by Ashley
What are your eating out “traps?”
Lazy, tired, busy, etc.
Happens all the time. It’s so easy to find an excuse simply because I don’t want to cook.
For the last week of this month I’ve been out of money in my eating-out money envelope, so I’ve committed to cooking all week.
Then Wednesday hit. It was a long, full day. I had lots of work, errands, and chores to tend to and on my way home from picking up the girls I was exhausted and considered my usual – getting a $5 hot and ready pizza from Little Caesars. But even at only $5, it would put me over my limit. My envelope was empty.
So what did I do?
Pulled on my big girl britches.
I came home and took out the pork roast we’d just had 2 nights prior and threw into a big pot with new seasonings (previously we’d had it with gravy, this night I did carnitas). This was a new recipe I’d just found on Pinterest and happened to have the seasonings for, an it ended up being DELICIOUS (and so, so easy since the pork was already cooked…it was more like simmering just to soak up the seasonings). I opened a can of black beans (99 cents) as a side, and put out some fresh veggies (lettuce, tomatoes), and cheese.
Dinner = done!
Prep was less than 5 minutes, total time was about 45 (letting the Carnitas simmer in spices while I played with girls in backyard).
Easy peasy and delicious to boot!
Best of all – it was another dinner “out” avoided!
What are your eating out “traps” and how do you avoid them?
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizonan on paper, Texan at heart. Lover of running, blogging, and all things cheeeeese. Freshly 40, married mother of two, working in academia. Trying to finally (finally!) pay off that ridiculous 6-digit student loan debt!
Way to stay strong. I’m glad there was no rationalizing of “well, I’m not going to use all the cash in *suchandsuch* envelope, so I can just put it towards dining out.”
Because quite honestly, I totally would’ve done it.
I’m not going to say I didn’t think about it, but all my envelopes are just about gone at this point! Good thing the month is almost over!
Good for you! Every little victory helps!
I try to plan for my busy days. On errand days, fast food is fast! But I also have menu ideas for those days when I know I’ll be tired and that don’t demand a lot of cooking. Also, I try to plan ahead. Mondays is my busy/errand day so I’ll do prep work and cooking on Sunday for Monday’s dinner so I am not stressed.
I also make these oat bran muffins and freeze them. That way, if I need a quick meal, I can pull those out and they are ready to go. I also will make fresh pizzas (pizza dough already made, just add toppings). Sometimes, I’ll make a meatloaf the day before then all I have to do when I get home is to pop it in the oven. I’ll make the vegetables the day before so all I have to do is to pop them in the oven on reheat at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Tuna salad sandwich is another favorite as is homemade tomato soup (just a minute or so in the blender and then finished on the stove top). When I was working full time and picked my son up at daycare, I did this: instead of fast food, I’d stop at the store and get a fresh chicken. Get home and put that in my Compact Showtime Rotisserie. I’d add some vegetables on the top tray with some water (the steam from the oven would cook them.) I’d put sweet potatoes on one side of the vegetable tray and a green vegetable on the other side. In 40 minutes, by the time I had put all of our stuff away, taken off coats, opened the mail and sat down, the dinner was done and amazing. It took less than 5 minutes to assemble. I look for any meal that takes less than 5 minutes to assemble for busy days. Also, when my son was young, whatever we had for dinner was lunch for the next day. That way, lunch was always fresh and homemade and we didn’t have leftovers. Hope this helps.
Mary – I am like in awe of you! How old is your son now (if I can ask)? I feel like I have so much I could learn from you! Do you write a blog?
Ashley, My son is full grown now but total care (medically fragile and fully dependent on me for 100% of all activities). I used to write a blog, but it was a medical and not homekeeping blog. Due to his issues, I am extremely organized since it is very difficult to get out with him.
I just learned to cook ten years ago so most of these things I learned along the way. Just take things a recipe at a time. When you have something you like to eat, ask yourself if you can figure out a way to eat that same item cheaper. Eventually, you’ll have a host of recipes that you can create in short order. You are doing great. Keep up the good work.
I feel like I’ve just really recently started learning to cook, too! Don’t get me wrong – I’ve been cooking a long time…..it just hasn’t been that good ; ) I’ve also had to seriously lean on recipes for help. Just recently I feel like I’m starting to figure out how foods work together, how to combine ingredients, and sort of create my own specialties. It’s definitely fun!
We do most of our cooking on the weekend and then eat leftovers for the rest of the week–for lunch and dinner. Do you have a slow cooker? We love ours, and it is easy to double a recipe and put half in a freezer ziplock bag for those times when Little Caesars is calling (we can walk to one in about 10 minutes). We also try to keep go-to basics–black bean burgers, meatballs, frozen ravioli, etc., on hand for when there’s just nothing left. And we’re certainly not above breakfast for dinner–omelets, frozen waffles, etc.
Oh, I LOVE breakfast for dinner!!!! I’m also a big fan of crock-pot cooking (especially during summer!) It requires me to plan ahead a bit more (obviously it requires TIME to cook, so I can’t whip it out at 5pm), but so easy!
Good for you. Getting out of the eating out habit is hard but once you give it up for a while it gets easier.
I always plan for quick meals during the week and save the more labor intensive stuff for the weekends. We do spaghetti and tacos once a week, both of which are cheap and fast. Another good one is roasted chicken thighs, baked potatoes, and some kind of frozen veg. The chicken and potatoes take about an hour but it’s hands off time, it only takes a few minutes to throw it in the oven. Veggies can steam in the microwave in minutes. Bake a few extra potatoes and the next night you can also do pan fried potatoes and eggs, like breakfast for dinner. Potatoes fry up fast if they are already baked.
Great ideas! I used to have a whole list of easy go-to dinners and it somehow got misplaced or lost. I think I need to start compiling a list again. It helps to look to at those times when I’m like “there’s nothing to eat!!!” (even though our freezer/pantry is full!) : )
Having a handful of quick dinners you can easily make are a lifesaver. Now that summer is here another thing you can do is grill a bunch of meats on Sunday then just reheat during the week.
Thats a great idea! We only have a charcoal grill (my husband is very passionately anti-gas, lol). I love the taste of grilled foods (especially with the smoky flavor of the charcoal), but it takes MUCH longer to set up, cook, and clean up than a traditional gas grill. This would be a wonderful way to still get the flavor but have much less work involved!
I like to have a couple clean out the vegetable bin types of recipes up my sleeve. Scrambled eggs with vegetables, fried rice, homemade pizza. Recipes that use the odd last bits of vegetables or other leftovers are handy- esp when the fridge is “full” and you have nothing to eat. Are you on pinterest? there are lots of recipes for weeknight dinners, crockpot meals and weekend cooking menus. Also http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ Crocpot 365 is hands down one of the best recipe sites on the inter-webs.
I thought it was odd all day that you were posting so much. I JUST figured out at 10:15 that it was Monday today. ha-ha.
Lol, yeah it definitely didn’t “feel” like a Monday with the holiday! : ) Thanks for the tip on that website!
Great job! I avoided a dinner out the other night by compromising with myself. Instead, I ran through Sonic and got a route 44 tea with lots of lemon – one of my faves. Yes, I should’ve avoided spending money altogether (my eating out money was gone already) but I decided $1.07 on a tea was better than about $7-8 on a fast food dinner. Compromising with myself is key sometimes.
This isn’t inspiring, but it works. I always keep frozen pizza in the freezer. The Red Barrons are only $3 and will feed us in an emergency.