NEW Empty the Storecupboard Challenge for 2016

Empty The Storecupboard Challege 2016 Penny Golightly

It’s time for a BRAND NEW Empty the Storecupboard Challenge! Last year’s challenge went very well, and I managed to cut both my grocery bills and our household food waste.

Now we have another two shelves full of food that needs to be eaten. It’s a mixture of older food stores, stuff that’s just about to go off, tail ends of things, overstocks (someone in this house can’t resist a special offer), free gifts, presents, free samples and Christmas leftovers. It builds up quicker than I thought!

How the Empty the Storecupboard Challenge works

You make a list of the food stocks that you need to use up, and make at least three meals a week from them until the food is gone. Ideally, these meals should be thrifty, varied and tasty as possible. This time around I’m also going to try to make at least two thirds of them healthy as well.

My Spring 2016 storecupboard list of old stock

There’s a surprising amount to get though this time around:

  • 6 4 2 sheets of egg noodles
  • 250g 200g 150g rice noodles
  • 700g 500g 300g 200g 100g brown rice
  • 50g penne pasta
  • 700g 550g 400g 250g 125g cous cous
  • 300g 200g quinoa
  • 300g 270g 240g 90g 60g rice crumbs
  • 25g chia seeds
  • 400g 200g dried borlotti beans
  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 3 2 1 cans sweetcorn
  • 1 can artichoke hearts
  • 3 2 1 cans carrot & coriander soup
  • 3 2 1 cans lentil soup
  • 1/2 packet bread sauce mix
  • 8 6 4 2 servings Chinese curry sauce
  • 21g 15g fajita seasoning mix
  • 200g 170g 160g 150g 140g 130g 120g 110g 80g 70g 40g 30g 10g ground cinnamon & flax powder
  • 100g 90g 80g 70g 60g 50g 10g pumpkin seeds
  • 1 small sachet coconut milk powder
  • 2 1 cans peaches
  • 1 can pineapple pieces
  • 1 tub of mango cubes
  • 1 1/2 1/4 jar preserved watermelon
  • 1 Christmas pudding (serves 2)
  • 1 jar sweet mincemeat

Like last time, I currently have no idea how to start using this up, but I’ll get stuck in and start improvising. I’ve never even cooked chia seeds before… not sure whether that’s a #bloggerfail or not… probably is.

Anyway, I’ll be aiming for three meals per week wherever possible and I’ll keep you updated with a weekly Empty the Storecupboard Challenge roundup post. Look out for the #EmptyTheSC hashtag on Twitter, and tweet me your pictures if you’re joining in.

You can keep up with the latest 2016 Challenge posts in our Storecupboard Challenge category.

Will you be joining in with this thrifty food challenge? And can I finish it in under 20 weeks this time?

Similar Posts

6 Comments

  1. I am moving house soon (fingers crossed) so have been doing this challenge (or something similar) for a few weeks now. I have saved quite a bit of money, and lots of time!

    1. Hi Claire, well done with that – do you have any tips for newbies? Good luck with the impending house move!

  2. Hi Dear Penny,
    How is it going with the ESC ? What kind of nice meals have you been able to prepare. I am doing it this time round to empty my shelves and save some money. Goog luck, Love Pat

  3. Hi Patricia! Lovely to hear from you. It’s going OK here, although it’s only been three days of it so far. I’ll do an update on the site tomorrow (Thursday) with a few pictures of what’s been cooked and eaten so far. Good luck with your own challenge and I’m looking forward to finding out how you get on.

  4. You can use chia instead of egg. Makes the cake a bit crunchy though! You can also make chia porridge though I ve not tried that one.

  5. Thanks S, I’m thinking about trying to make chia vanilla pudding. Might be okay, who knows?

Comments are closed.