Yesterday one of my stepsons asked me, “Natalie, what’s your New Year’s Resolution?”  I smiled, and explained to him that I make monthly goals which are much like resolutions, so I don’t really make the traditional New Years Resolution.  (Yes, I’m one of THOSE people.)

However, I did share with him one of my goals for these next few months – it’s basically a new habit I’d like to create for myself and my family.

I want to eat out less.  Much, much less.

See, there are those days when you’re just so tired by 5pm the last thing you want to lift a finger for is a pot or pan.  Days when it just really sounds better to have someone serve you, someone cook for you, and someone clean up after you.  Because as we all know, it’s not just about dinner for us cooks:  it’s the whole kit and kaboodle.  Not having to prepare the food, cook the food, serve the food, and clean up after the food.

I have those kind of days pretty frequently.  In fact, if I look back I would say we eat out about once a week.  Ouch!  Horrible for the pocket book, the waistline, everything!

Thinking of the 100′s of dollars we could save, the healthier we would become, and the things we could do instead of eating out I decided enough was enough.

Why should you care?  What does this mean for you?  More time in my kitchen means more great recipes for you!  Believe me, I’ll be focusing on some quick, easy, and inexpensive meals too.  You can count on it!  And so, my new habit forming process has begun.  Planning ahead, grocery shopping, meal planning, experimenting, but most importantly fighting the urge to grab the keys and take the family out for dinner.

So far, so good.  Course, it is only January 5th.