LOL--DH says cooking dinner every night is TOO much

[KKB]

I was inspired here (and by our budget!) to really focus on making dinner each night, especially so there are leftovers for DH & I the next day. (DS14 eats at school & DD16 takes lunch every day)
Friday: Chinese meal deal at local grocer--it AT LEAST 2 full meals for us.
Sunday I chopped veggies & fruit, baked cookies & muffins. Crocked oatmeal for Monday (mixed reviews on that one)
Sunday: crock pot roast (3 leftover portions; DH & I took 2 lunch Monday)
Monday: Crocked 2 chicken breasts w/ cream chix soup; threw in fried rice & cream cheese (2 leftover portions for Tues. lunch)
Tuesday: crocked stew
Weds: planning kielbasa & pepper.

LOL--DH was like you are cooking again? We have so much food right now (no, not really, there is one portion of roast, 2 of sesame chicken, OK & a large bowl of oatmeal...) Plus the fridge is fuller when I have meat defrosting plus produce ready to use this week!

That being said, with our schedule crockpot is great as we are rarely all home for dinner at the same time. I feel good kids get real meal (not just canned soup or hot pockets!)

ALDI opened last week here, went Sunday & LOVED IT. AMAZING prices. Going to try the 25 meals for $150 at ALDI soon.

Thanks everyone for your inspiration, recipes & links!

 

[andieb0602]

Lol! I can sympathize! We only eat out once a month now and I feel like I am constantly cooking. I don't mind because both kids are in school now so I have time to myself during the day to do it without little ones interrupting. It's actually kind of soothing to me.

I LOVE Aldi. Their produce prices are fantastic! I can buy spaghetti squash there for $1.99 each instead of the same price per pound at other stores. We eat gluten-free and they have a new line that is gluten-free that is saving me a ton of money.

 

[LJSquishy]

We haven't had a a single meal or snack out in a full month. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts have all been from home and made from scratch. We invested in a nice espresso machine so we even make our own lattes at home.

I don't find it a lot of work, although I will admit I'm a housewife! But, what makes it easier for me is that I plan meals (NOT based on store sales, but on what we like to eat) out ahead of time. I don't like crockpot meals for the most part but I know many enjoy the simplicity of having a meal ready to go after work. Some days we have a very simple meal such as grilled chicken breast and two different vegetables. Other days I make more time-consuming meals such as buffalo chicken pizza with cauliflower crust (which is very simple, just takes longer).

Yesterday I made homemade fruit mix-ins for my husband to add to his plain greek yogurt. I made a small batch of tart cherry "pie filling", and a bigger batch of strawberry topping (both sweetened with a touch of maple syrup and not sugar). Over the weekend I made 24 whole wheat raspberry almond waffles for the freezer, and will be making lemon poppyseed muffins in a day or so. I zest the lemons first (which I freeze any extra), then juice them and freeze the juice in ice cube trays before transferring into a freezer-safe container or bag. Saves a ton of money and time on future recipes.

 

[pryncess527]

We haven't had a a single meal or snack out in a full month. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts have all been from home and made from scratch. We invested in a nice espresso machine so we even make our own lattes at home.
.

Which one did you get? I'm thinking of getting DH an espresso machine for Christmas and would love a rec!

 

[KKB]

. We eat gluten-free and they have a new line that is gluten-free that is saving me a ton of money.

I gave up wheat 9 months ago (and my joints & bowel thank me!)--I am JUST starting to miss some of those carbs so it is nice to find alternatives, ESPECIALLY affordable ones!

I DO work (you catch me during my lunch or after school) & with the teens going several different directions a night, I am loving finding these crock pot or quick meals.

Honestly, DD didn't start driving until last May so we relied too much on convenience foods to get us through--I am proud we eat out rarely. Personally I find fast food expensive & unimpressive overall (and very difficult for gluten free me). I would rather have one good sit down meal/month out & feel satisfied.

I still stock convenience food (frozen pizza, hot pockets, canned soups, nachos/wraps/sandwich fixins, etc) for those nights I am not so organized.

I just think DH is in shock I am so on the ball these days! (A LOT easier to do when I am not a chaperone all evening!!) Finally back to working out, tooHe won't know what to do with his new hot wife!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

But think how much healthier you are eating! Plus its cheaper! If you have leftovers freeze them. THat way on those days that you don't want to cook its already done for you.

I get to cooking several weeks in a row and my fridge looks like yours, full of things ready to cook and containers of left overs.

 

[hsmamato2]

We have 2 gf people in our house too.....Aldi ROCKS for low cost healthy meal prepping! I just left there an hour ago my cart was FULL of almost all fruits and veggies.....(.99 for 3 lbs sw. Potatoes!) fresh plain nuts, I also got a box of gf cookies for one ds and a gallon of regular milk...124.00!!!!! I literally bought 18 pounds of apples to store and eat.... It's hard to beat that....

 

[hsmamato2]

KKB - most 'cream of' soups have wheat flour in them..... Did you find something that doesn't?

 

[Ladcassidy]

Which one did you get? I'm thinking of getting DH an espresso machine for Christmas and would love a rec!

Jumping in to say I love my Breville 840xl. It replaced a lower end machine, and I use it every day.

 

[usd2bmd]

I think it has actually been a great thing for our family. My husband and I have fun in the kitchen and sitting down to plan meals out and make a grocery list has only had positive effects on our budget.

He finds ideas on online and I find ideas on Pinterest.

 

[crisi]

KKB - most 'cream of' soups have wheat flour in them..... Did you find something that doesn't?

Generally Imagine and Pacific brands don't - but they aren't cheap.

 

[eliza61]

God bless you. Really. I'm too old to go to jail so I couldn't do this. LOL

Basically because my dh was not a cooker and that would mean that after working all day, I would then be the only one doing all the prep work and cooking. He did clean up.

So after two weeks of watching my husband and kids sit on the couch waiting for dinner while I'm in the kitchen, I'd end up slapping some one upside the head with a cast iron skillet then going on trial for assault and battery.

Nope, thank you very much. I'll cut back on some thing else but once a week to 10 days we get a pizza or Chinese. LOl

I do love the recipes though, keep them coming.

 

[JanaDee]

We have been eating at home more often since school started and the schedule isn't so crazy, but as much as I love the crockpot as a cook, I won't use it every day. That is too much for me and I would get sick of crockpot meals.

 

[Marionnette]

We have been eating at home more often since school started and the schedule isn't so crazy, but as much as I love the crockpot as a cook, I won't use it every day. That is too much for me and I would get sick of crockpot meals.

I agree about overdoing crock pot meals. At some point, you just want a piece of grilled meat or baked fish -not something that has been swimming in a sea of sodium-laden sauce for hours on end!

I would rather vacuum-seal leftover portions of a grilled chicken breast or roasted beef for a future meal, than dine on crock pot meals all week! Yesterday, we had a really nice pork loin with garlic & cheddar mashed potatoes and mixed steamed veggies. All homemade from scratch with ingredients that I don't need a dictionary to learn how to pronounce. The leftover pork got sealed up during our clean up process and if my son doesn't snag it to take back with him when he visits, then I'll have it on a day when I know that I won't have time to cook.

Once in a while, crock pot meals are fine. But maybe the OP's husband is trying to tell her something about going overboard with it.

 

[crisi]

It also takes almost no time to bake up some chicken or fish if its defrosted and sitting in a marinade in the fridge and you throw it in the oven when you walk in. You can even set most ovens to start - so its preheated when you walk in the door. Hamburgers are really quick - and although they aren't great, I get the frozen patties at Costco - don't feed them to my husband when he is home, but for the kids, chipping off a patty and frying it and thawing a bun in a less than fifteen minute process.

 

[OhMari]

God bless you. Really. I'm too old to go to jail so I couldn't do this. LOL

Basically because my dh was not a cooker and that would mean that after working all day, I would then be the only one doing all the prep work and cooking. He did clean up.

So after two weeks of watching my husband and kids sit on the couch waiting for dinner while I'm in the kitchen, I'd end up slapping some one upside the head with a cast iron skillet then going on trial for assault and battery.

Nope, thank you very much. I'll cut back on some thing else but once a week to 10 days we get a pizza or Chinese. LOl

I do love the recipes though, keep them coming.

The DIS needs a like button so bad.

 

[OhMari]

I was on my own Monday night, so my dd picked up our dog after work, so I could do a couple of classes at the YMCA. I went to her house and picked up the dog, got home at 6:30 p.m., I turned on the oven to 425. I sliced a sweet potato, put them on a cookie sheet with olive oil and pepper for seasoning. Got out 2 frozen Talipia and a frozen Salmon which I purchased at Walmart. I defrosted the bag of fish under water to get them out of the sealant package. I put them in a glass dish with seasoning. Put them in the oven. I had left over asparagus, wrapped them up in tinfoil and put them in the oven.

I ran upstairs and took a shower, when I came down, the sweet
potato's and asparagus were done . I had a left over salad in the frig. from the weekend and I ate that while I was outside with the dog. When we came back in the house the fish was done. All in 30 minutes. My dog ate most of the salmon. My supper was under 400 calories.

The trick to the sweet potato and asparagus, don't over cook.

My dh would of never eat this supper. He travels one day and night out of the week and this is my go-to meal.

 

[tina.tina]

Eating in gets easier the longer you do it. When I make my menus, I make my grocery lists, too. It was a huge adjustment for us to go from eating out almost every day to eating out once a month or so but we had to for budget purposes when I quit working. Now, I prefer it and would actually be really upset to have to go back to eating out most of the time.

I find that soup and sandwiches are easier than take out as long as I keep supplies stocked. We sort of treat it like take out. Individuals pick out their own sandwiches which can be frozen chicken patties, cold cuts, pb&j, grilled cheese, or hotdogs. During November, I'm planning for soup and sandwich days twice a week with different homemade soups.

To get rid of leftovers that we don't have enough of for an entire 2nd meal, soup and sandwich days are also leftover days. Last night, DS8 had a hotdog, left over broccoli, and chicken noodle soup. DD and DH had leftover pork chops, leftover mashed potatoes, and leftover broccoli. I had tomato soup and skipped a sandwich.

I never thought I would like being stuck with a menu that I had to follow but we had so much drama with trying to decide where we wanted to eat out that I find the menus a relief. I've asked the kids to tell me their favorite meals at school and it has given me some good ideas to help round out my monthly menus. I also think of what meals we like at a restaurant and fix that at home. So, we definitely don't feel cheated by not eating out.

 

[Iowajes]

-not something that has been swimming in a sea of sodium-laden sauce for hours on end!

It's only a sodium laden sauce if you put one in. It's possible to make low sodium crockpot meals too


I personally don't think it is necessary to cook a new meal every day. But my husband and I really like leftovers. Many people won't eat them at all.

 

[LJSquishy]

Which one did you get? I'm thinking of getting DH an espresso machine for Christmas and would love a rec!

We have a Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL. Our grinder is a Baratza Vario. The grinder is more important than the machine. We've been very happy with our espresso machine but if I were buying one again, I'd probably spend twice as much and get a more commercial style one. Our friends bought the model down from ours that has the built-in grinder and they've been happy with it, although I tried to steer them away from a combo model because if the espresso part breaks you have a useless grinder, and if the grinder breaks you still have to go out and buy a separate grinder.