The Eat Down - January Challenge of the Pantry and Freezer

Most people make some type of resolution at the beginning of a new year whether it's to lose weight, exercise more, spend less money, make more money, spend time with family, on and on. One in two people make them but less even keep them. Most have given up by day 21 and even more never make it until the end of the year. Those that do, will probably have some type of life changing experience. While this year I did not make any resolutions (because nothing can beat "Funnier in 2000), there is one Challenge that I do want to try and that is The Pantry-Freezer Eat Down!

Take a look at those photos. That is ALOT of food. It was all bought with a purpose. Some of it was such great prices it made sense to buy it. Yes, there's alot of junk food there, too. Big and Little Challenge regularly blow through boxes of cereal, crackers, microwave popcorn and mac n' cheese. Then there are the pantry staples of pasta, canned fruits and vegetables, baking supplies, coffee/tea, and so on. It's all recently bought and fresh although there could be a stray box or can of something that is quite suspect. Usually it's rather organized by item type/container. It's out of hand.

The freezer is no less full. It's stock full of frozen fruits for smoothies, veggies, chicken, hamburger, frozen breakfasts, desserts, and bakery items. Again, there is probably a stray item in there way past its prime, an undiscovered frozen treasure of sorts.

It's basically a normal pantry and freezer. Nothing special in the types of foods. We are just a normal family. So, with that, I think I will challenge my family to an EAT DOWN! No, not a beat down, an eat down. There's almost two weeks left of the month, and I would like to see how much of it we can eat on a normal basis for normal meals without having to buy any additional products. We may have to get creative once we run out of a related component of a meal such as butter on noodles instead of pasta sauce once that's gone. Get it?

I challenge you to stop buying goods for the next two weeks and EAT DOWN your pantry, cabinets, fridge, etc. Maybe once it's at a lower level, we can replace it with less junk, sweets and all around processed foods. That could be the next challenge. Slow, baby steps. Good luck!