Eat from the Pantry Challenge: Fatigue is Setting In

I know February is a short month, but this Eat from the Pantry Challenge is wearing me down.

I’ve made a pretty good dent in the contents of our pantry, but I am finding that I’m growing impatient.

Prior to the start of the challenge, I had gotten very used to buying what I needed when I needed it. The Eat from the Pantry Challenge has forced me to open the pantry instead of my wallet. The limitations are starting to frustrate me…. particularly when I don’t have a good alternative to whatever it is I want to use in a particular recipe.

I’ve also realized how often we eat the same 10 things, and I’m a bit bored with our menu.

So to combat the Eat from the Pantry Challenge fatigue, I’m doing the following:

I’m going to do an inventory. I’m going to look back at the month’s menu and determine what we did eat. And I’m going to pay attention to what we didn’t eat that’s still lurking in the pantry and freezer.

I’m going to plan ahead. I’ll be using the information I gather from the inventory to help me devise a menu plan to use up more of those pantry items (or donate what I know we won’t ever use). I’ll be planning our menu around the things we actually enjoy. I’ll make a “sale watch” list of things I want to stock up on when they are on sale.

I’m going to try some new recipes. I’ll be looking for quick and easy recipes that use up what we already have on hand. Nothing breaks you out of a rut more than trying something new.

I’ll congratulate myself on what we’ve already accomplished. Our grocery bill is the lowest it’s been in months. We’re eating out much less often. And I’m enjoying making things from scratch more than I have before. Those are all worthy of a pat on the back.

We’re going to survive the challenge. And I know we’ll be better for it. But I’m definitely looking forward to it being over.

Now it’s your turn: How’s the Eat from the Pantry Challenge going for you? Has the fatigue set in? How are you dealing?