Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Hi Kitchen, I'm Jess. Have we met?

So I'm getting almost as bad about actually using my kitchen as I am about updating this blog. And that's saying a lot. Whoops :) At least it's been less than a month... for the blog anyway.

I truly do enjoy cooking, but between having an absurdly small dysfunctional kitchen, having little to no free time to cook let alone find a recipe I'm interested in making, and trying to have a social life I just eat out way too much. I always wish I'd just make the time for more meals at home, but every week nothing changes.

Until now.

My lovely friend/coworker Lauren and I have made a pact. We're not allowed to eat out for the next month. Coincidentally, a month from today happens to be both Lauren's birthday and the night I'm flying to GA for a much needed reunion with my beloved Athens. Both clearly cause for celebration. So you can bet on September 17th we'll both be eating fantastic meals in some of our favorite restaurants! But until then... we're both in this together.

I'm not sure what the hardest part will be - finding the time to prepare good meals or passing up social events with our friends (they can't believe we're not even going to break the pact for brunch). It's very much a part of my job, social life and the culture we live in to go out to eat. You're probably wondering why we're voluntarily giving that up for a month?? It's a combination of trying to save a few dollars and challenging ourselves to do something that really kind of scares us.

Luckily we do have two exceptions: Sarasota (we're going home for Labor Day weekend and will absolutely be taking advantage of yummy Florida seafood and some of our old favorites), and dates. Well really any meal that someone else pays for.. so dates, work functions or if friends pity us and want to buy us dinner (but that's kind of cheating). So here goes... time for some quality time in the kitchen.

4 comments:

  1. Amazing. Do you know how much money you'll save? It's ridiculous how much money we spend on eating out. Even if you get a $5 footlong at Subway (haha, I did for dinner), those add up. In LA, I would eat out maybe once a week - plus Pinkberry on Sundays. I spent seriously $150 a month on food. I was so confused about it, until I realized two things: 1) LA is expensive in general and 2) going out to eat really adds up.

    I applaud you trying to not go out to eat for a whole month. I try to cut back on going out to eat every week. So far, I've gone out for two of my seven meals this week. Oops.

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  2. mac and cheese may get pretty old.
    How about a George Foreman Grill? Baby Bro just got one and he's cooking for the family now!

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  3. so nice that in a Freudian way, you still refer to Sarasota as "HOME"

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  4. Wendy - thank you!! It's not quite as easy as I thought it would be but my credit card is definitely thanking me for it :)

    Pops - Sarasota will ALWAYS be home!!

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