The goal of the Pantry Challenge is to spend the month of February (since it's the shortest month!) fashioning meals from what you already have in your pantry, your fridge and your freezer. This means that you will have to do an inventory of what you have now and come up with creative meal ideas throughout the month based on what you have stockpiled. It's super important to know what you have so you can think about recipes and menus! The only items you should shop for in February are fresh fruits and veggies and dairy products that have a short shelf life such as milk and eggs.
For me, I decided on this challenge after clearing out my pantry, fridge and freezer after the holidays and realizing how terribly disrespectful I am with resources---I threw away enough food to feed an entire family of 8 for a week or more! Even if both of my children were home full time, I would never have needed 10 cans of tuna, a dozen jars of pickles and the mountains of other food I had on hand. That clean-out was eye opening for me!
In addition to learning exactly what our consumption is and more than likely saving a few bucks along the way, I am looking forward to challenging myself to find new and interesting recipes using what I have on hand. The idea of the pantry challenge is not to starve but to thrive on what have!
Although I sit here on January 30 feeling excited to partake in this challenge, I am not sure how I will feel around February 15. Hopefully, I will be able to build healthy meals, have some fun doing it and learn a few things along the way. And, possibly spend my extra food money on some fun Spring fashions....
If you plan on participating.....WELCOME TO THE PANTRY CHALLENGE.
If you can't justify doing it now, I sure hope you come along for the ride to see how things are going.
I promise I won't talk about it everyday.
Each Friday, I will give an overview of my week doing it and will share any recipes or tips I gathered along the way. I invite everyone who is participating to do the same in the comments section of the Friday blog post.....
I'm not sure if this will be fun or not but I'm ready to give it a whirl.
Here's a sneak peak at a conversation I had with Carmen last night....
ME: So, we are doing that Pantry Challenge in February so I have to go and stock up at the grocery store.
CARMEN: I thought the idea behind the Pantry Challenge was to use what you have.....
Clearly, I have a long way to go.....
2 comments:
Judi,
Thank you for stopping by my blog!! I hope we will have some fun together discussing fashion and style! I look forward to getting to know you better!!
Pam
I've been doing a Pantry Challenge of my own this month! We're leaving for China on Feb. 20 and will be working there for 4 months. Since the deep freeze wasn't very full and badly needed defrosting anyway, I decided to reduce the amount of frozen food left in the house to what would fit in the freezer compartment of the fridge. The menu has been a bit unusual but I moved the last remaining things into the fridge last night and unplugged the deep freeze! Good luck with your Pantry Challenge. It can be done!
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