Meal planning has never been my strong suit, and thanks to a lack of daily dinner menus, when my dear husband says, “Let’s eat out!”, the New Yorker in me says, “Yes, please!”
Problem is, I’m not in New York, and while I love the Lehigh Valley, it’s not exactly a cuisine capital. Here, we specialize in food chains, and that means one thing: MSG. They usually also mean GMO’s, and cross contaminated food, corn products, soy, and tons of butter, so truly, my children should never eat out around here.
Anyway, let’s go back to last Tuesday. It didn’t occur to me until the end of the day, but except for an iced latte, my organic chocolate treat and a glass of wine, the whole day was healthy eating: blueberry flax muffins made with coconut flour, sweetened with xylitol; organic chicken with farm fresh zucchini and jalapenos in tomato sauce; grass fed beef in Muir Glen tomatoes over spaghetti squash and herb-spring salad with avocado & red onion; herbed iced tea.
I felt really good, and slept well that night. I also felt remarkably proud of my diet that day: I mean, I even had antioxidant tea!
Then came Wednesday, and Chris said, “Let’s eat out.” BIG mistake. We went to a Mexican chain, where extremely stale, over-salted corn chips made it into my stomach. A tequila mojito that tasted like it was mostly sugar found it’s way in too, giving me a sugar headache. A slimy burrito that only tasted good for one or two bites slid down my throat, but I managed to eat half of it without gagging as I was hungry. A pile of lettuce with more chips was my only hope, but the dressing was nasty.
I felt like I’d drank a bottle of oil by the time we drove home. I was sick with myself, disgusted, and I’d let the kids cheat on their diets – my really stupid justification being there were so many food infractions and they were so off the rails, what did it matter for one day?
As we drove home, I told Chris how I felt and he regretted that meal too.
Then I came up with An Idea. Now, when I reveal it to you, you might think, “uh, no kidding Gina!” but this is a challenging new way to think FOR ME, child of take out and restaurant dining and stay-at-home everything, who longs to get out every day.
I told Chris my Idea: that other than date night, we needed to stop going out to eat, particularly with the kids, and stop ordering takeout completely (we do rarely). I ventured a number on how much we spend on that sort of crappy food weekly, conservatively, and he said it was quite a bit higher – a hefty sum. So I said, “Why don’t we do this? I’ll meal plan and cook most of the meals, and you put that money away, and every 10 weeks or so we do something FUN with it.” I even came up with a list of family-oriented stuff we could do with our extra savings:
- mini-vacations and weekend stays
- a nice table, chairs & umbrella set for the yard
- a real picnic set
- a meal planning consultation with Chef Janet (maybe that should go up first?)
I’m really jazzed for this plan, and for it to work, we need to record that saved money. We also need to go out – just not dine out, and that’s the tricky part! The rest of the week was not too bad food-wise (lesson learned!), alhtough I did eat too many calories, it was all Real Food. We have started going to farmer’s markets twice a week, too, and I’m cooking more vegetables, as a start.
In addition, I’m going to make a healthy, homemade version of that stupid, big fat burrito, the salad, and the dressing, and starting soon, will be sharing recipes with you. I’m excited! I can’t wait to see what we save and what fun things we can do with all those savings.
What food failures, triumphs, and lessons did you learn this week? Looking for more motivation? Check out Motivation Mondays and share your posts.
Oh, and while it’s important you interview the chef about he or she cooks that meal, you can also laugh at yourself once in a while:
Lydia says
You are spot on about this. Not only will you save money, but you’ll save your gut, mind, attitude, etc., by not eating such yucky food. Since starting the campaign, I have eaten out once — and yes, I felt a bit yucky. Lesson learned.
Gina B says
Wow, once only? I’m in awe! 🙂 The trick will be to make the cooking/planning less of a chore, and more of a good family activity. Fingers crossed, lol
Janeane Davis says
This week I learned to cook vegan meals for my husband and teenie bopper, vegetarian meals for one twin, and meals for the other twin, my son and myself all at one time so we can eat together and be happy! I like the ideas you have for using the money you and your family will be saving.
Gina B says
Nice! Vegan is great, really ingenious meals I find, but I don’t like soy and the kids can’t eat it 🙁
Emily says
When we eat out, we ALWAYS regret it. Mostly because taking five kids anywhere where they are expected to sit still… and somewhat quietly – is impossible. HA! But it’s soooo expensive and usually disappointing. So I’m no board with you.
Gina B says
Yikes, eating out with five! Which I imagine is a lot like taking out 2, one with autism, on a full moon night, lol…
@klwschmidt says
Not eating out is always hard for me simply because I feel like I’m always on the go!
BUT you will save money and eat healthier in the long run 🙂
Gina B says
Ha, the opposite of my reason! But yes, that used to be a problem…makes it way more challenging.
Pam Gordon says
What a great idea!!! Good luck with it!
Gina B says
Thank you!
Heather says
We need to do this too. I know the guzzled a gallon of oil feeling you described and it is not a good feeling!
Gina B says
I know, it’s like you want to shower your insides 🙁
Heather M says
Go you! If you need help menu planning emeals has a great program for under $60 a year. Pretty awesome. If you are interested I have a referral code too. Just PM me for it 🙂
Gina B says
Thanks, Heather, what’s the service? The big issue is we have lots of things we need to avoid 🙂
Jeannette says
I firmly believe in the concept of rewarding hard work in the kitchen. How about a spa day??
Gina B says
Yea, that’s great for me, but what will Chris get? Oh right, a sexy wife, lol…
Melissa McMurchy says
I love the way you are thinking. I have been trying to meal plan for a couple of months now and we do pretty well. We may switch out meals for certain days but for the most part we are pretty consistant and it has helped us tremendously.
Gina B says
Well, going to the farmer’s market has really helped put us in line – that, and my attempt to get the other members of my family eat vegetables.
Gina B says
Smart! I’m the only one who does that, I forget so often!
Aida Ingram says
This post is great, lol I love this video. I know when things get busy I often find myself eating out more. This is a great idea, I may try it myself!
Gina B says
I know, that video cracked me up too! It’s challenging to manage the food in our busy lives, but it’s really the best for us.
Gina B says
Agreed, and we feel better too! Thanks.
Dee says
I am working on my menu plan for this week at the moment as well. Our family has to stop eating out so much. I realized today that it is insanely out of hand. Last year we did well with planning and saving the money. Get your kids involved and they will help to keep you on track. Mine love having a voice in what we are fixing for the week.
Gina B says
What a great idea! Thanks Dee. I and I totally relate to “insanely out of hand.” Last week, at the restaurant, I thought, “What’s WRONG with us? Are we crazy?” 🙂