I can’t believe I haven’t shared one of my most favorite websites with you yet! I know I’ve mentioned meeting the fabulous Amanda at the Type A conference, but I neglected to share the awesome company she represents. It’s called Food on the Table, and when you check it out you’ll have one of those head-slapping moments where you wonder why you never thought of it yourself (or you did think of it but failed to act on it, which is always so much worse, isn’t it?!).

The site is pretty brilliant. You choose your favorite local grocery store, then Food on the Table will show you recipes based on what’s on sale at your store. You choose what looks most delicious to you, print out your grocery list and off you go. How cool is that?!!

Of course, there are more bells and whistles to it but that’s the basic idea. And I love that I can add my own recipes, too; I have such a backlog of ideas for things I want to make so it’s a nice feature for me.

Amanda asked me if I wanted to participate in the Food on the Table Challenge, to see if I could feed my family for a week on just $100 by using their site. Let me just say, this is not an easy task. I like to eat, people, and I like to eat good food. That means I don’t skimp on what I buy at the grocery store – it’s the one area of our lives that we don’t cut back on. That doesn’t mean we don’t eat healthy foods, we just choose the best, and sometimes that means the most expensive. My point is, this was a real challenge for me!

But I did it, and it was actually crazy easy. I chose a local Safeway store and let Food on the Table do the rest. I ended up with lots of yummy recipes to choose from and it was all super cheap! I actually ended up with about $15 to spare – so of course I had to make a dessert ;-) All the recipes they churned out based on my preferences were tough to choose from, but in the end I just couldn’t resist trying this one that has been on my must-try list for eons! The hard part is that I ended up adding Food on the Table recipes to that already long list, so I didn’t really shorten it any. Not that I’m complaining about having too many dishes to try, mind you ;-)

This delicious, easy and healthy White Bean and Steak Salad was absolutely scrumptious and I love how easily it could be changed (I’m thinking a spicy rub on the steak, black beans in place of white and some extra veggies). But I’d also make it again just as it is, especially since the leftovers are even better!

Hope you’re enjoying your New Year! Cheers!