First, I'd like to congratulate everyone who participated in the January "Purge 30 in 30 Days" challenge. There were many of you who went well beyond the basic challenge of de-cluttering your homes, whether by selling unwanted possessions, giving them away or recycling them.
While the January challenge was all about simplifying your life, the February challenge is about reducing your monthly food bill by eating at home as much as possible. While grabbing a pizza on the way home from work can be a convenience (and who doesn't enjoy being waited on at a full service restaurant?), dining out today certainly gives me a case of sticker shock.
And, let's face it, restaurant food is designed to taste good. Perhaps becuase of restaurateurs' desire to have you coming back for more, restaurant food is often laden with hidden salts, fats and sugars, all of which enhance the flavor of food, as well as our waistlines.
The February challenge is very simple: let's see how many days this month you can eat all your meals at home. Give yourself 1 point for each day when you don't purchase any foods or beverages outside the home. (Yup, this includes coffee from Starbucks or a candy bar at the grocery check-out line.)
If you eat at a friend's house, that's okay. You're still eating at (a) home. If you make your lunch at home but eat it at work, give yourself a point (as long as the rest of your meals are homemade, too).
The person who earns the highest score, or a score of 28, since this is February, wins.
Are you in?
Join the February Challenge: Home Cooking
February 2nd, 2010 at 01:04 am
February 2nd, 2010 at 01:52 am 1265075522
February 2nd, 2010 at 01:56 am 1265075775
February 2nd, 2010 at 02:58 am 1265079509
Can I count each meal separately instead?
Anyway, yesterday (1st of Feb here) breakfast, lunch and dinner was all eaten at home.
February 2nd, 2010 at 03:48 am 1265082530
February 2nd, 2010 at 03:50 am 1265082627
February 2nd, 2010 at 05:04 am 1265087079
February 2nd, 2010 at 01:05 pm 1265115950
Sheila, if you'd rather score yourself per meal rather than per day, you can do that, but only give yourself one-third of a point per meal. That should keep the playing field even, I think.
My score, month-to-date: 1
February 2nd, 2010 at 02:44 pm 1265121886
February 2nd, 2010 at 03:07 pm 1265123252
We have 1 pt so far!
February 2nd, 2010 at 04:26 pm 1265127993
February 2nd, 2010 at 05:33 pm 1265131997
and I am in for the cooking challenge!
February 2nd, 2010 at 05:40 pm 1265132454
February 2nd, 2010 at 05:57 pm 1265133460
Yesterday I took my daughter and a friend ice skating and purchased a 65 cent hot chocolate from a vending machine!!
So I will pass but could you give some advance notice of future challenges so I can psyche myself up??
February 2nd, 2010 at 06:13 pm 1265134409
February 2nd, 2010 at 09:06 pm 1265144790
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-12-13-no-heat_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
I'll try to announce the next monthly challenge a day or two ahead of time. This one was a little last minute. Mea culpa. I'll continue it as long as I have inspiration!
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:34 pm 1265150041
I'm in but this will be a really big challenge for me. I hate cooking! But I'm up for the challenge. One point for yesterday and one for today because we have left overs from the weekend. Looking forward to next month's challenge. And thanks for coordinating the 30 day purge. It seemed to motivate a lot of us!
February 3rd, 2010 at 01:42 am 1265161336
February 3rd, 2010 at 04:54 am 1265172891
February 4th, 2010 at 06:41 pm 1265308867
We might be cheaters, haven't eaten out since Dec, and only one vending machine stop in Jan.
February 5th, 2010 at 11:20 pm 1265412030