View Full Version : January Challenge: Cook at home every day
earthshepherd
1-1-11, 2:53pm
I am planning to avoid restaurants and take-outs for the entire month of January. This will entail cooking frugal recipes every day, except for once in a while when I do "leftovers" for supper. Anyone else who wants to go along with me, please report in periodically and tell us what how you're doing.
Today is January !! Happy New Year! My dad pointed out that this is 1-1-11, a rare conjunction of ones in the date today. Today on day 1-1-11, I made a great big pot of homemade minestrone. It turned out great! We are having that with apple crisp for our New Year's supper.
Frugal cooks, let's avoid going out to eat all this month cow-hi
--Ellen.
Happy New Year! I will join you. I too have set a little personal goal of no eating out this month.
I have two exceptions to my no eating out month, 1. We have a gift card that we will probably at some point use up, however it is $50.00 and this will more than cover our meals for this....we'll probably have to order desert to use it up. 2. We are traveling out of state to my brother and SIL's for my new nephews christening. We are driving so I will pack meals for the car ride but we may find ourselves having to eat out at some point. We are staying at their home so unless I bring the food and cook it in their kitchen we generally don't get much to eat at their place.
So today it was oatmeal topped with fruit for breakfast, Pizza Rustica and soup for lunch and dinner will be fend for yourselves out of the fridge. I have done a menu plan for the whole month to try and use up what we have. This combined with eat at home should save me a ton of $$$ this month.
I'm tempted to join you, but we just got off a transpacific flight and home to an empty fridge. I have to go shopping today to replenish, but not sure I can muster up the energy to cook two meals today. But I will commit to trying to keep the number of outside meals to a minimum and do more home cooking this month. I got myself a wonderful enameled roasting pan at Costco that is going to be fun to experiment with (no knead bread here we come!)
lhamo
PS: Hey, you guys inspired me! I made beans and rice for lunch (one of our favorite easy meals) since we had half an onion left in the fridge, and just went out for my major shop and got some special stuff for dinner. We were on the plane last night flying from 2010 into 2011, so we will celebrate tonight instead with steaks, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and wine (for me and DH). The whole meal, including wine, will cost less than it would have to order pizza. Thanks for the challenge and let's see how I can do the rest of the month!
Ellen, my dd yelled out from another room today: It's 1:11 on 1-1-11! Simple fun. :)
I've got lots of leftovers from last night, so I'll take up the challenge and add trying to use up my leftovers as part of it. I'm sick of throwing out good food!
I'm in! I have a road trip coming up but I don't think it will happen til February, so barring an early departure I should be good - might even make myself do homemade food for part of that one! I do have two social events that will include whatever food shows up, but I will bring something homemade. Fun! :~)
Caveat: if it's already in the house, I'm eating it.
I am up for trying! DH and I have been working hard the past couple months at reducing our food expenses. We have been doing really well, and we splurged on NYE for sushi. It was really nice to be a treat. Before, we had been eating out way too much for convenience sake. We are back on the eating at home bandwagon so this will be a good challenge for the month.
I'm in. I ate out way too much last month, mainly due to having to be at the hospital with a family member a lot. But this month, barring a trip or two back to my old house, I should be at home every day. I need to remember to pack sandwiches for the trips I make out of town, or plan to drive between mealtimes.
Well, 12yo dd outdid me today. I was in a rush and bought a dessert to bring to someone's house yesterday, but she made her own cookies and brought them to a friend's house. That's my girl!
Maria that is excellent! All those years of watching mom are paying off!
I have a menu made that will last until the 15th so I'm pretty sure I'll be cooking at home until then at least. My two BFFs have had birthdays in the last week or two and want to go out sometime this week for karaoke, but I'll probably just have a cup of coffee or something and call it good. At least at the moment I don't feel any pull to go out to eat. Hopefully that lasts the whole month!
This one's for me! Count me in!
I'm in, with some exceptions. A new restaurant opened on my block and I want to check it out. Other than that, I'm in for January.
Hmmm ... trying to use up what's in the freezer. Lunch was frozen bean and vegetable soup. (Well, I un-froze it first.) Dinner was walnuts with a dab of olive oil and garlic herb seasoning warmed up briefly in the microwave, and a bowl of corn. Odd, that. (Sorry -- still not logging out and back in as Crystal -- just plain lazy. :|()
I'm in... for most of January anyways. My big issue has always been take out lunches while working, so I'll prep some stuff for the freezer on Monday so that I can pull something from there each morning for lunch. I'll probably have to leave a couple of spares in the work freezer as well, since it will be pretty easy for me to forget in the morning.
Crystal - sounds like my kind of dinner. I had a lamb chop from the freezer (thawed and cooked) with some crackers and hummus. I'll probably have a raw carrot or two later tonight.
I'm in...made big pot of beef stew yesterday, plenty leftover for today with sandwiches to supplement. I'm in primarily to improve healthy quality of food we eat.
Sunday lunch is always the hardest for me. Thankfully we're having a potluck after church today so I won't be tempted to have the family stop for something to eat on the way home. I need to prepare ahead of time. I think I'll go back to Sunday lunch is always soup or sandwiches.
I do need this challenge for the whole month. We don't have any travel planned this month which means no income coming in either so there is no excuse to eat out. I think I'll set aside $20 for a coffee/pastry date out with my DH but otherwise all meals should be at home.
Bastelmutti
1-2-11, 1:26pm
I'd like to join, too. We're splurging on DH's 40th b-day and having a joint party at a bar/restaurant with 2 other new 40's for a bunch of friends and family, so we need to cut out eating out this month.
My most difficult challenge is Saturdays. I teach in a kids' program that my kids attend that day, so we're in a rush in the morning, they have food to buy there for lunch and, come dinnertime, I'm exhausted, so it's a danger zone for eating out all day. Organization and my crockpot should take care of that, though, so I just have to buck up and do it.
One thing that's helped lately is buying some prepared frozen foods to base a meal around - still cheaper than eating out & it gives me a break from cooking.
earthshepherd
1-2-11, 1:35pm
January 2 homecooked foods: leftover homemade soups, homemade biscuits, apples.
I will probably use a Cracker Barrel gift cert I got for Christmas at some point this month. I don't think that's the same as going out and paying for it...do you?? :|(
Jan 1 Oatmeal BF
Pizza Rustica, Soup L
Clean out the fridge D
Jan 2 Yogurt, cereal B
Sandwiches, leftover spinach artichoke dip, carrots, apples L
Smoked turkey, asparagus, baked potatoes D
We had to run some errands today and everybody was groaning at 11:30, "we're so hungry..we can't wait to get home....." by 11:45 we were home assembling our sandwiches....I'm happy to say they all survived. :)
I'd like to join, too. We're splurging on DH's 40th b-day and having a joint party at a bar/restaurant with 2 other new 40's for a bunch of friends and family, so we need to cut out eating out this month.
My most difficult challenge is Saturdays. I teach in a kids' program that my kids attend that day, so we're in a rush in the morning, they have food to buy there for lunch and, come dinnertime, I'm exhausted, so it's a danger zone for eating out all day. Organization and my crockpot should take care of that, though, so I just have to buck up and do it.
One thing that's helped lately is buying some prepared frozen foods to base a meal around - still cheaper than eating out & it gives me a break from cooking.
It was such a ah-hah moment for me when I realized this. I had always stuggled with buying anything prepared, always assumed I could do it cheaper and healthier from scratch...which of course you can but than I finally got realistic when I realized we were just eating out on these nights of desperation. Even our favorite frozen food Omaha Steak veal patties cost me $10.00 for a meal for my family of four. Add some sauce, cheese. spaghetti and a green salad and I have a scrumptious meal for a fraction of the cost of eating out.
1/1: coffee with milk and protein powder. I'm thinking this is sort of in the "prepared foods" category since protein powder is questionable as far as being home-made, but it did come from TJs, not a restaurant. And I have tons of it. So I'm saying it's ok. Bunch of raw carrots and handful of almonds with tomato juice. Hunk of cheese and a bunch of crackers. And then ... someone gave me a bottle of melon liqueur, so I had warm milk with melon liqueur in it for dessert, which isn't anywhere near as awful as it sounds. Well really ... it probably was. Lol. Questionable taste, sweet as syrup and neon green ... hard to imagine this is health food. :|( But it was, at least, a free dessert. Monday I start eating real meals again.
Bastelmutti
1-2-11, 5:01pm
TMC: Me, too. We get the occasional frozen pizza (Home Run Inn is actually quite good), Trader Joe's frozen appetizer, or something like that. A staple is also a box of spaghetti & jar of sauce, which is what we had for dinner yesterday. I am really into cooking from scratch when I have down time, but I'm a freelancer, and when I have a project or ten going on, I just can't do it all.
Went to the store today to stock up on supplies to make bento lunches for DH, DD1 and me this week. We plan to have rice as a the base with a couple of veggie side dishes and tofu or eggs for protein. I also got some meat and tofu for dinner. Homemade yogurt is in fridge for breakfasts.
I eat at home about 99% of the time and my only eating out this month will be at Torchy's for their amazing new Revolution taco....only offered during January!
http://ilketomakethings.blogspot.com
So far, two days down...29 more to go! Lunch was a salad of leftover veggies, greens and some pop in the oven chicken bites. Not exactly natural or completely homemade, but pretty healthy and very easy. Dinner was also based around 'easy' - I put some chicken breasts with white bbq sauce in the crock pot this morning, and let that cook all day. I made some mac and cheese and steamed a bit of broccoli. It made enough to have for lunch tomorrow.
So far so good. I even avoided getting coffee at work. Yesterday we had leftover bean soup for dinner. Dad took the kids out. Tonight is potato, spinach and cheese fritatta and tomorrow is stir fried chicken with cauliflower and snow peas. Meals for the rest of the week are clam chowder, salad and breadsticks, creamy spinach and gnocchi soup with no knead bread, chili and cornbread, oat pancakes with fruit topping and black bean nachos.
Fritatta and black bean nachos are two of my "I don't really feel like cooking" meals. I worked a long shift today so I wanted something I could toss together in 5 minutes or less.
Doing well so far - I resisted the urge to get takeout on the way home from the grocery store, since I had lots of tasty food that I had just bought. Went home and made a salmon and cream cheese sandwich on toasted multigrain bread.
Dinner tonight is a whole mess of roasted veggies that have been sitting in the fridge for too long. I'll freeze leftovers to add to stew or soups later on. I'm also planning on making quesadillas to toss in the freezer for work lunches.
I am going to jump in to, though it's very rare for us to eat out. I do have 2 coupons for free doughnuts that I am planning on getting the kids and maybe a cup of coffee for Saturday soccer games with a gc but that's it.
Sunday for dinner we cleaned out the fridge, normally a Thursday night thing but with the way the holidays went we didn't have enough till last night. Tonight is going to be chicken burgers or chicken burritos, not sure yet. I wish we could do an eat out of the pantry challenge but at this point it would be noodles, salsa and peanut butter for oh maybe 5 meals. I keep a close eye on what I have, so we go thru a decent turn over.
For the remainder of the week we will be having
Chicken burgers or chicken burritos (whichever doesn't happen tonight)
Spaghetti
Garlic parm chicken
Asian meatloaf (only main difference is Panko and soy sauce and no ketchup)
Potato and bacon soup
Leftovers
I normally make homemade bread every night or every other night so we will have that to along with salad and or a veggie.
Breakfasts are toast, bagels, oatmeal, or cereal
Lunches are leftovers, sandwhiches, soup, etc..
Good luck to all! We are hoping to take a trip next month so all extra funds are helpful.
Tracy
Jumping in here... Saturday made big pot of beef stew, took some to my kids,
DDIL is pregnant and sick with a bad cold, slight fever. Yesterday made homemade chicken noodle soup, took some to the kids again. Today, alas, my Christmas break is over and I'm back to work. Debating on what to make for dinner...
earthshepherd
1-3-11, 6:53am
DD and some of her twenty something friends took me to the movies last night, and we even got movie snacks with coupons my daughter printed from the Internet. That's my girl!!!
so far so good. I actually haven't left the house since the year began, so definitely no "eating out" for me yet.
I narrowly avoided getting a snack out today. We went to the library and I packed lunch for the kids, but at the moment I felt fine myself so I didn't pack anything for me. By the time we reached the library I was very hungry, but I did manage to wait until we got home to eat.
earthshepherd
1-3-11, 3:44pm
january 3 supper: tofu veggie stir fry over brown rice/barley pilaf with mandarin orange sauce. Yum.
Bastelmutti
1-3-11, 4:15pm
How do you make the mandarin orange sauce? Sounds good.
I took a trip to the Asian market yesterday, so I think tonight we're having bibimbap (Korean rice bowl with veggies, spicy sauce & a fried egg on top).
I forgot that I have a gift cert to a local restaurant, so if DH and I get a babysitting night, we might go out. Not counting that, since it was a gift.
Bastelmutti
1-3-11, 4:17pm
so far so good. I actually haven't left the house since the year began, so definitely no "eating out" for me yet.
That's a good way to do it! !pow! (just looking for an excuse to use that spaghetti monster!)
earthshepherd
1-3-11, 4:47pm
:|( I cheated! I bought mandarin orange sauce some time ago, and had it on hand. I added a little garlic and ginger to it just fer fun. :idea:
QUOTE=Stella;1252]I narrowly avoided getting a snack out today. We went to the library and I packed lunch for the kids, but at the moment I felt fine myself so I didn't pack anything for me. By the time we reached the library I was very hungry, but I did manage to wait until we got home to eat.[/QUOTE]
Stella, with three kids you couldn't scounge something out of the car seats???? :D
QUOTE=Stella;1252]I narrowly avoided getting a snack out today. We went to the library and I packed lunch for the kids, but at the moment I felt fine myself so I didn't pack anything for me. By the time we reached the library I was very hungry, but I did manage to wait until we got home to eat.
Stella, with three kids you couldn't scounge something out of the car seats???? :D[/QUOTE]
:D
Lentil-vegetable soup with homemade bread for dinner tonight. Made DH's birthday German chocolate cake today. He will take the remaining 3/4 of it to work tomorrow so that we don't eat it. Very tasty, but very rich, even in my drastically slimmed-down version. Tomorrow night and Wednesday, tacos. Cooked the beans today to ease the cooking time tomorrow.
Jan 1 B Oatmeal
L Pizza Rustica, Soup
D Clean out the fridge
Jan 2 B Yogurt, cereal
L Sandwiches, leftover spinach artichoke dip, carrots, apples
D Smoked turkey, asparagus, baked potatoes
Jan 3 B Yogurt, cereal, banana (I never realized how boring our breakfasts were):~)
L Scrambled eggs with ham, leftover baked potatoes into hashbrowns, wheat toast, sliced apples
D Leftover smoked turkey, steamed broccoli, homemade whole wheat Italian bread and scratch French Onion Soup
I seem to be nesting for no apparent reason this week, even DH was pretty impressed with the soup. Thawing ground beef to make double serving of meatloaf for tomorrow. That will give me tomorrow and a leftover night too.
Kids go back to school tomorrow after winter break....thawing some zuke bread with cinnamon chips for their snack. :~)
I skipped making turkey quesadillas last night, since I realized that I had put out some chickpeas to soak the day before, so I made a chickpea and veggie soup instead. Which also used up a zucchini, red pepper and onion that were on their last legs. Brought the soup and some roasted veggies to work today and I am excited to have healthy food to eat!
Dinner tonight will be some salmon and maybe a carrot-ginger soup, since I have a lot of carrots to use soon. I also need to cook a chicken breast tonight to eat with the rest of the roasted veggies for lunch tomorrow. I have a nice kiwi-tequila marinade which I am planning to use with the chicken.
Forgot to roast the chicken (busy day), so I made pasta with broccoli and homemade pesto on it (pesto made from basil I grew.) Basil was my one big garden success last summer.
I wish we could do an eat out of the pantry challenge but at this point it would be noodles, salsa and peanut butter for oh maybe 5 meals.
Sounds like the makings of Pad Thai to me :D (Seriously, mix 1 part salsa and 2 parts peanut butter, and add a little water in order to get a good consistency, and you will have a great and super easy peanut sauce).
Oooooh, I cheated this morning. Chick Fil A (fast good chicken place) had a promo this week where you get their new item - a free Spicy Chicken Biscuit. So, I stopped this morning and got one. Completely free but waaaaaaay too spicy for me!
I guess I have cheated in the sense that I ate outside my house, but I still haven't paid for any meals out.
Lunch is yesterday's leftovers and dinner is going to be chicken sausage with onions and peppers. If anyone has a Publix near them, they have a really good deal through today for Al Fresco Chicken Sausage which makes it 75 cents after the sale and printable internet coupon. We are not big sausage eaters, but I stocked up on this one. It seems pretty healthy, for sausage!
good so far! Yesterday I used a gift card to get coffee for my brother and I, but no money out of pocket! We have plenty of food for awhile, so no groceries for another week or week and a half. We'll be eating pork roast, pulled pork sandwiches, white chili, roast chicken, chicken enchiladas, and shepherds pie. Because of repurposing, I will only have to "cook" 3 of these meals :) and assemble the rest. Hoping this helps make a low stress week... I need it after the holiday busyness.
Jan 1 B Oatmeal
L Pizza Rustica, Soup
D Clean out the fridge
Jan 2 B Yogurt, cereal
L Sandwiches, leftover spinach artichoke dip, carrots, apples
D Smoked turkey, asparagus, baked potatoes
Jan 3 B Yogurt, cereal, banana (I never realized how boring our breakfasts were):~)
L Scrambled eggs with ham, leftover baked potatoes into hashbrowns, wheat toast, sliced apples
D Leftover smoked turkey, steamed broccoli, homemade whole wheat Italian bread and scratch French Onion Soup
Jan 4 B hard boiled eggs, zuke bread, milk
L kids packed sandwiches, fruit, home made cookies (They are back to school today):cool:, DH and I leftovers
D Leftover smoked Turkey, sweet potato biscuits, potato salad, strawberry spinach salad
Yes that is a couple days in a row of Smoked Turkey;) but it was given to us as a gift and previously frozen so we need to finish it. Probably one more day before I toss the remains to the chickens. I am trying to change up the meal to hide the turkey. :)
So far so good though with eating at home.
We went out for a piece of pie on our date last night. I'm OK with that, though. We really needed a date night and not much is open after 9PM on a weekday. DH got a 10% discount with his student ID. It was about $7 total.
Yesterday: forgot to roast the chicken, so threw together pasta with homemade pesto and broccoli (pesto made with home grown basil and frozen into ice cube trays, then popped into baggies last summer.) Today is the roast chicken, baked potato, and some kind of veggie. A chicken will last me forever, so I'll need to think about a good stir-fry recipe, etc. etc.
earthshepherd
1-4-11, 3:38pm
I am trying out peanut sauce over wheat noodles for dinner. I've never made it before but I had thai peanut noodles over the summer and loved them, so I am trying something NEW today! :0
Dinner last night was salmon, carrots and a tomato-basil salad. I also cooked two chicken breasts last night for lunches today and tomorrow, and made some maple sugar candy last night for a treat (was supposed to be fudge, but I didn't cook it long enough to go creamy).
Today's lunch is a chicken breast and roasted veggies. Tonights dinner will be same as last night... with exception of the carrots since I shredded and froze the rest of them to make carrot cake at some point.
I leave for a business trip tomorrow for three days but I have a kitchenette in the hotel room so I'll try to keep on track. Just need to pack a lunch for tomorrow like usual, then hit a grocery store after work to stock for the next three days. And pack a few plastic food containers to bring with me so that I have some way to pack lunch.
I also posted this over in the January Frugals.
Monday - Lunch was a box of a Ramen noodle thing at work (purchase price was .50, but had a coupon for .50 off, so had gotten a bunch of these for free). Dinner had petite steaks (pkg of 10). Cooked 1/2 of them for dinner, along with cutting up some scrubbed potatoes for oven fries and sprinkled with herbs.
Tuesday - this will be the other 1/2 of the steaks cooked up. The side dish will be pasta salad that I had made on Sunday, so this should just about use the remainder of that. Lunch at work was a salad I brought from home (lettuce, tomato, hard boiled egg sliced, shredded cheddar and part of a cucumber) with homemade Italian dressing.
Wednesday - Will again be the same type of salad as above for work. Dinner will be skinless, boneless chicken breast sauteed then simmered in Cream of Celery Soup. Will make Brussel Sprouts as a side mixed with butter and ground nutmeg.
Thursday - Will oven-fry some more chicken breast. Will make a from scratch Ranch Potato Casserole (boil potatoes, cube into a baking dish, add a bottle of ranch dressing and 16 oz sour cream together and spread over the potatoes, then cover in shredded cheese and bake for 1/2 hour). For lunch - have not decided on what I'll be bringing yet.
Friday - Will take out some bacon and have BLT's for dinner. Carrot and celery sticks with dip will be the side dish. Any leftover bacon, I will make a Broccoli-Bacon salad with chopped onions (I make a coleslaw dressing that I pour over this). I'll use that for a Saturday side dish.
Saturday and Sunday - I haven't decided on yet. I will be baking cookies so that SO can take them with him as a treat at work each day. I also make his lunch sandwiches daily and homemade Gatorade. (1/8 tsp. Morton Nu-Salt, 3/8 tsp. salt, 5 - 8 tablespoons sugar, 1 packet unsweetened Kool-aid or generic branch; 64 oz water). I use 5 tablespoons sugar and calculated the cost to be .10 to .15 per 32 oz container. On-sale Gatorade is $1.00/32 oz size; regular price is $1.50, so a hefty savings.
R
So far so good. Yesterday was my usual "super coffee" for breakfast, salad from the garden with pecans, craisins and goat cheese for lunch plus tomato juice, and fried red rice with chicken, egg, carrots, red cabbage and onion with a glass of red wine for dinner. Today will be super coffee, nuts, cheese and carrot or celery sticks for lunch, and I think I'm making chili with ground turkey, which in my low-carb fashion I usually serve over shredded cabbage instead of rice. Also need to make some more yogurt.
I got a few convenience type items at Trader Joes today to make sure I could stay on track with this. I am in my third trimester after all and energy levels vary greatly from day to day. I got a package of frozen meatballs, a box of roasted red pepper and tomato soup, a bottle of marinara sauce, a bottle of alfredo sauce and some frozen pot stickers. The total of all of those put together was about $15. Much less than dinner out for 5-6 people, that's for sure. I also have a package of frozen beef patties for easy burgers.
I expanded my menu plan to cover at least through Jan 22. If I threw in the convenience food meals I'd be all the way to the 28th.
Ina Garten's recipe....lentil vegetable soup and toast for supper...perfect!
http://ilketomakethings.blogspot.com
Dinner was Asian chicken salad: romaine mix, shredded chicken, walnuts, and Asian dressing.
earthshepherd
1-5-11, 7:54pm
Stella, when is your baby due?
I wanted some dessert so I made some of that yummy homemade soymilk pudding (vanilla). Dinner for the menfolk was roast beef and potatoes; I had minestrone soup and crackers.
April Fools Day, although the farthest I've ever gotten with the previous three kids is 38 weeks, so mid March probably. Technically I'm not in my third trimester until Friday, actually, but close enough. :) Eeek! The middle of March doesn't feel all that far away when I think about it.
I'm in for this one too. I am setting myself the goal of spending no more than $420/ month on food:eating at home or out, for a year. I came up with this figure by taking the maxium allotment for food stamps for a family of 4, and then reduced it by the number of meals that the kids eat at their dad's house. I keep hearing how hard it is to eat well on the food stamp allotment, but I think we have been doing it for years. Hmmmm....
Jan 1 B Oatmeal
L Pizza Rustica, Soup
D Clean out the fridge
Jan 2 B Yogurt, cereal
L Sandwiches, leftover spinach artichoke dip, carrots, apples
D Smoked turkey, asparagus, baked potatoes
Jan 3 B Yogurt, cereal, banana (I never realized how boring our breakfasts were):~)
L Scrambled eggs with ham, leftover baked potatoes into hashbrowns, wheat toast, sliced apples
D Leftover smoked turkey, steamed broccoli, homemade whole wheat Italian bread and scratch French Onion Soup
Jan 4 B hard boiled eggs, zuke bread, milk
L kids packed sandwiches, fruit, home made cookies (They are back to school today):cool:, DH and I leftovers
D Leftover smoked Turkey, sweet potato biscuits, potato salad, strawberry spinach salad
Jan 5 same old breakfast.....lunch was home made wedding soup, sent with the kids in thermos, fruit, sweet potato biscuits. For dinner I made two meatloafs, one for today and one for tomorrow, extra mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli. Tomorrow will be an easy night.
Between today's 4AM wake up call and the 630 AM flight, I forgot to have breakfast before I left the house half-asleep, so I bought a fruit salad and coffee at the airport. No cost to me, because I expense it, but still a small slip. I did however pack a lunch, and hit a grocery after work to get breakfast, lunch and dinner stuff for next 2 days that I am here. I made a point of booking a hotel room that has a kitchen.
I did lose a jar of spaghetti sauce as I wiped out on the wet sidewalk and landed on it hard enough to shatter the jar.... and get tomato sauce all over the one pair of work pants that I brought for this 2-day trip. Fortunately for me, the hotel apartment also has a washer and dryer. I ate the spinach ravioli without sauce. It was still good. Leftovers will be lunch tomorrow, I will probably just call it "pasta salad" and eat it cold.
DH is in revolt! He said he is not doing this challenge...we already have our mortgage savings challenge. I think they go hand in hand, but oh well, argh.....so he had a stressful morning and we went out to lunch. Give and take I guess. We spilt a meal at a place near work and had a nice hour break. I guess I didn't make it very far into this challenge...6 days. We have still cut waaaay back from how much we were eating out a few months ago, so I am still working hard on the challenge and will just appease him every now and then.
earthshepherd
1-6-11, 8:01pm
April Fools Day, although the farthest I've ever gotten with the previous three kids is 38 weeks, so mid March probably. Technically I'm not in my third trimester until Friday, actually, but close enough. :) Eeek! The middle of March doesn't feel all that far away when I think about it.
Well, congratulations!
earthshepherd
1-6-11, 8:05pm
Tonight's homemade fare was turkey and stuffing casserole made with turkey I froze after Thanksgiving. That was for the meat-eating men, of course! Me? I had leftover noodles with peanut sauce. :~)
Lunch was Cracker Barrel, but I used a gift card, and ordered hot water for the tea bag/stevia I brought with me instead of coffee with (fattening) cream.
Tomorrow is my weekly no-drive day, so I will make a pot of pea soup, corn muffins and probably some homemade cookies. :+1:
DH is in revolt! He said he is not doing this challenge...we already have our mortgage savings challenge. I think they go hand in hand, but oh well, argh.....so he had a stressful morning and we went out to lunch. Give and take I guess. We spilt a meal at a place near work and had a nice hour break. I guess I didn't make it very far into this challenge...6 days. We have still cut waaaay back from how much we were eating out a few months ago, so I am still working hard on the challenge and will just appease him every now and then.
So curious, what is your mortgage savings challenge? Sounds like something I might like....
Today was a close one :) Had to throw some bread in the breadmaker last night when I realized we were out of bread, I needed to pack the kids something for lunch.
Breakfast same old same old.
Lunch was tuna fish sandwiches on that fresh bread, fruit and a couple of leftiver Christmas Cookies out of the freezer
Dinner was the 2nd meatloaf I made yesterday, so DH heated it up and claimed he cooked.....OK I'll let that slide. :)
I'm taking lunch, tea and a few snacks to work today to ensure that I won't buy anything there.
A delicious and easy chicken pesto dish over pasta. Tomorrow ratatouille, Monday red beans and rice, Tuesday rosemary chicken with stuffing and homemade cranberry sauce Wednesday leftovers. Al these meals are made from scratch with fresh veggies. Very doable. Am also making blueberry bran muffins and gingerbread.
http://iliketomakethings.blogspot.com
Talk about the power of suggestion. I rarely eat out, but because of the various daily challenges here I'm finding myself eating out of the freezer and the other day avoided even a quick bought salad lunch from Trader Joe's. >8)
Today it was oatmeal for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, and tonight turkey soup w brown rice and cheese.
Well, I fell down on the challenge yesterday. I had to go back to my old city for an appointment. The person I had the appointment with was two hours late, so I did end up eating lunch out - otherwise, I would have been skipping lunch altogether, and I always feel crappy when I do that.
But, today I made a new recipe - Sharon Astyk's "Perfect White Bean and Whatever Soup" - enough for several meals. I did modify it at bit, to fit in with what I had on hand. It was delicious!
Tonight I made a 3 bean salad, spaghetti with meatballs, garlic toast, and baked/steamed breaded cutlets.
Back home now after the business trip. The last day I checked out of the hotel at 10 AM and got home around 10 PM (most of the day spent working, not travelling). Unfortunately the meals I packed in the morning were not enough food and I ended up buying a meal at the airport on the way home.
However: 3 day business trip with only 2 meals out, is WAY better than my normal practise of eating every single meal out! I liked having the kitchen, too, so I'll stay in that hotel again.
Breakfast today is pancakes, lunch is turkey quesadilla (and will freeze some extras for work lunches), and I have to go grocery shopping before dinner and pick up some veggies.
earthshepherd
1-8-11, 8:45pm
DarkStar, I would love to have your bean-whatever soup recipe!
Today was leftover soups and corn muffins, quinoa-black bean salad, fresh apples, and homemade cookies.
I am really enjoying reading the menus and successes.
Breakfast was cereal, juice, coffee. Lunch was a PBJ, chips and an apple. Dinner was baked chicken, biscuits and salad. Oh, and Ben and Jerry's Flourless Chocolate Cake ice cream with Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies sprinkled in. I eat dessert on Saturdays. :cool:
Tomorrow, we will have waffles and canned fruit for dinner. The rest of the week: "bangers" and colcannon (colcannon is a new recipe for me), DiGiorno tortellini, baked mac n cheese, frozen pizza (I know, I know) and tacos.
Lunches will be soups, bread and salad; and lentils and rice tortillas. I try to be a daytime vegan.
DarkStar, I would love to have your bean-whatever soup recipe!
This is from Independence Days by Sharon Astyk. She adapted it from a recipe from Mark Bittman.
Perfect White Bean and Whatever Soup
- 1 lb. escarole, dandelion greens, mustard greens, or just about any other greens
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 cup any kind of dried beans, cooked until just tender
- 5 cups chicken stock, vegetable broth or water
- 1 tbsp. sliced garlic
- A handful of pasta, rice or wild rice
- 2 small or 10 oz. canned, diced tomatoes, drained, or 6 dried tomatoes
- dried or fresh rosemary and thyme
- 1 tsp. chili flakes (to taste)
- salt and pepper
Put half the oil in a skillet and saute the garlic and chilies. Stir occasionally until the garlic begins to color. Add greens and tomatoes and stir; add beans and stock or water and herbs and adjust heat so mixture simmers steadily. Cover.
Cook about 15 minutes, or until greens are tender. Drizzle with reserved olive oils and extra rosemary and serve.
She didn't say when to put in the pasta or rice in the original recipe - I would guess you would put it in when you add the stock. I omitted it, but put in some extra beans, since I'd cooked a huge pot of northern beans a few days before. I also omitted the olive oil at the end, since the soup tasted really good to me without it.
I think you could add pretty much whatever you want to the soup. I added a little onion and some carrots that were going soft. I sauteed them at the beginning with the garlic and chili flakes.
Enjoy!
Dad took the kids out to eat last night so DH and I just had fried egg sandwiches for dinner. It hit the spot, actually.
I once again have lunch ready for work and I'm putting a pot of soup on the stove to have for dinner tonight. I'll probably make popovers with it.
today we're going out for brunch at my bro's restaurant (sunday tradition with grandma). dinner will be leftovers -- we have chili, chicken cacciatore, and a load of salad greens to get through. my fella made the chicken last night and it was awesome!
Bastelmutti
1-9-11, 10:07am
OK, went to lunch w/friend and sis on Friday, but my total was $7 & I had lunch the next day, too. Today is lunch out again, but it's my dad's treat since it's a belated Christmas get-together. I don't think we'll make it 100% restaurant-free, but then again I don't think I want to - just cut out the lazy shortcuts & really enjoy the times we do go out. So, I guess I'm aiming for a modified goal.
Yesterday we ate out dinner using our gift card. This was a planned Saturday night out so I consider myself still on the wagon. ;) For breakfast today I made mini-frittatas, recipe was Giada's from the Food Network. This was a great little breakfast, made in mini-muffin tins they are very forgiving, you could really clean out the fridge with these and you can keep them in the fridge for quick hearty during the week breakfasts. We made ours with some leftover ham and chedder cheese. I have some spinach to use up, I'm going to try that next.
Lunch was quickie tacos. Dinner is our splurge today, we had been to PF Changs over the holidays and it was yummy. So I found some recipes for Miso Soup and Shrimp spring rolls and picked up the ingredients while grocery shopping and we wil have those tonight. Can't wait.
Breakfast today was a juice smoothie, and piece of a fritatta that I made last night (rest will be frozen for work lunches later on). Lunch is one of the turkey quesadillas I made yesterday. Dinner will be pasta with a sausage, tomato and onion sauce, and I have some kiwi fruit which will be dessert tonight.
Tomorrow I leave for another business trip and will pack breakfast and lunch for the first day - it's an early flight again. I've booked a hotel room with kitchen again, and will shop Tuesday night for the remaining 2 days of the trip. I have to say that I'm liking this challenge, it is getting me thinking creatively about packable work lunches which would save me a lot of money in the long term, since I am used to buying lunch every work day. I am not a fan of the traditional sandwich & apple lunch.
Bastelmutti
1-10-11, 10:19am
Back on the bandwagon & in addition avoiding the store until the fridge is cleaned out except for fresh fruit I need for snacks and lunches. Today I'll have leftovers for lunch & then a throw-together of odds and ends with pasta for dinner.
Terri, not a fan of sandwiches here, either. I work @ home, so I usually heat leftovers, make a salad or quick soup (simmering dried shiitakes = instant broth) or sometimes soba noodles. Some of those things can be translated to work lunches.
What a great thread!!!I've been mostly cooking at home,however now I am moving toward cooking from scratch in most meals.I never appreciated how my mom made everything from scratch. She grew up in communist Poland and towards the late 70's everything was rationed down to food ration cards. Simple things like beef bones and chicken bones made great soup stock. We also had a manual meat grinder where we groud fresh beef. I miss having that.We'd bake our bread and ingredients were extremely simple. I remember getting a bread machine a few years ago but even that was too complicated not like my grandma's super simple just a few ingredients.Last week I ran out of spaghetti sauce for a topping I used and ended up opening a can of stewed tomatoes and added mrs. dash, cooked it until it thickened, and voila! They wanted more!This year I hope to write it all down for my own little cookbook at home. The problem usually is that i make something really good, then I forget how I did it. That disappoints my family cause they ask and I won't remember.So I'll be working on a menu book for this year,to coordinate the meals better.
I'll be working on a menu book for this year,to coordinate the meals better.
I like that idea. I actually have a family cookbook that was put together by my grandmother who died when I was about 8... typewritten recipes she collected from all branches of the family. It's a nice bit of history there. That and my mom's handwritten recipe book, with a brown cover, stained and faded over so many years but I have copied a bunch of those into my own cookbook when I moved away from home. When I moved to Australia last July, my own handwritten recipe book is one of the few things I brought with me.
Back on topic, I thought that today was going to be really challenging - I flew to Brisbane this morning for work, and flew right into a flood warning. They sent everyone "home" from the office around 2PM and I really wasn't sure what I'd find when I got to the hotel. However the supermarket two blocks away was still open, so I bought enough for a few days. I'm actually cooking everything now, since I'm not sure if we'll lose power or not (I've never been in a flood area before). So breakfast today was a couple of olive-feta biscuits that I made at home, lunch was a piece of fritatta from the freezer that travelled with me this morning, and dinner has been salmon and fruit and potato chips (weird, I know). And I cooked a bunch of chicken breast with Sesame, ginger and soy marinade and whole wheat pasta to eat over the next couple of days - it will be good cold - along with cereal, milk, raisin bread, cheese and crackers, carrots and fruit.
Well DH and I cheated last night since we had to go to the hospital around dinner time for a pregnancy complication issue, but we spent about $5. I can't see us eating out the rest of the month now. I am having blood pressure problems that require me to rest most of the time, so eating out isn't really on the radar screen now until I have the baby.
As far as I'm concerned, you get a pass if your "cheat" is a result of going to the hospital for any reason, let alone a pregnancy complication.
Take care of yourself!
Breakfast boring, boring, boring....but eaten at home. :) Lunch was simple sandwiches. Dinner was super quick on the go, frozen veal patties with pasta, jarred sauce and a tossed salad with leftover broccoli from the crisper drawer. Certainly not a scratch meal. This is one my grab and go meals for those nights I am desperate, and today I was desperate, snow storm hitting here so by the time I got everybody safely home, the chickens put to bed and the driveway shoveled out there wasn't much time to gourmet. Tomorrow will be better....;)
We're making yummy things from our menu calendar! With leftover. This weekend, we move the half size freezer into the house from the garage so we can access it.
Thanks Anne! DH and the kids are taking excellent care of me. DH made dinner tonight. Pancakes from scratch. He decided that if he can follow a car repair guide he can follow a recipe and he did a really good job. He even did the dishes.
Bastelmutti
1-12-11, 10:54am
Last night's dinner was chicken, homemade corn muffins & crockpot baked potatoes. Tonight will be groundnut stew, which DD saw on Top Chef & wants to try. Will probably eat out cheap Indian vegetarian w/ DD on Friday - it's a date since her sister has a b-day party to attend.
earthshepherd
1-12-11, 11:26am
Spaghetti tonight, with ground beef for the carnivores and a separate batch with chick peas and tofu in it for me. More turkey -n- stuffing tomorrow night, and then Friday night is homemade pizza night. Also I will do a wok full of tofu/veggie stir fry for me to eat as a meat alternative on meat nights.
DH had a big church dinner the other day, after he officiated a funeral, and the kitchen crew sent him home with sandwich fixings for an army, so that's what the men folk here are having for lunch all week. I love being married to a fellow scavenger!!
madgeylou
1-12-11, 12:20pm
something that's really helping my fella and me stay on track is the fact that we are planning a weekly "cheat day" from our diet. i think this will be sunday, so we can have the full-on brunch experience at my bro's restaurant and have indian food at our favorite restaurant for dinner. having this to look forward to, and having it compartmentalized into 1 day is, i think, making it a bit easier to keep on track during the week, in terms of what we are eating and also eating it all at home.
The chicken I roasted last week lasted forever. And the leftover pasta with homemade pesto is still in the fridge. I'd better freeze it into portions today. Somebody please kick me in the patooties and tell me to do a baking day. This freezing weather is perfect for it -- helps warm the house.
Somebody please kick me in the patooties and tell me to do a baking day. This freezing weather is perfect for it -- helps warm the house.
Consider your patooties kicked. Anytime you want to bake AND drive 1000 or so miles north, you are welcome to come to my house.
Sunday - made a pork roast from our slaughtered pig, roasted potatoes and snap peas.
Monday - leftover pork roast, homemade macaroni and cheese
Tuesday - chili dogs from the freezer (did purchase buns, but at a bakery thrift), leftover homemade macaroni and cheese
Wednesday - chili dogs again with homemade oven fries
Thursday - beef stew - have all of the ingredients and homemade sesame seed bread
Friday - same as Thursday
Saturday - homemade pizza (all ingredients from freezer and pantry)
Snacks - fresh fruit and for SO lunches - homemade chocolate peanut chip cookies
Bastelmutti
1-12-11, 4:02pm
something that's really helping my fella and me stay on track is the fact that we are planning a weekly "cheat day" from our diet. i think this will be sunday, so we can have the full-on brunch experience at my bro's restaurant and have indian food at our favorite restaurant for dinner. having this to look forward to, and having it compartmentalized into 1 day is, i think, making it a bit easier to keep on track during the week, in terms of what we are eating and also eating it all at home.
I think I need to do this instead of a strict 100% at-home plan. I work at home, so I don't get out much, except to the grocery store, errands or the occasional meal out. As a more extroverted person, it's important to meet up with friends. I'm still glad to have this thread and challenge, because it has me thinking more creatively to reduce the eat-out portion of the budget.
Breakfast today was feta-olive biscuits, lunch was chicken and pasta salad, dinner will be salmon with whole wheat rotini and steamed carrots.
We resisted the urge to eat out last night. DH had a lot of errands to run yesterday and didn't get back until about 6:30, but we made turkey burgers with avocado and a salad. It was better than what we would have eaten out and a whole lot cheaper. I think this extended period of DH learning how to cook and coming up with meals he can easily make is going to help save us from a lot of "I'm tired" eating out in the future. He's handling it really well.
Bastelmutti
1-13-11, 12:37pm
I got delayed running some errands, but resisted grabbing something for lunch on the way. So, plus one. Dinner tonight will be pita pizzas. I need to get the kids fed & then have a meeting later at a restaurant, but will eat at home first and then just get an appetizer or tea.
Way to go all of you resisting eating out! I was just about to leave home today when I realized I hadn't eaten breakfast or packed lunch. So I popped a couple of pieces of raisin bread in the toaster, and while waiting I packed some more chicken and pasta salad into a container for lunch. Spread the toast with PB and made into a sandwich to eat in the car on my way in to work and I was good to go.
Not sure about dinner tonight, I still have some more leftover ginger-soy chicken breast and plain whole wheat rotini (separate containers) so maybe I'll figure out something to make with that. Please post if you have any ideas!
i made borscht last night and it was RAD. even better for lunch today. we still have at least 5 servings of it, so i'm thinking i'll freeze a few servings. they will do the trick nicely on a cold night when neither of us feels like cooking.
tonight is half a steak each, with beans and broccoli on the side. not sure what we'll have tomorrow night yet, maybe sausages sauteed with cabbage.
@Terri - my filing cabinet at work has a half dozen cans of soup & veggie chili in it. My back-up rations! Some days I stock it with cold cereal too. I've told my 4 colleagues that if they are ever hungry, they're welcome to a can of soup.
winterberry
1-13-11, 11:06pm
What we've had this week so far: rice and bean casserole, mushroom pasta casserole, broiled salmon with a side of brussel sprouts with toasted walnuts and cranberries (from the latest issue of Vegetarian Times -- very yummy), cabbage and noodles. Tonight I went to a potluck with friends. I made a carrot cake to go with chili, salad and cornbread.
Bastelmutti
1-13-11, 11:45pm
Way to go all of you resisting eating out!
You're amazing for doing this on a business trip!
I have the meals planned for the rest of the month except for two Saturdays. I expect we'll be eating out for one of them as my son will be home. I will be at a conference all day for the other so I'm looking for easy and fast.
jennipurrr
1-14-11, 11:33am
I had a slip up this week for lunch where I had an appointment and had not planned appropriately...sigh...so I stopped into a sandwich place. Other than that it has been pretty smooth sailing. We have been in a routine of leftovers from dinner the next day for lunch. Today will be the remnants of a veggie/stuffing/chicken casserole. DH is fairly supportive and has been on board all week but I know he will want to go out for a meal this weekend.
earthshepherd
1-15-11, 6:56am
Today is homemade pizza day. My sister bought me a bread machine a few years ago, so that's my easy way to make pizza dough. Then I use my own home-canned tomato sauce, shredded cheeses for the men folk, and veggie shreds for me. I am amazed that I don't miss cheese at all since I gave it up in September.
Last night I made hummus with fresh veggies -- my supper, DH's snack -- and there is plenty of that left for snacks today. We are still making sandwiches from the huge deli tray DH brought home from a luncheon early this week. One night I made the guys hot ham and cheese on sesame rolls, and last night they ate hot roast beef and cheese with horseradish. Today all my beans and soups are gone, so it's time to do a couple more batches.
We slipped up a few days ago and got pizza while we were out running errands. On the plus side we went to a pizza place we all used to like a lot and haven't been to in ages and they had a special that day for a large pizza and cheese bread for $11.99 so it wasn't too expensive. We actually really enjoyed ourselves.
We've saved a lot of money with this challenge compared to last month. Thanks for starting it!
I'm not sure if this is a triumph or a confession, but I haven't actually purchased anything or left the house since last Friday. Broke down this morning and ordered some wool socks, but the food supply is still doing fine and I'm eating well from the pantry. My current MO is my "protein" coffee for breakfast, veggie juice, cheese, nuts, and either sweet potato bisque or carrots and celery at lunch, a handful of pumpkin seeds and a mug of tea with milk in the afternoon, and then a glass of red wine and one of two choices at dinner time. I'm currently switching between fish with a salad from the garden, and chili with cheese served over shredded cabbage. One more fish steak and then I'll probably go with bacon and eggs, when the chili's done I'll add in ... maybe a roast chicken. After that I'm on the road so I'll have to plan some meals I can take with me, maybe freeze a few days worth of stuff and put in cooler.
Does anyone else notice you go in simplicity stages? For a while I was just struggling to eat proper meals, or making a lot of elaborate effort out of it. Lately it just doesn't seem like work at all, not even contemplating DH's return.
ETA: I will so miss our pomegranate tree if we move!!! I will often fiddle with one if I want dessert; they're "free" and they last forever!
Does anyone else notice you go in simplicity stages? For a while I was just struggling to eat proper meals, or making a lot of elaborate effort out of it. Lately it just doesn't seem like work at all, not even contemplating DH's return.
Yes! I was just thinking about that the other day. Lately it seems like a lot of things I've put an enormous amount of effort into in the past just sort of click now.
Eating at home has become less of a chore for us, too. It actually seems like more trouble than it is worth to go out sometimes. Funnily enough, though we've had a house full of inlaws for the past 10 days or so, we have probably spent less out of pocket on food overall because 1) they are pitching in with buying lots of the food and 2) we haven't gone out to eat at all. Usually we go out at least once on the weekend, spending anywhere from $20-50/meal depending on where we go. Last night we made dumplings, which was fun and very tasty, too.
lhamo
I was thinking about this the other day, too.. particularly about eating at home being easier than going out. Every now and then we'll go out and it will be... well, not exactly unpleasant, but more work or hassle than I expect in some way or another. Sometimes eating out is pure fun and enjoyment, but not always.
Anyway, I was thinking about the person who says that after you do something 10,000 times you are very proficient at it, whether or not you began with any innate talent. If you cook at home an average of 2 meals/day (and who always cooks 3 meals? There's probably some leftovers or cereal or other ready meal in there somewhere), that's about 13.5 years. I've got a solid 8 years under my belt, cooking since DD was born, and at least 12 years of some cooking before that. It's a lot easier than it was 8 years ago.
winterberry
1-15-11, 10:21pm
Today is homemade pizza day. My sister bought me a bread machine a few years ago, so that's my easy way to make pizza dough. Then I use my own home-canned tomato sauce, shredded cheeses for the men folk, and veggie shreds for me. I am amazed that I don't miss cheese at all since I gave it up in September.
Last night I made hummus with fresh veggies -- my supper, DH's snack -- and there is plenty of that left for snacks today. We are still making sandwiches from the huge deli tray DH brought home from a luncheon early this week. One night I made the guys hot ham and cheese on sesame rolls, and last night they ate hot roast beef and cheese with horseradish. Today all my beans and soups are gone, so it's time to do a couple more batches.
earthshepherd, this fascinates me. You cook different things for yourself and your husband? And you don't resent it?
I have been trying to give up animal fat and other saturated fats in my diet, and for the most part my husband will eat what I make but sometimes I sense his dissatisfaction, so often I compromise and put in a little cheese or lower fat versions of cheeses and other dairy products. When I made cabbage and cheese this week I fried some bacon and served it separately so he could have bacon in his. But I don't think I can go so far as to cook him something altogether different. I would just love a hot ham and cheese sandwich on a sesame roll! I just couldn't make him one without having one myself.
Today I steamed 2 fresh, red beets. I also cooked some red quinoa. So for dinner I made a salad of red leaf lettuce, yellow pepper, cucumber, beets, and tossed it all together with the quinoa and a lovely dressing and topped off with crumbled blue cheese. Absolutely delicious! And so good for me.
Linda
Yesterday I basically snacked all through the day, lots of fruit, not too much "real food". Today was cereal for breakfast, cheese and crackers and fruit for lunch, dinner will be pasta with tomatoes, olives and sausage. Cooking extra pasta for lunch later in the week.
Need to think about Tuesday as I have to go to Sydney for the day for work which is approx 2.5 hours by train. I will need to pack lunch for the office and dinner for the train home, and I have no idea what facilities will be available for the office.
I totally agree with eating at home being less work than going out, grabbing something from the freezer or even doing a meal from scratch takes only a short time, and no hassle at all. I'm learning that packing a lunch for work can be just as easy. It's a bit of a revelation to me since I've been buying lunches for work every day since about 2002. (Before that, I worked in a place where the only place nearby to buy a lunch was very much Not Good - soggy sandwich fillings on dry bread.)
earthshepherd
1-16-11, 7:08am
Last night I made a big batch of pizza dough, froze half of it, and made one large pizza for DH and DS (I had curried lentils over rice). Both my men asked for the second pizza after they gulped down the first one! I baked cookies since I had frozen the rest of the dough. They are really enjoying the homemade stuff, maybe a little tooo much!
today is cheat day! we'll go to brunch with friends and family this morning as usual, but we decided to cook tonight instead of going out. i made a batch of bread dough so we can have homemade pizza. it will be so much better and cheaper than anything we can get out and about. except fries. we might have to drive through somewhere for fries. :)
we also made a meal plan for the week. from whole foods, a rotisserie chicken on monday and tuesday (they are $2 cheaper on mondays) and whatever kind of pork chops or steaks look good in the sale cooler with veggies for dinner. we'll make bean and ham soup and veggie beef soup for lunches. should only have to spend about $50 for the meat and odds and ends to make all that.
Joining in late after having eaten out several times already!
But I made a soup for lunch tomorrow using lettuce from our CSA, potatoes, onions, some sort of squash and some udon noodles. Very simple, yet filling recipe.
Nordette, there's still two weeks left in January so lots of time for you to join in.
Today was cereal for breakfast, leftover pasta for lunch, and dim sum cooked from frozen with tomatoes and asparagus for dinner. Plus cinnamon and sugar on raisin toast for dessert.
earthshepherd
1-17-11, 6:48am
Yesterday I made a huge triple batch of lasagna, garlic bread made from two italian long loaves bought at the store, and two big bowls of salad for eighteen people: family members and extended family members of my best friend, who is in her last few weeks of life (uterine cancer). I held back some lasagna for my men folks at home, but by the time I got home, I was too worn out and upset to eat anything myself, so I had a cup of coffee with soymilk for supper! On the bright side, my friend's family was very pleased to have a home cooked supper. They said they have been eating a lot of deli sandwiches and it was nice to have a big "real" dinner.
Bastelmutti
1-17-11, 8:43am
Sorry to hear about your friend, ES (I keep wanting to use your old name!) That was a wonderful thing you did.
A small victory last night after Friday night's eating out - we were going to a friend's house & we all decided to make dinner instead of ordering pizza.
I'm in (late) too -- I will cook *something* at home every day.
My main goal for this is to bring my lunch to work instead of going out every day. But I reserve the right to tag along with co-workers, ONCE per week, if and only if they go to a restaurant I really LOVE.
Today's dinner will be some chicken I meant to cook on the weekend, with leftover rice and veggies.
Had to travel out of state this weekend and did more eating out than I wanted to. Luckily the hotel we stayed at had breakfast so that was free, sort of. Other than that we ate out two dinners and three lunches. Ugggg, I knew we were going to, we had no choice but to travel, I just hate the thought of all that money out the window. I did pack a cooler with drinks and snacks so at least we didn't lose a dollar here and there on munchies and bottles of water, I hate that, and the good news is we are sick of eating out and can continue on our eat at home path for the rest of the month.
We just got in today after a big lunch on the road. Tonight we will have grilled cheese and tomato soup. Easy peasy.
flowerseverywhere
1-17-11, 7:00pm
made a turkey stew with dumplings and it was fabulous. I never made dumplings before. Got the recipe at allrecipes.com. I have also made turkey quesedillas (on homemade tortillas) Turkey pot pie and turkey and gravy on biscuits. Cooked a big turkey that was in my freezer from the holiday sales if you haven't guessed. I have figured out how to make dumplings, pizza, tortillas, biscuits and pie crust the old fashioned way. Much tastier and way way cheaper. The problem is trying not to eat too much it is so much better than store bought.
also took some of the turkey and put it in some hotsauce and made a pizza with blue cheese dressing, the turkey and mozarella for a buffalo chicken wing pizza. It was a huge hit.
have not eaten out this month, not even coffee or a donut and the only prepared food in January was a box of crackers and a loaf of bread.
Had to take DD to the doctor this evening and luckily had enough leftovers in the fridge for a very quick dinner when we got home. With the very cold weather that is due tonight and will be here for the next week, I will be going out only when absolutely necessary, and it will be a good opportunity to eat down the pantry and freezer.
I was in such a hurry this morning, I actually grabbed a box of Kelloggs Mini Wheats cereal to eat in the car for the drive to and from Sydney today. I was pretty hungry by the time I got home, and had some leftover spaghetti and also some chicken soup from the freezer for dinner.
Maribeth, this challenge has been great for me in terms of learning to bring lunches for work and not eat out every work day. If your coworkers get take out meals, you can still eat with them even when you bring your lunch from home.
Earthshepherd, I am sorry to hear about your friend. That was sweet of you to bring a meal, and nice her family were able to appreciate it as they must be having a really hard time focusing on anything right now.
We have not eaten out as a family yet this month....but I have bought the occasional beverage (coffee, soda) while out and working away from home. However, this thread has yanked me up short of actually buying a MEAL out. So....thank you all.
today I am making miso gravy. I can use this through the week to put on steamed, boiled and baked veggies.
Terri, they do not get takeout lunch -- they actually go out to sit down restaurants. Eating out has become a habit rather than an enjoyment for me, and I would like to reverse that.
Today I actually did experience the rare treat of DH asking me to lunch after running some errands near my work. You can all blow me a big raspberry for that one. In repentance, I have already planned the lunch I will take to work tomorrow.
Breakfast today was raisin toast and peanut butter, lunch was a turkey quesadilla and some chickpea soup from the freezer, dinner was macaroni and cheese (from a box) and a grapefruit. Plus a snack of popcorn with salt and pepper. My grandfather passed away today, and I wasn't up to cooking anything this evening.
earthshepherd
1-19-11, 6:26am
I bought a $5 Subway sandwich for my son yesterday, who was home from school with a bad cold. DH and I had a dinner to go to in the evening, and DS begged for a BMT so I broke down and got him one. Then DH and I ate out for free at the church dinner, and brought leftovers home so...maybe it canceled out...? :|(
Today I am serving the menfolk the baked chicken and potato leftovers from last night, and having lentils and quinoa salad for myself. Thursday they will all get tofu stir fry whether they like it or not. Muhahahaha! :laff:
(((Terri))) So sorry for your loss!
Zach ended up getting lunch for the kids yesterday when my three hour doctor's appointment turned into a four hour doctors appointment. He kept it to about $5 though. Mostly we've been pretty good, though. Last night I made soup with chicken sausage, white beans, tomatoes, potatoes and spinach. Zach made grilled cheese to go with it. Tonight will be leftovers with bread sticks.
earthshepherd
1-19-11, 10:01am
I just saw that you lost your grandfather. I'm very sorry. ((((terri))))
Mmmm. Zach had an unexpected day off of school today and the girls wanted to make waffles so I decided to go with it. Cheyenne wanted to make strawberry mango waffles and Bella wanted to make blueberry mango waffles, so we just combined them and made strawberry, blueberry and mango waffles. The kids and Zach had them with syrup and I had one with a little strawberry yogurt and sliced banana. Delicious! I made enough that we had leftover batter for 7 extra waffles, so I'm freezing those for a future meal.
Last weekend I baked bread and made yogurt. So for breakfast this week, I was able to eat either a slice of bread with jam or marmalade that I got from the farmers market. Another option I had was yogurt mixed with jam or marmalade. For lunch earlier this week, I had quinoa mixed with veggies - stir fry style or a soup I mentioned earlier in the thread. Today it was couscous with bits of the chicken I baked last night (with rosemary, garlic, salt and lemon) along with some other veggies (fennel, potatoes, chard). For dinner I had the same couscous with chicken but I curry-fied it by adding some curry mix.
Overall I feel really good and this thread is inspiring to continue to stay at home and eat. My cook is so much more accommodating to my needs.
Got taken out to lunch yesterday, it's my first non home-cooked meal this year. Happy to say it was a gorgeous meal of crispy duck over salad with goat cheese, so at least I don't feel guilty, probably better quality than what I make myself. A lovely "cheat" if I do say so! :)
Readsomething
1-20-11, 8:20am
I just bought a new bread machine (trading up from a 1-pound machine to a 2-pound). Would anyone care to share a bread machine recipe for pizza dough? And also one for rolls that can be reshaped and baked in the oven? If anyone has a book recommendation for dough, I'd love that, too.
I would LOVE to be able to bake bread at home more, but I need to use the machine for the dough. I am bread-challenged, so any help would be appreciated!
We haven't eaten out during the week at all, except for one trip to McDonald's :|( . Weekends, DH *loves* to dine out. We're foodies, and trying new restaurants is part of life. He'd DIE without that. BUT we usually have tons of leftovers. He found a great new Italian place (funny trivia -- it's in the same exact spot where another restaurant used to be, where we had one of our first dates -- DD loved hearing about that!) and we went there Saturday night. We ended up with enough leftovers for lunches for 2 days and one dinner for DD. We loved the food and will definitely return.
For dinner tonight, I'm hoping to make a white chili (chicken, tomatillos, corn, white beans) in the crockpot. We have a Brownies meeting after school, and DD is usually cranky and VERY hungry, so it'd be nice to have a meal READY when we get back home. This is the kind of "excuse" I normally use for going out during the week, but I've been trying to do more planning to avoid that.
Bastelmutti
1-20-11, 8:55am
Terri, sorry to hear about your grandfather. Give yourself a break if you need to. Sending positive thoughts during this tough time.
kib - Sounds like an amazing meal!
Readsomething - I've realized that I'm also not trying to cut out eating in restaurants entirely, just cut out the mindless/lazy stops and save a bit of money that way. I feel we enjoy our meals out more that way.
Yesterday I made more yogurt and stocked up at the grocery store - meat, veggies, dairy, fruit. Cooked some dried beans, too, so I have 2 containers of frozen black beans for future meals. Just need to think ahead to defrost (no microwave).
We're having cheese and veggie omelets and blueberry muffins tonight. I'm going to let the girlies help make them. We have some veggies to use up and we made some sprouts, which I love in omelets. Lunch was fruit, cold cuts and whole grain crackers and breakfast was the waffles we froze yesterday. I'm keeping it as easy as possible today and planning a dinner Zach could take over if I am too tired.
Bastelmutti
1-20-11, 4:41pm
Take it easy, Stella!
Have been cooking at home.....love this thread. :) I have a sourdough starter in the fridge that I have managed not to kill for about 6 months now. I am trying all sorts of new ways to use it. This week I made sourdough italian bread and cooked up a roast yesterday on the stove with some carmelized onions and made sandwiches out of it. A side of mac and cheese which used up odds and ends of cheese out of the freezer. DH said this is such good mac and cheese....;) well I can't make it again because I don't really know what's in it. :laff:
Tonight chicken although I don't exactly know what I am going to do with it. I also have some sundried tomatoes I made myself the summer before last. I figure if they are not moldy they are still good to use? Have to get creative with these this weekend, might make pizza tomorrow for dinner with them, some spinach and leftover chicken.
I'm impressed - 20 days into the new year and we've had every meal at home!
earthshepherd
1-20-11, 6:34pm
ReadSomething,
here's how I make pizza dough in my bread machine:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2T sugar
1 T olive oil
1 tsp salt
(optional) 1/2 tsp garlic powder
4-5 cups flour
2 T bread machine yeast
Place in bread machine bucket in order given. Run on dough setting. Check after all is mixed, and adjust flour or liquids if needed until dough is elastic but not sticky.
I let the dough rise again in a bowl or about 30 mins, then make two large pizza pies with it.
earthshepherd
1-20-11, 6:35pm
Leftovers night! Easy, frugal, and everybody's happy.
We are still on track for all the meals at home, or packed lunches.
The egg drop soup was a bust with the kids, so I have/will be eating it alone till it's gone. They did give me good feedback on how to make it better next time. Gotta love that. After all the enchilada experiments, I can't even bring enchilada sauce into the house w/o groans.
Bastelmutti
1-21-11, 8:32pm
Sick for the past two days & sleeping a lot. Today I had the kids home, too. But resisted temptation to order out & made "freezer surprise" yesterday (various things like ravioli and dumplings heated up) and chicken/black bean tostadas today (black beans were pre-cooked & in the freezer) instead!
Last two days on business trip again, but still on track. I brought breakfast (fritatta) and lunch (spaghetti) from freezer for first day. Dinner was salmon and salad. Next day breakfast was a frozen quiche - normally would be cereal but Brisbane grocery had no milk at all due to flooding in most of the state - and lunch was the rest of the salmon and salad. I was home in time for dinner Friday night which was a hot dog and some fruit.
Today is pancakes for breakfast, baked brie with lemon/garlic/thyme for lunch, and probably will be butter chicken and rice for dinner as I have some chicken in the fridge I need to use today. I'll do a little extra to put in the freezer for later meals.
We took the family out to dinner on Monday, at their request. And I took the kids out for lunch today with some friends we haven't seen for a long time who happened to be passing through town. Other than that, all meals have been at home. DS has also been taking a packed lunch every day, which cuts way back on cost there. So I can splurge a bit on our meals at home. DH leaves on a business trip tomorrow, so tonight we're living it up a bit: steak, mushrooms in red wine glaze (using up the last bit of a bottle of wine we didn't manage to drink last week), red cabbage slaw with asian dressing, and baked sweet potatoes. And a nice bottle of Chilean wine (well, I hope it is nice!). In spite of buying extra food for the visiting relatives, we should come in under budget on groceries and well under budget on food out this month. Off to a good start!
lhamo
earthshepherd
1-22-11, 7:08am
This weekend, with the meat eaters/vegan combo in our house:
homemade pizza, whole wheat noodles with peanut sauce, corn-bean-barley salad, a crockpot of chili (meat), and pita with hummus. Breakfasts and lunches are oats, toast, coffee and warmed up-leftovers, with DS eating a peanut butter n jelly.
We have been doing pretty good at home. Yesterday we cheated and ate lunch out. I had to go to the grocery store, kids wanted to go to the library and everybody was hungry and cranky. So not a perfect mmonth but really proud with how we have been doing.
Friday night we made homemade pizza. I have tried to make crusts myself and they are just ehhh, found at our Italian store I can buy their frozen dough balls for $1.25 each. They were super good. Topped with our homemade sauce, spinach, grilled chicken, cheese and black olives, everbody was happy.
Last night my kids wanted to try to re-create a lunch that bought at school on one of the very rare occasions they bought. It was taco salad. They were so proud of themselves (and it was pretty good. I'm happy that they are learning they can make these things healthier and cheaper at home. It was a good parenting day for me.
So today we have a big football game around here. We stopped at the store and splurged on some good stuff for the game today, the menu will have mini-sliders, potato soup (made by DS) fish tacos, veggies. A bit of an eclectic menu but the leftovers will overflow into an easy monday night leftover dinner.
Happy Sunday everybody.
I thought about getting a coffee this afternoon because I was ten minutes early for a meeting, but instead I just showed up early, and she was happy to start when I got there, so it's like finding some extra time in the day as well as saving money.
earthshepherd
1-24-11, 7:05am
This is the last week of the month! I will keep this up though. I don't go out to eat much anyway, and this challenge has gotten me into the habit of not buying anything out unless I have to (usually for someone else), and I like it!
I am trying to use up things on hand this week -- freezer, fridge and pantry. I may have to grocery shop by Friday, but I will see how long I can go just pulling meals together out of what I already have. I noticed over the weekend that my empty canning jars now outnumber my full ones. This means I am right on track with using up canned garden foods -- we are halfway to summertime. Yay!!
Preliminary ideas for this week -- there's plenty of oatmeal, eggs for those who eat them, and toasting breads and muffins for breakfast. I will make two kinds of soup -- split pea and minestrone, okay, maybe three, lentil tomato also. We have both regular cheese slices and veggie cheese slices for grilled cheese. We have hamburgers and veggie burgers for an evening "fast food" night. We have lots of "happy" chicken (free range, butchered on site) for my meat-eating menfolk, and veggie crumbles and various beans and grains for main dishes for me and side dishes for them. SO. Onward it is, and may you all have a terrific final week of this challenge!!
We've eaten out twice this month - once on the day we put the dog to sleep (take out - I was too distraught too think about food) and last night when we used up some gift cards. Since my 17 year old son came with us, we ate more than the gift card's worth but it was money will spent.
Once or twice a month is about average. I'll keep track next month too, especially as I have some travel.
Bastelmutti
1-24-11, 10:45am
Saturday was birthday party night, so we did eat out, but this was planned well in advance (one of the reasons I wanted to reduce our eating-out budget this month - so we could pitch in for a very nice b-day party for DH, sister and BIL). Have been sick again, but so far have been able to throw stuff together. We'll see what happens tonight if I still feel this cr*ppy!
We have definitely reduced our eating out this month, but not eliminated it entirely. I think this is a good solution for us. The main thing for me was to cut out the mindless eating out and eating out due to poor planning or laziness on my part.
Bastelmutti
1-24-11, 9:42pm
PS Made it one more day - had pasta & easy sauce (tomatoes simmered with a half an onion, S&P and some butter) plus a bit of leftovers from the party.
Bastelmutti
1-26-11, 1:29pm
Five more days of January - how's everyone doing?
I'm still sick with a cold, but managed to get out to the store & make chickpea curry last night. Tonight we'll have casserole surprise with leftover rice & chickpeas, scraps of cheese, herbs from the freezer, etc.
got taken out again for dinner, and will be paid for work with a subway sandwich tomorrow, and then have a catered party to go to on Saturday. So I'm going to make a prediction: January was four meals away from home, none of which were paid for with money.
Hm...just stumbled across this thread. Thinking back over the month I am fairly certain we have not eaten out.
Really enjoying this thread. We have been doing pretty well....had quite a setback for our family recently. MY DDhas had lifelong stomach issues and has just been diagnosed with severe reflux. Folks think reflux is not that bad, however for her she throws up if she eats the wrong things and spends days with bellyaches. The dr has set some pretty strict guidelines....no citrus, tomatoes, onions, spicy items, cream deserts, heavy dressing, vinegar, fried foods, salty greasy snack foods, chocolate, peppermint, high fat meats etc etc etc.
We have always eaten pretty healthy around here but this really has set us back about what to cook. Working on some new recipes around here....
Breakfast was scrambled eggs, cranberry pomegranate juice, home made zuke bread. Lunch was ham sandwiches, whole wheat rolls (homemade) apples, pumpkin nut cookies (homemade) Dinner will be a big splurge for DD, grilled salmon, asparagus, roasted potatoes. Some of her favorites because of all the changes lately.
Thanks for this thread....now more than ever I need some good tasty eat at home ideas.
We will eat out on Sunday. DS#2 is home on post deployment leave and asked to go the local pizza place. Next week we will eat at the local steak place as well. I'm traveling for week next week, too. I will look at bringing my food since motels increasingly have microwaves and fridges in the room.
earthshepherd
1-27-11, 3:36pm
we are doing good with our month of home-cooking. Tonight I am cooking for my ill friend's family again, 12 of them this time. I am making enough extra to feed the men at my house.
Bastelmutti
1-27-11, 4:01pm
Still sick. Ugh. Bought some easy meals to make for the next couple of days - pita pizzas and hot dogs. Saturday we plan to eat out, because I have a day of volunteering & have to give a speech I'm still writing, so no way will I be up for cooking, especially after having this cold for a week.
We had "breakfast for dinner" last night, which the kids thought was fun -- toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon (a rare treat that they really love). I almost caved in and ordered dinner, as I had had a long and somewhat frustrating day already, but I had purchased the bacon just for this purpose, so forced myself to make it. I may give in and order something tonight, though, as I still have a ton of work to plow through and have to pack. But maybe I'll just make pasta, which is easy.
lhamo
Cleaning out some cabinets and freezers today. Not too much to dispose of. A few odds and ends of bags and boxes lurking in the bottom of the cabinets. Next it's down to the upright freezer, who knows what I may find in there :~). Frozen tomatoes from three seasons ago??? Whatever I find that is edible is going into our smorgasboard for dinner tonight. It's a use it up dinner today.
Will make a pit of soup today for lunch tomorrow, weekends are my weak spot. We are running around and busy and often find ourselves stopping for lunch. If I can say we have wedding soup, fresh sourdough bread and fruit we will actually enjoy eating at home.
DH was traveling this week and DD was going crazy, so I took her out for sushi. She was an absolute angel, and even got a free green tea ice cream just for being a cute 2-year old that likes Japanese food.
The day before, she rejected the pasta dish I made that was supposed to be (a) a favorite with kids and (b) better the second day. It was neither of those things. We had apples, hummus and toast instead. I hate food waste, but the pasta was truly so terrible after being refrigerated that I threw it out.
Tonight, smorgasbord!
I just got back from another business trip this week, in which I had two breakfasts out. Lunches were supplied, and dinner was cooked at the hotel. But, I had got to the store late the first day and they politely kicked me out before I got to the breakfast foods, because they were closing.
Coming up on the end of the month, one day to go, and I've had 4 meals out. That is way better than my normal average of probably 18-20 meals out (and probably would have been 35-40 with all the travel I've been doing in the last month, without this challenge). I decided to tack on one day to the challenge for each meal out which means I will keep it up until 4 February.
Oh, and I slept late today so no breakfast. Brunch/lunch is lamb and corn on the cob. Dinner is likely to be homemade pizza for me and a couple of friends as I think tonight will be movie night. I'll make lots and put some in the freeezer for work lunches for the next week.
I think that I am on track to make it the whole month w/o a "paid" meal out. I did have 2 meals at the hospital cafeteria with coupons for being a "good employee.)
I went on a cooking spree today and made a couple of giant foccacia bread with pizza toppings, that will go in the freezer for work lunches. I have a rainbow trout from the fisherman's coop for dinner tonight, which I will pair with some smashed carrots with thyme (a recipe I saw on a cooking show a couple of weeks back).
Breakfast: leftover turnip green soup (from the 100 Monastery Soups book, but the recipe was for spinach) and some of Bae's bread. Lunch: a meeting on my front porch -- served homemade whole wheat chocolate chocolate-chip blackberry muffins and coffee (muffin recipe from TWG). Dinner: crumbled hamburger (we call it 'mousemeat' -- something left over from my childhood) with taco seasoning and some tortilla chips. Should have added a salad to that, but was too hungry to make one. And that was it -- everything cooked at home and delicious food. (and yeah, I know hamburger isn't the healthiest or most ethical, but there you are -- life happens)
Uggg, we ate lunch out today. Same old story, out running errands, my car needed inspected, they called before lunch and we didn't make it back in time. $27.00 for lunch. I am already setting my goals for February, maybe twice eating out and no more?
Dinner was soup and chef salads. Nothing spectacular. Finished getting all of the freezers cleaned out though....this should make things easier.
Trying to lose my "jelly belly", I am cooking healthier foods right now....I am craving a pizza with the works today and will make one with whole wheat crust. lots of fresh veggies and as a treat, topped with Italian sausage.
http://iliketomakethings.blogspot.com
Three meals at home today and I realized why this challenge is so difficult -- I have cleaned everything in my kitchen three times today! These were not horribly complicated meals, but afterward, it seemed like every pot, pan, utensil and countertop in the kitchen was dirty. And by the time the kitchen was restored to order, it was practically time to start thinking about the next meal!
I want to make a sandwich to take for lunch tomorrow, but instead, I am goofing off on the internet to avoid having to wipe crumbs off the counter yet again.
:~)
It really helps to make meals in batches, even sandwiches. I agree, if you have a sink full of dishes plus dirty counters and floors every time you eat, scratch cooking quickly loses its charm.
Bastelmutti
1-31-11, 11:02am
+1 on the cleaning. I'm thinking of cooking up rice and beans in larger batches and freezing. The catch is that I don't have a microwave (no plans to get one), so I'll have to figure out the best way to reheat or just plan on using the pre-cooked stuff in things like stew and fried rice.
Anyone up for continuing this thread into Feb.? I'm happy to post a new thread.
DD refuses to eat if faced with any mixture of foods, so lately we always have Protein and Starch and Vegetables as separate dishes, which does add to the prep and cleanup. I do try to make enough for leftovers.
I love my little girl, but life was so much easier in the days before children when we were free to make up a big batch of curry and eat it all week, or graze, or skip dinner altogether if we felt like it!
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