With the start of the new year comes resolutions, goals, ideas about how to improve the day-to-day…
Diana is in the midst of the fourth year of hosting the Eat in Month Challenge and this year I signed up to participate–the funny thing is that I could probably use an Eat Out Month Challenge…my norm is to eat in. I eat breakfast at home, pack my lunch for work, pack snacks, and make dinner at home. Nothing is ever too fancy, but I like to make healthy eats to keep me fueled for the day.
So how am I approaching this? I’ve turned it into Operation Clean out the Cabinets, Fridge, and Freezer. Every week I buy fresh produce (spinach, peppers, mushrooms, etc) and usually stock up on protein for the week (cottage cheese, chicken, Greek yogurt), so trips to the grocery store are easy and I stick to a list. But this month I’m first checking ingredients at home and using those before buying anything new. Those turkey tenderloins that were in the freezer for about six months? They were great seasoned, baked, and used in salads.
This container of soup that has been in the freezer for a couple of months? That’s lunch next week.
Who needs to buy hummus when you can make a delicious bean spread/dip with just 3-4 ingredients that are pretty standard?
My Quality Assurance Guy will be happy to know that I have all of the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies on-hand and those can count towards the challenge.
Speaking of chocolate, I made this Greek Yogurt Chocolate Bread over the weekend. Wow! I tried a bit of the batter and it tasted like chocolate pudding. This bread is a dense bread because of the yogurt.
Baking this bread in smaller loaf pans cut the baking time in half.
It got positive reviews from the in-house taste-tester. I added a bit of nutmeg to give it a little spice. I would probably reduce the sugar a bit on the next round.
My birthday is later this month so I imagine 1-2 dinners out will take place. Ok by me!
Do you prefer to eat in or out? Any good chocolate or yogurt recipes to share? Are you working on cleaning out your kitchen cabinets/freezer/fridge?
**Tonight I’ll be sending out the pairings for January New Year, New Gear–there’s still time to sign up – just send me an email!** Thanks to everyone who has already signed up to participate.
Apples and Arteries 
We have been trying to clean out the freezer over the last few weeks. I forgot all of the good stuff we had in there! It is so easy for everything to get barried…tonight is homemade turkey pot pie that was made after thanksgiving.
I definitely prefer to eat in because I always feel so much better when I do! AND when I do eat out, it’s a lot of fun because it doesn’t happen very often. 🙂
I tend to buy chicken or beef on good sales, chuck it in the freezer, and throw it away months later because it’s freezer burned. I definitely want to do a better job of using what I already bought before buying more stuff. 2013 might be a bit about organizing! Chocolate bread? Sounds wildly delicious!!
I need to do this too. I always think I need new foods when I have plenty at home I could use!
I prefer eating IN, but do like a b-day/anniversary dinner OUT.
very cool, I saw you tweet about this and was wondering what that was going to mean for you. exciting stuff!
I prefer to eat in actually. When I worked I ate out way to often due mostly to convenience so now that I am home, I am really enjoying all of the eating in. Its easy, healthier and much cheaper!!
MMM that bread looks good! Never made choco yogurt bread before! And as a graduate student on a budget I rarely eat out. Usually happens when I visit family every couple months. Other than that, really once month or less…
I know what you mean. I rarely eat out, so an eat out challenge would be ideal. I’m hoping my 2013 Milwaukee CityTin will provide the inspiration I need to try some new restaurants. Did you buy a Madison CityTin? A friend in Madison has already redeemed 3 of her coasters in just one week! She definitely needs an eat in challenge 🙂
Karis – thanks for the recommendation re: City Tin. I’d never heard of that.
Wow, we are so similar–I’m all about eating breakfast at home, packing my lunch and snacks, and then eating dinner at home, too. It’s much healthier (and cheaper!) that way. 🙂
Great point–I forgot to include that eating at home is good for the waistline and the wallet!
I really like the idea of using up what’s on hand before shopping for more. I even have all of the ingredients to make that delicious looking Greek Yoghurt Chocolate Bread. This week is cold and rainy, so I think it’s the perfect time to do it! Thanks for the inspiration.
I prefer to eat out, but only because, like you, I eat in every day, unless I meet a friend for coffee and dessert at a local cafe 😉
Happy Birthday in advance. Enjoy whatever you eat, wherever you celebrate!
Forgot to ask if anyone’s made the chocolate bread with a substitute for the vegetable oil. Responses are appreciated! Thanks!
Let me know if you bake it! I would think about using applesauce for the oil substitute.
I was thinking of using applesause. I’ll be sure to let you know how it turns out 🙂
The chocolate bread looks really good. I’ll have to try that one of these winter days. I can’t really decide between eating in or out because it can be fun eating in and making new recipes, but it’s also fun eating out as a break from all that!
The Greek Yoghurt Chocolate Bread is delicious!! I made it last night, substituting applesauce for the vegetable oil, and reducing the sugar by about 1/8 of a cup to compensate for this added sweetness. Using ingredients I had in stock, I used Chocolate Letters left over from Sinterklaas; a mix of milk chocolate and pure chocolate pieces. Yummy! Thanks! I look forward to future posts and recipe ideas 🙂
I’m glad to hear the recipe turned out well with the applesauce! Thanks for the feedback.
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