The end of the challenge

Well, I made it through. Even if I didn't keep up with detailed day-by-day, meal-by-meal accounts of what I ate! On Saturday, one month after I started my challenge, I had to go to the store to get some heavy-duty garbage bags (three of which I have filled so far with clothes that don't fit, to be donated to a local thrift shop. How the heck did I get so many clothes to start with?) and while I was there, I told myself that, as a reward for making it through a month without buying food, I could get myself a treat. I considered chocolate, granola bars, ice cream, and other goodies around the store that normally would have been tempting impulse buys. But...I just couldn't see the point of getting any of them. They were a waste of money, and things I really didn't need.

However, today I went grocery shopping (used up the remainder of the $20 gift card and then some), and gave in to the lure of two kinds of cookies, some ice cream, and sour-cream-and-onion potato chips. Clearly, my impulse shopping has not been entirely curbed! But it's good to know that I can set a goal and stick to it. And of the masses of meat in my freezer, I'm down to one bag of chicken legs, three pork chops, and a bag of chicken thighs thawing in the fridge. I still have a lot of beans and pasta, too, but even if I don't use those up, they'll travel well. Next goal: getting rid of all the junk I've been toting from apartment to apartment and never using. But that's not kitchen related, so I won't be discussing it on this blog. (Okay, I've got a lot of kitchen stuff I've been toting from apartment to apartment, but I can't see myself getting rid of even the things I never use.) I'm not entirely abandoning this blog, though, I expect to still post things from time to time, such as recipes I've created or adapted, or other food-related challenges, etc. See you when I see you!