July: My Month of 'Eating In'

After reading an interesting series of articles on Food Riot, I became more and more enthralled with the idea of 'eating in' for an entire month. I do like to make my own food, but let's be honest -- I eat out a lot. My eating out has a lot to do with two things: convenience (hey, if I'm out & about all day, I'm not heading home for a meal) and the fact that I love (!) trying new foods. But, hey, I like a good challenge, at least I'm not doing it for an unreasonable amount of time (hey, lady in NYC that has been eating in for two years!), and I think it'd be great for my budget/my cooking skills to try this for an entire month.

I love eating as much as this little turtle does.

The Challenge: Eat homemade food for one month (starting July 1st and ending July 31st).

The Caveats: Things that still count as 'eating in' are as follows: eating homemade food from a friend (potlucks all month, y'all!) and eating food that I made, somewhere else (picnics, at work, etc.). Outside beer & wine is allowed (so, I can go to a bar for a beer, but cannot eat anything there). One weekend will be my 'cheat weekend' (and this is honestly because I already have an out-of-town trip planned and the restaurant picked out for that evening).

What Will Make This Difficult? I work at a place that has a cafeteria specifically for employees. I go to school, usually immediately after work, and usually don't have time to stop & eat. I like other people to make food for me.

What Will Make This Easy? I have a lot of friends that like to cook & share cooking (hence the aforementioned potlucks). I am part of a CSA, where I get fresh & local produce every single week. I am currently growing my own mushrooms. I have a partner that also likes to cook, so I probably won't have to cook on my own for the entire month.

Of course, I plan to chronicle this on my blog (expect a lot more recipes and one post per week about the actuality of it all). Let me know in the comments what you think and/or if you'll join me in this adventure!