Eat at home

[EeyoreEma]

What a great thread! Mind if I join in? Won't be around much next week, but I'd love to be here more often after that!! We have pretty much stopped going out (we were shocked and sad when we saw how much we spent on eating out) and have discovered that we really like eating at home much better anyway! I've dug out my cookbooks, and am having a ton of fun trying all sorts of new recipes! Here's what we've done this week:
Monday: Spinach salad with homemade blue cheese dressing and a baked potato
Tuesday: Split pea soup and grilled cheese
Wednesday: Homemade pizza
Thursday: Sausage, grits and homemade honeybee rolls
Friday: not quite there yet

This week was kind of boring as I didn't make it the 45 miles to the nice grocery store over the weekend.

 

[figment3258]

What a great thread! Mind if I join in? Won't be around much next week, but I'd love to be here more often after that!! We have pretty much stopped going out (we were shocked and sad when we saw how much we spent on eating out) and have discovered that we really like eating at home much better anyway! I've dug out my cookbooks, and am having a ton of fun trying all sorts of new recipes! Here's what we've done this week:
Monday: Spinach salad with homemade blue cheese dressing and a baked potato
Tuesday: Split pea soup and grilled cheese
Wednesday: Homemade pizza
Thursday: Sausage, grits and homemade honeybee rolls
Friday: not quite there yet

This week was kind of boring as I didn't make it the 45 miles to the nice grocery store over the weekend.

Welcome aboard!

 

[java]

Well I wasn't organized enough to say what I was going to make but I can you what I did make so far this week as they were all hits.

Monday- Jacques Pepin technique roasted chicken, roasted green beans and mashed potatoes (HUGE hit that'll be in the weekly rotation)

Tuesday- From the garden meal- Eggplant Parmagian angel hair pasta with homemade sauce and some garlic bread

Wednesday- Chicken frajittas, some cheese quesadillas for those that didn't want chicken frajittas and some Puerto Rican rice.

Thursday- Burgers and cheese fries (HS son's first day of school- he picked)

Friday- Pizza for the kids DH and I are going out to a wine tasting (friend won this as a prize so free free free for us gotta love that)

Saturday- hmm no clue yet.

I will try to be more organized next week. I am loving Jacques Pepin's webisodes- so I'm sure another one will be in the rotation next week after this weeks great success. Easy, fast and dh said tasted like it was from a restaurant!

 

[hmdavid]

This week looks like this for my family...

Monday~ penne pasta with alfredo, prosciutto and peas with salad
Tuesday~ homemade pizza, salad
Wednesday~ breakfast for dinner... found frozen biscuits and sausage links on clearance at Target... made biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, homemade hashbrowns
Thursday~ pulled pork from crock pot, buns, veggies & ranch, grapes
Friday~ brats, pasta salad, veggies & ranch, grapes
Saturday~ hubby's bday so we will go out or grill steaks, depends on what he feels like after golfing

Hope everyone is having a great week!

 

[Kimberly Hill]

I am in! We're huge lovers of eating out and I don't have a lot of practice cooking so it's a real challenge for us to eat at home but we need to (say our waistlines and our wallets). You'll see my crockpot gets a workout - we homeschool our 7-year-old and run a business out of our home so fix it and forget it is easy for me. Here's what this week looked/s like for us:

Sunday: Sour Cream Chili Bake, corn
Monday: Cheesy Crockpot Chicken, rice, salad
Tuesday: Meatloaf, fried potatoes & onions, green beans
Wednesday: Butter Beef (crockpot), noodles, mixed veggies
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: turkey breast (crockpot), stuffing, cranberry relish, veggies
Saturday: leftovers

DH comes home for lunch and we usually have a salad. DD eats dinner leftovers or a sandwich and fruit or a quesadilla or "bits" - veggies, fruit, cheese, some kind of carb, etc. in a divided plate.

 

[RN01]

I'm trying to get so much better about not eating out. I've been keeping track the month of August and we've spent over $500 eating out!!!!! Last Sunday I tried the once a month cooking from onceamonthmom.com and now I have a whole freezer full of good food that all I have to do is pull out and heat up. Tonight we are having a chicken, apple and rice recipe that has rum in it also. I can't wait to try it and all I had to do was stick it in the crock pot this am. We spent a lot of money on making all the food but in the end it will be worth it! Starting in Sept we are not eating out like we have been!

 

[MandM-Mom]

I'm trying to get so much better about not eating out. I've been keeping track the month of August and we've spent over $500 eating out!!!!! Last Sunday I tried the once a month cooking from onceamonthmom.com and now I have a whole freezer full of good food that all I have to do is pull out and heat up. Tonight we are having a chicken, apple and rice recipe that has rum in it also. I can't wait to try it and all I had to do was stick it in the crock pot this am. We spent a lot of money on making all the food but in the end it will be worth it! Starting in Sept we are not eating out like we have been!

Oh that chicken sounds interesting...let us know how it is, i love chicken and apples together!

 

[MamaJessie]

Joining on a Thursday so I'll jump in midweek

Tonight- Roast chicken and acorn squash (roasting an extra for Sunday)
Tomorrow - homemade pretzel dough wrapped around a hot dog (hope it works)
Saturday - going to a bday party, they'll have pizza there
Sunday - chicken and dumplings (will make the stock with the leftover chicken from tonight +the extra one)

 

[Tiana]

I am about to go downstairs and poach some fish in White Wine and serve it with Beurre Blanc and mushrooms; with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans.

If I fail we'll be having a store baked Rotisserie Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans.

I need to stop watching Julie & Julia every time it's on!!

 

[hmdavid]

I am about to go downstairs and poach some fish in White Wine and serve it with Beurre Blanc and mushrooms; with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans.

If I fail we'll be having a store baked Rotisserie Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans.

I need to stop watching Julie & Julia every time it's on!!

 

[pigletof4]

I guess my week is going to start today since I just went shopping and have my menu planned out.

Thurs Italian pork chops, some sort of cheese potato(new recipe), applesauce
Fri Homemade pizza
Sat Picnic that we are going to
Sun Slow cooker pot roast mash potatoes corn on the cob homemade bread
Mon Lasagna and homemade Italian bread (not sure if lasagna will be traditional or inside/out lasagna)
Tues BBQ Chicken, potatoes with cheese and bacon, applesauce/green beans
Wed Hamburgers/hot dogs homemade french fries corn on the cob

 

[mizzoutiger76]

We're trying to eat more at home for to stay healthy than to save money, since we're very frugal fast food eaters too (ie Little Ceasar's $5 pizza, etc). I'd like to cook more at home so that my son can have some kind of memories of a home cooked meal

I think our biggest challenge is that DH and I are wiped by the end of the day (we both do our working out during our lunches) and the thought standing at a hot stove for another hour and then have having to do dishes after cooking just sucks Okay, so we're lazy

I've gotten a lot of good ideas so far, I'm very excited.

We've invented a copy-cat recipe from one of the restaurants we used to go to - Casa Ole's Casa Cool Wrap. We just buy Tyson's breaded chicken strips (heated of course), put in a flour tortilla, add pico de gallo, lettuce, and ranch, and that's it!

 

[ilovepete]

OK so far we have had...
Monday - Roast Beef sandwiches
Tuesday - Shrimp, Cheese Grits, Broccoli (Shrimp & Grits is a southern thing! LOL)
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Tacos
Friday - Rolled Flank Steak, Salad, Mashed Potatoes
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - Will depend on what we buy at the store this weekend.

 

[kmchar1]

We're doing really well so far this week! I hope it continues until next week!

Monday: Homemade pizza loaded with leftover veggies, salad
Tuesday:Hamburgers, homemade french fries, baked beans, fruit salad
Wednesday:Soup and sandwiches, fruit
Thursday:Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, green beans with almonds
Friday: We will have beef pot roast, potatoes, carrots, butter noodles, rolls
Saturday:We will have Tuna Noodle Casserole, peas and rolls
Sunday: We will have Mongolian beef (crockpot) over rice with peppers and onions, salad, pineapple chunks

 

[CherylA]

I am in! We're huge lovers of eating out and I don't have a lot of practice cooking so it's a real challenge for us to eat at home but we need to (say our waistlines and our wallets). You'll see my crockpot gets a workout - we homeschool our 7-year-old and run a business out of our home so fix it and forget it is easy for me. Here's what this week looked/s like for us:

Sunday: Sour Cream Chili Bake, corn
Monday: Cheesy Crockpot Chicken, rice, salad
Tuesday: Meatloaf, fried potatoes & onions, green beans
Wednesday: Butter Beef (crockpot), noodles, mixed veggies
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: turkey breast (crockpot), stuffing, cranberry relish, veggies
Saturday: leftovers

DH comes home for lunch and we usually have a salad. DD eats dinner leftovers or a sandwich and fruit or a quesadilla or "bits" - veggies, fruit, cheese, some kind of carb, etc. in a divided plate.

I had never heard of butter beef so I Googled it. Sounds really great and easy, I'm totally making it this week! I have a turkey breast in the freezer too so I might make that this week too. Thanks for the ideas!

 

[Darcy03231]

We're trying to eat more at home for to stay healthy than to save money, since we're very frugal fast food eaters too (ie Little Ceasar's $5 pizza, etc). I'd like to cook more at home so that my son can have some kind of memories of a home cooked meal

I think our biggest challenge is that DH and I are wiped by the end of the day (we both do our working out during our lunches) and the thought standing at a hot stove for another hour and then have having to do dishes after cooking just sucks Okay, so we're lazy

I've gotten a lot of good ideas so far, I'm very excited.

We've invented a copy-cat recipe from one of the restaurants we used to go to - Casa Ole's Casa Cool Wrap. We just buy Tyson's breaded chicken strips (heated of course), put in a flour tortilla, add pico de gallo, lettuce, and ranch, and that's it!

This is one of the biggest reasons I love my crock pot. I spray it down with cooking spray before I cook which makes clean up much easier.

I bought a timer for mine (like the ones that turn your lights on and off) so with us gone all day I can program it to turn off at a certain time. I find the food still stays pretty warm.

 

[dzneelvr]

We used to do Pizza as takeout all the time; now we use a frozen one we like from the supermarket (it tooks some trial and error), add fresh veggies and extra cheese and have a wonderful pizza for a fraction of the cost. I also began taking a brown bag to lunch at work instead of eating at the cafeteria: I can make a weeks worth of lunches for what it used to cost me one meal purchaseplus the cash doesn't jump out of my wallet near as much and I really get to pack some neat lunch choices. Lastly, chinese is much more difficult to substitute because we don't really know how to keep the cost down with all the ingredients you have to buy. So we now make sure we don't over-order. I can't tell you how often I'd be pitching a couple half cartons of chinese take-out a few days later that no one wanted. Now we order enough to finish at one sitting so at least it's not wasted.

 

[creativemomnc]

I just started taking college classes and my son started public school after 5 yrs homeschooling. I've been so exhausted from classes and dealing with issues with public school. Two nights this week I fell asleep before dinner. I've been eating out too much. I do take food with me to class but on weekends I don't want to fix anything. This is not like me. I love to cook and now its a chore. Normally my grocery budget for me and my 14 yr old son is $300/month. So since I've been eating out more I've been behind on my bills. I know to others this seems irresponsible but its so easy to get into that habit. I don't spend money in other areas like clothes and I don't have cable so if I could cut a lot of the eating out I could do much better financially. Any suggestions?

 

[hambirg]

I just started taking college classes and my son started public school after 5 yrs homeschooling. I've been so exhausted from classes and dealing with issues with public school. Two nights this week I fell asleep before dinner. I've been eating out too much. I do take food with me to class but on weekends I don't want to fix anything. This is not like me. I love to cook and now its a chore. Normally my grocery budget for me and my 14 yr old son is $300/month. So since I've been eating out more I've been behind on my bills. I know to others this seems irresponsible but its so easy to get into that habit. I don't spend money in other areas like clothes and I don't have cable so if I could cut a lot of the eating out I could do much better financially. Any suggestions?

I feel you. I would work 10-12 hr days, literally come home, kick of my shoes and fall asleep on the couch. There were days my alarm was going off and I was waking up still on the couch in my work clothes! Ugh!

My suggestions would be to develop a torrid affair with your crock pot. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. Sometimes I would just put chicken breasts with BB-Q sauce in it. . .a small roast with Coke and onion soup mix. . .etc. The other thing is your son is 14, my oldest is 14 too. Teach him to do some basic cooking. . . mac n cheese, spaghetti, etc. And lastly, go ahead and keep some frozen convenience food in the fridge. I always have a few Healthy Choice dinners, chicken nuggets and fries and a frozen pizza in mine. They may not be super budget or super healthy, but they do beat eating out! HTH

 

[figment3258]

Hey everyone keep it up! Going to the cape cod for 3 days see you all when we get back and we will need to be on a budget!