Ideas for Not Eating Out

[mom2my3kids]

I have a large family. I have six sons (19,18, 16, 13, 8, 2) Our grocery bill is huge but eating out is a killer. I have a routine of getting up in the morning and starting laundry, eating breakfast and putting dinner in the crockpot. I remember the years of standing by the fridge at 4 in the afternoon wondering what would be for dinner and ending up in a restaurant. The crockpot was the cure for me...

I have six older brothers, then mom had me...

 

[hallie615]

I'm off to the market now to gear up for the week's meals (we had a terrible weekend, eating out-wise). In addition to planning for dinners, I want to make sure that there's not too much leftover after Friday afternoon, when we leave for two weeks. PLUS, I want to pick up a couple things to keep us going on our trip for the first couple days. The plan as it stands so far is:

- Tonight: chicken and broccoli bake, mashed potatoes, green beans, wilted lettuce salad
- Monday: Nachos (yep, a complete meal with lots of tomatoes and black beans!)
- Tuesday: Italian sausage, sauteed onions and peppers, tortellini
- Wednesday: hamburgers, french fries, zucchini and carrot salad (with homemade ginger dressing = YUM!)
- Thursday: Grilled garlic and herb chicken, zucchini (can you tell what my garden is producing? LOL), onion and tomato gratin, herbed orzo
- Friday: pita sandwiches and fruit in the car, drivin' like the wind

Oh my, it feels good to have things under control food-wise. In addition to getting ready for the trip, I've got a big work deadline and lots of personal stuff I want to accomplish. On a busy week, I just love have a plan from which to work easily and quickly.

The chicken meals sound great could you post the recipies??

 

[crisrn2003]

Subscribing--what a great thread.
By the way, my "almost" 7 yr old DD is planning a Mexican night this week. She's making party decorations, planning the menu, and she's even asked her dad to call the local news media (which he was able to advise her was not a good idea--"what if 200 people came and we didn't have enough tacos"). This is a great option for us.
My spouse and I are doing weight watchers so going out is a big treat for us, but even that requires planning (where can we eat for the least amount of points, etc.) It's a great deterent for eating out all the time.
And as a child, I can remember eating out on Tuesday nights was a big deal. I wish my kids would view "going out" as something special too. That's become more my goal.
And if and when eating out is necessary (due to conflicting schedules, just can't take not going out anymore, etc), try going someplace that has kids nights, coupons, etc. And try having everyone drink water--for a family of 4 at about $2/drink, that saves about $8--and it's much healthier for everyone.

 

[mjbaby]

The chicken meals sound great could you post the recipies??

Sure. My recipes aren't really in recipe format, they're more like "put all this stuff together and cook it" so with some imagination, they might just make sense!

For the chicken and broccoli bake, cover the bottom of an baking dish with frozen broccoli and sprinkle cubed chicken over top (I use two boneless breasts cut into 1 inch cubes for the four of us). Salt and pepper to taste and then combine the following and spread over top: one can of cream of something soup, half a cup of shredded jack cheese, a cup of milk. Top everything croutons sprinkled (I used store brand garlic French croutons) and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or so, until the chicken is cooked through. I almost never use canned soup but I've tried this one using a homemade bechemel sauce and it didn't work out. Using celery seed with the salt and pepper is nice, too.

For the grilled garlic herb chicken, use halved bone-in breasts with the skin still on. Loosen the skin on each breasts slightly with your fingers. Slip slivered garlic, a large basil leaf and a half-inch rosemary "spike" under the skin nestled against the flesh (use what you have for this: cilantro is nice, so is taragon, summer savory and thyme). Salt and pepper the outside of the breast to taste and rub a small amount of butter or olive oil over the skin - you don't want the breast moistened, just lightly coated. Place the prepared breasts in a pre-heated grill on low heat and close the lid. Watch carefully and turn as needed. Once both sides of the breasts are golden, move to one side and turn off that side's flame, leaving the other flame on low. The chicken is done when there is no pink and the juices run clear. Keeping the breasts off of direct heat for the bulk of the cooking time keeps them moist, and the herbs and garlic impart a nice, subtle flavor.

Both of these recipes are easy and require very little hands on time. They're not fast in the sense that you can get them on the table in 20 minutes, although you can go take care of something else once they're cooking. And they taste good, too.

 

[mom2dea]

We will be moving soon and we are trying to save money and also use everything up in our freezer and pantery before we move .

So this week we are having :
mon~ Alfredo with bowtie pasta and caser salad
Tues ~ Chilie with cornbread
Wed ~ Grilled chicken garlic mash patatos and frozen brocollie
Thurs~ Spagitti bread and butter
Fri~ Baked Ziti (to use up lef over sauce ) and ceaser salad

All for lunches we are having left over for the following day .

For Saturday I making Peanute butter and jelly and also Ham sandwiches for the car as we will be traveling to SC for the weekend to find a house . Also I will bring breadfest with us so we do not have to eat out . However I am sure we will eat out Dinner Saturday and lunch Sunday .

Hope everyone has a great week .

 

[littleprincessmom]

Thanks for the motivation...Count me in! Subscribing for more great ideas!

 

[SLDL]

Subscribing...thanks, OP, I really needed this thread!!!!

 

[Tree]

Sun Burgers on the grill

Mon Hamburger helper with extra tomatos, onions and using ground turkey

Tues Crockpot chicken salsa Cut up two breast of chicken, add jar of salsa and taco seasoning. Cook for 6 hours. Good on rice or over a salad.

Wed Spinach and hamburger casserole

Thurs Leftover crockpot chicken salsa

Fri Clean out the fridge night

Sat Wedding Kids at grandmas

 

[bettyann29]

there are some great ideas.. Thanks again for this thread..

monday- shepards pie
tuesday- hamburgers on the grill
wednesday- tostadas
thursday- chili mac
friday- sausage and rice
saturday- leftovers
sunday- hamburger helper
monday- breakfastbaked ziti
tuesday- baked ziti
wednesday- not sure what you call it but you take peas and diced tomatoes and simmer, then brown 1 lb of hamburger and mix together and put over rice..
thursday- leftovers
friday- ham steaks and pinto beans
saturday- leftovers (I usually throw away way too much food so I decided to start getting better with this)
sunday- I think Im gonna try the above listed chicken and salsa recipe (sounds good)

Whew.. This is my menu for 2 weeks.. I was proud of myself.. We didnt eat out at all this weekend.. I spent about $130 for 2 weeks worth of groceries as I needed extras around the house this week, so not too bad..

 

[bettyann29]

Tues Crockpot chicken salsa Cut up two breast of chicken, add jar of salsa and taco seasoning. Cook for 6 hours. Good on rice or over a salad.

This sounds good.. I think I might try this next week.. Do you put any water in this or just exactly what is listed??

 

[hallie615]

Tues Crockpot chicken salsa Cut up two breast of chicken, add jar of salsa and taco seasoning. Cook for 6 hours. Good on rice or over a salad.

I have tried this before but never added taco seasoning. Do you just put in a packet of seasoning.

 

[Disneefun]

I don't have any recipies or grocery ideas that haven't already been mentioned, but I do have an alternative way of thinking about eating out that usually keeps me from going out. I think about what else that money can buy that's more permanent, fun, and/or useful. It's just DH and I, so if you have kids your numbers will probably be higher but, for example, for the two of us to eat:

At Chik-fil-A is about $10 which could buy a jigsaw puzzle that we can have fun with for several nights.

At the local Mexican joint is about $15 which could buy a month's worth of NetFLix movie rentals at two out at a time.

At Applebees or similar is about $25 which could buy 90 days worth of minutes for my Virgin phone

At a fancy restaurant is about $50 which could buy one nights worth of lodging at Fort Wilderness or two nights at our second favorite campground.

And any of this money can also be put in my ING acct. and earn more money for more stuff later.

Obviously these aren't the only things that eating out money can buy, and everybody will have their own "lists." But when I'm tempted to eat out, I think about things like this (post it on the fridge if it helps remind you) and usually decide that I'd rather have other things that I'll get more use or fun out of, rather than a meal that only lasts an hour and isn't usually that good to start with. Even if cooking is a pain at times, I just suck it up and do it because there's so much more I'd rather do with that money.

 

[LisaG]

To mom2dea,
Welcome to the Palmetto State! Where in SC will you be moving to?

 

[abbyndrewmom]

Tues Crockpot chicken salsa Cut up two breast of chicken, add jar of salsa and taco seasoning. Cook for 6 hours. Good on rice or over a salad.

This is very good with pork as well!! Dh and I have it over salad and the kids make taco's.

 

[lillygator]

this is awesome! We definitely need to cut the eating out! It's such a killer on the pocket book!!

Tonight - steak, potato and veggie....
Tues - shredded pork sand....
not sure the rest of the week

 

[Tree]

I have tried this before but never added taco seasoning. Do you just put in a packet of seasoning.

just a few tablespoons. I have a large taco season spice jar that I shake over it.

 

[chemteacher03]

We have saved about 200 dollars this past month by not eating out as frequently. One thing we have done though is go to Subway and split a footlong sandwich on Sundays. At the Subway near us, they have a special on Sundays - 2 footlongs for the price of one. We have been having one footlong as our dinner and then the other footlong is lunch the next day. Sometimes we'll get 4 and be set for all meals on Sunday and Monday.

 

[CherylA]

I just found these recipes. They look pretty good they seem quick and they are one pan meals, made on the stovetop and microwave. NO OVEN! I'm going to give the Baked Potatoes Primavera and One-Pan Potatos and chicken teriyaki a try.

http://www.mtnking.com/recipe/one_pan_meals.html

 

[kath1210]

I just found these recipes. They look pretty good they seem quick and they are one pan meals, made on the stovetop and microwave. NO OVEN! I'm going to give the Baked Potatoes Primavera and One-Pan Potatos and chicken teriyaki a try.

What recipes? Is there a link missing from your message?

Thanks!

 

[CherylA]

http://www.mtnking.com/recipe/one_pan_meals.html

whoops! I added it to the original message.