April Challenge

Ok, so here was the challenge for April.  For the entire month, we did NOT plan on eating out at all. That includes stopping to get a cup of coffee or a coke (bottle of water for me), vending machines, etc. Everything we eat will come out of our kitchen or if we are out of town it will come from the grocery store, but no processed foods. 

1. It is a way to be more conscious of our money.

2. It is a way to eat more whole foods and less processed (and over preserved) foods.

3. It is a way to stop wasting the food that we buy at the grocery store. If eating out is not an option, I will find something to eat in the house. 

*Obviously my husband will have to eat out with people from work sometimes, but he will have to make good decisions on what to eat. 

If we can do this, our reward is to celebrate with a nice dinner the first weekend in May (my 30th birthday!).

I found 14 recipes for the first two weeks of cooking. The goal was to find recipes that I can freeze. So every time I made a meal, I could double the recipe and freeze half of it. That way I only need two weeks worth of recipes to be repeated the second two weeks. So, the third and fourth week of the month, I just pulled  meals out of the freezer and cooked them.

Well... the month is almost over, so here are the results so far. My husband had to eat out for work a few times and had to eat out when he went out of town on business. But when he was home he had home cooked meals every night. He says he already feels better. My kids ate out once or twice (I'm not sure) during a weekend with their grandparents, but have been doing great at home eating whole foods for snacks and drinking more water and less juice and milk (they drank a lot of milk!! (organic of course)) I am the only one in the family who has gone the entire month without eating out at all. Not a single time did I stop at a restaurant for anything. I can definitely tell you that I feel so much better. I don't feel bloated after eating and I haven't had to throw out nearly as much wasted food each week, just a small amount of left over fruit or veggies that we didn't get to. Though I think that will be even less this week since we have really upped the amount that we are eating.  

To be honest, at first I missed grabbing a bite here and there. I went through a week of being sick and I can't tell you how much I wanted to call and say, "just bring home a pizza." But I didn't and I'm glad I didn't. I either pulled a meal out of the freezer from the week before or threw together a quick and easy meal with whatever I found in the fridge. Another benefit to eating at home every night was that we ate together at the table for each meal (my two year old did his best to sit still for that long, I appreciate the effort). If I was going to take the time to cook a meal for my family, then we were all going to sit there together and enjoy it as a family. Obviously we aren't going to go the rest of our lives without eating out ever again, but it will definitely be limited from now on. Maybe twice a month we can grab a quick meal or sit down at a restaurant.  I really enjoyed knowing exactly what was going into my family's bodies. I would recommend any family trying this or at least trying to cut it down to twice a month. Good luck!

5/1/2012

The month is over now and I had a crazy day, so .... we ate out tonight. Here is what I had. A steak sandwich with tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms and some pasta salad and fresh squeezed limeade. Let me tell you, I almost immediately felt the difference. I couldn't finish more than a few bites of the pasta salad. I feel bloated again after weeks of not feeling that way. I've already worked out once today and I feel like I need to do it again.  I didn't like the idea of not knowing where my food came from or even what all was in the food. I didn't make the smartest decision on what to eat there, but I'm not sure it was really going to matter. I will definitely be keeping the eating out to a minimum!!