My challenge this month… I am afraid I am going to fail.

Once upon a time all of my siblings and I planned to buy a col de sac where we would all build our dream homes (with a park, maybe a few roller coasters and a froyo establishment) and all live happily ever on the same street.   The only problem is that my siblings did not follow through and they moved away.

My brother from Arizona came up to visit (his wife and kiddos are here for a few weeks) for a day.  He is taking the Bar Exam at the end of this month and so he has been studying 20 hours a day.

My dad picked up Billy and I from the airport and as soon as we heard that my brother was at my parent’s house we told my dad to take us straight there.

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His cutest little girl that will only be 9 months older than my little girl = they will be best friends forever (along with another SIL that is expecting a girl in October).

For dinner we had brown rice, jello and Russian Chicken. My mom marinades the chicken in russian dressing and apricot preserves, it is delicious.  Nothing green on my plate because the veggies were all gone by the time we got there!?!?

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This weeks awesome find:  LEMONADE!!!

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Sunday night is not complete without dessert and so the SIL and I stepped up to the plate to fulfill everyone’s need.

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It has been a full 1.5 weeks since I have had my peanut butter cookies and it was a beautiful reunion.  My freezer is now fully stocked again with my favorite cookie.  My mom added chocolate chips to a few and said they were delicious that way.

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My challenge for the next month:

-As you know we are moving soon to a pretty pricey area.  I am challenging myself to not spend any money on food before we leave to save a little bit.

This means no eating out (except for if we use a gift card…we have a bunch to Cafe Rio that need to be used up.  Other exceptions include if my sweet mother offers to take me out).  We also have a freezer and fridge full of food that needs to be eaten and so grocery shopping would be silly (grapes are my only exception because as a 33 week pregnant girl it is something I eat and need every night at 2 a.m.)  Be prepared to see some very interesting meals and us eating dinner at my parent’s house every night.

This is going to be hard.  Real hard.

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Would the not eating out part of the challenge be tough for you?

Is anyone else doing any sort of challenge?  Any challenges you have made for yourself in the past? Did you follow through?

Favorite thing to marinade your chicken in?

Any ARIZONIANS reading?!?!?

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74 comments

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Janae you have the cutest family! Your daughter will love having close cousins like that. I’m actually working on a similar challenge- my freezer/fridge and the ones in the garage are stuffed to the max. So I’m working on cleaning it out and only buying fresh produce until I’ve finished. It’s going to be tough because I’m an impulse buyer.

BBQ sauce is my favorite for chicken!

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This is a great challenge!! My husband and I also did this when we were moving, and in the past few months we have been trying to do the “great freezer clean out” which actually leads to some pretty tasty creations you may not normally put together! And frozen Kashi waffles that have probably been in the back shelf for a few months? They are definitely a new breakfast fave!
Good lucky, lady!

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Not eating out for a month would pose somewhat of a challenge for me as much of the time, it’s what my friends and I do together.! That chicken looks perfectly juicy, love me some honey mustard or teriyaki!

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janae, i am so glad you got to spend time with your family!! i am sure the sound of laughter totally filled your parents’ home!
for the month of may, i set myself a “great grocery challenge:” i could ONLY buy food on sale, or mooch off my parents! it was very interesting!! i did save a ton of money, luckily my parents are very generous and i too had some interesting meals! good luck to you!!!

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Aww…good luck to your brother and the bar exam! I’ve had a couple of friends go through it and leading up the exam you’re afraid to go near them, lol. I really enjoy eating out (we usually go once a week) so that would be hard but if it is only temporary, it probably wouldn’t be too bad. ;) You would definitely save a lot of money though. Good luck with your challenge…I am sure you will succeed! :)

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hee hee….I always say we are going to not eat out for a while then I usually am the first one to say ~ let’s go out for dinner:) I’m weak I know. Wow, you are going to have 2 lawyers in the family, cool. I thought your brother was a doctor for some reason.

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I have been eating out waaaay too much! Try a whole medium pizza last night! We do this frequently though eat until literally there isn’t any food in the house! Requires creativity for sure. Good luck it’s a difficult adjustment.

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I’m doing a weight loss challenge right now – does that count? So I have actually been trying to eat out a lot less than I used too. We did go to Qdoba last night and it was so good!
It will be so nice for your daughter to have kids her own age to grow up with. I loved playing and growing up with my cousins!

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Not eating out IS tough! I’ve been pretty good lately since I am trying to save money, but lunches are the worst. I cannot be bothered to pack a lunch! And even when I do, Subway is right across the street from my office and it beckons me :)

Right now I’m doing the ColourfulPalate Colourful Smoothie Challenge! You have to make a new colourful smoothie every day :) I love it because it encourages me to eat more smoothies and protein, which is necessary during marathon training!

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Your family is so adorable!

I set some new goals/challenges for myself just yesterday. Being a new mom has me thinking a lot and so my goals are : more prayer, more water, more exercise (or just getting outside in the sunshine at least once a day; it’s easy to stay cooped up in a house with a newborn!!!).

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Not eating out is so hard for us too. I’ll try to do the challenge for a week with you.

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I always have a hard time trying to get rid of all our food when we move. We eat the strangest things for a while! It will be fun to re-stock when you get to CA though!

Good luck!

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Not too bad, but the hardest part would be not going on lunch dates with my friends, I probably do abut 3-4 a month.
I like to create marinates So every time its different, I go to combo I have is agave, lime juice, djon mustuard, olive oil and chili garlic sea salt.

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That is hilarious, my best friend & I planned on building a cul de sac together too so we could all hang out. We planned on color coding our families too and having walkie talkies so we could just radio when we needed everybody home for dinner.

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Good luck on trying not to spend til you move! Ive actually gone a few “no buy” sprees and they are always hard….but make you realize what you have and really appreciate it!

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I swear at the beginning of every month my boyfriend and I vow not to eat out as much, and we fail every single month. I don’t know what it is, but whenever the weekends roll around we automatically want to go out to eat rather than cooking.

My favorite thing to marinade chicken in is italian dressing. It’s so simple yet ends up tasting so good!

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I’ve never played elephant before. I’ll have to try it. ;) I think your challenge is great! Once upon a time, it would have been a struggle for my husband and me, but now we eat at home most nights. I would miss the social aspect of not going out to eat on a Friday or Saturday though…and the break in the kitchen. Good luck! :)

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Omg that lemonade takes me back to childhood! I haven’t seen it in ages! I used to drink those cans almost every day!

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i am an arizonian at heart! ;) i was born and grew up there until i left for college, and my family all still lives there. we actually hope to move back there in the next year… we miss our families!
i think your no eating out challenge is a great one. my husband and i used to go out to eat ALL the time, and then we started to realize how much it was costing us each week. now we probably go out to eat once every 2-3 weeks. at first it was hard, but you get used to it after awhile! plus, it makes going out to eat all the more special! :)

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We don’t go out to eat unless it is with friends or a date night……so once a week. My food challenge is that when I do go out to order something I do not normally make. So far success since I got baked cod for date night and some seafood salad wrap out with my girlfriends (guess I am on a seafood kick)

I agree that grilled cheese, fried egg sandwiches, etc can help save $$, but depending on what you make it can be cheaper to get the little ceasars pizza. You CAN do this though, you and Billy are good goal oriented people!

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I am a FUTURE Arizonian. As in, we are moving there next week! From NC. Quite a move.
And we are in a very similar challenge right now. Eating through everything we have in the fridge/freezer and cabinets. It has gotten interesting. But it is going well!

The Kidless Kronicles

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Not eating out would probably help my wallet … but it would be tough! I do it far more often than I should, and one of my friends and I make an effort to try out new restaurants as much as we can!

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Good luck on your challenge! Not going out to eat wouldn’t be too terribly awful, seeing as we usually only go out to eat once a week or so (on the weekend). However, not going to the grocery store would be way hard for me! I have an addiction to grocery shopping. I am trying to do a lot better at using what we have and freezing leftovers instead of letting them go to waste.

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I think eating out would be a challenge for us, but we live in a small town with only a few options so it’s not really. There are seriously only three restaurants in our town so I just always cook. One challenge I have for myself is to get up to running 10 miles. We moved to Arizona a month and a half ago and it has been interesting getting adjusted to the altitude. Currently I am up to 7.5 miles! It’s been discouraging at times since right before we moved I had run a marathon and a half marathon, but it’s a journey :) Oh and yes I am an Arizonian, but only by a month and a half and also we live 10 minutes from the boarder of New Mexico. So just barely!

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I am an Arizonian! :) I have been following your blog for months and never comment but I had to this time because I totally just had that conversation with my husband about eating out this month, plus I had no give a shout out for being from AZ, woot woot! :) We are expecting our second baby in September so we need to be saving for diapers, etc…and eating out this summer has been so much easier than cooking in a hot kitchen! So we’ll see :)

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ahhh what a cutie pie of a little girl!

i think me and kev do a pretty good job of not eating out that much…we usually go out on our date night once a week but otherwise we just cook at home or throw whatever together…meal planning definitely comes in handy!

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Arizona all the way!! Running in Arizona is very interesting. I trained for a fall marathon and therefore had to get up at 4 am for my long runs. That summer was fun:)

I like to marinate my chicken in Italian dressing. Yum!!

I need to challenge myself to eat healthier. Starting today!! One time I challenged myself to go without sugar or junk food for a month. Totally followed through and I felt great!!

Have a great day!

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Not eating out would not be too difficult for us. We don’t donut often. But if you count fro yo, then I would be screwed. I think my husband should open another account just to set aside money for my fro yo consumption.

Ummm we still better go out before you leave! Cafe Rio it is! ;)

I probably give myself a challenge of not eating so much/not eating treats probably every day. And I make the same promise the next day and the next. Lol. I suck. So lets hope you are better at your challenge than I am with mine. You would think I would have given up by now!

Your little baby niece is ADORABLE! !

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not kidding, my boyfriend and i opened a joint bank account and have dedicated it to froyo. glad to know we’re not the only ones blowing thousands of dollars on it…!!

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My favorite chicken marinade is 1/2 Italian dressing, 1/2 teriyaki and minced garlic. Yum. We go out to eat once every couple of weeks. We realized that most of the food we get a restaurants, we could have made at home and it would have been cheaper and taste better. My most recent food challenge has been giving up diet sodas. I quit cold turkey months ago and haven’t looked back. I would love to cut back on my desserts, but I haven’t made that commitment yet.

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We rarely eat out – so this challenge would not be tough for me. For dinner – we may go out once a month. The biggest eat out we do is lunch on the weekend (since we shop on Sunday mornings.. so sometimes the fridge is bare on Saturday).. but even then we spend like 10 bucks at Subway.

I like your dream of having all of your siblings living on a cul de sac together.

My fiance’s family lives on the same street.. grandmother — his parents — and his aunt uncle and cousins. Back in the day – his grandparents owned a bunch of properties.. and now the children own them!

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I moved a few weeks ago and had decided to try and eat up my kitchen too–there were some WEIRD food combinations involved, but it definitely helped save some money! :)

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Whoo!!! I’m an Arizonan!! As a graduate student I totally get the tying to save money bit! I might try to do this challenge with you ( my fiancée ‘s birthday is late August, so I should save some moolah for a celebration and to buy school books!!!) great idea!!!

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One time, we made it 1 month without buying groceries (without stocking up before hand). It’s difficult, but can be done and a lot of meals were very “interesting”.

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You can totally do it! Can’t wait to see what you post over the next few weeks. :)

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My husband and I are terrible about not eating out–we hit up Subway at least 3 times a week, and if we travel to “the big city” we take advantage of being able to hit up one our favorite restaurants for dinner. We used to only eat out on pay day, which is every other Friday. We’re working on cutting back and getting back to the every-other-week thing.

I’m currently continuing the Runner’s World Summer Run Streak–today marks Day 43 of running at least one mile a day! I’ve never run this many consecutive days before, and find that it’s definitely challenging some days!

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Peter and I are going to Arizona at the end of September that we just planned! I can’t wait.

We are also looking into buying a place – and have seriously cut down on eating out. It is amazing how much $$ you see going back into your account. NYC is expensive as well – and it can be stressful – but you’ll enjoy making dinners together.

I am also an avid couponer – it doesn’t take much. I sit down on Sundays with the paper and clip – I then just browse the super markets to see when the stuff for my coupons go on sale there – buy it when its on sale with a coupon and you save a ton. I.E. Saved $40.00 at CVS the other day (bill came to $21.00) and $110.00 at grocery store (I forget how much we actually spent). Saving a little goes a long way over a year!

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ooh, good luck! i think i could do that, but the thing is that you’ll run out of produce which is a no-no in my opinion. i wouldn’t judge you if you bought some fresh fruit/veggies to stay sane.

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WOAH! Not spending any money on food for the WHOLE month?!?! WOAH! That’d be HARD, but you can do it– good luck!!!!

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Nope, it used to be but eating out is almost a sure thing to get glutenized.
I need to try more marinades, but I’ve liked anything on my chicken. My husband is from Arizona and his mom is visiting this week!
Good luck! You guys will do great! The gift cards will save you!

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Oh I know that is going to be tough, but I’m sure you will make it! I have made all kind of random food items out of whatever is in my kitchen to avoid going out. My favorite thing is plain elbow macaronis with a little bit of light butter, garlic, basil and red pepper flakes. Sounds boring but it really is good (and helps me fuel my run for the next day, haha!) sometimes I will throw chicken in there if I have any! My fave chicky marinade is lemon pepper!!

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Good luck on your challenge this month, Janae! You can do it!! I can’t wait to see some of the weird combinations you come up with! ;)

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Props to you for giving it a shot…I could NOT do it! Although my wallet would surely thank me. :)

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Good luck with the challenge. At least you can still eat at Cafe Rio. I just ate there for the first time in the Salt Lake City airport when we were flying through to Portland last week. I was so excited to get to try it out after reading about it on your blog. It was as good as you say it is! I only wish they had one in Albuquerque where I live!

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Arizonan right here! :D Born and raised until we moved about 4 1/2 years ago. Miss it like crazy! Especially the family and my closest friends!

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I live in Arizona!! I am a senior at ASU studying Nutrition & Dietetics to become a RD in about a year or so. Love your blog Janae :)

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As you know, I am living in Arizona right now (but can’t call myself an Arizonian)! :) I just got back from Utah and have to send you an email all about my trip to your home state (and town!) I ran up Temple Drive (I think it was called) to the top of that hill and just about died! Living in Arizona got me too used to flatness! I LOVED the hills though!

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I’m moving out of my apartment in two weeks, so I have a similar no-binge-grocery-shopping thing going on. It’ll be hard (I LOVE grocery shopping), but I think I can do it!

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We rarely eat out. It’s mostly because I’m super cheap.

Good luck with your challenge!

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Good luck with your challenge! I did this last summer right before I moved, too and it was hard! I only cheated a few times! haha

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We should do that in our house, we like to eat out way to much, and we have a pantry and freezer FULL of food!

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That would be so hard for me. But I know you and Billy can do it! AND you can always visit your parents… hehehe you know, just to say hi… around dinner time…
I’m okay at challenges. I’ll start off strong but sometimes I just can’t stick to it! I need to be more like you and Billy.

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I missed my blogging BFF while I was away this weekend. Now I’m catching up on all of your old posts :D
You can totally DO this challenge. You got it! I’m all about creative, easy meals right now. Craig & I are actually doing a clean out of the fridge/ freezer before we buy anymore food. We just have SO much that needs to be eaten that has been pushed to the back.
Your Mom knows you too well with all of that lemonade stashed ;)

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Not eating out would be extremely difficult where I live…DC. We have so many delicious (pricey) restaurants for special occasions. I almost don’t want to admit how much dinner for 2 is at them…triple digits. We have many cultural restaurants, El Salvadorian, Ethiopian, and Afghani, where you can get amazing items like raw goat in spices, calves brains, tongue (lengua) tacos (items I wouldn’t be able to purchase/ cook on my own). I do save these places for special days, thank goodness. I tend to eat cheap otherwise though, fresh fruits, veggies and I home make all baked goods, granolas, protein bars, etc. I never buy processed packaged food and that actually saves money!!!

I set a goal to make one person smile each day for an entire semester in college. I did it, and I wish I was that positive all the time. I am sometimes do damn negative! :)

Chicken in harisa and Plain greek yogurt overnight, bake at 375!!!

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I think it’s a great challenge! Hats off to you guys :) We try to only eat out 2-3 times per month, and that works for us.

LOVE the idea of the siblings living nearby. I WISH that were the case with us!

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Count one more for Arizona, and a native at that! I’m a rare breed. ;)

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You are so adorable! How long is the challenge for? I will try to do it too. Just for (non) fun!
Your posts always make me smile!

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I’m totally distracted by the refrigerator! Why does mine not have neat little indents to hold cans in the door? I got jacked on the fridge! :)

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my husband and i have just implemented that same exact plan!! it’s SO helpful in saving money, plus we have lots of gift cards, and awesome parents, that make it much easier than it seems. ;)

that little girl is such a cutie!!
xo

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You can totally do it! Not eating out is the biggest way John and I save money!

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Would the not eating out part of the challenge be tough for you?
— Yes! I eat most of my meals at home, but I love going out with friends on weekends.

Is anyone else doing any sort of challenge? Any challenges you have made for yourself in the past? Did you follow through?
— I just did a 30 day running streak. It was actually fairly low mileage for running 30 (only ~150 total miles, I’ve averaged a little more than that this year only running 5-6x a week), but I had never run more than 15 days in a row before so it was tough. Not sure I would do it again, but it was something I’d always wanted to do.

Any ARIZONIANS reading?!?!?
— Yes :) And my family is from the Bay Area (Fremont), so I’m excited that you are moving up there.

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I am so jealous of how big your family is. I have zero cousins, its so sad haha. You can totally succeed at your challenge! Luckily you read blogs, and there are many yummy recipes you can create! :) No challenges for me, besides getting my health back in order right now!

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We make a goal of how many times to eat in and out each week. Not eating out at all would be really tough for us! We have restaurants on both sides of our house and about a dozen within walking distance. New Orleans is a food city.

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I rarely eat out just because of the expense. And good luck to your brother on the bar exam! I take it next year and I’m already scared of all the studying!!!!

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YES! Not eating out is a huge challenge for me!! I’ve been trying to save lately and eat out less … it wasn’t until then I realized how much I ate out. Good luck!!!!

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I found your blog a couple months ago and am so in love with it! I went all the way back to the beginning- I know, I’m a total stalker!! ;)
But I am from Arizona and was totally hoping you and Billy were going to come to ASU for law school because that’s where I am going this fall!
Good luck on the challenge! :)

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Janae you must resist this challenge because when your adorable baby girl arrives you will NOT be going out to eat for at least two months, start your challenge after your dd is born! Enjoy your date nights with Billy! Soon youll have lot of successful eating at home with billyy and baby :)

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Good luck saving money! I typically eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at home during the week and splurge on the weekends, sometimes it gets boring but I try to keep it interesting. I have been trying to pay off credit card debt since January and it will all be paid off by the end of the year and that’s what makes it worthwhile! To know that I will only be in debt to my house at the end of 2012. Just keep reminding yourself of the reason you are not eating out and you can do it!

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Eating out wouldn’t be hard for us atleast! My parents are always willing to make great food or I can always make something at home :)

I marinade chicken in italian dressing and then bake it. It is goooood!

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Not eating out would be tough but definitely doable for me but I’m sure it’s easier said than done! But, you can do it!

I was born in Arizona but would not consider myself an Arizonian… oh well!

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Just moved to Arizona 10 months ago from the Detroit Area! We now live in Flagstaff… LOVE it here (miss my family terribly, though… we were close to the cul de sac thing in that we were all in southeastern MI before I moved). Flagstaff is incredible!

We saved so much money this year when we stopped going out to eat. I also used my crock pot A LOT, used recipes from fitness magazine A LOT, and used my Biggest Loser cookbook A LOT. It got a lot easier. Really. We do go out sometimes, but not multiple times a week anymore. Maybe a couple – few times a month. That’s not always easy with busy 10 & 12 year old boys at home.

Your family looks so fun and in love with one another! Such a joy to see!

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Do y’all have Chick-Fil-A??? They have the best lemonade ever.

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I vote Cafe Rio every night, but that’s just me. :-) Good luck Amiga and know we’ll be here waiting for you, every day….every night…patiently waiting…We’ve got your back. Just saying. Have a glorious Creamy Tomatillo Day!

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I was addicted to lemonade my entire pregnancy! (actually anything citrus)

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