February No Eating Out Challenge

193 -  number of meals an average American eats annually in restaurants

 (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2012)

$963 -  amount of money an average American spends annually eating out for lunch

(Visa survey, 2013)

$2,505 - amount an average American consumer spends in dining out annually

(US Dept Labor, 2010)

41% -  adolescents who consume fast food on any given day  (NPR 11/5/12)

309 - the number of additional calories consumed by adolescents on the days they eat fast food

 (NPR 11/5/12)

27 Minutes - The amount of time spent per day in an average American household on the preparation/cooking of food
(Michael Pollan, Cooked) 

Each February, our family participates in a little challenge.   For the entire month, we prepare all of our food at home.  There is no dining in restaurants, no take-out, no fast food, no vending machines, no coffee stops, nothin' - all food is purchased during our regular grocery shopping, and prepared at home although it may be eaten elsewhere - and often needs to be out of necessity!  We also aim to not increase our consumption of convenience foods.   The entire goal of the challenge is to eat better and save money.

We pick the month of February for a several reasons; 1) we're still financially strapped from the holidays, 2) we're still  packing the extra pounds from the holidays, and, 3) hey! I ain't gonna lie - this is a bit challenging and it's the shortest month of the year!


I am a big proponent of at home cooking year round.  It's good for your wallet, health, and for family time, too.  I adore cooking with my children - they are older now, and it doesn't happen as often as I'd like.  But I love that it's not at all unusual for my teenage sons to be standing next to me peeling, slicing, chopping, stirring, tasting.  There's a bit of magic in that, I think.  It brings me a lot of pleasure to prepare healthy and tasty food for my family.  In a perfect world, I'd have all the time in the world to do that, but the reality is that I work full-time, and in the evenings I'm as busy as the next mom  -  chauffeuring kids to various activities, helping them with homework, trying to find the time to exercise, keeping the house picked-up, staying on top of Mt. Laundry.

“For is there any practice less selfish, any labor less alienated, any time less wasted, than preparing something delicious and nourishing for people you love?”
― Michael Pollan, Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation 

I believe it's a myth that healthy cooking is necessarily time consuming.  It does not need to be.  For example, last week, we had a dinner of whole wheat quesadillas made with homemade refried beans, cheddar,  tomato, and avocado plus Mexican rice, and green beans.    I put the pinto beans in the crockpot that morning, and that took all of five minutes.    The rest of the meal came together very quickly after work - 30 minutes from start to finish.  I could barely visit the fast food drive thru  and get back in that amount of time.

A couple of things that really help me in February and beyond:

1).  Plan ahead.   This is SO important.  I spend about one hour per week planning my meals and shopping lists.  This is serious planning.  I lock myself in my bedroom with the computer until I'm finished. I gather my recipes, mostly from Pinterest.  From those recipes, I form my shopping lists.  I really think this focused hour of planning saves countless hours wondering what's for dinner, multiple trips to the grocery store or giving in to lesser food options.

2)  Keep it simple.  I keep my more elaborate meals for the weekend when I may have more time.  During the week, most of our meals are very simple and come together in under 30 minutes.   It takes no time at all to prepare a protein with simple seasoning, roast a vegetable and cook a fast-cooking grain like couscous or quinoa.

3). Cook once, eat twice (or more).  I freeze my leftovers in single servings.  Then when I'm running late for work and don't have a lunch packed, I can grab a healthy and delicious soup for lunch.  During a week's planning, I always stretch one meal into two in some way.  For example, last week I made bbq chicken in the crockpot and served it with rice and sauteed brussel sprouts.   Later in the week, we had BBQ chicken pizzas.

First incarnation of BBQ chicken

Second incarnation of BBQ chicken later in week.  Saves time and money!

4)  Don't be a short order cook.  Just say no. There's no way I could cook every day in February if I was making four different dinners for four different people in our house.   My family is fairly unpicky, but I think they are that way because we've never catered much to pickiness.   There may be parts of a dinner that are more appealing to different members of the family - they are welcome to play with the portions of what is being served according to taste.  If they are still hungry, they all know how to cook eggs/toast, heat up frozen left overs, make a sandwich, make a smoothie, etc. to get their fill.

Here is my current week of dinner recipes, and a link to recipes when available.

Saturday:  Pork Tenderloin, Crash Hot Potatoes, Green Beans

Sunday:   Barefoot Contessa Perfect Roast Chicken, and Amish Noodles 

Monday:   Chicken fried rice (use leftover roast chicken)

Tuesday:   Slow Cooker Beef Curry, Jasmine Rice, and Sauteed Eggplant

Wednesday:  Meatloaf, Couscous With Zucchini and Basil, Roasted Cabbage 

Thursday:  Chicken Marsala  with whole wheat pasta
Friday:  Valentine's Day Dinner for the family!!  Carbonara with Panseared Sea Scallops, salad with homemade whole wheat croutons, garlic bread and chocolate lava muffins  – margaritas for adults! 

The first week of our challenge went amazingly well, and the second looks on track too.  The kids have not complained about missing treats or going out to eat (we tend to eat out once per week normally).

In our very first February challenge, we were shocked when the adults in the family both lost weight AND we saved an extra $400.  We had no idea how high the monetary and health cost of convenience had become for us.  This challenge was definitely one of the first things that helped change our perspective, and was a major factor in the lifestyle changes we've made in recent years.