Eat In Month in Review
So…we’ve officially made it through Eat In Month 2011!
We ate every single meal at home (or packed at home, anyway) from January 1 through January 31. And probably won’t eat out again until Saturday, February 5, so…holler.
The few tiny exceptions to this would be:
- I had a cup of coffee at Starbucks once, but I used a gift card so it didn’t cost any money.
- On a road trip down to Tim’s parents’ house, we stopped at a gas station and Tim got a soda and I had a Gatorade.
- Tim had a drink at a work happy hour once.
- I got a Diet Coke while grocery shopping at Target once for $0.29 (mobile coupons! woo!).
- We bought a Groupon for $10 for a restaurant, but didn’t use it.
I don’t think any of those really count, though.
The Challenges
The first half of the month was a breeze. We don’t usually eat out much anyway, but we do usually go out to dinner on Saturday nights. While these aren’t usually fancy dinners or anything (hello, Chipotle), they are a nice break from cooking and do serve as a social outlet for us. By the last three weekends, I found myself getting pretty bored on weekends with nothing to look forward to!
I also started having some pretty serious cravings for restaurant and fast food—Chipotle, Cheesecake Factory, carry-out greasy pizza, ohmygod CULVER’S, Panera—knowing I couldn’t have them right away. I’m not sure this is a good thing. Normally, say, I crave Chipotle, I’ll say, “Hey, Tim, let’s grab Chipotle on Saturday,” and we’ll eat it, and that’s it, and it’s gone. Not being able to eat specific things made me fixate on them more than usual, which confirmed my “all things in moderation” theory.
The Benefits
I think this challenge really helped me to think outside the box and try some new recipes on weekends that I wouldn’t normally have experimented with! Instead of going out to eat, I tried new recipes on weekends for something to do, or remade old favorites we hadn’t had for a long time. I made…
- Lasagna (no recipe; improvised)
- Cranberry Apple Pork Roast
- Cooking Light Chicken Tetrazzini
- Beef stew
- Lentil chili
We also saved some money. In December, we spent $116.81 on eating out; this month was basically $0. Since one of our big goals this year is to beef up our savings for things that might rhyme with “louse” or “maybe,” this is putting us one step closer.
All in all, I’m glad we did this challenge…but man, am I looking forward to going out to eat this weekend! I think we may scale back our “every single Saturday is dinner out” assumption, but we will definitely still be enjoying ourselves from time to time.
Did you participate in Eat In Month? How did you do?
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I am impressed!!! I just do not think I could do this but you sure do make me want to try!! You guys have incredible will power that I just don’t think I possess! LOL Now you have to celebrate by going out to eat!
Thanks for sharing! I hope your first taste of Culvers is all you dream it will be!
Annie recently posted..I do what I want!
That’s awesome — super impressed with the will power it takes to not eat out. Hubs and I “treat” ourselves with dinner out. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to not do it for a month.
Anna @ Doing Good & Living Well recently posted..Snow Envy
Yay! You made it and your adding on a few days! Thanks for sharing the pros/cons
We didn’t participate and The Husband would have struggled with it…at his work it is the “social norm” for everyone to go out to eat together. But overall we have gotten a lot better at eating in, even lunches,because we have leftovers.
runaroundaroo recently posted..More Snow and Comfort Food!
We have family visits every month from January to basically the end of March, and then April we are traveling to a race, but maybe May will be doable! We have scaled back quite a bit. We used to go out once or twice a week but now it’s every other week when we don’t have family vising. There are just too many awesome places to take them when they are here!
Very impressive. We don’t eat out much either, but no we didn’t participate in Eat In Month.
Carolyn @Eat Well. Live Well. Be Well. recently posted..A Beautiful Day to Celebrate Life
You inspired me to give this a try! We usually have a “date night” every other Friday and maybe grab something quick once a week. I thought Feb would be a good month to try since it is only 28 days and we usualy stay in for Valentine’s day anyway. Thanks!
Like everyone else, I’m totally impressed! Very inspiring!
I love the concept! But it would be hard for us. We don’t eat out A LOT but a few times a month. We get pizza or we go to a nice restaurant. We try to use Groupon to save money when we do that.
That is so impressive! It would be really hard for me to not eat out for a whole month!
Nope – didn’t participate, but we only went out to eat once that I can remember, and then probably each bought lunch out a couple times too. Enjoy your dinner out this weekend!
Lisa recently posted..Project- Share and Discover 1 – Take Time To Breathe
Congrats on a successful month! I did not participate in Eat in Month. Going out to dinner is pretty much a description of my job. But I get a lot of gift certificates or freebies so it doesn’t cost us too much to go to the city.
Alaina recently posted..Saving Face
Wow! That is so impressive! I didn’t participate in the challenge full-on, but my husband and I did scale back on eating out quite a bit. It was fun because I rediscovered some of my favorite cookbooks and tried some new recipes. And I’m also impressed that you scored a Diet Coke for $0.29!!
Erin @ The Grass Skirt recently posted..Looking Back
I’m so weird about food that I actually dread eating out – I have to be really careful about sugar and so many restaurants add it to everything! Congrats on your Eat-In month – where is the first restaurant you want to go to now that it’s over?
LauraJayne recently posted..Sugar Detox Day 14- Recap