I Think I Can, I Think I Can...

So said the little engine that could as I recall. Well he had a bit of a problem; if he stopped half way up the hill then the rest of the train would roll back down the hill filled with screaming passengers waiting for a fiery...er...uh, that got out of hand rather quickly yes?

OK, so where I was going is that I signed up for NaBloWriMo or National Blog Writing Month (http://www.nablowrimo.org/) where I have committed to a blog post every day for the month of November. I figure hey, this is the month we're getting back into feeding ourselves healthily, tastily and plentifully for $200 and what better way to stay on track than to hold myself to something more - sharing the trials and tribulations with y'all. Will I keep up? Can I keep up? Let's check back December 1st and see if the November count is 30+...

Now, as some of you may recall the guidelines I set for us back in January were as follows:

• $200 on groceries for the month
• $50 on alcohol for the month
• No dining out for the month

As this in the beginning of the holiday season where there are a couple feasts, a couple family visits, copious parties with friends and coworkers (and that's just the planned stuff), I'll expand the guidelines a bit.

• Dining out is OK but should be kept to a minimum and the expenditures will be tracked and reported
• Alcohol will be consumed both at home and out but will also be tracked and reported (still looking for that mid-week, under $10 red)
• Grocery goal is still $200
• Meat will be natural and / or locally grown; preferably both but still no feedlot or corn fed beef

We were out and about today and did go out for sushi as Henry and I were with friend Scott and a long way from home. Henry had said that he wanted to try sushi so I am chalking this up to adventure. Henry was pretty good; he tried seared ahi with a soy ginger sauce, spider roll (well the deep fried soft shell crab anyway) and calamari with a soy dipping sauce - I was quite pleased and he said we can get the ahi again but he wants to try it at home with some other spices than what we had today. I call this a rousing success!

Lunch was pretty late so dinner for me is a couple glasses of sangiovese and Henry had a roast chicken panini with provolone and we're watching last week's Top Chef: Las Vegas while winding down the week. Looks like day one of NaBloWriMo is in the history books!

Hasta