise, from staples like flour and sugar to meat and produce the cost of everything seems to be increasing. A pantry challenge can help you to reign in those rising costs, reduce your food waste, and eat through the food that is currently sitting in your pantry.
So What IS a Pantry Challenge?
A pantry challenge is a set period of time where you commit to not buying new groceries and instead use only the ingredients that you currently have in your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. The length of time that your challenge lasts depends on your family’s budgeting needs, and how much food you currently have on hand.
The shortest pantry challenges are usually a week-long, and the longest ones usually last a month. Depending on your family’s needs you may have to allocate a small, usually no more than $10, amount of money for fresh produce and milk, this is typically for families with young children.
What do you gain ?
You will save money because you won’t be going to the grocery store or eating out. You will reduce your food waste because you will be using all of those bits and pieces of food that you find socked away in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer, and you will be rotating the food that you have because you will be using it to make meals.
How to complete a Pantry Challenge
Before beginning your pantry challenge you will need to take stock of ALL of the food that you currently have in your home. Many people dread this part of the pantry challenge, but it is actually really rewarding because you probably have more food than you think that you do.
Write down everything that you find so you can make a plan for how to use it. For example, if you only have half a dozen eggs in the fridge, you don’t want to use four of them in an omelet if you aren’t going to the store for a while.
That half dozen eggs could be stretched further in pancakes, fried rice, muffins, or a cake for dessert.
Even if you don’t meal plan regularly for the time that you are completing the pantry challenge you will need to plan your meals at least two to three days in advance.
More of the meals that you will be making will be from scratch and some things like cooking dried beans or making stock for soup take some advanced preparation. Only plan for two or three or days in advance though because your inventory will be changing rapidly.
Meal Planning Ideas for Your Pantry Challenge
So what do you eat when completing a pantry challenge? Well, if your pantry is like most you likely have an assortment of pasta, rice, dried beans, canned vegetables, tuna, baking mixes, and a variety of spices. All of these can be used to make a variety of different stews, soups, and casseroles.
Once you add in the ingredients you have in your fridge and freezer there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to make some delicious meals out of what you already have on hand without spending a dime.
If you aren’t sure what to make several websites allow you to put in the ingredients you have that will give you recipes and ideas. If you don’t have an ingredient that the recipe you want to make calls for, look to the internet for substitutions that you do have on hand. Just about every ingredient has a similar substitute or several!
A pantry challenge can be a lifesaver when you know that a big expense is coming up, or one hits you unexpectedly. You can take the money that you normally would have spent on your weekly or monthly grocery trip towards your bill, or simply save it for a rainy day.
Your food gets rotated instead of languishing in the pantry until it is too old to be of any use, and it challenges your creativity when it comes to figuring out what to eat, and you very likely will surprise yourself with the delicious meals that you come up with.
Have you ever completed a pantry challenge before?