Food Challenge-Complete!

I still haven't wrapped up our food challenge situation. I really enjoyed it! The time I've saved from wandering around the Hyv and Wal-mart has been spent doing a little more baking/cooking. I find this activity surprisingly enjoyable. Then, there's the money I've saved. Wandering the grocery aisles in Wal-mart almost always leads me to wander other aisles and buy things I do not need (and I know there are others who give in to the same temptation! why is it so hard??). They are usually cheap, small items, but they seem to add up quickly. I only had a few fast food meals those three weeks, which is a surprise to me.

All in all, a great experience! I think I will unofficially be doing this food challenge in 2010! :)

FC: Day Thirteen

I had lunch today at a graduation celebration- super good food, didn't have to cook, and it was free! But, the best part was being able to celebrate good friends' college graduations.

Supper was cheese tortellini and red sauce followed up by a snack of so many pistachios that my lips are sore from the salt. That sounds disgusting. But they were so, so good!

FC: Day Twelve- sponsored by the letter "L"

Today I had a late lunch with Lura- last night's leftover's! We had ham, bread and fruit salad from the supper party Thursday, and I brought over some frozen garlic potatoes.

Today's lesson: veggies in those steam bags that you can just throw right into the microwave and cook can also be cooked on the stove in a regular sauce pan. They taste just the same.

Supper: I conned JB into buying a frozen pizza for me and we polished it off so there weren't even any leftovers. I'm not even ashamed. It was SO GOOD!

FC: Day nine-ten-eleven

One word can some up two days: leftovers. I think I will appreciate more this year the wide spread of food at holiday celebrations. The first of which is tomorrow! Day eleven will be comprised of a quick lunch and a fun Christmas supper celebration with great friends from bible study/church!

FC: Day Eight

Taking a deep breath, I carefully opened the freezer door, peeking inside at the mountain of oddly shaped plastic packages. The Green Giant stared me in the face. I could not avoid his smile, from the small box of sugar snap peas to the bag of roasted red potatoes and green beans in a rosemary butter sauce. I carefully moved aside a paper package containing what I hope is still edible chicken, and peered into the very depths of the icy freezer layers.

Wait! A glimmer of hope. I saw a long, blue box, with familiar writing. I reached for them, full of hope that I had found my hidden treasure- a forlorn box of frozen toaster strudels, just waiting to be uncovered from the cold, dark cave that has become our freezer. I turned over the box, and was greeted by cheerful Mister Pop'n'Fresh, the delightful Pillsbury Dough Boy mascot. Hurrah! I had found my beloved box of breakfast strudels. Kudos to my roommie, Allison, for suggesting I look again.

Of course, I celebrated my find by immediately toasting a strawberry-filled dessert-like-breakfast-pastry. Once I got the coffee going, the morning had begun.

Lunch was a much less exciting affair; a quick glance into the fridge revealed what I had been fearing most: leftovers. I still had one bowl of tuna noodle helper. Sigh. At least the noodle-y tuna is now gone!

I cooked up some pancakes for Al for supper, and a bag of pre-mixed teriyaki chicken, rice and veggies for myself. It was definitely tasty. I'm hoping the leftovers that will probably be consumed tomorrow will be just as good.

FC: Day Five

Today, I ate my last toasted apple dessert treat for breakfast. Sigh. I'm going to have to get creative now. Or I could just eat oatmeal cookies with my coffee in the morning.

Lunch was tuna helper with a little cheese supplement and some pineapple on the side, while supper was a frozen pizza.

Yummy Salsa.

Awesome Salsa Recipe

1 Can Corn, drained
1 Can Black Beans
drained & rinsed
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 small avocado, diced
4 tbsp Fresh Cilantro, chopped
(I use 1 tbsp Cilantro leaves)
1/2 cup Green Onions, diced
1/2 cup Italian Dressing

Mix, Chill, Enjoy!


I will warn you- this salsa is super addicting! Tostitos Multi-grain chips are my ultimate favorite with this recipe. I think I like it so much because there are no onions or tomatoes, which aren't really favorites of mine (I leave the green onions out). Other helpful tips: don't substitute green peppers for red- it totally changes the taste- and you can use Kraft Lite Italian Dressing to save calories without much of a taste difference.

FC: Day Three

Today was pretty chill. Allison didn't have school due to our massive blizzard. After we spent a good 45 minutes digging out our cars, we visited Wal-mart for ribbon, snow boots and groceries. BUT WAIT! We are not supposed to buy non-necessities. But I did not tell you that the last time we went to the store (Sunday night) we meant to buy an avocado, tortilla chips and a red pepper. We forgot these items then so we picked them up today. I feel the need to explain my actions, since it was part of the deal. We also rented a redbox movie: Julie/Julia. Feel free to check out my post on that below.

So today. Breakfast was a pistachio muffin (that was an odd shade of neon green) and coffee. Lunch was tortilla pizza- thanks for the idea, Christine! Supper was leftover shrimp alfredo- and it was delish! Now on to a productive night of writing, editing and designing...just heard the dryer finish its cycle, so add some towel folding to the list.

FC: Day Two

Tuesday. Day two of the food challenge was the same as day one, except soup for supper and shrimp alfredo for lunch. Good stuff, I have to say. I started clipping coupons this afternoon when the Broadcaster arrived. Then I realized I am not going shopping for the rest of the month. I did save coupons for milk, flour and eggs, since I think those constitute as necessities.

FC: Day One

Monday. Day One of the Food Challenge.

Breakfast was a frozen Apple Pastry item toasted golden brown.
Yummy soup and crackers for lunch with a tall glass of milk.
Supper = eggs, pancakes and apple-cinnamon muffins.

Food Challenge!

My roommate likes to do late-night grocery runs, something I've never really done much of. We just finished wandering the aisles of our local HyVee (fondly pronounced hiv-ee in this college town). Due to the late hour and a small snowstorm today, we were the only customers in the store for most of our trip. We were both in silly moods and had an enjoyable time talking through some menus and poking fun at each other.

We were settling in with the groceries in the car, when my roommate is struck with a genius idea: Boycotting the grocery store until Christmas Break, eating all the food in our freezer and cupboards and giving away any nonperishable that we haven't consumed by then. Shear genius. We discussed the benefits of this plan and the fact that we probably would have to go to the store for perishables (I took care of it! I got the milk, eggs and fabric softener!) and essential items. We talked about planning menus, holding each other accountable and getting creative with meals, (with the help of google, I'm sure)!

I'm pretty glad we're doing this. At one point last month, we had 9 opened, half-eaten bag of chips in our kitchen! I don't have the funds to do any kind of shopping this month, groceries included. And my personal benefit aside, it's just more responsible. So look for more posts on this in the future! :)