As many of you know the Hubz and I are moving to a new apartment at the end of the month and since I don’t want to have to pack up everything in my cupboards I have decided that it is time for another pantry challenge. Basically I will only be allowed to buy $20 of fresh produce and spices/nutritional yeast for the remainder of the month. We have a CSA that is starting June 16th that comes every week so that will be on top of the $20 we are “allowed” to spend on fresh produce. Also additionally there is a strict NO EATING OUT rule for this month the only exception is for my daily coffee/tea at the coffee shop where I go to work in the mornings before work. I challenge YOU to try this pantry challenge as well. Please feel free to approach this challenge in anyway that you would like (i.e. if you have a family of 4 you may allow for $40 and/or you may allow yourself to purchase non-dairy milks, tofu, ect.).
Why should you participate?
- To create new recipes
- To save money
- To limit the waste of food
- BECAUSE IT’S FUN!
I’m excited to see how well I do, while still eating healthy. If you would like to participate as well please leave a comment telling me about your plans for this challenge. Also if you have a blog I encourage you to blog about this challenge and do weekly updates about it. I will be blogging each week detailing how much I spent that week and the meals that I made using the items I purchased, the items from our CSA and of course everything from our pantry/fridge/freezer.
Q: Have you ever tried a pantry challenge? How well did it go for you?
I am excited to try this! Would feel so good to start off the summer with a cleaned out pantry!
Ah again, I remember last time you did this I was quite inspired by your creations!! Unfortunately when I “try” I still manage to goof on going out to eat, and being slightly uncreative. Maybe I’ll get reinspired by your first week!
Don’t let yourself feel too constrained by the challenge- if you go out to eat once and awhile big deal and don’t feel like you have to be overly creative- keep things simple. My favorite pantry challenge meal is brown rice, steamed broccoli, roasted carrots and garlicky beans topped with hot sauce, nama shoyu and nutritional yeast. Simple yet healthy, filling and delicious!
Good luck! I don’t think I have enough pantry space to really do this kind of challenge, but I tend to do a mini-one every week and make sure I use up my old grains and beans and nuts before I buy new ones. I could stand to spend less on produce, though.
Oh boy, we did this last summer before we moved across the country. It was amazing what creative dishes I made, and some of them were really good! We also did several “meze” type dinners of a few smaller dishes. The freezer was a treasure trove, though. Sometimes I forget to use my frozen veggies.