I had eaten a decent amount of fast during December because I just didn't prepare. I had been doing so good with eating on my Keto plan since Aug/Sept that when Thanksgiving rolled around I was just lazy!
So Chick Fil A, Burger King, the food court, Zaxby's, you name it. I started eating it all. Now I am not even going to pretend that I don't enjoy eating out. I do. That is my favorite thing to do with friends. We go grab a meal together. For some reason, this time though, it was different. Maybe it was how often I would look at our budget. Or maybe because of how bloated and gross I felt from the 2 to 3 meals a day being take out.
So I told my husband that I was going to start a no take out challenge. He said, "I bet you won't even make it 3 days!" Well I knew that I absolutely would now that he had said that, I mean what wife is going to let their husband through out a challenge like that and not make certain that she wins. Sheesh.
Anyways, we talked about it and he laid out the ground rules for this challenge.
1 - No takeout means anything that is bought from somewhere other than a grocery store. This means that I couldn't even go downstairs at work to our vending area and get a drink or snack.
2- If someone else buys it, then it doesn't count. WOW... really, ok cool! His thought in this, was this challenge was to help me see how much money I could save by not eating takeout.
3- If I have a gift certificate, or coupon or whatever to get the meal free then I can still have it. This was another great CHEAT that he was giving me. I mean my supervisor gives us Chick Fil A calendars for Christmas, which means free food and drinks all year long. Isn't that like throwing away money if I don't go and get it.
So I set out to see what I could do. Day 1 was easy.. I mean that was the day I decided to start the challenge so I was prepared. I had snacks and creamer so that I could have coffee at work. There have been days that I have been perfectly content with everything that we have at home, and days that I really want takeout.
Today is Day 10 and one of those days that I am really wanting takeout. Chinese to be precise. I was torn at what to do. I mean let's be honest here. It isn't like I didn't have the money to be able to order it. I have already gone more than the 3 days that the hubby thought I would break at. I could have ordered from our favorite take out place... NOPE. I went to the grocery store and bought Chinese food from the freezer section and came home and cooked it. It was actually pretty good, and I didn't feel sick like I some times do after I eat takeout Chinese. I decided to figure out if I actually saved money by getting it from the store or not. I spent about $17 including tax at the store purchasing the items. Now I did go to one of the more expensive grocery stores in town, so I might could have gotten it cheaper. After I got home I pulled up the Beyond Menu app and priced out how much it would be for General Tso's Chicken, Vegetable Fried Rice, and 4 Egg Rolls. The total for delivery was about $22, and this didn't include tip. So that is at least a $5 savings by going to the store.
I am going to see how long I can go without getting takeout, of course that means within the guidelines set forth by my husband. Here is an overview of how Days 1-10 have gone. I will do my best to get this blog updated for those that are wanting details more than what my Facebook or Instagram say. You can follow me on IG at ashleyc_young for lots of food pictures and more!
Day 1:
I craved nachos: So I browned some hamburger meat with some taco seasoning, added a little tomato paste and put it over tortilla chips, with some shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa, and guacamole. They were so good.
Day 2:
I was off of work this day and home alone. I had bought a bag of onions and didn't want them to go bad. It was getting cold so I wanted some soup.. French Onion Soup for the win! I made a huge pot of it and have left overs in the freezer for when the craving hits again. I didn't have the bread and cheese for the traditional serving style, but I just added a handful of croutons and some Parmesan cheese and it was yummy!
Day 3:
It was Saturday and just before New Years. Am I the only one that thinks about all of the things that I should be giving up when the New Year starts, which is in the next couple of days thus making you want to eat everything? I know that I am at my best when I am eating a low carb, low sugar diet AKA Keto. I wanted IHOP pancakes... but I was on this challenge. So I set out to make homemade pancakes and bacon. Let's just say that the hubby and child were super excited about this. They actually turned out pretty yummy too!
Day 4: NEW YEARS EVE... so I sort of stretched the rules on this day a little, but hey. I made it more than 3 days! LOL So we were at Walmart and my stepdaughter was with me and she was hungry. I made a quick call to the hubby and he said that getting boneless wings from the deli at Walmart didn't count as it is also a grocery store. Holy Hannah he just gave me so many loop holes with this one!!!!
Day 5: Being New Years Day we had a lot of leftovers from the night before. We also went to my mom and dad's to eat the traditional New Years Day lunch so no takeout cravings happened this day.
Day 7 was pretty uneventful to be honest. We had a snow storm hit us that left us with 3 inches of snow on the ground that still has not all melted. We have been eating left overs and just whatever we wanted. Having the city shut down makes it pretty easy to not eat takeout. 😁😁
Day 8: The city was still pretty shut down from the snow storm, but I had a good friend come to town and by all means we were going to meet. He ended up surprising me and coming to the house early and we had just brewed a pot of coffee. Normally we would head to Starbucks, but we just enjoyed a cup at my house and chatted a bit. Then we decided to go see what was going on and went out and about. Oh no... my favorite Mexican restaurant was one of the only restaurants open and we were both pretty hungry. I decided that lunch with him was worth ending the challenge. I mean 7 full days is a week. That is longer than Jody ever thought that I would go... So off we went I ordered and ate and it was so extremely good.... and then... my friend picked up the bill. He was NOT suppose to do that. I was very appreciative, but this was not part of my plan.... but he did it, without me asking... so this meant, by my husband's rules, I am still succeeding! WHAT!!! To some of you this might mean that I cheated, but to him No. So I am still going with it.
Day 9: We were working from home. This was the first time that the company was having us do this. We brought phones home and were able to remote into our computers and we took calls from home that day. I woke up really hungry and wanting a biscuit. Thankfully when I had gone to the store before New Years I bought a small can of them. I set myself to the challenge of making the biscuits scrambling eggs and cooking some bacon. I made bacon egg and cheese biscuits that the hubby ate 2 of he liked them so much.
Day 10: Well most of that is above. I wanted Chinese so the freezer section at the grocer store took care of that for me. I also went and picked up some coconut aminos from the vitamin store so that I can hopefully get back onto my keto diet tomorrow.
I hope you will enjoy reading my blog. Keep in mind that I am not a professional writer or anything like that. I am just writing for fun.
If you have comments or questions feel free, just please no negativity. There is enough of that in this world.
I would love to know if any of you start the #notakeoutchallenge and how long you can go. I am having fun being creative!
