A near miss with kissing 60 dollars goodbye!

We, like every other family who can drive, walk or run, went to see the Star Wars exhibit at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. And there it was, no not the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon (although it was there and we DID sit in it) the chance to go out to eat. I know we would have gone out and enjoyed far more than our fair share of fried calamari, Thai pizza and good beer at the Brew House. It was there staring us in the face and we said no.

Saying no saved us some serious calories and money. I always eat more when I've had a beer so I'm sure I would have felt sick and greasy and stuffed to the gills. Instead we ate fruit, granola bars and drank our sweet well water in the truck on the way home.

You know I think part of going out to eat is just satisfying the urge to eat. When I'm hungry, I. AM. HUNGRY. Stand back, bring me food wherever I happen to be is where I will eat. I'm a low blood sugar kinda gal and tend to be a bit snappish. I think, for me, the pull of restaurants is instant gratification. I need to eat, it's there, tastes good, damn ate too much, whoa that's expensive, hey pants don't fit, damn.

I was just as happy to sink a tooth into a granola bar and a tangerine. And our wallet was happy too. I have no doubt that our little family without the teenage inhaler would have spent about 60 bucks on a late lunch/early dinner. Expensive I know, but we would have justified it with well we never get to go to the brew house.

2nd month report

2 months in and I think we are faring rather well. Except for my momentary fleeting thoughts of inhaling falafel last week I have not had any real desire to eat out. Now of course this month we DID have our pre-planned fundraiser dinner that we chose to attend. It was a good time for a great cause so I have no qualms about our choice. I don't plan to go out again for the rest of the year.

My mom has decided that if the kids are with grandparents and grandparents are going out to eat then kids get to eat out too. I wanted to deny her this caveat but in thinking it over I realized that my husband and I made a commando decision without the boys input. And they have been very accepting of our decision, even seeming to enjoy the challenge and saying "yep we can't eat there for a loooooooong time" Also they got really upset when my mom took them out to lunch crying and saying they couldn't go out to eat. Apparently my sister said "well you can stay in the truck while we go eat (guess who doesn't have kids?) or you can come with us". That really got them riled up. My mom smoothed it over by telling them she had talked it over with me first and it was ok. So yeah the kids are into it, which is good.

I'm adding in 10 dollars for not stopping at Falafel King+10 dollars for husbands lunch on Wednesday and 20 for lunch/coffee out over the last weekend. Which brings us to a grand total of money saved:

$396!!

And I got weighed at my doctors appointment the other day and I lost

8 MORE POUNDS!! for a total of 13 in 2 months!!

Fear the paddle

Last Thursday was the closest I have come to cheating. I was searching for a thrift store in Anchorage and I passed by the Falafel King. Yes, Falafel King almost brought me down.

Know what saved me/the project? Fear of being found out. I grew up in the 70s, the paddle displayed in the principal Mr. Anderson's window kept me from doing a lot of dumb stuff. Fear of spilling, or having onion breath or worse yet being seen kept me looking for the thrift store instead of indulging in hand cut fries and crispy falafel. Oh the paddle!

Money Saved update

We had to go to Anchorage yesterday, now usually this means we go out to eat and buy coffee for the trip. I took an iced coffee, we didn't go out to eat and we made a Costco run without eating ANY samples.

I'm adding 30 dollars for yesterday's trip, plus 10 for lunch out Wednesday for my husband if we aren't home, plus 20 we would have spent going out for lunch on the weekend. For a grand total of 60 dollars added. Plus I have to go back to Anchorage tomorrow and I can assure you sushi would have been calling my name. I think I'll pack a lunch instead, yes?

Second hand stores here I come! Oh, er dentist I mean.

Shopping Day

This was the first day of my 'shopping every 2 weeks' experiment. I have decided that I'll make a Costco run every 2 weeks or so (at least before I run out of coffee) and then I'll buy milk as needed from the local chain store, Kroger. I think once we get the basics established it will be good for us. Of course some things are not available in sizes I want so I'll either order in bulk direct or buy those as needed. I need to figure out how to store 50 pounds of flour, I'm thinking a food grade bucket.

In other news we had our planned dinner out on Sunday. We had a wonderful fundraiser at a local restaurant, Turkey Red. I made Lox and fresh bagels for the auction. They sold & didn't get abandoned at the silent auction(fear of mine!). Dinner was salad, salmon, chicken breast, squash medley, potato medley and cake slices for dessert. It was delicious, the company was better than the food and we made some money to help move the charter school along. And I wore a dress with leggings! A. Dress. I personally don't plan anymore dining out for the rest of the year. We did truly want to participate in the fundraiser so we did. I am glad and I don't regret it, except the dress.

I'm back, unsick-ish and still eating from home

My husbands birthday was yesterday and the folks from his office got together and bought him a lunch from the local bakery, The Red Beet. He knew I was making lunch at home so he brought it home to share. I think I made him feel weird because I wouldn't eat any of it. It looked nice but I just felt like I didn't want to bail on myself, geesh where did this back bone come from?

I even turned down hand rolled truffles! That was hard.

Our menu for the last week has been hit and miss, really with some nights just sneaking right up on me without a plan.  So I started the meal planning for the week asking each person what they wanted to eat for dinner this week. I was answered with Crock Pot Mexican Lasagne, Beef Teriyaki Stirfry, Minestrone, Pizza and Stromboli. Wow. Why did it take me so long to think of asking my family? They have to eat it too so why not? Also I know the list looks long but I'm thinking of cutting back shopping to once every 2 weeks or switching to co-op ordering system. I think shopping every 2 weeks is a good way to start cutting back and planning more.

I filled in the gaps so our menu looks like this:
Crock Pot Mexican Lasagne
Beef Teriyaki Stir fry
Minestrone
Pizza
Stromboli
Crispy Salmon Sticks-Formerly Crusty Salmon but the named bothered some people
Baked Halibut
Stuffed Pork Chops
Pancakes
Quiche
Vegetarian Chili
Leftover Buffet
GASP**Dinner out**pre-planned fundraiser for our new Charter school this is the reason for our 1 time per quarter rule so we can do things we need to do

I have not dined out since January 2nd! I'm so thankful the fundraiser is being held at a local restaurant that specializes in local foods even during the winter, they planned our menu around what was available.

We are also holding a silent auction and my donation is fresh made bagels and homemade lox from salmon we caught this summer. I hope someone wants it, fingers crossed!

Adding 18 dollars to the money saved list for one probable lunch eaten out and a coffee pie meeting that didn't happen.

Bought my ticket to BlogHer Food 10 in San Francisco in October! I'm only slightly excited!!

Sick is when take out is nice

So somehow I have contracted the deadly husband cold, which isn't really that bad for women. Weird hunh? Knocks men right down but women? Nahhh not so much! But I'm still tired and snuffy andwouldn'tIlovetoorderout? Why yes I would. I would also like Starbucks to deliver a hot coffee every hour on the hour. And while we're dreaming of the impossible I'll take a vacation to somewhere warm.

This is the first time not dining out has been a real issue for me. I'm not sure what's up but I am pretty much fantasizing about a hot italian grinder right about now. Guess I'll go make dinner which is scalloped potatoes with ham. Or Au Gratin. Which ever one has cheese in it is what I'm making. And forget my sandwich craving which is probably just me being hungry.