No Take Out Challenge

Happy Tuesday! Well my 30 days of no take out started yesterday. Monday just seems to be a good starting point for things. Now, the no take out challenge consists of me and Chris not purchasing food from restaurants for at least 30 days. Then we will tweak it to allow take out 5 times per month. So if we eat out for lunch, breakfast or dinner - it counts.
That being said, if the take out is free, then we can eat it. :)

So, yesterday my company paid for lunch - which has also given me lunch for today! Last night for dinner I made cheese tortellini and Parmesan crusted chicken. It was yummy! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 package store bought tortellini
1/2 jar store bought spaghetti sauce (I usually use a vodka sauce for this, but any will work)
2 1/2 boneless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
Olive oil
Dijon mustard
Bread crumbs (enough to coat chicken)
Italian seasoning
2 cloves pressed garlic
Grated Parmesan cheese (enough to coat chicken)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a dish, combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, seasonings and garlic. Set aside. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Mix about a tablespoon of mustard into chicken. You want to lightly coat the chicken with the mustard. Once chicken is evenly coated, pour into bread crumb mixture and evenly coat. Coat frying pan with olive oil and heat. Once heated, pour chicken mixture into pan and cover. Stir until done.
Cook tortellini according to package instructions.
Heat sauce.
Serve.

It's fabulous. And you can make it as healthy as you want!

Tonight I'm making fish for the first time ever! I'm a little nervous. This will be paired with loaded mashed potatoes. Yummmm!!!
And one night this week - I am making THIS!

Be sure to check out Beauty and Bedlam for some fabulous saving and recipe ideas!

Yesterday I made an extensive spreadsheet of recipes and menus to last through the end of March. I'm ready! It's really kind of exciting to get creative in the kitchen. I love to cook - it's really relaxing for me. AND it helps me with portion control because usually by the time I finish cooking, I'm not that hungry. I guess after smelling everything I get satisfied! Hey, whatever works right?

I'm going to be trying a lot of new recipes, so as I find fabulous things, I'll be sure to share!

I'm really anxious to see how much money it really saves us.