Need to stop eating out... meal ideas?

mefordis

If you can dream it, you can do it.
Joined
Jun 23, 2006
We are eating out way too much. We are spending too much money on food, and we all need to cut down. Can someone share their go to meals? I hate cooking lately. Anything easy to recommend that I can just rotate in every week?

I'd like to stop ordering out Sun - Thurs at least.

Thanks!
 
We have lemon chicken a lot. We usually have it with rice if some kind.

1 C lemon juice
1/2 C Oil
1/4 C oregano
1/4 C parsley
Garlic (optional)
S & P to taste

Mix all ingredients. Cut as much chicken you need into strips. Marinate at least a half day in the fridge.
Cook in a 400 oven 20-23 minutes.
 
Thanks so much for the ideas :) Kimblebee what do you serve with the lemon chicken?
 


My current go to is what I call a "Protein Salad". It has a base of black beans, with grilled chicken, onions, peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes. I squeeze some lime juice and olive oil on top too. It's really good and if I chop everything up then I can eat it through the week with minimal work.
 
We are eating out way too much. We are spending too much money on food, and we all need to cut down. Can someone share their go to meals? I hate cooking lately. Anything easy to recommend that I can just rotate in every week?

I'd like to stop ordering out Sun - Thurs at least.

Thanks!

Well I can tell you that going "Paleo" is a quick cost effective method of not only "dieting" but it also cuts back on the "food buying", which I know what you mean there.

You make a meat and veggies/fruit. That is it. Keep it simple.

I make boneless pork chops in the "Copper Square Pan", takes 10mins tops.

Chicken legs, thighs, wings, etc. easily thrown in the oven without any prep.

Veggies I stir fry or steam.

Yea I am sick of cooking, dieting, etc. but trudge along. I ate Arby's last night so I am not perfect.

Good news is we are throwing less food away.

My sister used something called the NuWave Oven awhile ago. The lid eventually breaks apparently, but you can cook from your freezer to table. I am considering it.

Bottom line you have to really disciplined and stick to a menu. That is my biggest challenge.

I have even thought about doing one of those meal kit deals.
 


I don't like to cook either but we don't order out much. There are lots of quick and easy meals to make. I focus on a protein, a vegetable or 2 and sometimes a healthy whole grain.

I always have frozen stuff like thin sliced chicken or turkey breasts, fish and assorted burgers (buffalo, salmon and vegetarian); assorted vegetables and vegetable mixes; and quick grain blends like quinoa. I buy a lot of stuff at trader Joe's. They sell different sauces that can enhance a plain piece of fish or chicken.

I think the trick is to stock your freezer with easy things to throw together a meal quickly. When my daughter is home I always have cooked pasta and a few different sauces on hand if she doesn't want what I've made. She can then easily put together something for herself. I've never made food choices a battle. As long as everyone is mostly eating healthy food that's all that matters.
 
I follow some food sites that I've gotten some great dishes off of that have gone into our permanent rotations. Lots of these are delicious and healthy but do require a little more ingredients, prep and cooktime.
Skinnytaste.com
cleanfoodcrush.com
gimmesomeoven.com
themessyapron.blogspot.com

We usually do meatless Monday and at least one other night meatless~ usually simple, things like omelettes and salad, quiches and salad, different types of pasta dishes, lentils or rice and beans and a veggie, soups, grilled cheese and soup (DS loves to try all kinds of 'elevated' grilled cheese), homemade pizzas.

Simple meals we do pork tenderloin and roasted potatoes/carrots/onions, roasted turkey breast and vegetables, baked chicken and vegetables, burgers (beef, turkey) and sweet potatoes

In the fall I like to make a lot of homemade soups, I make a big pot, we have it for dinner, then I will freeze small containers for other meals.
I do chicken, potato, minestrone, black bean pumpkin, Italian Wedding, Olive Garden toscana

Family favorites are lemon chicken, tacos, enchiladas, chicken parmesan, spaghetti and meatballs.
 
I don't like to cook either but we don't order out much. There are lots of quick and easy meals to make. I focus on a protein, a vegetable or 2 and sometimes a healthy whole grain.

I always have frozen stuff like thin sliced chicken or turkey breasts, fish and assorted burgers (buffalo, salmon and vegetarian); assorted vegetables and vegetable mixes; and quick grain blends like quinoa. I buy a lot of stuff at trader Joe's. They sell different sauces that can enhance a plain piece of fish or chicken.

I think the trick is to stock your freezer with easy things to throw together a meal quickly. When my daughter is home I always have cooked pasta and a few different sauces on hand if she doesn't want what I've made. She can then easily put together something for herself. I've never made food choices a battle. As long as everyone is mostly eating healthy food that's all that matters.

That is what is hard for me. I hate eating frozen food, esp. frozen veggies. I really need to included a frozen meal in there somewhere just to have on hand.
 
Keep it simple. Roast a chicken on top of potatoes with a side salad. If you have meat left over, make fried rice the next day (use lot's of veggies). Make a chicken broth from the carcass (serve with noodles or use in cooking). Brown ground beef, cook with a jarred spaghetti sauce. Serve over pasta. Broil chicken breasts in quantity. Eat with rice, cous-cous, or quinoa first day, chicken salad another day. Dice into a green salad another day. Always keep something in the refrigerator that can be made in less than 20 minutes.
 
About 2 years ago I could have written this exact same post. I made a commitment to only eat out on Friday and Saturday and cook Sun-Thurs.

What I do is I ONLY go to the grocery once a week (usually on Friday after work) and I shop the sales, check out what is in the markdown meat area and get our food for the week. When I find a good deal on meat, I usually stock up since we have a deep freeze. When I get home I make a menu based on what deals I found - I write it on a little white board on the side of the fridge. Each morning I make sure what I need for that dinner is set out to thaw.

I am not a very good cook and I try to cook somewhat healthy, but I don't stress about it being super healthy. Our rotation includes lots of things made with ground beef (burgers, tacos, spaghetti, hamburger helper), things with chicken (bbq chicken breasts, sweet and sour chicken, stir fry type things), Pork chops (usually with shake and bake), steaks on the grill, smoked sausage, breakfast, and a few other things I'm sure I'm forgetting.

We are saving a lot of money on eating out. When we first started this, we didn't eat out at all for 4 months and our bank account went up by $1000!!!!
 
Chicken thighs cook quickly and are very tasty. We roast some veggies and some chicken thighs and Voila! dinner.

Costco has some great prepackaged salads on nights I don't want to cook - the Asian Cashew Crunch is super tasty. I add either chicken or salmon.

A couple nights a week I do a bigger recipe - pasta sauce (serve over veggies if you are watching carbs), pot roast, soup/stew. Cook once eat twice saves time and money!
 
I love to cook, but we just don't have time to do mich mid-week. I've settled in doing a lot of partially prepared foods that I can make at home quickly:

- if your grocery store has cooked shredded chicken or pork carnitas, we heat it up, along with black beans and corn tortillas and add some cheese and/or salsa=pork or chicken tacos on the table in 5-7 minutes

- frozen meatballs, a good jar marinara (I love Mom's) and boiled spaghetti, add a bagged Caesar salad=dinner in about 15-20 minutes

- premade BBQ beef, chicken or pork, buns, sauce and chips (or other sides if you choose)= BBQ sandwiches in 5 minutes

I know these are not the healthiest options- they are somwhart high on sodium,for example. But for nights you're doing something under 20 minutes or takeout, these work for us. The above meals also generate very little in terms of preparation dishes to clean up.
 
We are 4 in the family and I usually cook a fairly large piece of meat (whole chicken, pork roast, chicken breasts and thighs) in the crockpot. This will give us at least 3 meals during the week. One day we will have meat with salad and veg. The next day I might roast potatoes and carrots in the oven and for the third meal I'll mix whatever meat is left with cooked rice and some type of sauce on it. I find when there is some type of meat already cooked on hand it is quite effortless to get a meal together quickly.

I also keep store bought frozen pizza, lasagna and fish and chips in the freezer. I keep them for "emergencies" when for whatever reason I don't have anything else prepared. Although not as healthy as homemade, at least it keeps us from doing take-out which in itself is quite unhealthy and expensive.

We too have restricted ourselves from eating out very much because even fast food for a family can cost at least $40.00 and that is a lot of groceries for healthy meals. We do eat out usually on Saturday afternoons when we are shopping and feel hungry and on special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries and, of course, vacations.
 
This is the newest thing I put in my rotation:

https://www.galonamission.com/one-pot-creamy-tomato-tortellini-soup/

It was a lot quicker and easier than I thought!

That looks delicious! And doesn't include canned soup! I'm making that this week!

OP: I make the following meal almost weekly. This is insanely easy, quick, healthy and delicious. I am definitely a laissez faire cook (not baker though!), so just, as Tim Gun would say, make it work:

Lemon and Caper Salmon with roasted veggies

In an over safe dish take a salmon filet
Marinate in the pan and cook on 350 until its the appropriate doneness for your taste:
Olive oil
S&P
Garlic
Lemon Juice
Capers
fresh basil

In another over safe pan, slice up sweet and another kind of potato, zuccini, summer squash, colored peppers, onions, etc. really, any of those ingredients will work, or eggplant, mushrooms, whatever you've got, then olive oil, salt pepper and parsley.
 
The crock pot/slow cooker is your friend.
Chili, beef stew, lasagna.

I'm a big fan of crockpot beef stew. I just dump stew meat, potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, broth, and McCormick's seasoning in the pot in the morning and buy a baguette on the way home. Leftovers go in thermoses for kids' lunches the next day. They love it.

ETA: Use low sodium broth and seasoning.
 
When I'm burned out from cooking I serve simple meals that the family can help out with such as tacos, paninis (I use my George Foreman grill which makes it easy), homemade pizzas. etc. I usually serve them with a premade salad from the grocery store. When I have lots of time and energy I make freeze and items such as homemade meatballs, meatloaf, enchiladas, pizzas, calzones, etc. for the days when I don't feel like cooking or don't have time to cook.
 
I've become a fan of the one-skillet or sheet pan meals. I cook Sun-Thursday and eat out on the weekend. I also do my food shopping once a week (Sunday) and get everything I need. I work full-time plus have a commute so I don't have much time to shop during the week. I also try to exercise during the week so a quick meal prep is important. What doesn't help things is ME. I'm kind of persnickety about my food tasting good. While easy, I'm not a fan of just a plain chicken breast and two sides. I need taste, flavor, excitement!! Here are two of my go-to recipes that I've been wearing out lately. They are both easy prep. One cooks real fast. The sheet pan one is a bit more effort/time but still really easy.

One Skillet Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken & Gnocchi:

http://www.eatyourselfskinny.com/one-skillet-sun-dried-tomato-chicken-gnocchi/

The link provides the recipe. The changes I made to it is for the sundried tomatoes, I bought the strips of them that are marinated in oil and herbs versus plain ones. I use the oil from the jar to saute them (and the garlic in) versus olive oil. Really, really tasty. Rotisserie chickens are only $4.99 where I am so the easy of using one is well worth it.

This next one takes a little more prep but it is a very "beginner" recipe:

Sheet Pan Supper: Sausage, Green Beans & Crispy Potatoes

24 oz of baby red potatoes cut in half or quarters (the smaller your potatoes the less prep work). If you get full sized red potatoes, you will need to dice them.
1 packet of Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. salt (I find I don't need the salt)
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 (12 oz) package of fully cooked Italian Chicken sausage (or any flavor of chicken sausage you want - Aidell's/Fresco/store brand) - For a family of 4 who like sausage, you may want to use up to 2 packages. Slice it in 1/2 inch pieces (or larger if you like bigger chunks).
8 ounces frozen green beans, thawed (I used fresh ones in a steamable back and microwave for 2 minutes before adding them in).

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
3. Place diced potatoes in a large zip-loc bag.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the Italian dressing mix, olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
5. Pour oil mixture into zip-loc bag, seal, and gently massage to coat potatoes.
6. Spread seasoned potatoes on baking sheet.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, tossing potatoes halfway through.
8. Remove the potatoes from the oven. Add sliced sausage to the sheet pan, toss to coat in seasoning, and return pan to the oven. Bake approximately 15 minutes more, but during the final 5 minutes, add the precooked fresh or thawed frozen green beans to the pan, toss to coat, and return to the oven. The meal is ready when the green beans are tender and the potatoes are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

** You made need a bit more olive oil when making your seasoning if you have chosen to use more sausage.
 

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