Today is the Start of the Spring Pantry Challenge – What to Expect and How to Get Started!
Today is the start of the Spring Pantry Challenge! If you’re joining us this time, you’ll be able to use up most of what’s in your refrigerator, freezer, pantry, and cupboards, and save on grocery costs for the next 2 weeks. Does this sound like a great plan? Then keep reading and let’s get started!
When to Do a Pantry Challenge and How Long It Takes
At Home Ever After, we recommend doing pantry challenges several times a year so that you can use up the stockpiled food in your pantry or kitchen cupboards. Believe me when I say that there is nothing less frugal than throwing away expired food that you never had a chance to use!
If you have a bigger stockpile, you may be able to keep your pantry challenge going for longer than 2 weeks. If you have a very small kitchen and not very much food stocked up, your pantry challenge may only go for one week. The length of time really isn’t important though. During this pantry challenge what we really want to accomplish is getting all of the older food (canned items, boxed items, dry goods, grains, boxed cereals, etc.) used up so that it doesn’t keep getting pushed to the back of the cabinets.
What to Expect if this is Your First Pantry Challenge
If this is your first time doing a pantry challenge with Home Ever After, here’s what you can expect.
→ While the challenge is underway, you’ll only be buying grocery items that are baby foods, baby formula, and perishable foods, such as milk, eggs and produce. If you’re a hard-core pantry challenger like me, you’ll even be skipping the produce on your shopping trips and opting to use up your canned fruits, canned vegetables, and frozen veggies in meals as substitute ingredients.
→ Today is the only day during your pantry challenge that you can shop for grocery items that are not perishable. Since today is day 1, you’ll be planning your meals and finding out what ingredients you are missing to use up what you have in your pantry. For example, if you have all the ingredients to make open face tuna sandwiches for your 20 cans of tuna except for mayonnaise, put mayonnaise on your shopping list today.
→ You’ll see a starting post, like the one that you’re reading right now. This reminds you that it’s time to start the pantry challenge.
→ You’ll do a food inventory, which includes logging all the food in your refrigerator, freezer, kitchen cabinets, pantry, and any other food storage area you might have. The food inventory is an actual count on a piece of paper of which foods you have on hand and how many of each item you have.
This may seem very old-fashioned and low tech, but it really is the best method I have found to watch your food items dwindle down. The paper method works so well because you can print it out, put it on your refrigerator, and cross off or highlight each item once you’ve completely used it up. You’ll also want to use pencil on the quantities so that you can erase and change the numbers each time use up one of something.
→ You’ll see frequent reminders about the pantry challenge on HomeEverAfter.com and the Home Ever After Facebook page. We’ll check in with you to see how you’re hanging in there and to make sure that you have inspiration and support to keep going all the way to the end of your challenge.
What to Read Before You Start Your 1st Pantry Challenge
Since you know that pantry challenges are a staple at Home Ever After, we’ve got quite a few past posts on the subject. If you’re like me, you like to learn all that you can about something before you get started. It’s also helpful to see the pantry challenge as part of the bigger picture of homemaking. Click on any of the articles below to read up on the how and why of both creating and using up food stockpiles before you start your pantry challenge.
How to Use up Food in a Pantry Stockpile. In this article, you’ll see how I spent only $20 for an entire month of groceries during a pantry challenge. You’ll also learn step-by-step how to use up a food stockpile during a pantry challenge.
Pantry Challenge: Just Do It! In this article, you’ll see a little bit about what one of my long pantry challenges looked like for my family at the two-week mark.
Recession Proof Your Pantry and Food In this article, learn how to prepare your family’s food supply for the possibility of a hard time without hoarding or wasting!
2 Week Challenge: It’s Time to Use Up the Pantry!
Spring Pantry Challenge: What to Do Next
Step 1: Make a food inventory.
Step 2: Make at least 2 weeks of menu plans trying to use up as many ingredient as you can from what you have on hand.
Step 3: Make a shopping list that includes all ingredients you’re missing to make the meals on your menu plans.
Step 4: Do your last grocery shopping trip (except trips for perishables) and start your pantry challenge first thing in the morning!
That’s it – let’s use it up! You’re all set to get started on your very first pantry challenge (or, if you’re an experienced stockpile user, your next pantry challenge)! You’ve got a busy day ahead of you getting all of your steps completed, so good luck and we’ll be checking in with you in a few days. As always, feel free to leave a comment below if you have questions or if you just want to share your strategies for how you do pantry challenge in your house. We’d love to hear from you!
