What do people – food bloggers, my friends – eat on a daily basis? Is this something you’ve ever wondered? (I asked my husband and he said no. HA!) Knowing people who love food and know their way around Austin’s restaurants makes me curious about what they eat.
This project came from my curiosity to see how often we (Will and I) repeat meals, how often we eat out, and the types of things we eat. I already post monthly (on my Flavors of the Month posts) about the dishes and restaurants that were special but all the other things I eat should get some love. And maybe some of you are strangely curious too.
So, I took (or tried to remember to take) a photo of my dinner every night in January. Now you’ll know what a lifestyle and food blogger REALLY eats!
What I Ate in a Month
Here’s the play by play and I’ll give some notes after the list!
- 1, Wed: Homemade Khao Soi
- 2, Thurs: Leftover Homemade Khao Soi
- 3, Fri: Frozen DiGiorgnio’s Pizza – The second day back to work in the new year and we were not ready. Quick trip to the grocery store resulted in this.
- 4, Sat: Homemade Salad with Whatever Was in the Fridge – Spinach with grilled chicken, brie, and steamed beets
- 5, Sun: HEB Meal Simple Salmon
- 6, Mon: Homemade Beef Bourguinon
- 7, Tues: Work Holiday Party Buffet – It included guacamole, a mac and cheese bar, a cheese plate with some delicious truffled gouda, and bread pudding.
- 8, Wed: Dinner at Happy Chicks – I attended a class from 6-9 pm, so I grabbed this quick dinner after work.
- 9, Thurs: Moroccan Chickpea and Carrot Tangine
- 10, Fri: Raclette Night at Antonelli’s – All the info is in this post
- 11, Sat: Dinner at China Family Restaurant
- 12, Sun: Homemade Korean Beef with Mushrooms and Rice
- 13, Mon: Homemade Coconut Curry Meatball with Rice
- 14, Tues: Homemade Arugula Salad with Fennel Grilled Beef, Steamed Beets, and Brie
- 15, Wed: Homemade Grilled Chicken and Kale Salad
- 16, Thurs: Homemade Black Beans and Rice with Leftover Grilled Chicken and Kale Salad
- 17, Fri: Takeout Dinner from The Soup Peddler (Grilled Cheese and Soup) – We were going to go out to eat but Will was sick.
- 18, Sat: Dinner at Vaquero Taquero
- 19, Sun: Homemade Lamb Steak with Steamed Spinach
- 20, Mon: Leftover Lamb Steak with Steamed Spinach and Roasted Carrots, Cauliflower, and Sweet Potato
- 21, Tues: Homemade Poblano Chili
- 22, Wed: Leftover Chili
- 23, Thurs: Homemade Chicken with Orzo and Artichokes
- 24, Fri: Dinner at District Kitchen
- 25, Sat: Homemade Chickpea and Broccoli Yellow Curry
- 26, Sun: Leftover Curry with Steamed Bok Choy and Sauteed Mushrooms
- 27, Mon: Homemade Caesar Broccoli with Beef Steaks
- 28, Tues: Media Tasting at Last Straw – vegan appetizers and a cocktail
- 29, Wed: Homemade Cod with Orzo and Asparagus
- 30, Thurs: Media Tasting at East Austin Hotel
- 31, Fri: Dinner at Odd Duck
Details/Notes About What I Ate and Our Routine
First, I was bad at taking photos of any dinner that was not one from the cookbook or eating out and those were usually the times Will made dinner. Haha.
Cooking at Home and Leftovers
Other than starting my cook through a cookbook challenge, we didn’t try to eat a particular way, i.e. more meals at home or more vegetables. This is how we usually eat! Though I will say, it has been YEARS since I got a frozen pizza from the grocery store, so it’s funny that happened.
We meal plan and grocery shop for the week on Sundays. This year, Will and I have been trying to split up nights we cook so that I share more of the cooking responsibilities. Cooking through a cookbook and using a cookbook with easy recipes is really helping with that. Plus, we can try different recipes. Months prior to this would not have had this much variety in recipes. We would usually have a rotation of spaghetti, steak, steamed vegetables, and quick salads.
We try not to eat leftovers more than once. If we double a recipe, it’s usually enough for one more meal so that we’re not eating the same thing more than two nights in a row.
Eating Out
We usually cook dinner Sunday through Thursday nights and eat out Friday and/or Saturday nights. (There were five times I ate out on a weeknight and Will made dinner at home. I typically eat out an average of three weeknights in a month for media tastings and/or friend outings.) After a long day at work, I just want to eat, relax, and get ready for the next work day, so being a homebody during the week (and spending as much time with Will and Kaira as possible) is ideal.
We do sometimes eat out for lunch on the weekends, so we don’t only eat out once or twice a week. (For weekday lunches, I eat in my work cafeteria and Will usually brings leftovers for lunch.) See this month’s Flavors of the Month post for more information about the meals we ate out.
Here’s the quick breakdown of my month of dinners:
- Dinners Out: 10/31 meals
- Homemade Dinners: 19/31 meals
- Semi-Homemade Dinners (i.e. frozen or HEB Meal Simple): 2/31 meals
- Leftovers for Dinner: 4/31 meals
- Cookbook Recipes: 10/31 meals
What Do You Think?
Does that satisfy your curiosity?! Our meals seem really exciting because of the cookbook and seeing our month of dinners like this makes me feel like such an adult. HA! You can tell a lot from someone’s routine, values, and point in life by what they eat for dinner. Most of my meals in college and right after college were chicken nuggets, steamed broccoli, and mac-and-cheese. In my mid-20s, I went out to eat a lot with friends and dates.
Want to eat more at home? Here are three quick tips.
- Choose easier and faster recipes. Recipes with less than 10 ingredients, one pot or slow cooker recipes, and recipes that take less than an hour make cooking at home much easier.
- Cook from a cookbook or a blog to meal plan from one source. Every week I’m picking out three recipes from the cookbook I want to make. I try to find similarities in ingredients so I don’t have excess.
- Meal plan, then grocery shop once. We do it all on Sunday, so that we’re set for the week. This gives us a solid plan and prevents last-minute grocery trips after work or an unexpected meal out.
How do you eat? (Food bloggers – you should try this project and send me a link to your post!) Do you repeat the same recipes every week? What are your go-to dishes? Do you want to cook at home more and how do you do it?
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