experimenting. {groceries, lifestyle}

actual picture of the 2 of us outside!

The last time the two of us went out to eat was lunch on July 4th.  We decided that after that lunch we would go a month without eating out.  Make all of our meals at home.  Buy only healthy foods.  Drink only black coffee, tea, some fruit juices, or water.  Be active everyday.  I didn't blog about it before because I didn't want to jinx us.  Technically we still have til Friday before our month is over, but honestly, we'll probably continue a long time after that.  For the two of us, this seemed like a daunting task.  We loved going out to eat and exploring our new town via cafes and restaurants.  We were also addicted to gross over processed foods & sodas.  I thought it was going to be hard, it actually turned out to be super easy.  I don't know if we are just both in a different stage in our life or what but within days we felt better, we were sleeping better, and we were saving tons of money.

We tried to buy as locally and organic as possible (which is easy where we live, so we were super lucky) and found out that our taste for things had changed through that.  We actually LIKED milk now that we were getting it from a local farm - this is what is was supposed to taste like?  We both hated drinking milk before and avoided it, opting for almond milk in our cereal.  Now there are some things we will only get locally - milk, eggs, bread (my next task is to learn how to make my own bread instead of buying it at the co-op), produce.  Like I stated earlier, it was super easy for us to buy local, organic foods.  We have a wonderful co-op in our town where we get the essentials.  It's also really nice that you get to support your community.  One reason that is keeping us out in our country home is because our town has such a strong sense of community - it's extremely refreshing.

Another reason this experiment helped us -- money.  We have saved so much it's ridiculous and embarrassing.  After looking back at financial statements and seeing what we were spending on food & drinks before it was... well, it was sad - I can't even share the figures.  So not only are we getting healthier now, we have more money saved up by making all of our meals.

I definitely encourage anyone to try this experiment.  Make ALL of your meals & snacks at home for a week, two weeks, a month, etc. ... whatever you want to start with.  See how much money you save and how much better you feel.  It may seem hard, but once you get into a routine, it doesn't take much time at all.  We'd make lunches and snacks for the next day the night before, cut up produce & store in containers (we would freeze a lot of our fruit, too, and eat that for dessert - SO good) as soon as you get home from buying groceries, plan meals ahead of time.  Think about what you want to make for the week before procuring your meat, produce, & extras.  It's easy.  Trust me.  If I can do it, you can.

Now -- taking it one step further... This was not my idea, it was Mister's and he got this idea towards the end of our month experiment.  We also decided to not buy groceries until we had eaten EVERYTHING in our cupboards, refrigerator, & freezer.  So that means our staples (bread, eggs, fresh meat & produce, milk) were gone in a few days, we had to resort to the things stuck in the back of the freezer & cupboard.  A LOT of frozen veggies, eating up all the soup & oats, and finally eating the three things of frozen pork sausage that our neighbors gave us (I'm pretty sure I blogged about the scary hogs they had months ago, well they've been in our freezer for a while).  This experiment was interesting.  I'd be lying to you if I said it was the most fun thing I've ever done.  Mister definitely had a better attitude about it.  Luckily for me, the coffee ran out on exactly the last day of eatable food left in our house.  Had I had to go without coffee any days on that experiment, I would have done some damage to something (or someone ... you reading this Mr?!).  I discovered I absolutely loathe eating oat bran (no matter how much cinnamon, it just was bland), eating mixed veggies for all meals, & eating pasta for more than one meal a day (never realized how much pasta makes my stomach hurt & feel plain rotten).  Highlighted "meals" include:  eating a bowl of meat for breakfast (Ron Swanson Approved!) and a spoon of peanut butter & pickles.

Enlighten Mint - how I missed thee!

Anyway -- we did it!  We got down to frozen lima beans (which I refuse to eat, I hate them), some various oat products (no fun if there's no milk), and chicken stock & broth, and cream of mushroom soup.  Finally, we went grocery shopping last night.  I was drooling over all the apples & bananas we got, lovingly stroking the glass bottle of milk, singing to the eggs, dancing with the bread.  If you think I'm exaggerating, you clearly don't know me well.  Oh oh oh!  And best part!  A trip to the co-op meant I got to get a can of my most favorite cold drink (besides H2O) - Yerba Mate Enlighten Mint.  Mmmm SO good.  (If you don't drink Yerba Mate [original hot tea] you should!  Organic natural goodness! And Enlighten Mint is EVEN better than original Mate)