Get ready to eat down the fridge (again)

A Washington Post blogger throws down a challenge to anyone who has a pantry full of food.

Thu, Jun 11 2009 at 12:49 AM EST

Photo: morgantepsic/Flickr

Back in March, I wrote a post on Digging in Your Pantry. The gist – you’ve got food in your pantry, eat it instead of going to the grocery store to by more food. The same subject was also covered by Washington Post blogger Kim O’Donnel in her A Mighty Appetite blog. Over 100 people joined O’Donnel in what she called “Eating Down the Fridge,” a challenge to eat what you had in your fridge, freezer and pantry for a week instead of buying more food.

O’Donnel found that those who took the challenge were so enthusiastic that she’s throwing down the challenge again in Eating Down the Fridge, Round 2. The challenge has its own Facebook page with over 325 members.

Round 2 will run from June 20-26, and if you e-mail O’Donnel you can be placed on her EDF Summer Honor Roll. What’s the purpose of eating down the fridge instead of buying more food? Wasting less food is one of the goals of this challenge, but saving money comes in a close second. Think of the money you’ll save by not buying groceries for a week.

How does it work? O’Donnel has an anticipated FAQ in her blog post with specifics, but basically on June 20 you’ll start preparing meals from only the food already on hand – digging deep into your pantry to find things like the lentils you bought six months ago and never used to create a dish from them and other items you have on hand. O’Donnel says you don’t have to punish yourself however if you do something like run out of coffee.

If there’s something you just gotta have to get you (or a family member) through the week, by all means, go to the store. But I bet you’ll feel differently when/if you go.

If this sounds like a challenge you’re ready for, head over to A Mighty Appetite and sign up. If you do, let me know in the comments. I’d love to interview someone who took the challenge when it’s all done for this blog and see how it went.