Walking through the farmer’s market a couple Saturdays ago, I passed by a stand of recently fried, freshly powdered, entirely delicious mini doughnuts. My mouth literally watered, not only at the sight and its smell of the tasty treats, but also from the all the other fresh hot foods made from local ingredients. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on and sink my teeth into the sweet cinnamony deep fried ball of heaven. But then I remembered- I’m not allowed to. As of October 1, we have been on an eating out hiatus.

Since restaurant expenses have always been an Achilles heel in our budget, why not cut that out entirely

Convenience of Eating out

I love to cook and can make quite the delicious comfort meal. Daniel swears that I make a better bolognese ragu than an Italian restaurant. I humbly agree; I have spent years mastering my ragu. It takes at least three hours to prepare. While home cooking is the ultimate trifecta: delicious, healthy, and economical, it is not convenient.

I relied on convenient eats when I was pregnant with Little Sister. Exhausted after long days at work, parenting a toddler, and being pregnant, I dreaded preparing dinner, however simple the meal. Cooking wasn’t enjoyable and pretty much the last thing I wanted when I returned home from work.

We became fast and best friends with the Pizza Nova around the corner. We ate one too many pepperoni walk-in specials. My postpartum body totally regrets that. My wallet wasn’t too happy either; for months, we would exceed the Restaurant category of our budget within the first couple of weeks. Neither economical nor healthy, pizza take-out was easy.

Deliciousness of Eating Out

Little Sister arrived in late spring and I started my year-long maternity leave. Not working has provided ample time and energy to meal-plan and cook again. I found inspiration in the fresh produce we grew in our garden or picked up from the local farmer’s market I visited with the kids. We ate healthy, tasty meals and I reconnected with the joy of cooking.

That’s not to say we didn’t eat out. Of course we did. Instead of eating out for convenience sake, we ate in restaurants because it is fun. I mean, what can be more fun than fancy ice cream sandwiched between two giant cookies from a hipster joint in Ossington village? Torontonians, you know what I’m talking about.

On week days, I would take the kids to explore different neighbourhoods, stopping for baked or iced treats at famed local eateries; we ventured into new neighborhoods specifically for their restaurants. On weekends, we would meet up with friends to eat some more; dim sum is always a favourite Saturday morning activity. We tracked the eating-out expenses, of course, and would cringe at the final number each month, only to rinse and repeat because I wanted to try a new restaurant or satisfy a craving.

The 90-Day No Eating Out Challenge

We decided it was time for a challenge: stop paying for food outside of groceries for 90 days.

Why, you ask? Well, our family is working on raising $10,000 to build health clinics in Nigeria to decrease the death rates of women during pregnancy and childbirth. It’s a personal family project for an issue that deeply resonates with me. While brainstorming fundraising ideas, it occurred to me that there is so much of our own money that we can contribute. Since restaurant expenses have always been an Achilles heel in our budget, why not cut that out entirely, but for a bigger purpose than simply saving? We’re not eating out for 90 days to fundraise to improve maternal health in Nigeria; the money we save from eating in goes towards building the health clinics.

The Rules

• No eating out means no restaurants, no coffee, no take-out, and no ooh-look-there-are-pretty-macarons-displayed-let’s-get-one treats. The more specific terms and conditions to our hiatus includes the following:
• We can buy bread at a bakery. We can even buy pastries, but pastries can only be eaten as dessert after a home cooked meal and not on the go.
• We can eat at restaurants with my family, because even in my thirties, my mother is still the boss of me. If she wants me to eat with her, I oblige.
• We can eat at restaurants with business clients for work. In a professional setting, it is a bit weird and awkward not to eat at all.
• We can purchase frozen prepared foods which require a kitchen appliance to be turned on. We are not allowed ready-to-go prepared foods, such as pasta salad from the deli counter.

5 Ways to Avoid Eating Out At Restaurants

We are almost 60 days into the 90-day hiatus, and while we have abided by all the rules, it hasn’t always been easy. We have found 5 things that help.

A few days into challenge, our friend sent an email inviting us to his annual birthday dinner at Pizza Hut. “Should we go?” we asked ourselves. “We’ve gone to the last nine pizza parties. We’re not missing this one. It’s tradition,” said Daniel. We RSVP’ed. On the day of the party, we ate an early dinner before taking the kids to Pizza Hut. We informed everyone we weren’t going to eat and then proceeded to salivate on the table as the delicious greasy pizza was served. Though Big Brother wasn’t hungry, he asked for a slice. We explained to him again what we were doing, and then fed him a granola bar from my purse to keep him quiet. We were all feeling hungry until we left the restaurant; out sight, out of mind. We went home proud.

We are almost 60 days into the 90-day hiatus, and while we have abided by all the rules, it hasn’t always been easy. In addition to the pizza party, I’ve been on half a dozen coffee dates where I sip water while gazing longingly at the cup of joe and pain au chocolat sitting across the table. There are weekends where we are pressed for food ideas since our weekends include brunch with friends or breakfast at a farmers market. For a week and a half at the end of October, we ate eggs, roasted brussel sprouts, and peanut butter sandwiches for dinner practically every day because I was too tired to cook proper meals. Dinner was so uninspiring (and, to be honest, not delicious) that when asked what his favourite food was, Big Brother answered “I only eat eggs”.

It’s hard not to eat out, but somehow, we have avoided restaurants. This is what has worked for us:

1. Avoid Places with Yummy Food
   I am a visual person; I have, one more than one occasion, purchased the Colonel’s chicken because I saw someone else eating it. Cut out the temptation. Unfollow local food bloggers (my “following” list on Instagram took a dip!). When food trucks are present, walk away, just far enough so that the menu is out of sight.
2. Carry Food Around
   Bring food everyone you go. When hungry, a small snack usually suffices. When Big Brother gets hungry between meals while we are out or if I see a chocolate treat, I grab granola or carrot sticks from my bag. It’s enough to distract or satisfy the munchies. I always carry a water bottle around.
3. Have a Plan
   Take an inventory of the ingredients you already have in stock and make a meal plan. You will more inclined to adhere to a plan when you know what to make with items are that readily available. It is when you have no idea what to cook that the spontaneous eat out wins.
4. Stash the Freezer
   Stock the pantry and freezer with a few items- homemade or processed- that come together for a quick meal. I’m talking about canned soup and frozen pizza. While they may not be healthy or delicious as freshly made dishes from scratch, but they suffice and feed bellies when time or energy is tight. I have bags of store bought frozen dumplings and previously prepared pasta sauce waiting in the freezer for the days the kids drive me up the wall and I want is for them to eat so they can go to bed.
5. Bring the Party In
   Eating out is a social thing, but being social doesn’t mean eating out. Whenever we are invited out to eat, we suggest a homecooked meal at our place instead. Not once has anyone declined. In fact, when we explain what we are doing, we often get invited to someone else’s home. Cook a meal for friends or host a potluck. Even take turns hosting and preparing meals. Eating together builds camaraderie- especially over home cooked meals.

The Last Word: Remember the Bigger Picture

Even with my bag of tricks, there will be times you desperately want to eat out. Remember that mini donut I really, really wanted? As I stood in front of the cute little stand wafting in sweet aromas, the Munchies waged a war on Self Control. The Munchies presented a sound argument: I am breastfeeding and should eat constantly for milk production. And, it was only two dollars. Self Control fought back and reminded me why we’re not eating out. It wasn’t about the two dollars; it was about raising the money for something I really care about.

If you decide to take a break on eating out and your resolve wavers, remember the reason and motivation behind the decision. Maybe you are doing it to improve your health or to save money. It doesn’t matter. There is a bigger picture. Focus on it. And take out that granola bar from your backpack. You can do it.

To eat out, or not to eat out?