Operation Cupboard Raid: Final Review

I know this is way late but here is my final update for Operation Cupboard Raid. If you're not sure what it's all about, you can check out this post. In a nutshell, I committed to eating only the food that I had at home - without grocery shopping - for three weeks (from the time Stud left to begin his pre-deployment training until the time I got to go out and visit him in CA).

I would like to have the final food log chart for you as I did for the first two weeks but, honestly, the last week got a little muddled. I was so excited to go visit my Marine that I didn't do the greatest job with my project. First of all, I ate out twice, which is one time more than what I allowed myself during the rest of the project and secondly, I wasn't very faithful about keeping my food log. I tried to come back to it today to fill in the holes but it's been over a week and that's just not happening. Other than eating out twice, though, I successfully completed the mission and am very happy with the results.

Take a look at all the ways in which this operation benefited me.
1. I saved sooooo much money. Seriously. I probably saved at least $200 in three weeks alone!
2. I was much more conscious of what I ate, helping me make healthier food choices and eat only when I'm hungry.
3. I was able to cut back on the food I have on hand and not be so wasteful.
4. The operation got my creative juices flowing and I had fun experimenting with different recipes using my limited resources.
5. Working on this goal helped the time go by faster to see my hubby.

I actually still have quite a bit of food to go through so I'm going to try to continue to limit myself so I can keep saving money and get rid of some of the food that I've had forever. This week hasn't been the greatest but I attribute that to coming home at midnight on Tuesday to no food. Well, no food prepared. These past few days I have been getting food out for a lot of my meals but I'm going to go grocery shopping this weekend for a few things to get back into some good habits on Monday.

I bet you want to see what my fridge and cupboards look like compared to how they were when I started, don'tcha?  Here are the before and after pics.

Cupboards

See that MRE? It's that brown bag resting on top. It's a Meal Ready to Eat and it's what Stud had to eat throughout boot camp and for various training exercises. He really wanted me to eat one (we have several at home) at some point during this operation but I, uh, never got around to it. They have a heating mechanism that is activated with water but he's had to eat most of them cold. I guess some of the newer ones aren't so bad but they still don't appeal to me. The guys have been known to open them up just for the desserts (M&Ms or brownies or other goodies) and throw the rest. Some day I will give it a shot...some desperate day.

It may not look like there is a big difference, but part of that is due to restructuring. And obviously I didn't empty out a lot of the spices or cooking oils/sauces.

Freezer

 Fridge Door

And finally, the biggest transformation: The Fridge!

Look at that! Part of that stuff just went bad (or was bad at the beginning of the project) but most of it was consumed! There's one lonely egg left in that carton and I'm not quite sure if that zucchini is still good but it stilled looked fine at the time and the little yellow dish is a butter dish (I certainly didn't feel compelled to finish that off in any record time). 

You may not see a huge contrast but, trust me, I definitely was struggling at the end to come up with actual meals. Here's one meal, though, from the last week that was not a struggle:

Almond and Corn Flake crusted Salmon (recipe from the Corn Flakes box), Edamame and a Pina Colada. Yum!

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone should have drink umbrellas on hand.

So with my bags packed and my fridge cleaned out, I went to bed on Thursday night quite satisfied with Operation Cupboard Raid, but even more excited to go be with my love for five days! And, having given quite a bit of thought as to how I would celebrate, I came to the conclusion that I didn't want to return to my old, bad habits of eating out all the time and the day to day mindless consumption that I had gotten used to. To intentionally celebrate by eating out seemed to fly in the face of everything I had accomplished and learned throughout this process. Well, the "best laid plans of mice and men often go awry," right? Let me explain how my ambition and resolve were (happily) thwarted. 

I still cling to the two-hour-early-for-a-flight rule even though with today's advances it really only takes like ten minutes from arriving at the airport to getting to your gate, so my dad was going to pick me up at 6:30 to get to the airport by 7:00 for my 9:00 am flight. Not wanting to leave anything to chance I set two alarms, one for 5:30 and one for 6:00 and, sure enough, the 5:30 alarm was incorporated right into my dream and it didn't wake me up (that's what you get for setting a different sound for your alarm that what you're used to). Luckily I did wake up to my 6:00 alarm and had almost everything ready aside from taking a shower and getting dressed. Everything went just fine that morning except for the fact that I didn't have time for breakfast, and, let's face it, I didn't really have anything desirable for breakfast either. 

As I said, about ten minutes after saying goodbye to my dad, I was just walking up to my gate and what did my eyes behold? *Cue angelic music*

Oh, Starbucks, how I had missed you. It was divine intervention. My gate was literally just to the right of this picture. So there my high ideals were quickly discarded and I approached the counter with almost physical relief. Ok, ok, so it sounds dramatic but I really do love Starbucks and it had been a long three week absence. Stud and I "transitioned" from Caribou to Starbucks after our honeymoon in New York City where the Starbucks cafes are everywhere. Plus, they have the most amazing chai tea. 

Hallelujah!

So with that first lovely sip, the file for Operation Cupboard Raid was closed with a big "Mission Accomplished" stamp across the front.

Give this a try for a week...you'll be surprised at what you can pull together with some creativity and maybe a little help here and there from Google ("baking without butter," "coconut & cherries & chicken," "corn & black beans & salsa"). And don't forget to read the labels on boxes and cans for new and interesting recipes.

Thanks for reading and a special thanks to those of you who put up with my "meals" and snacks over these three weeks if you were ever over at my house. 

I'm already a couple of days into my next mission so watch for a new post coming soon!