INSIDE: This fun and light-hearted challenge will help you clear out and better-organize your pantry, fridge, and freezer — and save a bit on groceries in the process!
At least once each year, I come to the realization that we simply have too much food in the house (#FirstWorldProblems)
The pantry cabinets are bursting and disorganized, the freezer is stuffed to the max, and there are things way in the back that I’ve forgotten about.
I’m guessing you can relate?
The solution… an Eat-From-The-Pantry (and freezer) Challenge!
Before you assume you could never do this, please know that YOU set your own “rules”.
Make it up as you go.
Be as “strict” or as “easy-going” as you want.
Run the challenge for as long as you’d like, depending on how much food you have on hand and how many people you feed each day.
You can choose to totally avoid all grocery stores, or you can decide to buy a few perishable items at the grocery store but rely on your pantry and freezer for everything else (this is usually how I run my challenges).
While I’d love to share a detailed list of every single recipe I make or food item I purchase during our family’s challenge, I know it wouldn’t be the most helpful for you since you have different foods in your home and different food preferences.
Instead, I’ll share a bit more about how I make this challenge work for our family… and hopefully, inspire you to try something similar for your family!
My Eat-From-The-Pantry “Rules”:
- No buying any frozen, canned, or dried fruits, veggies, beans, etc.
- No buying any meat except the deli ham/turkey as people like this for lunches.
- No buying any snack foods, cereals, chips, crackers, nuts, etc.
- No buying any beverages except milk.
- No buying any baking products or baked goods.
These are not set-in-stone, just a guideline. Do not stress about making and keeping the rules! I explain more about each rule below.
I ran this challenge for about 3 weeks, buying only fresh produce, milk, eggs, and yogurt. I estimated a savings of about $100 each week on “all the other things”.
1. No Frozen, Canned, or Dried Produce:
I was able to use up every last can of fruit, and almost every bag of frozen produce, and we still got to enjoy lots of fresh produce.
I do have almost 50 quarts of home-canned applesauce and several varieties of home-canned jam in the house, so that helps too.
Moving forward… I will continue to buy canned tomatoes, canned black beans, and frozen berries (for smoothies). I will also keep at least one bag of frozen peas and corn in the house as we use those regularly for different soups, salads, and casseroles. However, I don’t need 10 bags of each, and I don’t need canned fruit outside of the applesauce I can myself.
2. No Meat:
We usually have lots of meat in our deep freezer as Dave’s parents gift us with a 1/4 of a cow every Christmas, and I had recently stocked up on chicken, sausage, bacon, and ham.
We were easily able to come up with a huge assortment of meals without buying any more meat from the grocery store — don’t worry, we did NOT go hungry for meat, despite the fact I didn’t buy anything extra for weeks!
Moving forward… I will only buy deli meat until we have a bit more room in our freezer. I’m also trying to do a better job of making one roast or larger cut of meat each week.
3. No Snack Foods:
This one was hard for me — I had gotten so accustomed to buying more of the kids’ favorite snacks that the less favorite snacks were getting lost in the back of the pantry.
I decided to stop buying all snack items until we ate through what we already had in the house.
At first, the kids were a little bummed, but as you’ll see in #5 below, I had lots of baking ingredients to use up, so they were not left without some sweet treats.
And we all really enjoyed this snack mix which I made from a bunch of leftover chips, cereal, nuts, popcorn, etc.
Moving forward… I shouldn’t buy so many snacks!
4. No Drinks Except Milk and Water:
This “rule” was the easiest for me as I rarely drink anything but milk and water (lots of water!)
I recently heard that a huge amount of our daily sugar intake comes form drinks, so I decided this would be a fantastic time to stop buying anything but milk (we have water at home).
Dave does make coffee every morning, but we had 2 cans of it in the freezer already.
Moving forward… I will keep pushing “water” for our family to drink at home and reserve anything else for special occasions. We’ll save lots of money, sugar, and space in our refrigerator!
5. No Baking Products or Baked Goods
My pantry and freezer were full of baking supplies, and since I wasn’t buying any snack foods, I enjoyed baking a variety of treats to use up some of my stockpile.
The kids said their favorite so far has been crushing up graham crackers, and putting them in ice cream with mini chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and chocolate syrup — sort of like an ice cream s’more!
Along with lots of banana muffins, zucchini brownies, truffles, and scotcharoos, I used a bag of Cinnamon Toast Crunch to make a toffee-type candy/brittle that was absolutely addicting!
Moving forward… I won’t bake as much bread in the summer, but I’ll pick it back up again in the fall for sure. In the meantime, I want to get back on track with homemade snacks instead of store-bought snacks.
Of course, it was nice to save a few hundred bucks on groceries… but an even better bonus for me is that my kitchen, pantry, fridge, and freezer are all better organized and I feel like I have a much better handle on our food storage.
I realize my way of doing an eat-from-the-pantry challenge won’t work for every family, but remember… you can make your own rules!
If you’d like to use up some of the food in your house, try new and interesting recipes, and save a bit on your grocery bill, I encourage you to give this type of challenge a try.
Have you done an eat-from-the-pantry challenge before?
If so, what are your thoughts?
Erin says
I don’t think we could do this. We just don’t have a lot of backstop of groceries. I usually just shop for the week and don’t buy much more. Now I’m wondering if I should be stock piling more. We only stock up on meat when its on sale but I can’t think of anything else we buy in bulk other than non food items, hello toliet paper. I think we would be eating cereal or meat every night. Haha
Andrea says
No, don’t change your approach if it’s working for you. I try not to stockpile too much, but when I get on kicks where I want to try new recipes, I end up buying too many ingredients that end up sitting around. And then I realize I accidentally bought more of something I already have… and after a few months, it’s time to whittle down my backstock again. You’re probably just better at staying on top of things 🙂
I do like to keep lots of baking supplies in the house though, b/c I bake a lot and it’s harder to substitute ingredients for baking than it is for cooking.
Debbie says
I need to do this and use up canned things in our pantry, even dry beans. I’m not even sure how old some of the dry beans are by now or if it’s still usable. My problem is finding recipes of how to use them. Would I then have to buy some ingredients just to use the old ingredients?
Andrea says
Debbie, I’m sure your dry beans are still fine (as long as they weren’t exposed to moisture.
And black beans can just be cooked with a little salt and water in your slow cooker. Then you can use them in Mexican recipes (or freeze for later).
Calliope says
Yes! I just finished my own “eat from the freezer” month! I need the freezer to empty so that I can defrost and clean it so it worked out beautifully. I made mexican food, lasagna, tons of banana bread, regular whole wheat breads with multiple seeds I found in a drawer ( always amazed how often I forget so many ingredients in the freezer) and various pies to use up all vegetables, cheeses and herbs. Of course, you gave me the idea to eat from the pantry, so I do it twice a year (before Christmas and before easter). This time I calculated that I saved 300€ as I shopped only fresh fruit, eggs and fresh salads. I did miss my fizzy lemonade drink but I made do with fresh lemonade from my lime tree!
Andrea says
wow — good for you! your homemade lemonade sounds AMAZING!
Enjoy your well-organized freezer and pantry 🙂
Lauren says
Hi Andrea!
We also get a 1/4-1/2 of a cow every year. Byron Center does such a good job! And instead of the ground beef rolls, for a small up charge (I think it was $2 total) they will square pack the ground beef instead of the logs. I don’t care for the logs as they seem like thinner plastic and I find the shape annoying to store. They also will pack any size you like so we switched from 1 lb to 1.25 lb packs last year and we have just a bit more leftovers now!
Andrea says
oh wow — this is information I needed to know!
I also strongly dislike the round logs… I will definitely pay the extra to get them in flat packages — thanks so much!!!
And we also do 1.5 lb. packages as that’s about the “right” size for our family right now.
I’m sure you probably know this, but they will also make some of your ground beef into hamburger patties and package them in groups of 2 or 3. It’s a small upcharge but I love it b/c then I can just pull out however many patties I want and they are ready to grill!
Lynn says
Hi Andrea, I was wondering if you could share the recipe for the Cinnamon Toast Crunch toffee/brittle you mentioned. Thanks.
Andrea says
Hi Lynn,
That was sort of a made-up recipe I tried and never really kept track of what I used.
Here is a similar recipe I found online — you basically mix the cereal with melted butter and brown sugar, then coat it with chocolate! 🙂
Jessy says
Because we are snowbirds with a northern summer cottage as well, we go through this process four times a year. It’s amazing how long two people can go eating from the freezer and pantry even if we haven’t had more than a month to build supply! A very worthwhile challenge.
Rhonda says
We also get a 1/4 beef from a local farmer each year, and I almost always use up the ground beef before the steaks and roasts. I had to figure out ways to remember to make more of those year round so I’m not stuck using it all up each fall before our new meat comes. Have you ever seen the book Make It Fast, Cook It Slow by Stephanie O’Dea? (there is also a Web site with the recipes). Maybe I’ve told you this before, but I landed a cheap copy from thriftbooks.com. She has a few roast and steak recipes I like (one is “broccoli beef” and the other is a “3 packet roast”. Her version of BBQ pulled pork is also very good).
Andrea says
yes, I’ve been doing better — and we LOVE beef roasts so I’m not sure why I don’t just make one a week or something! Thanks for the recipe ideas!
Stephanie says
That’s been me this week with all the snow. Where I live it takes a 4wheel drive vehicle to get through the drifting….
I could’ve gone today, but taking 4 kids in below 0 temps didn’t sound fun.
Plus I used all of January’s budget already…..the snow helped force me to not spend more.
Hoping for school tomorrow just for the sake of shopping.
In the meantime we are all learning we can live without our favorites and that we can stretch our milk, bread, and snacks foods. (My husband on monday did buy the cat some food, some cheese, and some coffee to get us through the week.)
Now to figure out dinner tonight…..I like to grill a lot but with this weather that hasn’t happened.
I can’t wait to make my list after supper.
Ps. I also have seen how much less my grocery bill is if I focus less on snacks and cereal and more on produce and high protein high filling snacks or snacks I make at home.
Andrea says
Oh good — glad your cat didn’t starve and you had your coffee 🙂 Priorities right!!!
Kari says
Hello Andrea 🙂 This is the bread i make. It is a Norwegian recipe,i am Norwegian 😉 . It is a good healthy bread for everyday use. ss= normal spoon size.
Sunnmørsbrød
12dl lukewarm water + 3ss oil
50g yeast
1ss sugar + 1ss salt
1 / 2dl syrup light
200g of rye rough
200g total wheat coarse
100g light-cooked oatmeal
1300g flour
Dissolve the yeast in water and oil with sugar and syrup.
Add all the coarse flour and oatmeal and leave for 15 minutes.
Then apply the wheat flour and knead well for 10 minutes.
Back to 3 loaves of bread and place in well-greased 2 liter bread forms.
Raise for 1 hour.
Brush with eggs.
Fry in the middle of the oven at 180 degrees for 50-60 minutes.
Cool on a rack.
Kari says
I used google translate on this recipe , i hope it makes sense. The recipe is very old. I always use fresh yeast, not freeze-dried. The temperature is in celcius 🙂
Andrea says
thanks Kari!
Jessica says
You should look up Jordan Page’s (I think just funcheaporfree.com?) shelf cooking! She periodically does shelf cooking challenges like this. All her whole philosophy in general is to buy things when they’re on sale and then “shop” your fridge, freezer, and pantry to make your meal plan for the week instead of the way most people plan their meals first and automatically go to the store for the things they need. (Not sure if I’m explaining it well. ) Anyway, all that to say you should look up shelf cooking (and Jordan Page)! It’s always nice to clear things out!
Jessica says
(And I obviously didn’t proof read that before I submitted it! Haha, sorry!)
Andrea says
ok thanks – -I’ll look into that blog!
Natalia says
I love that you made rules and stuck with them!
I did “clean up the fridge” experiments before and “don’t buy groceries for a week”, but they were short and vague. I will borrow your rules (and twick them to fit our needs, ofcourse), the next time I’ll do a challenge like this. And this time around, I’ll enjoy the experience! 🙂
Currently, I’ve been keeping a “use up soon” list on a dry erase board on my fridge, along with a “must get” shopping list and “I want to make” (my very tiny attempt at a menu plan). It seems to work ok for now, but I can see how I could benefit from a challenge like yours, soon!
Thank you for inspiring me once again!
Nicola says
I’d love to learn what dish you made with tuna that your kids ate. Was it some kind of pasta tuna bake?
We are eating through our freezer supplies too and are nearly out of meat, but I do have cans of tuna I could try using to stretch us another week or so before needing to buy a little meat.
I really love this post!! Your stockpile of food sounded so big, I can’t imagine having that much. When we run out of items we just take our jars to the local store and refill from the bulk section so we always have the nuts, grains, sugar, baking soda, etc etc we need, but never more than a big jar full. We try and have a packaging-free pantry.
T says
me too! trying to make more tuna dishes & would love that recipe/idea.
Margaret says
In years past I had a pantry full of food, mostly legumes and grains–I’m vegetarian. It was a huge security thing for me to know that I could eat for weeks no matter what happened. I also had a lot of home-canned vegetables and fruit behind the books on my bookshelves, neatly alphabetized from applesauce to zucchini.
And that’s all changed in the last 15 years. I do have more financial security now, but the way I eat has transformed–I’ve had to go low-carb to manage Type 2 diabetes, so now I eat almost entirely fresh food. I no longer need a huge backstock of carbs, and I’ve realized I don’t really care for canned vegetables, except tomatoes for soups. I prefer them fresh, or roasted, or stir-fried, and fresh works better for all of those. I do freeze fruit for my breakfast yogurt parfaits.
Another major change was that I’ve shifted to eating mostly local food. I have a CSA from my farmer’s market that runs from May to December, so that’s where almost all my food comes from in those months. In the winter in Indiana trying to eat fresh, local, and low-carb is an unworkable combination, so the balance shifts to my food co-op. Still fresh, but a lot more carbon miles, since the veggies mostly come from California.
I’ve been reading through your archives, and remember a photo of your week’s grocery haul from 7 or 8 years ago. I tried not to judge (That’s not real food!), but realized my own from 15 years ago would have looked similar. You’ve made a lot of comments over the years about “moderation”, and I wonder if you’ve noticed how much your Overton Window has shifted?
This is NOT a criticism. I applaud the changes you’ve made, and hope you inspire others to make them as well.
Andrea says
Yes, I do think food can be a security thing for many people — sounds like we both have a healthier relationship with food now versus a decade ago!
Also, I have definitely thought about how much our diet has changed over the years. We still do enjoy Culver’s, Arby’s, and some processed foods, but I also buy SO many more fruits, veggies, and unprocessed foods.
I guess I’d still say we practice a life of moderation, but that “moderation does look quite a a bit differently that in did 10 years ago!
Heather Ratliff says
At the end of December, our dep freezer was so packed with baked goods and bread products (many of which I had baked for our local fair in September!). We had a lot of other leftovers and bits and pieces of things. I decided I was done and that January would be our pantry challenge. I usually plan meals and shop for a month at a time so this would be a challenge for me. I started with a list of everything in the freezer and pantry and started making weekly meal plans. We’re four weeks in and can probably go for another week or two. I have bought some things (my husband is low carb and NEEDS meat so he chooses some pork from the store and that usually lasts a week or so) and I relented and bought more cereal for breakfast so we had some variety. I enjoy doing this every once in a while. It reminds my kids that we don’t have an endless supply of money to just buy everything they want. Plus, my freezer emptied out and our grocery budget is less (about half in January!). Thanks for highlighting this for others who might not think about it.
Andrea says
wow — that’s fantastic! Good for you!
Debby says
Last week I had emailed you and said that I can go to the grocery store 4 or more times a week. We live in the country and when we go to town I always end up in the store for something. Yesterday my friend FaceTime me while I was on my way to town (my husband was driving). First thing she said was “if you’re going to the grocery store I’m sending you to therapy.” Lol. She’s a “once a month shopper”. Just for the record I didn’t go but I could have thought of something I just couldn’t do without. So far I haven’t missed anything so I’m doing good living out of the pantry and freezer.
Andrea says
oh yes, I remember! Glad you did NOT go to the store!!! and glad you aren’t missing anything too badly 🙂
Barbara says
I started doing this about the same time as you did and I still have a good bit of meat and canned veggies to use up. We have been eating very well and it feels good to slowly work our way through our stockpile. I agree with you that I need some new rules going forward to avoid stockpiling items we really don’t need. Looking forward to your pantry/freezer organization post. Also, I would love your recipe using the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal.
Barbara says
BTW, one of the best treats I have made (twice!) during this pantry/freezer challenge is your chocolate caramel brownies! We all loved them and I wish I had more caramels in my stockpile so we could make them again.
Andrea says
oh yes, we LOOOOVE those caramel brownies. I actually just made them last week too. Now I have ONE more bag of caramels to “use up” and then we probably won’t have those brownies for a while as I have many other baking items to use up before I buy more!
Avia says
I have been doing this too! Especially since we are getting ready to do a kitchen remodel. We are slowly tearing out old cabinets and I’m try to use up, purge or donate to clear up space. We could for sure go three months without buying much except fresh produce, dairy and some meat.
Roxanne says
For the past couple of weeks I’ve been making what I dubbed “leftover meatloaf” by cleaning out the fridge of random items in various storage containers. I always start with a pound of ground beef and then add in whatever I can find- last week our meatloaf incorporated the last serving of chicken and rice casserole, some wilted celery (chopped) the remainder of a bag of baby spinach (also chopped before adding to the meat) and some leftover farro. Adding ketchup and seasonings masked all the “out-of-place” flavors and my husband and kids loved it! Plus I’m wasting less food and hiding more veggies in our meals 🙂 I’ll have to see what other creative ways I can use up other items around my kitchen.
Andrea says
This is AWESOME! I never thought to do something like this, but my family LOVES meatloaf. I’m totally “stealing” this idea soon!
KR says
Oh I just did this with chili. Beans, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, and all the leftovers and unused vegetables we had in our fridge. Great way to use up everything.
Andrea says
another great idea — thanks for sharing!
Chris says
I i do the same thing with fruits, etc. I throw them into smoothies.
Andrea says
yup, this is what we do with fruits too!
Jen says
I love to do this periodically! I don’t tend to “stock up”on things, but I do a “Free the Freezer” challenge at least once a year to clear it out so I can defrost it. The biggest difference in my grocery budget lately?? Sending my two hungry teenage boys to college! Of course, we are “paying” in a different way, but shopping and cooking has been sooo much easier! When the boys were home for Christmas break, they were like “What the heck do you guys eat? There’s no food in the house!” And I spent so much money feeding them for a month! I admit, this is one of the unexpected perks of the empty nest that we are enjoying very much! Jeff is much like Dave (but we knew that! lol!). He’s so non-picky and will really eat most anything so that helps, too!
Andrea says
I feel like your life is essentially mine in 15 years 🙂
I love hearing your stories and thinking, “that’s what Dave and My life will be like in just a few years”
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Meghan says
Thank you for this update! I so need to do this. My pantry and freezer is embarrassingly full, and I get security from it. I think if I make grocery shopping rules it will really help.
Linda M says
I totally identify with the feeling of security of a fully stocked freezer and pantry! But, I also need to do this challenge.
Andrea says
yes exactly — it’s that feeling security. So crazy what food (or lack of food) can do to us!
Andrea says
That’s exactly how I felt — they were “embarrassingly full”. Now, all my cabinets, freezers, and refrigerators have a lot of extra “breathing room”! It feels great!
Nancy says
It’s amazing how much we can accumulate and not even be aware of it, isn’t it?
When we still had kids at home, I would do a pantry challenge in January and July each year. Now that it’s just the 2 of us, our pantry is never as full as it used to be however, last night I took inventory of my refrigerator freezer and planned next week’s menu around the odds & ends that are in there – – some chopped ham will be used in a frittata, chopped turkey will be used in a turkey & wild rice veggie soup, leftover buffalo chicken will be used in a buffalo chicken dip, etc. I can’t wait to have the random bits used up!
Andrea says
yes, I just kept buying more and more because I was used to buying certain things even though we had stopped eating those things. Crazy!
Also, your leftover menu sounds delicious!
Sarah says
Funny you posted this! I’m getting ready to do this myself, particularly with meat in the deep freeze and pantry items. Thanks for the ideas!
Andrea says
oh too funny — hope you enjoy your leftovers and all the extra space you’ll soon have!
Kim says
Oh yes, this is such a good thing to do! In fact, please excuse me, I am off right now to inventory my freezer.
🙂
Andrea says
haha — have fun!
Laura says
I was googling “farro recipes” for just this reason yesterday! I like to experiment in the kitchen a lot but then have weird odd and ends leftover. I decided a few weeks ago to use up all of that stuff.
Andrea says
use it just like you would rice in a Chicken, Broccoli “rice” casserole, or in Chicken and “Rice” soup. I use Farro regularly and we REALLY like it!
Pamela says
I can’t recall — Do you have a Costco membership? If so, I highly recommend the tortillas in the refrigerated section. They are just raw dough so you have to cook them yourself but it’s SUPER quick and easy. They have very few ingredients (unlike the shelf-stable pantry ones), just canola oil, water, yeast, and salt, if I remember correctly. They are soooooo delicious!
Also, I’d love more posts on grains. I have a Nutrimill and love it, but I only use it for wheat. I need to expand my repertoire!
Chris says
Wal-Mart has something similar. We love them!
Andrea says
you know what, I JUST saw those tortillas at costco this week and thought “I wonder if those taste good”
I will have to buy some next time I’m there. Thanks!
Allison says
I have done this same thing too and I love working through the cupboards and making meals and snacks that feel “free” to me. 🙂 It creates more space in the cupboards and uses up those pesky items that are always there. My latest idea was to use up a new tomato soup recipe that my family didn’t love and use the leftover soup as spaghetti sauce. My 3 kids had no idea!
Andrea says
good call with the tomato soup. we usually never have leftovers of tomato soup, but I’ve done similar things with foods the kids “don’t like”. It’s amazing what they’ll eat when they don’t know they’re eating it 🙂
Stephanie says
This post is so helpful and inspiring! I have been planning for us to eat down our pantry but this has helped with specific rules and ideas. I may be a little more challenged as I have a teenager who is very picky. I think the rest of the family will pretty much be on board. I am very much looking forward to seeing what you plan to do with your pantry going forward. Thanks so much for the fresh ideas!
Andrea says
Please don’t feel obligated to follow my rules — use them as guidlines and tweak them to fit what you feel will work best for your family!
Oh, and have fun with it too!! 😉
Chris says
I really enjoyed this post. I am doing something similar, except I don’t have rules, I am just buying less groceries and really trying to use up a lot out of my pantry and freezers. Yes, sometimes I have weird meals 🙂 Yesterday it was tortillini with alfredo sauce, a hot dog, and red beets. . I also am trying to simplify my life and have started a list of foods I will no longer buy, such as almond milk for healthy smoothies and Lara bars since I don’t really eat those types of snacks anymore, since I’m really cutting back on snacks in general. It feels good to have some limits. I also have gotten moths in my rice before so realize I need to not stockpile as much.
Andrea says
haha — yes, you don’t need “rules” I just knew people would ask for more specifics, so I shared my rules 🙂