Do you cook on Friday nights?

[Samantha Morgan]

Typically I don’t, but since we are building a house, we are trying to cut back on miscellaneous spending.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Depends what you mean by "cook." I usually eat food that's in the house, but I tend to go for something simple, like leftovers or a sandwich.

I made this last night. It took all of 15 minutes to put together the first time, and basically zero time to plate the leftovers.

https://sunbasket.com/recipe/mediterranean-flatbreads-with-beet-salad-and-skordalia

The man loves beets so I'll save this as a side dish for another time. Have to figure if the maple syrup or any sweetner is needed in the tahini sauce though. Also will probably substitute chickpeas over the lima beans. Thanks for the link.

 

[AnnaS]

Many years ago, Friday nights was usually pizza or Chinese food. Now, no biggie. DH makes his own pizza whenever he is in the mood to make it/has time for it. We don't get Chinese as often as we used to.

Depending on the schedule, when it's a last minute thing, we might run to the diner or pick something up.

We don't have any specific meals for a specific night.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I never cook on Friday. But then I only cook 3 or 4 times a week. We usually go out one other day and get subway or a Portillo salad on the other days. I don’t enjoy cooking and my family doesn’t care.

 

[MamaLema]

I try not to.. We are almost empty nesters so it’s usually just dh and myself. Lately we have been going out on Friday nights for dinner and I have to say I kind of like this new tradition after so many years of cooking dinner every night for five people. And it is also much cheaper only paying for two now.

How about you? Cook, pizza night or go out on Fridays?

I cook every day. My boys live at home 23, 21, 16. We don’t really like fast food so a proper meal is expensive in a restaurant for a family of 5.
Hopefully I can be like you and start doing that when we’re empty nesters one day.

 

[bluezy]

I cook every day. My boys live at home 23, 21, 16. We don’t really like fast food so a proper meal is expensive in a restaurant for a family of 5.
Hopefully I can be like you and start doing that when we’re empty nesters one day.

I was you a few years ago. We have 5 kids. We rarely went out to eat when they all lived at home because it was so expensive. Even going to McDonald's was an expensive event for very sub-par food. We did pick up pizzas one night a week (usually Saturday or Sunday) because that was relatively cheap for feeding 7 people. Of course, as the kids get married or have boyfriends/girlfriends, having *everyone* over for pizza is a lot more expensive. The last time we did that it cost well over $100.

Two of our kids are now married, 2 are in college, and the youngest is not a fan of going out to eat but is perfectly capable of making something for herself (and is happy to do it). Now DH & I are making up for all those years we rarely went out to eat. Even if we go out with 3 or 4 of us, it's still a lot cheaper than when there would be 7 of us (or 12 of us if it's "everyone").

 

[Minnesota!]

If we're home, half the time. Other half it's payday and we get pizza or something.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Other than the occasional leftovers I cook a “real” protein, starch, and veggie dinner every night. Have been for almost 38 years. Only for the past 8 years it’s after I’ve been babysitting grandkids 10 hours a day/5 days a week. Have never had a dishwasher either so there’s all that too. Yippie.

 

[disneychrista]

Other than the occasional leftovers I cook a “real” protein, starch, and veggie dinner every night. Have been for almost 38 years. Only for the past 8 years it’s after I’ve been babysitting grandkids 10 hours a day/5 days a week. Have never had a dishwasher either so there’s all that too. Yippie.

Curious why "real" is in quotes for the protein.

 

[kiddo76]

We usually go out every Friday to a brewery that serves pizza.

As a kid, it was usually Fish & Chips from the local fish market or occasionally pizza.

Saturday nights were ALWAYS hot dogs and beans with brown bread.

 

[luvsJack]

Way back when my sons were young, we got into a habit during baseball season of constant eating out or fast food. So to curb the expense, we made Friday night take out night. Only night we would get it and everyone got to choose one Friday each month (although we mostly chose the same stuff). Somehow, we have never gotten out of that habit.

During the summer I am off on Fridays so will cook some of those Fridays.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Curious why "real" is in quotes for the protein.

“real” as in a 3 course dinner. He’s gotta have all 3. No such luck just having salads or sandwiches or something easy.

 

[kiddo76]

“real” as in a 3 course dinner. He’s gotta have all 3. No such luck just having salads or sandwiches or something easy.

If DH ever told me he's "gotta have" a specific kind of dinner every night, then he's gonna have to cook it himself!

 

[scrhsa]

Minimal. We go meatless on Fridays so I keep it very simple. Mac n cheese, salad, grilled cheese, baked potatos. Yesterday we did shrimp tacos

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Minimal. We go meatless on Fridays so I keep it very simple. Mac n cheese, salad, grilled cheese, baked potatos. Yesterday we did shrimp tacos

How do you make shrimp tacos? I tried fish tacos once. They were so bland that I never tried any type of fish or seafood taco again. I'd love a recipe for an easy, flavorful, shrimp taco. Unfortunately, I'm no longer able to stand long enough to make anything complicated, so it needs to be easy.

 

[Rick195275]

Yes I cook every night because I like to cook from scratch & eat organic.
We have people over a lot!

The only time I don’t cook is if we go out with people or to their house or we are on vacation. Never fast food type restaurants.

Looking for roommates?

 

[disneychrista]

If DH ever told me he's "gotta have" a specific kind of dinner every night, then he's gonna have to cook it himself!

Okay. I took it it mean that you that you were used meat substitue for the protein. Not that you were making a "real" dinner. I was going to ask for suggestions. I have to start eating more "plant based" meals for health reasons.

Minimal. We go meatless on Fridays so I keep it very simple. Mac n cheese, salad, grilled cheese, baked potatos. Yesterday we did shrimp tacos

Shrimp is still meat. Fish & seafood are all meats. Same as Beef, Pork & Poultry. Sorry just a pet peeve of mine.

 

[mombrontrent]

Okay. I took it it mean that you that you were used meat substitue for the protein. Not that you were making a "real" dinner. I was going to ask for suggestions. I have to start eating more "plant based" meals for health reasons.


Shrimp is still meat. Fish & seafood are all meats. Same as Beef, Pork & Poultry. Sorry just a pet peeve of mine.

I’ve been vegetarian for 22 years and vegan for 7. We eat a huge variety of foods, way more then most people. Here are some of our go to favourites, we do use “fake meat” sometimes and tofu :
Stir fry
Shepherds pie (using fake ground round)
Homemade soups (eating potato leek right now)
Speghetti
Burritos or tacos (using beans)
Homemade pizza or flatbreads

To keep things interesting I make a wide variety of different ethnic foods, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, African, ect. Almost anything can be made plant based and honestly it tastes better too!

 

[disneychrista]

I’ve been vegetarian for 22 years and vegan for 7..... Almost anything can be made plant based and honestly it tastes better too!

I was vegetarian for about 3 years about 15 years ago but back then all the fake meats smelled / tasted like chemicals to me. I am glad that they have improved since then. I've tried Gardein chicken and was impressed. I was not impressed with their meatball, they had weird licorice flavor.

 

[porschegrl]

The man loves beets so I'll save this as a side dish for another time. Have to figure if the maple syrup or any sweetner is needed in the tahini sauce though. Also will probably substitute chickpeas over the lima beans. Thanks for the link.

You're welcome. I hope you enjoy it!

As you may have inferred from the link, I got this through Sunbasket, so the ingredients just are what they are. If you're buying the ingredients yourself, I think the chickpeas would be a great substitution, and if you prefer no sweetener in the dressing, I'm sure that would work, too.

This dish fascinates me because I'm not particularly a fan of beets, and lima beans were among my most hated foods when I was a kid. But somehow it all comes together deliciously. This is one of my Sunbasket favorites, for sure.