Do you accumulate excess food when you grocery shop? Perhaps it’s a spice you purchased for one dish or a can of beans you didn’t use for last week’s Taco Tuesday. These items can stick around for months or years up until you finally toss the ended items, producing food waste and unnecessary expenditures.
The 2024 TikTok Pantry Challenge interest individuals who are tired of tossing pricey groceries and dares them to utilize these neglected products. We explain the why and how of this trend so you can (finally) declutter your kitchen, refrigerator, and freezer– while eating well and saving cash.
What Are the Rules of the TikTok Pantry Challenge?
The TikTok Pantry Challenge, which uses hashtags #shopmypantry and #pantrychallenge 2024, encourages households to clear out their pantries and freezers by making meals with what they currently have in stock. The caveat is that you likewise don’t buy any brand-new groceries or takeout food for a set period, whether a week or a month.
The start of this challenge is comparable to a regular kitchen area declutter, where you inventory your pantry, fridge, and freezer. Research what recipes will fit (at least partly) with what you need to utilize up.
How to Use Up Your Extra Food
This difficulty feels like an episode of Chopped, where you think about innovative methods to blend unexpected active ingredients. A similar TikTok pattern, chaos cooking, will get your imaginative juices going, but here are some other tried-and-true methods you can use up older components.
Substitute Ingredients in One-Pot Meals
One-pot meals make cooking and tidying up simple, which can take some of the pressure off when trying to feed a family with what you currently have actually equipped. A bonus offer is that these meals generally use pantry staples that you can quickly replace. For example, if the dish requires crushed tomatoes, use the dusty can of stewed tomatoes you have in the kitchen rather.
Freeze Big-Batch Cooking
This pantry obstacle helps you use older active ingredients in your kitchen, refrigerator, and freezer, but that doesn’t indicate what you make should be consumed right now. Pick a dish that will consume products in your pantry, like big-batch chili, then freeze specific portions that you can utilize throughout the month. This action will help you purchase less (or no) groceries for longer.
Repurpose Ingredients Past Their Prime
Simply because something is old does not imply it’s ruined. Change a little stagnant bread (without mold) into croutons, stuffing, or French toast. Use browning bananas for banana bread, healthy smoothies, or pancakes. Turn older, a little stagnant cereals into granola bars or path mix. Mix fresh but slightly wilted greens into pesto or boil them into vegetable stock. (You get the idea.).
Keep It Simple.
Some recipes have numerous active ingredients and steps, however consuming well throughout this difficulty does not require to be complicated. Utilize what you have for uncomplicated dishes that do not skip out on needed nutrients. When preparing meals, begin with a total protein and construct around that with a fast starch and produce. Use all your spices if you have excess flavorings in your kitchen, however a little salt and pepper will go a long way if you do not.
