By Jessica Wong, CBCNews.ca

Moving into a new home just before Christmas and deciding to take up the motto "live more on less" for 2009, I've vowed to put myself through an ongoing pantry challenge in an attempt to clear out the many jars, cans, boxes and packages of foodstuff I've been squirreling away.

My pantry: packed with dry goods, cans, baking supplies, spices, teas and other tasty tidbits. (Jessica Wong/CBC)

About six months on, I admit I've fallen a bit behind. Though I've changed my habit of stockpiling items just because they're on sale, I feel I've yet to put a serious dent into the stores of extra food I have kicking around.

Pantry (and freezer) challenges are nothing new: just enter the term into a search engine and you'll find a flood of first-person tales from people attempting to whittle down, say, the myriad tins of tuna or beans in the cupboard or that solid block of frozen peas frosting up the corner of the deep-freeze. It's a frugal exercise that's definitely seen a resurgence amid the economic downturn.

Another, more recent, factor — namely the start of the summer-season farmers' markets in Toronto — has inspired me to pare down before the floodgates open and the onslaught of amazing local bounty begins turning up at stalls around the city.

A friend in Montreal, who recently moved to a new apartment and also wanted to clear out her extra food cache, suggested last week that we up the stakes: for a five-day period, we'd attempt to create all our meals using only the food in our respective refrigerators, freezers and pantries.

I also hope to clear out my freezer of frozen fruit, peas and corn, soups, Parmigiano rinds and the like. (Jessica Wong/CBC)

We decided to start on a Monday and agreed that while it would be OK to purchase a few basics in advance (I got milk, eggs and butter, for instance), we wouldn't stockpile anything on the weekend prior.

So far today, I had a bagel (leftover from the weekend) with peanut butter for breakfast, a late-morning granola bar from a box I didn't realize I had, and some veggie soup defrosted from the freezer (along with some crackers found in the pantry) for lunch. I've been drinking water all day.

I'm excited to see how the rest of my meals are going to pan out and whether I can keep up my end of the bargain. A further challenge is that I'll try to make most of my dinners vegetarian — something I've been attempting at home in general because my partner suffers from gout.

Have you tried a pantry challenge and why did you decide to attempt it? Do you tend stockpile non-perishable foods? What's the oldest or strangest thing you've discovered gathering dust in your kitchen cupboards, refrigerator or freezer?