For those of you who might not know what is going on….this summer I attempted to do a 30 day survival challenge of not going to the store that only lasted 5 days. Read all about why I wanted to do this challenge here.
Day 5 journal entry – (July 12, 2013)
Breakfast: Today I made one child scrambled eggs for breakfast, and the others had 2 slices of my homemade bread toasted with peanut butter. I skipped breakfast, just wasn’t that hungry.
For lunch I started scratchin’ my head. Hmmmm…what to make?
I had some fresh tiny tomatoes from my garden, so I decided to try to make tomato soup in my blender. I tossed in 6 tiny tomatoes, one tiny can of tomato paste, poured in a little milk, added one garlic clove and a pinch of chicken boullion. Then let it puree until it got hot in the blender.
I also tried making grilled cheese sandwiches again but this time with my homemade wheat bread. It wasn’t as easy to grill since the pieces I cut were not perfect. But it worked.
The homemade tomatoe soup tasted good, but the texture was like pudding. The kids ate about half of their soup and didn’t complain about the texture. They LOVED those sandwiches though and kept making comments like “You can really taste the wheat in this bread, mom! It’s good”. My momma heart felt pretty good at that moment.
Dinner: It was 5:30 and my husband finally walked in the door. In his arms were two of the most delicious looking boxes of pizza.
It was sabotage!
Now Dad was the hero and I was the mean lunch lady who slops “thick pudding-tomato soup” in their bowls.
I just stood there with my mouth wide open shocked.. I was speechless. But that only lasted a minute and then I said something like..”How could you do this? Don’t you know what I am trying to do? What about my survival challenge?”
All he could say was… “But it’s Friday night-Pizza-night!” And he gave me that cute grin of his that melts me everytime. How could I be mad at him? So at first I thought to myself..fine..I just won’t eat this pizza. And I sat there for about 2 minutes.
But watching the rest of them eating the pizza like half starved jackals I I couldn’t resist taking some for myself. So ended my 30 quest, all thanks to my inability to resist a well timed pizza delivery.
I am an all or nothing kind of person, so I just decided that I would have to start all over again and do this right next time. So with great shame, I quit 25 days early. Now you all know I am weak!!!! Oh the shame of it all. Do you think of me less now?
I do plan on restarting my 30 day survival challenge again in the future however my husband will probably still never poop in a bucket. Anyone want to join me next time ?
My 30 Day Survival Challenge that only lasted 5 Days:
- My 30 Day Survival Challenge that lasted 5 days – why I am doing this.
- Day one of my 30 Day survival challenge
- Day two of my survival challenge
- Day 3 of my survival challenge
- Day 4 of my survival challenge
- Day 5 of my survival challenge
About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Courtney White says
Karrie,
My whole family love to watch what you will do next. You are so funny and have brilliant ideas. My husband turned to me after we were done and said I will not poop in a bucket for you. My kids said the same. Your challenge is very smart. Could I survive with my hubby and 8 kids with out going to the store for a month. It is a good challenge that I really want to try. Have to stock up on diapers, wipes and other things essential. You are so fun to follow and with your ideas you are so cute. Thanks for the tips and the recipes. By the way, we use a lot of them. I guess that is why we need our food storages up to snuff. Keep on truckin.
Courtney
Polly says
Loving the comments. I am at the end of a $100 grocery month January. I did this last year as well and had a blast. Helps pay the holiday bills as well. Not too shabby for a family of 5, hubby and I and three teenagers. Some of my favorites: homemade granola bars, cheap ham after Christmas and various recipes using the base recipe from “Artesian bread in 5 minutes a day”.
I know my kids are off to a good start when they balk at white bread, actually ask for kale for a special birthday dinner and all have assigned nights to help cook. Gotta love teaching them life skills, while having a kitchen buddy.
Rocquelle Gunter says
I think it’s a good idea if, for no other reason than to refresh the pantry periodically. I shudder to think how long some of the stuff has been in the back of mine!
Jennifer Smith says
My seven-year-old son would love to use a bucket but would not like the stink. We already shop just one time a month every month. I would totally cave at pizza or burgers, too. We only have one income so I plan making laundry detergent and dishwashing tabs. Also since I have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I have not bought sugar in two years(October 31, 2011). Carrie, is there any way you could do some sugar free recipes?BTW I love your blog!!
Karrie says
Thanks Jennifer! I am sorry you have been diagnosed with diabetes, it runs in my family. I don’t think I have ever made a total sugar free dessert before because it always bothers me that they will have you use stuff like splenda or aspertame. Have you used agave? Will that still mess with your blood sugar levels?
Stephanie says
Haha! Too cute! I couldn’t say no to that face either! It was a good try for sure. Definitely plan it out next time with menus for the month. Also, maybe add in your own homemade pizza night, maybe hubby would agree easier then. Looking forward to hearing about your experience next time!
Karrie says
I ususally do make my own homemade pizza, but didn’t have the cheese or toppings so I couldn’t make it that night. But yeah, I will have to be a little more prepared next time I think. 🙂
Amy says
I love it! I think I COULD go 30 days with no store if absolutely necessary, but never WOULD I do so voluntarily. We eat a real food, grain-free diet. So all that non-perishable stuff in the cabinet is off-limits! Actually I’ve been slowly giving it away a little at a time. You come over to my house, your probably leaving with a box of pasta! You have more guts than I do Karrie, and a much more understanding family!
Karrie says
I would love to try and do a 100% real foods thing for my family this year – it would probably do my kids wonders. Okay and me too.
Marilyn says
Count me in, I would love to try it, don’t know if I can drag hubs along, but will try.
I find myself thinking that our storage, that is not very well organized, would feed us for 6 mos at least. A 30 trial would teach me just how off-target I really am.
The whole bucket idea would be difficult for me, but I feel confident about going without power, etc.
Karrie says
Sweet! I think it is cool to know if you could handle it, that is the major reason why I wanted to try too.
Angela says
You’re awesome for trying! These darn Truman brother’s, mine would have done just the same. They wouldn’t last 5 days in a disaster… without us anyway. 🙂
Let’s keep trying!
liz says
but that husband of yours is sooo cute what can you do
Karrie says
I know right? Hee hee.
jenny says
When I was pregnant, our upstairs bathroom was being redone. Our bedroom is also upstairs and the prospect of going all the way downstairs, in the dark, in the cold, to the far far away other bathroom 3-4 times a night was too daunting. So… I kept a bucket in the bedroom and used it regularly and emptied it in the morning. I have no shame! I didn’t even put the bucket in the hall – nope, right in the bedroom. Hey, I was pregnant and was going to travel as little as possible to pee. Good luck with your own bucket project when you do it!
Mary says
I have a funny story about the potty bucket. One year I planned ahead for when we watched fireworks. I knew that where we were going there was not going to be a bathroom available, and with a special needs child I needed to be prepared for that need. I took a 5 gal bucket, lined it with 2 13-gal trash bags, and had a toilet seat and toilet paper available. When one of my kids needed to use the bathroom we went back to our van, which we had parked next to a tall hedge and set up our “bathroom”, The front door of the van, the van, the hedge, and a blanket held up were the walls of our bathroom. When one person was done, paper towels were put into our “toilet”, and the next person used it. When we went home the bags were sealed (before we got into our van) and went into the garbage.
I never heard a word of complaint, but I’ve noticed that who ever is in charge of deciding where to watch fireworks always chooses a place that has only a short hike to a public bathroom.
Karrie says
Oh my goodness…soo funny!
Magenta says
I survived the ice storm in 98. 27 days with no power in January. Wood stove and propane cooking and heating. Then the black out of 2003 which saw a week in the middle of August without power. I’ll do your challenge. But no buckets. I’ve had enough of that-lol there is an outhouse on the back property if I was so inclined
Karrie says
LOL
Cheryl Moyer says
Karrie, I live in the Spokane Valley, I feel like we are almost neighbors> Love your posts and all the hard work you do for us. I have cashed in a few of those great amazon deals myself 🙂
Although my youngest and I are gluten intolerant we do enjoy reading all about your baking and cooking skills. Just wanted to say HI from over here.
Karrie says
Hello back Cheryl!
Jamie says
I’ll join too. I did something similar in June, but only went to the store for necessities like milk and tp. Other than that, we did no shopping at all. We survived the month, but I usually have a good stockpile, so it wasn’t that hard ~ unless you ask my kids, they were tortured, lol.
Heather says
I’ve really enjoyed the honesty of this series. Thanks for offering that to us! I sense that you’ll have great success the next time you attempt the 30-day challenge. Perhaps you can launch the challenge with a family meeting, where you present your available ingredients and create a joint menu for the month… do you think there might be more buy in from the hubs? 🙂 Pooping in a bucket might not ever pass in my household either.
I look forward to your next challenge!
Karrie says
Yes, good idea Heather. family meeting a must next time.
sandra driesen says
I think I’d start small next time like a week! I would totally cave on the pizza too. It was a good try anyway!
Krista says
I want to join you next time! I usually have enough food in my fridge to eat all our regular fresh things for at least a week or two anyway. My pantry is stocked well enough that I think we could eat for at least a month. It has to be in the summer, though, so there are a few fruits and veggies in the garden. =o)
Melissa says
I loved following your 30 day challenge. It makes me want to try it sometime. It would be a great challenge in my house with 5 picky eaters and me. I can’t wait to read next time.!!!
Stephanie says
Bwahahahaha! I was expecting a story that went somewhere along the lines of Day 3 my husband called to say his boss was coming to dinner so we had to grab some expensive wine and grapes for appetizers (shah, that doesn’t really count) and then day 4, the kids woke up with a cold and finally on day 5 when I realized we were out of sugar I caved. I love that it was 2 minutes of looking at pizza and you’re done 🙂
cherie says
I could never have even considered such a challenge with such a lean pantry – but look at how well you did!
Also – I’m never going to be there with you and the bucket – ever
Karrie says
LOL!!!
Charlsey G says
Bless your heart! At least you tried 🙂
Also, the funny thing is that the pizza box says “The Pizza that Started All”, when in actually it should be called “The Pizza that ENDED it All”! Hahahahahhhaha!
Thank you for your story. I am going to attempt to try this challenge myself in the new year 🙂
Karrie says
I know right? The pizza that ended it all! LOL