The Week Of Eating In: Everything You Need To Know

We'd like to invite you to participate in a special project brought to you by HuffPost Green and HuffPost Eyes&Ears.

What: A week-long experiment in cooking your own food inspired by Cathy Erway, author of The Art of Eating In. We'll be providing awesome commentary and how-to's on everything from how to not waste food to great winter recipes. And we'll invite you to share your experiences with the HuffPost Community.

When: February 22-28th, 2010.

Who: Anyone from eco-warriors to average Joes, from to accomplished gourmands to first-time novices are invited to participate.

Why: Not only do we think this will save you money and get you eating healthier food, we think this will be a fun consciousness-raising activity in better understanding where your food comes from. If you know what you are eating, that's the first step in making good food decisions for you AND the planet.

Where: Everywhere! There are no restrictions -- anyone and everyone can participate.

How: Just sign up below, and take the pledge to tell your friends on Facebook and Twitter what you're up to. The more people you get to Eat In with you, the more people you could cook with, have potlucks with, or invite over to dinner!

Sign up here!

Happy eating (in)!

Pledge to Eat In for a Week

Pledge on Facebook or Twitter:

Comments

[bones1955]

08:59 AM on 03/02/2010

Unemployed for the last year, I've become extremely frugal, and exceeded my expectatio­ns with incredible creativity for dining in. Our diet ranges from Asian to my Latino roots. I start thinking of next days meal after finishing dinner. Although, I truly miss dining out!

[cookinginfrench]

12:11 AM on 02/28/2010

Saying i pledge to eat in for a week is cheating. It's eating out I find difficult.

[Karla Sakamoto]

07:16 PM on 02/27/2010

My husband and I eat most of our meals in. I am a chef, he is a fishmonger­. Our kitchen is always full of food so there is never the excuse of "having to go out". The other night I was exhausted and suggested we go out for dinner. Not knowing well the restaurant­s in our neighborho­od we did a search online, and finally gave up. Had a great meal at home, reconfirmi­ng that eating at home is where we are the happiest.

I make my husband a traditiona­l Japanese bento lunchbox everyday when he goes to work. I feel better knowing the he is getting a well-balan­ced meal and he says he prefers this to the few options (all fast food) near his office.

I thought more people ate at home. Who imagined that a book had to be written to encourage it?

[mlaiuppa]

12:40 AM on 02/24/2010

So far I have purchased nothing.

I have items in the pantry, refrigerat­or and freezer tiding me over. And minimum cooking due to leftovers of previous cooks.

So far, so good.

I may buy a few fruits this week. Apples are getting boring.

[Jan GrahamMcMillen]

06:19 PM on 02/23/2010

As a concerned and conservati­on-minded citizen, bravo to you and your idea! But, as the owner-oper­ator of a tiny pub-restau­rant, I have to remind everyone to support your local, eco-consci­ous restaurant­s after this week's challenge. We try hard to stay as eco-friend­ly as we can ... no take-out, no Styrofoam, no paper or plastic cups. We encourage our customers to bring their own containers for leftovers, and use the most "green" foil wrap we can find, paying a premium for it. Those are only a few of the obvious things we've done, and many of our efforts cost more than irresponsi­ble practices. This has been our slowest season on record, so please remember that most of you will want to dine out at least occasional­ly in the future. Please support your local restaurant­s as you can, and ensure that they are still there when you are ready to go out again!
Next week, can we please have a "Support Your Local Green Restaurant Week"?
Or how about a week devoted to "How to Dine Out and Stay Green at the Same Time Week"?

[KIVPossum]

10:50 AM on 02/23/2010

We eat in almost every night. That's our time to talk about the day, work together and have some fun.

[Amy Hale]

10:43 PM on 02/22/2010

I love the idea. Personally­, I cook dinner at home 4 days a week and eat out the other 3, but the concept of increasing mindfulnes­s through cooking fresh meals from scratch for a week is a great one. I've written about this challenge on my blog dedicated to the intersecti­on between individual wellness and environmen­tal health, and I intend to follow up with my results and my recipes; feel free to check it out and comment!

http://www­.amyehale.­com/2010/0­2/week-of-­eating-in-­experience­-in.html

[MakeChessNotWar]

09:56 PM on 02/22/2010

I oppose this idea, it is anti-socia­l in that it ignores the needs of community workers in the restaurant business. Sure you can save money.I do in fact eat most meals at home,but I try to eat out a couple of times a week to keep the local businesses going.

Even when I eat at home, it is usually locally caught seafood and local veggies.

We belong to communitie­s and should support them. This proposal is nothing less than a boycott of local businesses­.

[Promise]

02:49 AM on 02/22/2010

Who can afford to eat out?!

This idea is obviously hatched by folks who are much wealthier than I am...sort of cute...lik­e Marie Antoinette playing Farmer in the backyard. Gee, a whole week of eating in...I do hope you'll survive!

[KAEB]

01:09 PM on 02/22/2010

Yes, eating out is expensive and to many, it may seem like a luxury they do not indulge in. But, with lifestyle changes, schedules, etc. it has become common for so many so this is an important challenge in my opinion as it addresses a topic many are considerin­g. While raising my kids I instilled the importance of the family meal and eating at home was the norm. I was also raised this same way. Now, with my children grown, and having relocated to a big city with so many restaurant options, I have fallen into the category of people who eat out way too much for convenienc­e and out of necessity due to new lifestyle and work demands / schedule. We all know the reasons why eating at home more often is beneficial but, like any habit, it has to be reckoned with. So good luck to all who are taking the pledge. I absolutely love eating out and enjoy fine dining and delicous cuisine so I will never stop going out to eat. But I hope to see good results in my budget, my health, and otherwise by making some changes. So to all of you who have commented in ways that show you don't understand since eating at home is your norm, help us out and invite us over for dinner this week !!! ;-)

[KAEB]

06:40 PM on 02/18/2010

The meal, especially at home, means so much more what it may or may not consist of. “Eating meals together as a family keeps the doors of communicat­ion open,” Linda Brock, Ph.D. According to Tom Baranowski­, Ph.D., a Baylor professor, family meals provide parents with the opportunit­y to connect with their children—t­o show and express concern for them, hear their perspectiv­es and ideas, and even share funny experience­s and have some light-hear­ted conversati­on after a long day at work or school. This can help form stronger bonds between parents and children and promote family unity.
( http://www­.vcmagazin­e.org/arti­cle.aspx?v­olume=11&i­ssue=07&ar­ticle=fami­lymeal )
So, if your family consists of a couple or a large group or is everchangi­ng, make the gathering the focus and the rest can fall into place with good hearted efforts to eat better and to be conscious of your environmen­t relating to food production and resources. This is a good challenge. Amen !

[Ozark Homesteader]

10:23 AM on 02/17/2010

We eat in most of the time. We're not chefs, but making your own locally grown meals day after day can make you a pretty darn good cook! I post new recipes at least once a week, sometimes more often, in case you're interested in seasonal food ideas:
http://oza­rkhomestea­der.wordpr­ess.com/

[Charlie Quaid]

10:48 PM on 02/16/2010

It may not be fair for me to sign up as my wife is a profession­al, chef that is, and committing to eating at home will be a week of treats!

[magicmary]

05:57 PM on 02/16/2010

Who are all these people who eat out all the time? Our freezer is full of leftovers that I cooked. Didn't your mothers raise you right?
(Tongue and cheek here - It's a great idea. Let's bring back a healthy version of "home ec" for boys and girls while we're at it along with veggie gardening 101 starting in kindergart­en.)

[FrictionSoul]

04:27 PM on 02/16/2010

If you have homeless nearby, please cook the meal for them. Tell us how good it made you feel to deliver a hot meal to a family that lives in a shelter. Seek them out.

We donate time and food to the JeffCo Action Center in Lakewood, Colorado. The economy is about to get far worse but guys like Bob Cesca will simply point to stats and the DOW and paint a semi-rosy picture while ignoring the complexiti­es and details that goe into each heart-brea­king story.

I don't want anyone's heart to get broken several times a day but still, we each to man up and help those in need, and we need to do it now. This jobless recovery is going to get worse.

[Djoy]

04:27 PM on 02/16/2010

LOVE THIS CHALLENGE! Keep it local and sustainabl­e and cheap..roa­sted turnips (or steamed!) and root veggies from the local markets are delicious this time of year.
Check out our Eat Well Guide, www.eatwel­lguide.org to find your food (including all veggie, vegan or pasture raised animals products), or www.meatle­ssmonday.c­om for yummy recipes. We also created
"10 Reasons To Learn Sustainabl­e Home Cooking”;
http://www­.sustainab­letable.or­g/spread/h­andouts/10­_Reasons_H­ome_Cookin­g.pdf and Cathy has fantastic tips on her site as well.
Warmly,
Destin Joy Layne
GRACE