Day #12, Grocery Store Challenge

So, today I had to make a meal for the International Students Group and it needed to be vegetarian. Since I couldn't go to the store to make my usual curry, I had to get creative! For dinner tonight is a Roasted Red Pepper Pasta dish (aka Clean Out the Fridge Pasta!). I start with a premade Alfredo sauce, and then cleaned out my veggies in the fridge (red peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant) and roasted them (I just had to make sure there were more red peppers than anything else). Now, this is not the healthiest recipe, because to the Alfredo I also added the rest of the block of cream cheese I had, and some leftover Parmesan cheese. After the veggies are roasted, I puree them in a food processor and add them to the Alfredo sauce. Turns out different every time, but always good. Plus, it allows me to clean out my fridge a little :)

Day #11, Grocery Store Challenge

So sorry about not posting yesterday...I forgot to put "Blog" on my to-do list, and I forgot to do it! Figures :) Yesterday, we had our oven baked BBQ ribs (just a little homemade BBQ sauce on some ribs) with green salad and fruit. Lots of leftovers! Tonight we were invited to dinner by my in-laws so we are going to have some Italian :) So new recipes to share for today!

But, tomorrow, I forgot that I am providing a meal for a local International College Students Group (vegetarian dishes). I normally go to the store and purchase some coconut milk and do a curry, but I can't go to the store! So, it's time to get creative :) I'll let you know what I come up with!!! Any suggestions?

Day #9, Grocery Store Challenge

Wow, nine days already :) We used the leftovers from last night (plus made a little more rice) for fried rice. Here is our "secret" family recipe for fried rice (okay, really not that secret!), but you can't really worry too much about calories when eating this!

Fry up a few slices of chopped up bacon over medium high heat. When the bacon has given up its fats, drop in green onions, and veggies (we like to use carrots, zucchini, broccoli, whatever is around). Once the veggies are a tender add a few eggs (how many is up to you!), and quickly scramble them. Add rice and soy sauce (I also like to throw in a little sesame oil too).

And there you have it folks...a quick dinner without the grocery store!

Day #8, Grocery Store Challenge

Yah! It has been a week and I have spent $8.50 on groceries! Today, I have a new recipe simmering in the crockpot, a batch of whole wheat bread in the breadmaker and brown rice in the rice cooker :) The recipe I am trying today is Sesame Chicken from the Better Homes and Gardens Slow Cook Once, Eat Twice cookbook. A basic rundown of ingredients are Chicken, Sesame Oil, Rice Vinegar, Snowpeas, Water Chestnuts, Orange Juice, and Garlic.

Well, only 32 more days :) And, like I promised, here is our meal plan for that time:

4/26 Fried Rice with Green Salad and Fruit
4/27 Oven baked BBQ Ribs with whole wheat cous-cous and Green Salad
4/28 Chicken Enchilada Casserole, Spanish Rice, and Cornbread
4/29 Leftovers
4/30 Roasted Red Pepper Whole Wheat Pasta with Green Salad and Fruit
5/1 Baked Sweet Potatoes, Cheese Pennies, Green Salad and Fruit
5/2 Asian Chicken Salad and Fruit Salad
5/3 Garlic & Oil Spaghetti with Greens, and Fruit
5/4 Leftovers
5/5 Chili Verde Pork, Brown Rice and Fruit
5/6 Swiss Chard and Tomatoe Frittata and Fruit
5/7 Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Green Salad and Fruit
5/8 Turkey meatloaf, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Steamed Veggies
5/9 Leftovers
5/10 Jerk Chicken with Roasted Veggies and Pineapple, Steamed Brown Rice
5/11 Sweet and Spicy Sesame Noodles with Shredded Jerk Chicken
5/12 Jerk Chicken Quessadillas with Slaw Salad
5/13 Spaghetti with Whole Wheat Pasta, Green Salad and Fruit
5/14 Leftovers
5/15 Artichoke Red Pepper Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
5/16 Marinated Grilled Steak, Steamed Veggies, and Fruit
5/17 Phunky BBQ Pork Pho Noodle Bowls
5/18 Rosemary Potatoe Fritatta with Fruit
5/19 Leftovers
5/20 Some kind of clean out the fridge meal!
5/21 Out of town
5/22 Out of town
5/23 Out of town
5/24 Pot Roast with Green Salad and Fruit
5/25 Lasagna Rolls with Green Salad and Fruit
5/26 Taco Soup with Cornbread and Fruit
5/27 Grilled Pork Chops, Veggies and Fruit
Now let's see if I can follow this plan :)

My Husband Cooked Today :)

It was a great day today...I didn't have to step in to the kitchen to cook OR clean all day! My husband blessed me with breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Of course, it was nothing special or fancy, but it gave me a little break. Basically, what I am trying to say is that I do not have anything to really share about my experience in the kitchen today since I wasn't in it.

And, I am still 6 recipes short of the rest of the challenge, but I WILL post my plan as soon as I finish it (hopefully tomorrow!).

Day #6, Grocery Store Challenge

It was a beautiful day here for the Farmer's Market. We loaded up on fruits and veggies and spent a mere $8.50! With all the new veggies we had a wonderful salad for lunch (almonds, strawberries, cottage cheese, snap peas, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes...the works!), and for dinner a nice stir fry.

I found this recipe for a sauce that I absolutely love: Asian Tofu Salad. I stir fried fresh veggies and chicken, made some brown rice and we had a delicious and healthy dinner! By the way, if you have never tried a recipe from EatingWell.com, I highly recommend it.

I am so excited that we have almost gone one week without grocery shopping...how exciting!

Day #5, Grocery Store Challenge

Well...today my husband and I had to run some errands after he got home from work, and I ran out of time to make dinner. So, we went to a local taco shop and had some tacos for dinner. Sorry, no exciting, cool recipes to share!

But, we did walk around Costco (we had to return a few things) and saw some great deals on the bread that my husband normally likes for his lunch. I am happy to say that we did not succumb to temptation! I am very proud of us :)

Instead, right when we got home, I started up the bread machine. I figure I can make a few loaves and freeze them...we'll see how that turns out! Since it's the weekend we are going to try some new recipes for breakfast breads (tomorrow: Apple Raisin Oatmeal bread!), and then Sunday I'll make some whole wheat bread for his lunches.

Recipe Progress

Okay, it's late and I should probably be in bed, but I was on a mission tonight. I have found everything except 7 recipes for my 40 day challenge. Yah! Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that I am going to be able to follow it :) My whole point is that once I figure out the last 7 recipes I will post it! Really, I just had to post this to show myself that this was a big accomplishment...LOL!

Day #4, Grocery Store Challenge

Today has been a great day! I got a minute to myself to flip through my new Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and found a great recipe: Pork Tenderloin (cut bite size) wrapped with zucchini spears. Since I already pulled out chicken, I decided to make zucchini chicken sandwiches (chicken sandwiched between two pieces of zucchini), with lots of fixin's (sauteed onions, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, etc.). I feel like today I actually got to be a little creative with dinner! We'll see how my husband likes it :)

I still have not visited the supermarket (okay, I am not counting Costco because there are more than just groceries there!), but Saturday morning we are going to head to the farmer's market (our first trip since the baby was born!). I am really looking forward to that. Before then, I am trying to figure out what is on the meal plan for next week...I better get a move on! I pulled out all the cookbooks, leafed through them, but got too overwhelmed to write anything down. Don't worry, I will pull myself together eventually!

Day #3, Grocery Store Challenge

I am a Rachael Ray addict...I LOVE her recipes. So today I tried one of her recipes and it is really tasty! Today for dinner is Sweet and Sour Thai Noodle Bowls.

I would say today was the toughest day so far! I went to Costco today and I am so proud of myself...NO food products! I even had store credit :) It was tough not to buy a few things (we ran out of peanut butter and trail mix), but we are going to survive! Thanks for being on this journey with us!

Day #2, Grocery Store Challenge

Luckily, I still have leftovers from this past weekend, so again, I really didn't have to do much on the creative side today :) We had leftover Beef Barley stew, with some cornbread, greek yogurt and blackberries. However, I did pull out all my recipes, and cookbooks in order to find some new recipes. I have started my 40 day meal plan, but got interrupted several times today with a crying baby.

However, one website that I had a ton of recipes printed out from and realized I really enjoyed is EatingWell.com. And, of course I haven't cracked open a cookbook in awhile--but I pulled out my favorite Paula Deen (I always keep too much butter in my fridge and freezer so I am sure I can find something in there :).

Day #1, Grocery Store Challenge

Since it's only Day #1 it was not very hard to create a meal tonight. However, one compromise that I had to make was to agree to make my husband's lunches for the entire 40 days. He likes to eat the same things for lunch everyday, and since I am messing up his routine, I agreed to be the one to get creative with his lunches. So...that is going to be another part of this challenge!

Since I am a planner (a blessing and a curse!), I am going to try to create a 40 day meal plan. I am going to look through some magazine recipes and cookbooks that I have and try to find some fun and creative ideas!

For Dinner Tonight

We had steamed artichokes, baked sweet potatoes, strawberries and steamed veggies. We aren't vegetarians but we just had quite a few veggies that were starting to go bad! Excited to see what tomorrow brings.

Challenge #1 "The Grocery Store"

As we were brainstorming, one thing I noticed was the abundance of food that we have around our home. Last year, missionaries from Haiti visited our church and we had them over for dinner. One of the things they mentioned that really hit home was that they do not have food! They could not believe that you could go into a grocery store and that food was on the shelves. They do not have any food that is in excess and not being used.

As I looked around my pantry, fridge, freezer, and kitchen, I realized how much excess food we have truly have in our home! We do not want to live in excess, and therefore, our first challenge is to not buy anything from the grocery store except for fresh fruits and vegetables. It will be quite a challenge, but I know that we can do it together!

Our journey begins tomorrow, April 19th, 2010...and we did not go out and buy a bunch of groceries this weekend :) Some of our goals for this challenge include: Save money (who doesn't want to do that in this economy?), spend more time together cooking, and be creative in the kitchen (I often get into a rut!). This is going to be a great challenge!

The Premise Behind the Blog

Our family has decided it is time for us to begin challenging ourselves to save money, become healthier and learn to cherish what we have! We decided that in order to do this, we would take steps together, as a family, by doing several "40 day challenges." We have brainstormed some ideas of different challenges including: no TV, working out together, not dining out, calling a friend or family member, praying together, etc. We will do each of these challenges for 40 consecutive days.

Each idea has a specific goal and purpose, but mainly we just want to challenge ourselves and each other! So...why 40 days? Well, in the Bible, 40 is a number that is often used for challenges and trials. This is why we have chosen 40 days.

We hope that you will join us on our journey of challenges :)