| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| ivmeer |
Posted - Nov 05 2007 : 08:06:40 AM
We're trying to save as much cash as we can, so I've been cooking a lot lately. Yesterday, my husband and I figured out that the last time we ate restaurant or takeout food for dinner was October 25, 11 days ago. During that time, he ate one lunch out (and will probably eat lunch out today, probably a veggie sandwich from the supermarket across the street from his office) and had one lunch sponsored by his office, and I had one friend take me out for lunch (she paid).
Now, I'm thinking about making a game of it and seeing how long I can go without eating dinner out or ordering takeout. Tonight I'm going to get a trout and some tofu and veggies and make Chinese stirfry, the leftovers for which will serve my husband for lunch tomorrow.
Does anyone else want to join me in my no eating out challenge? |
| 16 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| ivmeer |
Posted - Nov 14 2007 : 06:42:53 AM
Update: I've been basically sticking to my guns. My husband and I went out to eat on Sunday (we chose to go out and planned it ahead of time), but it was an inexpensive meal (about $16.50 including tip). Today, my husband has to go to a fancy lunch for his job, and it costs $30, but other than that we haven't eaten out. I made the polenta and roasted red pepper sauce on Thursday last week, cooked Shabbat dinner on Friday night and Shabbat lunch for Saturday, we went out Sunday (but only for lunch...had leftovers for dinner), Monday I made sausage with German potato salad and cabbage with caraway, last night I made chicken wings, baked sweet potatoes, and broccoli and cauliflower, tonight we're eating leftover sausage, and tomorrow I'm making colcannon (mashed potato casserole with vegetables and melted cheese on top) and salmon. |
| ivmeer |
Posted - Nov 08 2007 : 06:28:24 AM
Please, please, don't flame me. I don't do mixes. I looked at the cost of MJF Budget Mix and decided there was nothing really budget about it. In fact, I worked backwards from the "basic crust recipe" for bakeovers in MJ's book and was able to more or less figure out the proportions, and I made one of the budget mix recipes from scratch (the polenta fry bread, which we had for a Sunday breakfast once with poached eggs and cut up fruit).
I thought about posting the proportions here so that people could make their own budget mix, but it seemed unfair. So I'm still going to do it myself, but I'm not going to share what I've figured out.
ETA: I'm trying a Moosewood recipe tonight for polenta gnocchi with gorgonzola on them (I think I might not actually make gnocchi and just bake the polenta in a pan with the cheese on top. It seems overly fussy to me) with a tomato sauce with roasted red peppers in it. I'm also going to make rapini with garlic, lemon and pine nuts, and maybe some seared salmon (that's totally easy to make: heat pan on medium-high heat, spray with Pam, sprinkle fish with salt and pepper sear fish skin side first, then flesh side, until done). I found some rapini on sale yesteray, so I'm building a whole meal around it.
Last night, I also baked chocolate cherry bread. Tomorrow for dinner I'm probably going to make baked chicken with apricots and dried currants, rice pilaf, and maybe green beans. |
| celebrate2727 |
Posted - Nov 07 2007 : 9:31:39 PM
I can't begin to tell you that the family loves anything homemade. So I start with some homemade biscuits ala MJF Budget Mix and then add from there. You can make so much with it and have such a healthy meal. I ran into an old friend tonight and she asked what I have been doing lately- i answered- nothing just eating wholesoem foods.
blessings
beth
I Can
beth@maryjanesfarm.org
|
| ivmeer |
Posted - Nov 07 2007 : 2:42:29 PM
Yeah, I'm the cookbook queen, so when I don't see anything that screams "you have a recipe for this" then I figure I have no food. In reality, you can always think things up with what you've got. |
| FarmGirl~K |
Posted - Nov 07 2007 : 10:37:14 AM
Amanda & Jennifer... My DH does some cooking... I have mentioned that to him as well that since he is home, he needs to cook. So he is trying, in fact he made veggie lasagna last night.  YUM... took it for lunch today. But once he has a job, we will be in the same boat again. He is usually the one being the taxi since I am at work & has been taking care of home schooling. He is also working fixing up things on the house he hasn't had time to do. We are thinking of moving sometime in the future... not sure when yet. So I want to start getting something in place before he does get a job so it will be easier to maintain. Especially since my commute is going to get much longer in the next month or so (surplus at my job too, but I will still have one). I have been looking at flylady & the hillbilly housewife for tips, I just need to get it all organized, with help of course. 
I understand the "no food in the kitchen thing" too. Pantry is full, just have to be imaginative I guess.
Hope your finger is better. That sure hurts! |
| La Patite Ferme |
Posted - Nov 07 2007 : 09:07:46 AM
Amanda, It's funny you bring up "no food in the kitchen". I have been thinking the same thing lately even though my pantry is well stocked and my freezer has a good amount of meat in it. I think I'm fighting having to put some thought into what to do for dinner. But, with the way gas prices are going I'm going to have to think about meals at home more than I use to.
Kelly, I think we have the same hectic life Only difference is I only have one child to taxi around. I rely heavily on my crockpot and try to put all the ingredients in the night before - weather permitting. Yesterday we had pulled pork, I made cole slaw when I was home for lunch (sliced my thumb open though - that was a total bummer), and beans when I got home. Added some sliced pears XMIL sent home with DD on Monday. Wonderful meal.
I also think the crockpot meals are something DH could easily handle if he is home. That would lessen the load on your shoulders. |
| ivmeer |
Posted - Nov 07 2007 : 05:18:53 AM
Kelly, since your DH is at home and you're working overtime, can he do the cooking? I work part time and stay home with the baby while DH does the crazy overtime, so the shopping and cooking falls to me (I don't mind). |
| FarmGirl~K |
Posted - Nov 06 2007 : 4:57:38 PM
I am really trying to do this in my life right now. Things are so hectic though, its hard to get it or keep it going. I work full time outside the home & more days than not I am working at least 2 hours of overtime. 2 kids in sports, so there are practices & games. (that is pretty much our "free" entertainment). So, needless to say, I do not feel like cooking when I get home! And we rarely are home on the weekend. A lot of the time we order pizza which is about $10 & feeds 5 of us or get bean burritos. Those are pretty quick & inexpensive, but we can't do that every day. We are doing this not only for financial reasons (my DH recently lost his job), but for our health. OUr health is good now (other than needing to use a few lb's something eating at home will help), but don't want to continue on the fast food path & ruin it. I need to sit down & plan which is the hard part. I know there are ways to do it. If I can cook a huge Thanksgiving dinner every year, I can sure cook the foods I need to for the week one day of the week. At least prep them. I would also like to start using the crock pot more often so I can put everything in the night before & just plug it in in the morning. On top of that, we are trying to cut meat out as much as possible. We have gotten better about going out, but we still have some work to do! For me, this will be a work in progress.
"Work as if you were to live a hundred years, pray as if you were to die tomorrow." ~Benjamin Franklin~
|
| ivmeer |
Posted - Nov 06 2007 : 12:47:17 PM
So today at lunchtime, I fell into the rut of "I have nothing in the house," which is really never true. I get lazy when I don't have leftovers or ready made foods like coldcuts at lunchtime. We farmgirls (even urban ones like me) always have food in the house that we can cook. My husband and I went to a grocery store that was closing and had a bunch of stuff on half-price clearance, so we made out like bandits with pasta and canned goods. I bought a huge bag of potatoes last week (they were $2.00 for 15 lbs), and I've always got onions and usually zucchini in the kitchen and usually some meat in the freezer. So I improvised a skillet hash.
Southwest Skillet Hash
1 lb ground beef
2 T oil (olive oil, corn oil, canola oil, or soybean oil)
1 large potato cut in chunks
1 onion, diced
2 large cloves of garlic (I used 4 small)
1 zucchini, sliced
1 can pinto beans, drained (that's what I used because it's what I had, but you could easily substitute red kidney beans or black beans, and with a little planning ahead, you could also soak and cook dry beans, which is even cheaper than using canned ones)
frozen or canned corn
1 can diced tomatoes
chili powder
cumin
thyme
salt & pepper
Heat oil in pan, add ground beef, sautee until juices and fat start to come out, add potato, onion, garlic, and zucchini, cook until vegetables are tender. Add canned veggies and spices, cook until everything is heated through.
I figure the whole skillet cost me about $6 to make, and it's a huge amount of food. My husband is going to be able to take it for lunch this week, and it'll even do as a quick weekday supper if I don't have enough time to cook. |
| ivmeer |
Posted - Nov 06 2007 : 06:37:32 AM
Yeah, Jennifer, my husband and I usually take home leftovers and eat them for lunch the next day.
I ended up performing at an open mic last night and getting dinner there, so I've already broken my resolution, but I'm definitely going to shop and cook tonight. |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Nov 05 2007 : 1:03:04 PM
Ha! You're like me, Jennifer--I guess I want someone to wait on me, too at least once during the week! It's not as if dh expects dinner, because I do really like to cook, but one day out of the week is for the queen bee!
I don't think taking food home is gross, however, it BECOMES gross after I forget about it in the fridge! I'm terrible about taking doggie bags home and totally forgetting that I have them....
This is going to sound funny, but the law associate that works next to me is my "garbage disposal" in a sense. The boy will eat anything, and happens to love my cooking, so whenever I make too much and know that we won't eat the leftovers, or I have something leftover from a restaurant, I just bring it to him and "viola" it's gone, and I get a squeaky clean dish back.
"She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
| La Patite Ferme |
Posted - Nov 05 2007 : 12:05:54 PM
DD and I eat in during the week too. I work close to home so I usually go home for lunch unless I have a lunch meeting. But, by the weekend I want someone to fetch and carry and wait on ME! I get cranky if I can't at least have Sunday breakfast out.
Since most portions are soooo huge I try to share with the person I'm eating with, which works well if it's DD or sis - family. Yesterday sis and I had breakfast for $14.75 + tip. Not bad.
If I'm eating with someone I wouldn't ask to share I take home all the leftovers and have them for lunch. I'm always amazed at the number of people I run into that don't believe in taking food home - they think it's gross. |
| ivmeer |
Posted - Nov 05 2007 : 09:12:20 AM
Good advice, and I'll keep you posted. |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Nov 05 2007 : 09:10:15 AM
Yep, with a babe, it would be difficult to set aside any cash, I bet.
I agree, eating out 2 times a week, even if it's pizza delivery, is on average, $20 or more. We nixed the carryout in our house, and really do try to stay with that 2 for $20 thing.
We like the theater, too, but luckily, my husband works in a tavern much like the Russian Tea Room in NYC, that's home to the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, The KNOW Theater, and Cincinnati Ensemble Theater groups--they usually have their cast parties and (after show) drinks and dinner well into the early am, and he can usually swing free tickets whenever there's something I'm interested in seeing. Just caught Cymbeline a few weekends ago, and it was wonderful! Perfectly spooky for this time of year!
I do really love to cook, so eating in during the weeknights isn't much of a chore for us. We usually have a dinner invitation to friends on the weekend, too, so one night out on our dime, one night with friends on theirs. When we were first married, I'd cook dinner, and and then we'd go "out" for a nice dessert. Toward the end of the evening, it's not uncommon for folks to come to a nicer establishment for coffee and dessert, and you come in WAY under budget, but still feel decadent (and hopefully satisfied).
My husband loves my cooking, so it's sometimes hit or miss when we go out. Either he says, or I think "I could have done this better" but still, it's being OUT sometimes that makes all the difference!!!
I wish you much luck in your endeavor...let me know how you fare. I'm sure it will be a good saving tool, but don't deny yourself joy!
J
"She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian. |
| ivmeer |
Posted - Nov 05 2007 : 08:29:19 AM
Thank you, and I totally understand where you're coming from. We don't get a date every week, since we have a baby and my mom isn't free to baby-sit every week. We like to go to see live theater, and we tend to go towards the end of the month, after all the reviews are in and we can be picky about what we choose.
Anyway, when we go to see a show, we usually go to a storefront theater or get discount tickets to a bigger show, so our tickets usually range between $20-25 each. I consider an afternoon or evening at the theater to be a pretty pricey outing, so we only do it on average once a month. However, I was just thinking that going to dinner or ordering takeout can be about the same amount of money, and if we're doing that twice a week, it's like we go to a play every week. I just figured it was a great way to cut down on expenses. Besides, I like to cook and my husband prefers my cooking to most restaurant meals, anyway. |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Nov 05 2007 : 08:21:57 AM
We (ok, "I") cook in all week long, and I bring my lunch to the office. So, on the weekend, I want to go out for one meal, because I don't buy new clothing, go to movies, or spend extravangantly on our house or anything else, really--we just pay bills, so dinner is our "date", and we really look forward to that each week. Usually we go to an ethnic restaurant, where we share an entree and get two appetizers or soup. When we DO go out, we have a "2 for $20.00" guideline. That is, anything we get totals $10 for each of us, without the tip, of course. If you want a glass of wine, or a beer, "bye bye" $4.00. You have $6.00 leftover for an entree. I love food, so I forego the wine and drink water most of the time, unless I'm feeling celebratory!
We only splurge on special restaurants for anniversaries or birthdays, and the othertimes, we eat at places that have remarkable, inventive (and usually organic) food for cheap. We can actually spend under $20.00 for the both of us, and leave full, with leftovers.
Unfortunately, since we deny ourselves pretty much everything else, I cannot join you in your challenge. I do like your idea, and wish you much success!!!
"She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian. |
|
|
