Eating Out

One of the hardest parts of this challenge is not eating out. We have plenty of food here to prepare, it's just so easy to eat out when you have a busy night and you have to fit dinner in there somewhere. I didn't think it would be so bad, but the temptations are everywhere! Coupons for cheap food, TV commercials, a dozen fast food places and restaurants within a couple of miles, Yikes!!!! Today I almost caved. We had a late start to the day, which is never good when you have tons of things that need to get done. It seriously crossed my mind to eat out for lunch for the convenience. We didn't do it, though! I fed the kids before we left and just dealt with being later than I had wanted. We went to Office Max to get some supplies for school and that was a breeze- no food to be seen there. Sam's Club was a different story. Even though everyone had just had lunch, they became oh so starving once inside. Sam's is a place where I let them have lunch a little too often because it's so cheap and also because it's one of the few places that has caffeine-free diet coke. I gently reminded them that we were only there to exchange a defective product and then we were leaving. Mason, the little smartie pants, found a way to finagle some food anyway. His theory is that if it's free it shouldn't count against us- and samples are free, right? He actually had a few good points so I let them try the samples throughout the store. Lucky for them, it was a really good day for samples. Lemonade, mac'n cheese, peanuts, cheese sticks, lasagna, pizza, fresh fruit, smoked chicken and m&m cookies. Yeah, they were happy campers when they left the store. I particularly liked Mason's argument that I should buy them a DVD because it wasn't food, personal hygiene, or cleaning supply related. Ummm....good point, but no DVD.