Learn about what a pantry challenge is, the “rules” and how to.
I first learned about pantry challenges a couple of years ago from Three Rivers Homestead whom I follow on Instagram. She is a stay at home mother of 8 children who carefully inventories her food and gets the most bang for her buck. She also has a You Tube channel where she recently posted a video. You can find that here. She has many more videos on this topic as well as others.
What is a Pantry Challenge?
A pantry challenge is where you shop from your home. Meaning, you have worked through the season to preserve your harvest with the intention that you will have plenty extra stored in your home in case of emergencies or in this case, you want to challenge yourself and not go grocery shopping and use only food you have in your home. For you this could look like you buy in bulk and have stored up plenty of food on your shelves or in your freezers. It is a good way to clean out some things that have been hidden behind the shelves. It is also a good way to think about how to use what you have in a different kind of way. This does not mean you go out the day before the challenge starts and spend a $1,000 on groceries to get you through. I take this one step further and also make it a don’t spend money challenge as well (other than regular bills).
Are There Rules?
There are really no set rules. You set a time frame you want to participate. Jessica from Three Rivers Homestead does this for 2 months (January and February). I will do it for January for sure and probably part of February if not all of February. Some people, like myself, will have an item or two that they will allow themselves to buy during the challenge. My allow list is almond milk and ice. I’ve got enough bananas frozen to last me the two months but if I run out this item is on my allow list. That’s it!
How to do?
Figure out a date you want to start your pantry challenge. It can be any month or however long you want to do it. It could be right in the middle of summer while you are surrounded by fresh food in your garden. Take the time to plan your pantry challenge and figure out what works for you. Get your neighbors to participate in the challenge as well. Sit down with paper and pen and plan what you will need for that time. Start working towards what you need on the list I included below and get ready. Set the date and go!
In closing, this is a great way to challenge yourself with your creative juices on creating new recipes especially when you get past the first couple of weeks. I think it’s a fun and great way to use up things that may have been sitting around on your shelves for a while. Give it a go and report back on how it went. Any questions, please comment below.
