Need to stop eating out... meal ideas?

I also dislike frozen or canned veggies. It seems that all of the flavor is lost. My go to hurry veggies are fresh broccoli and asparagus. Both take little prep and have a short cook time. I steam the broccoli and roast the asparagus with a little olive oil. Both can be ready in the time it takes to bake a salmon filet.

I also stir fry if I want some more flavor to add to pasta. I lay off shrimp and scallops because I am always making fish. If I make pasta, which is rare now, I will add shrimp.

Lately I have been trying to deglaze the pan with pork and chicken. Butter and gravy are off the menu here so I am trying to be more creative with flavor without using spices.

Broiling fish is a staple here too. Cheap delicious protein, lol. OP, highly recommend learning to do this. Very quick meal if you love fish, which I do.

Red meat is something we try to avoid due to diet restrictions. We do not eat casseroles, chilis and soups either. Cannot eat extra salt & sugar, boo.
 
I do all my prep on Sundays so through the week, each day is easy. Yesterday for dinner I did chicken and dumplings in the crockpot.

I took out meat for tonight's dinner - cranberry/stuffing brat patties, with mashed potatoes/gravy, and roasted Brussel sprouts.

While that is cooking tonight, I will roll the meatballs for tomorrow's dinner (Swedish meatballs). If I had not been so lazy, I would have done that yesterday. We will have the meatballs with egg noodles and peas.

Wednesday I will make spaghetti in the crockpot. I make huge batches of homemade meatballs and freeze them. So, when I make my sauce in the crockpot, I will add in the appropriate amount of frozen meatballs, too.

Thursday will be a pork roast in the crockpot, with random veggies - I have quite an assortment to use. Probably some mac n cheese, too, as that sounds good.

Friday will be leftover night - fend for yourself.
 
I do all my prep on Sundays so through the week, each day is easy. Yesterday for dinner I did chicken and dumplings in the crockpot.

I took out meat for tonight's dinner - cranberry/stuffing brat patties, with mashed potatoes/gravy, and roasted Brussel sprouts.

While that is cooking tonight, I will roll the meatballs for tomorrow's dinner (Swedish meatballs). If I had not been so lazy, I would have done that yesterday. We will have the meatballs with egg noodles and peas.

Wednesday I will make spaghetti in the crockpot. I make huge batches of homemade meatballs and freeze them. So, when I make my sauce in the crockpot, I will add in the appropriate amount of frozen meatballs, too.

Thursday will be a pork roast in the crockpot, with random veggies - I have quite an assortment to use. Probably some mac n cheese, too, as that sounds good.

Friday will be leftover night - fend for yourself.

Sounds yummy! I can't eat like that anymore...I miss gravy, lol.
 
I've become a fan of the one-skillet or sheet pan meals. I cook Sun-Thursday and eat out on the weekend. I also do my food shopping once a week (Sunday) and get everything I need. I work full-time plus have a commute so I don't have much time to shop during the week. I also try to exercise during the week so a quick meal prep is important. What doesn't help things is ME. I'm kind of persnickety about my food tasting good. While easy, I'm not a fan of just a plain chicken breast and two sides.

Living alone now, I don't tend to cook for dinner. Plus it is SO HARD buying in quantities for one. Then there is the freezer... the place of no return. :rotfl: I usually get a good lunch during the day (Cava or salad), then do something quick and easy in the evening.

A couple hints I've found: Cook ground meats when you buy them. Freeze them flat in a freezer bag, then break up after frozen. Then you have cooked ground meat to put in something. Same with something like chicken tenders, or cooked, sliced chicken. I also try to keep steamed broccoli in a container in the fridge. I make something like what Amberpi was talking about, with frozen, cooked shrimp. But throw some spinach or cooked broccoli in it.

As for one pot or sheet pan meals, I don't do that many, but one of my go-to websites has a TON of them. DamnDelicious. (Can I get that past the filters?) Anyway, she's got some amazing recipes, and has a bunch of the sheet pan and one pot meals. (She also loves cream and butter in some of them, but her lemon butter chicken has been passed around to pretty much everyone I know.) I've also started following the Kitchn on facebook. Amazing recipes. Got my go to yellow cake recipe there (for when dd comes home from school).
 


We are eating out way too much. We are spending too much money on food, and we all need to cut down. Can someone share their go to meals? I hate cooking lately. Anything easy to recommend that I can just rotate in every week?

I'd like to stop ordering out Sun - Thurs at least.

Thanks!

That is the biggest hole in our budget, without a doubt. If someone wrote me a check for all the times we spent eating out this year...well, it would be a large check.

What works best for us is organization. First, make a menu for the week--something we all agree to ahead of time we'd like to have for dinner. Then make a grocery list and get those items. Finally, having the discipline to actually come home and make the meal!

That last one's really the hardest part for us. We start out well for Monday and Tuesday, then Wednesday is a challenge. Thursday and Friday, even more so. We have to pass about 50 restaurants on the way home, and the temptation is great to just pull in and let someone serve us. By the time we get to the end of the week, we're tired and it's tough to say no.

So we try to do meals that are very easy and quick to put together. In warm weather it's usually grilling-type meals: a grilled protein of some sort, a salad and some type of starch like corn on the cob, rice, etc. In cold weather it's usually a crockpot meal, a stir-fry or a pasta with salad. Crockpot meals are especially good because if we started cooking it before we went to work we know it's there waiting for us when we get home.

Some of our go-tos:

--Crockpot Roast with roasted veggies
--Grilled Salmon (marinated in Trader Joe's Asian Vinaigrette) with stir-fried veggies (I just use a homemade stir-fry sauce of chili garlic paste, soy sauce, rice wine and brown sugar) and rice
--Fish Tacos (pan-fried white fish of some sort seasoned with chili powder/paprika/cumin/salt/pepper, served on corn tortillas with shredded red cabbage, guacamole and lime wedges)
--BLTs (when tomatoes are in season--I hate the mealy off-season tomatoes) with tomato soup
--Smoked sausage with sauerkraut and Potatoes O'Brien (fried potatoes with onions & peppers)

I also look at Skinnytaste and some YouTube channels (Food Wishes, Tasty, Flo Lum for good Instant Pot recipes) for inspiration.
 
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I haven't read through to see if someone mentioned it, but there's a post on the Budget Board (Eat at Home) that you should read. It has a lot of good ideas.

I like to make chicken breasts in the crockpot and shred the meat then either use it the next couple of days (in tacos or pasta or stir fry, etc) or freeze it.
 


I am not a fan of meat cooked in the crock pot or pressure cooker. I find I need to do a lot of prep work (browning, etc) if I want a flavorful meal, and more often than not, the meat ends up being dry and stringy. UGH.

I LOVE to cook but work full time and by the time I get home I am tired, so I am all about the easy meal during the week. It's not just about prep time and cooking, either- there's that whole "the kitchen is a mess and nobody has the energy to clean it" thing, LOL! It's just DH and me at home now, so it's pretty easy to come up with meals. I try to cook something "big" on the weekend, or even 2 "bigs" so we can eat leftovers during the week. This might be soup, meatloaf, roasted chicken, roast pork (with sauerkraut, apples, onions, prunes, caraway seeds... yum!), lasagne... you get the idea. This will give us another two dinners during the week, or one dinner and lunches.

I also keep my freezer stocked with individually-frozen meats (Buy chicken pieces, chops, steak tips or blades, hamburg made into burgers, etc. Put them on wax paper-covered cookie sheets and freeze, then pile into ziplock bags and back into the freezer). I'll pull out a couple of pieces of meat in the morning and put them in a ziplock with some kind of marinade, cooking sauce, salad dressing, whatever. They'll be thawed enough to cook for dinner. We often have salad with dinner, or I'll throw in a pan of veggies to roast. I cut up a pile of veggies on Sunday and store them, separated by veg type, in bags in the fridge. When I put the meat in the oven, I grab a few handsful of different veggies, toss them with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, S&P, and onion powder, spread them out on a foil-covered cookie sheet, and roast at 350-400 for about a half-hour- while the meat is also cooking. We detest frozen veggies, so except for a bag of mixed veg (for fast soup), we never have them. I always go for roasted veg or canned veg.

Sometimes I'll thaw meat and cook it on the stove. Sautee/braise, whatever you want to call it. Olive oil in a frying pan, thinly slice some onion, sauté. Add meat, brown, and then throw on a sauce- bottled marinades, teriyaki sauce, BBQ sauce, boxed/canned broth, orange juice, canned diced tomatoes, whatever. Add some dried spices that "go" with the sauce, put the cover on the pan, and let it cook for about 20 mins, depending on the type of meat. Pot of rice, can of veggies or a salad, and dinner is ready.

I have found that if I think a little bit and have stuff "ready to go" in advance, we stay out of the pubs and restaurants that are a 5 minute walk from our front door. However, if I plan something that takes too much work, or makes too much of a mess in the kitchen, we end up eating out... burger night, pizza night, wing night... all seem like they will be cheap, but by the time we order for 2 and there's a beer or three along with, well, it's not so cheap (or healthy, but that's another discussion for another day!).

I don't love many meats cooked in the crock pot...especially since I am gone from the house 12 hours a day. I find the meat is just not that appealing to me or my family either.

We are able to do soups and chili in the crock pot, but with two 5 year olds and just trying to get 5 people to agree in general...I find those hard to do in a healthy way, at least (mushrooms, broccoli, chunks of tomato, and spinach are highly debated vegetables in our house LOL)

I am going to keep checking for ideas.

Some staples in my house:
Salsa chicken in the crock pot to make tacos/taco salads (I make pioneer woman recipe salsa and throw it in the crockpot with chicken breast)
I have a coca cola carnita recipe for the crock pot (but it does require some oven time afterward to be good)

Spaghetti and meatballs (I use chicken/turkey meatballs premade and I will substitute zucchini for spaghetti for my portion, if I am trying to be healthy)

Pita pizza and frozen veggie (those steamable kind) or salad-whole wheat pitas with sauce and cheese (can add precooked bacon, pepperoni, etc)-of course you could do this with other breads, or storeboug

Bacon Pasta-3 servings
8 oz Farfalle pasta (can use whole wheat or Barilla Plus or something else to get it a little healthier)
4 slices bacon
about, 1/2 onion diced
14 oz can diced tomato (I prefer fire roasted with garlic)
14 oz chicken stock
1/8 tsp pepper

Cut bacon into little pieces, fry it in a large skillet. Remove bacon pieces (I also remove some of the bacon fat at this point but leave a tiny bit). Cook onion in bacon fat for a couple of minutes. Add stock, tomato, bacon, pasta back to pot. Bring to boil. Reduce to simmer (usually about medium) and let simmer about 14-15 minutes stirring every so often until most liquid is gone and pasta is al dente.
 
Funny story to go along with this thread since so many people said they want to less take out. We are planing a big birthday party for my mother in November. Someone mentioned we should get some take out containers so people can take home leftovers.

One of my sisters said "We should just save all of the ones we get over the next couple of weeks" I didn't have the heart to tell her I don't do take out any more.
 
I am right there with you OP! I looked at our statement for about 14 days and was floored at how much we had spent on fast food. So decided it was time to cut the fast food line.

I like to do more cook once, eat twice kinda things.

Pork roast on the weekend and the use leftovers during the week for tacos and again for pulled pork BBQ. Sometimes I cook the roast in the slow cooker and sometimes in the pressure cooker. But I season it with a McCormick blend for pork, add apple juice, a small amount of apple cider vinegar and some whiskey. It's good just like that and still good with the taco seasoning or BBQ sauce added.

Beef roast on the weekend. Leftovers during the week used for hot roast beef sandwiches.

Right now in my crock pot is red beans. First night will be red beans and rice with sausage. Leftovers will be used to make Red Bean Stew. Which is red beans, canned tomatoes, corn, black beans and ground beef. I season with red beans originally with chili powder, and a blend of onions and bell pepper so it seasons the stew well.

I have started keeping meatballs in the freezer. Use them for spaghetti and meatballs, a version of Swedish meatballs and meatball subs. All of which I can throw together quickly.

Sometimes I want something I can throw in the oven and do other stuff while it cooks. Our favorite is baked chicken thighs (bone in no skin) seasoned with seasoning salt, baked sweet potatoes and Lima beans (cook these on the stove). Everything cooks well at the same time and I don't have to stand over it. I cook extra thighs for a really good chicken salad for lunches.

Same principle works for baked fish. But I do the fish filets with lemon and roasted potatoes (cut small) and onions and coke slaw.

Beef stew does well in the crock pot. I usually prep the night before as I like to brown the meat. Dh loves coming home from the road during the winter to smell the stew cooking and bread baking in the bread maker.

The main thing for me is to have a workable menu. To realize that I am not likely to come home from work and cook some complicated new recipe. It's gotta be quick, good and easy. And it has to be easy to switch up so if something comes up tonight I can just fix a sandwich or omelette tonight and change whatever was on the menu tonight to a different night. Also I learned to keep "emergency" meals on hand: canned soup, frozen dinners or pizza, etc. That way if I don't get home till late, I know there is something there and it keeps me from running to the closest take out.
 
Paninis or grilled cheese are common in our house when we're trying to do a quick meal. Now that it's cold, the easy soup mixes you can get at country stores, and even in some grocery store aisles are also good. I'm actually about to start water boiling for a potato soup. Dinner should be on the table in 20 minutes or so. Tacos are super quick. We also keep flatbread pizza crusts in the pantry, along with sauce and pizza toppings in the fridge. Quick meal. Breakfast for dinner (egg sandwiches, scrambles with chicken sausage, or pancakes) is quick and inexpensive. Peruse pinterest for one pan meals.
 
Sandwiches - don't laugh - I make excellent deli type sandwiches. And a panini maker can be life altering.
Crock Pot things - you can also make soups to go with the sandwiches.
Diner type of food - things that are tasty and can be knocked out in a few minutes
 
OP here checking in. I made the tortellini soup posted on the first page and it was great!! Thanks so much! I have leftovers that I packed in school lunches, which was perfect. Tonight I"m making a Chicken Bake w/Alfredo sauce and Broccoli and baked potatoes.

Not sure about tomorrow. I"m going to go over this thread for more ideas. The TASTY videos on youtube are great, too, for ideas. Just turned to them -- don't know why I didn't do that before!
 
OP here checking in. I made the tortellini soup posted on the first page and it was great!! Thanks so much! I have leftovers that I packed in school lunches, which was perfect. Tonight I"m making a Chicken Bake w/Alfredo sauce and Broccoli and baked potatoes.

Not sure about tomorrow. I"m going to go over this thread for more ideas. The TASTY videos on youtube are great, too, for ideas. Just turned to them -- don't know why I didn't do that before!

I've made a few of the Tasty recipes. They have a Cajun chicken alfredo one that is pretty good. One thing...if you are the least bit mindful of calories, they are all pretty high in calories. I usually don't make them anymore because I'd only get a few bites of them within my calorie goals for the day. But I made their recipes often when I was busier with the kids at home.
 
Love my instant pot type pressure cooker. That thing will change your life. I also use my crockpot. I use those two things more than my stove.

Have you looked on Pinterest for recipes? Pinterest drives my husband crazy. I am always trying new things.

Same here, best investment I made!
 
Same here, best investment I made!

we really want one! I was going to buy DH one for Christmas as he loves cooking and does more of it than I do. However I didn't think it was fair for it to be his gift since it's more like an household item.
So instead we are using our Christmas money we get from his parents. They usually give us around $150 as a couple and we usually buy something fun for the house - keurig, new dishes. new bedding. Seems like a good way to use it as when the the ILs bought gifts rather than giving money they always bought practical household stuff for us.
 
What I use to do when I was a single mom of 4 working full time, softball, baseball etc....
This did take up almost a whole Sunday but it was worth it and I had my kids help.

I would buy a lot of meat, hamburger, chicken, pork chops, etc. I'd divide up the pork chops and put them in freezer bags.
I would do the same with chicken but hold some out. I'd boil some for stock, froze the stock. I'd also shred the chicken I boiled and froze in separate bags. (this can be done in crockpot but boiling while doing the hamburger)
I made some hamburger patties and froze (in my case, 6 to a bag). I fried some hamburger, froze some in bags for tacos or enchiladas. Made some spaghetti sauce with some hamburger and froze that in separate bags. When I got creative, I made a couple of meatloaves, cooked for a while and then froze.

So my kids didn't eat a lot of cereal which didn't keep them filled up before lunch, I would fry some sausage and scrambled eggs. I cut up some potatoes in small pieces and put in the oven while doing the sausage/eggs. I bought the small flour tortillas and the kids had an assembly line going. They put sausage, eggs, cheese, potatoes and some salsa. We wrapped in plastic wrap and put in freezer bags. 3 times a week, they had a microwave burrito for breakfast.

It takes some time but it's a good family thing to do and the rest of the month is easy cooking. To defrost, I'd boil some water and put the bag in for a few minutes to soften it up.

We also made chicken or hamburger burritos same as above except left out the potatoes-add beans. Easy for game days.

I had a freezer container in my freezer. Anytime I had any extra onion, a tablespoon of corn, whatever, I put it in the container. When it was full, I took out my stock and made soup.
 
got a super easy one.....

Depending on the size of your family....

Basically, one pound of ground beef or turkey, one can of string beans drained, one can of diced tomatoes with the juice, a bag of frozen corn, slice up some onions, salt. Fry the onions, meat, put the rest in the frying pan.....15 minutes later you're done!

Most of my kids like this and it's SUPER EASY!.... Like I said, if you have a large family, double the contents above.
 
Find a grocery store that cooks the meat for you!

We have Marianos. I can stop in after work and choose anything in the meat counter and they will grill/cook it for me. My go-to's are burgers, italian sausage or brats, salmon, shrimp, chicken, etc. Some of the selections are marinated already - the chicken has a lot of different marinade choices, as do the fish/shrimp, and there are even things like half chickens, stuffed port chops, steaks, even stuffed peppers and stuffed mushrooms! Anything in the meat counter is available to be cooked by them - for free.

Now, of course they will mark up the price of the meat somewhat to compensate for this, but honestly, I can get 5, 1/2lb burgers, grilled and ready to eat for about $12.00. Or salmon on sale for $6-7.00lb, again, grilled/steamed right up. Or the always have sales on their homemade italian sausage - $3.33/lb. It takes between 10-20 min, usually and I just go around and grab milk and bread/etc, and usually some salad from the salad bar or bagged salad, and either canned, fresh, or frozen veggies (whatever we feel like that night), pay for everything, run back to the grill counter, pick up my meat, and get home with less than a 30-min delay.

Still feel like it's a homemade meal, and it's a lot cheaper than eating out - AND no cleanup!
 

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