Need to stop eating out... meal ideas?

[kimblebee]

Thanks so much for the ideas Kimblebee what do you serve with the lemon chicken?

I usually do rice in my rice maker. If I have a bit more time I’ll do oven herb potatoes.

Cube as many potatoes as you need
Toss with oil to coat. Add oregano, rosemary, garlic, Parmesan cheese and toss to coat. Cook in a 400 oven for 20 minutes, flip and give another 20-25 minutes. If you aren’t using a non stick cookie sheet, spray it with Pam first..these tend to stick.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I love to cook but some days I just don't feel like it. Instead of ordering out, what I started doing (in addition to freezer meals I have already made) I now stock up on things like Frozen Pizza, Birds Eye Meal Kits and even Stouffers Mac and Cheese and Lasagna.

Yes..they can be expensive, are high in sodium, not the healthiest, etc.. But I figure having one of these on like a Friday night is still a ton cheaper than ordering take out or even dining out.

I do cook pretty healthy 90 percent of the time, so I figure a couple times a month doing this won't hurt us.

I always keep a couple Stouffers in the freezer too. They are my go to for nights that I have late meetings because DH can preheat the oven and toss them in before I get home then I just usually throw some garlic bread in the oven and toss up a small salad and dinner is ready in 10 minutes.

 

[donac]

I will make southern style ribs in the oven or the crockpot, and then finish on the grill or the broiler with sauce. Later in the week I will take the leftovers and turn them into pulled port sandwiches. Last week I did that and I still have pulled pork leftover. Tonight I am making a pizza with barbque sauce, pulled pork, diced peppers and cheddar cheese.

 

[Kitty 34]

The crock pot/slow cooker is your friend.
Chili, beef stew, lasagna.

and I just did a turkey breast in my crock pot. Made mashed potatoes and gravy and almost thought it was Thanksgiving!!

 

[hereyago]

I also will have breakfast for supper.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I've been going to the publix recipes. I found a thai chicken thigh meal that we really like on their website that was easy for me to make.

We seldom eat out. I've found that by the time we drive to a place, wait to be seated which can be upwards of 30 minutes, order the food and get it - we'd already have cooked the food at home and eaten it.

I also make a Rosemary Butter Steak recipe that I got from the Publix website and serve it with a baked potato and a salad that everyone except the vegaterian will eat. She just usually eats the salad with the baked potato in that case.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I just thought about the chili I make - it only takes 30 minutes on the stovetop. You can add ground beef or ground turkey.

First the cornbread is made using the jiffy corn bread mix - I usually buy 2 of those and use an 8x8 pan to cook it in.

Then I make the chili. First if I'm going to cook it with beef I cook the ground beef in the pan. Since we have a vegetarian now I usually don't bother anymore.
3 cans of whatever beans you like (kidney or black), drained.
Throw in a 16 oz jar of salsa - I usually use Pace mild
Then add a basic can (12 or 14 oz) of diced tomatoes.
add in a tablespoon of chili powder (add more if you like it really hot)
You can also add some garlic if you want and even dice some onion and pre-cook that and toss it in.

Simmer for 30 minutes and you are done. After you serve it you can top it with cheddar cheese.

It's an easy meal to make on a Sunday for a Monday after work meal since it's really good reheated. It doesn't make a lot though - if I want a lot I double and sometimes triple the recipe for leftovers.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I'm always amazed that people can afford to eat out 3-4 times a week. For a family of 4 that would be $150-$200 a week just on eating out 4 meals! I just can't fathom that.

We often do things like a roast on Sunday in the slow cooker and hot sandwiches on Monday. Or farmer sausage and frozen perogies. Tuna melts on bagels. Salmon in the oven with rice.
Homemade hamburgers (make them ahead of time on work days).
Ham and baked potatoes. Stick ham in for couple hours. Throw potatoes in oven. Open bagged salad or make corn or other veggies.
Have leftover ham the next day with Stove Top stuffing and veggies. Or perogies.
Brown some chicken breasts with salsa and cheese and serve or noodles.
Shrimp and rice.
BBQ a steak and potatoes.
Tacos with either hard or soft shell/wraps. Use chicken breasts or ground meat.
Buy premade individual pizza crusts and toppings. Everyone makes their own.
Friday nights for fun - homemade nachos and frozen wings. Much cheaper than eating out.
Lazy lasagna or mac and cheese in slow cooker. Always have leftovers.
Beef strips with broccoli stirfry served over rice.
Homemade burritos - wraps, canned refried beans, beef or chicken if you like, cheese. Can also have rice.
Buy a rotisserie chicken from deli and serve with roast potatoes. Prepared but still healthy and cheaper than eating out.
Buy frozen pie shells. Brown some chicken. Add veggies and cream soup. Bake. Homemade chicken pot pie. Serve with big salad.

Any of those take 10-25 minutes to whip up.

 

[mjkacmom]

Shepherd's Pie is a good one-dish meal.

Rachael Ray has a good 30 minute one that is ds19’s favorite meal (I buy refridgerated mashed potatoes for the top).

I cook almost every night, takeout about 3 times a month, eat out about 6 times a year, and my family doesn’t like to eat the same meal more than twice a month.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I love to cook but some days I just don't feel like it. Instead of ordering out, what I started doing (in addition to freezer meals I have already made) I now stock up on things like Frozen Pizza, Birds Eye Meal Kits and even Stouffers Mac and Cheese and Lasagna.

Yes..they can be expensive, are high in sodium, not the healthiest, etc.. But I figure having one of these on like a Friday night is still a ton cheaper than ordering take out or even dining out.

I do cook pretty healthy 90 percent of the time, so I figure a couple times a month doing this won't hurt us.

Exactly! Sometimes on Friday if we want something fun we do homemade nachos and a box of frozen wings. Not super healthy (besides veggies on nachos..) but still quarter of the cost then taking the family or for dinner or ordering in pizza. Nachos we use a big bag of tortilla chips, tomatoes, peppers, cheeses. Lots of cheese. Serve with sour cream and salsa. Oh of course ground beef or something chicken breasts cut up. We just cook the meat, pile it onto a big pizza pan and bake it for 10 minutes. Easy peasy.

 

[disykat]

For roasted potatoes, try microwaving them for a few minutes before you cut them and prep for baking. It cuts down the cooking time.

 

[Micca]

Another down & dirty dish that turns out better than it has any right to: Chicken soup in a slow cooker. Buy one of those rotisserie chickens they sell at the grocery store deli, chop it up, throw in veggies and any seasoning you like in with some chicken stock or broth. I use carrots/onion/celery and sautee them for a few minutes but you could skip that step. You could add potatoes, rice or noodles too, I just try to keep the carb count down a bit. When the veggies are cooked soft enough for your taste, it's ready! With the chicken & veggies it fills you up faster than you might think and it's reasonably healthy. It is worlds better than canned soup and you can freeze whatever you don't want to eat right away.

 

[amberpi]

I keep frozen clean, no tail shrimp (about $6 a bag) on hand all the time. Last night I made Shrimp Scampi in about 10 minutes. Put a pot of water on to boil, toss the shrimp in a colander under cold, running water to thaw. Meanwhile grab half a stick of butter, some good olive oil, garlic (I like the frozen cubes from TJ’s), lemon juice, wine (or chicken broth). By now your shrimp will be thawed and your water boiling. Put your butter, oil and garlic in med hot pan, put your pasta in the boiling water. Now add you shrimp to the butter, add some Italian seasoning if you want. Cook to almost pink, add lemon and wine. Your pasta is done and so is the bag of veggie steamers you threw in the microwave. Your family is impressed at the “fancy” meal you just made and you let them think you worked your butt off to make it.

Wenrob, you get me...I try to eat fresh, but there is always frozen shrimp, scallops, and spinach and my home grown basil in my fridge and I can make what looks like a fancy meals in the time it takes to make a pasta or some wild rice to cook.

 

[Shanti]

Rachael Ray has a good 30 minute one that is ds19’s favorite meal (I buy refridgerated mashed potatoes for the top).

I cook almost every night, takeout about 3 times a month, eat out about 6 times a year, and my family doesn’t like to eat the same meal more than twice a month.

You are much more kitchen virtuous than I.

 

[wenrob]

Wenrob, you get me...I try to eat fresh, but there is always frozen shrimp, scallops, and spinach and my home grown basil in my fridge and I can make what looks like a fancy meals in the time it takes to make a pasta or some wild rice to cook.

People think meals like that take a lot of time but if you let yourself use a little convenience (cleaned, frozen shrimp, canned clams, frozen chicken breasts etc.) you can put a damn good meal on the table. Weeknight meals don’t have to be five star, must be able to present to Gordon Ramsay creations. It’s fun to make those when you have the time but you can serve up more than basic when you’re short on time too.

 

[Arkansan]

I find it easier to cook if I have some of the ingredients already prepped and ready. We are not huge red meat eaters, but do like a little. I usually halve the amount of hamburger in a recipe (chuck wagon beans, chili, spaghetti sauce, etc.). When I do need ground beef, I always brown a couple of pounds at once (and onions). Then I put about a 1/2 lb each in several freezer safe bags and freeze them flat. I use 1/2 lb that night in whatever I'm making and have the rest already cooked to add to other things. It will thaw quickly.

I make pulled pork in my crockpot. I use pork tenderloin, but you could use another cut. I add garlic, pepper, a little chicken broth and soy sauce and let it cook all day. Then I take two forks and shred it and put it on buns. (Add BBQ sauce to taste). Very quick and easy. It will make quite a bit so it can be frozen for another meal or eaten as leftovers.

I also like the sheet pan dinners.

In the Spring and Summer, I try to make a pasta salad every couple of weeks. We like tuna salad with mayo or I use pasta, chicken, broccoli, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and an Italian dressing. We can eat those over a couple of nights and they work with busy schedules with people coming and going at different times.

 

[piccolopat]

OP you don't say how many people are in your family so my experience may not be relevant to you. Right now it's just me and DH. After a full day of work and a 2 1/2 hour commute each way I don't want to spend a lot of time cooking. I always have some quick serve meals ready to throw together. For example, we like the pre-cooked chicken sausage from the supermarket which heats up in the microwave in a couple of minutes. Add a package of 90 second Uncle Ben rice and a salad and I can have dinner ready in less than 5 minutes. I buy the precooked mashed potatoes or the steam in a bag mashed potatoes and other vegetables. I buy thin cuts of chicken, pork and beef that will fan fry up in minutes. I try to cook things on the weekend that give me at least one night of leftover but that depends on whether DD and her husband come over. I like the roasted chicken from the supermarket but it is usually a but too salty.

 

[olliesmom]

We got an Instant Pot a few months ago and it has absolutely paid for itself with how much less often we are ordering takeout now! Last night I made shrimp and spinach alfredo with about 5 min prep time and 7 min cook time! My husband was pretty skeptical at first because he hates the texture of meals cooked in the slow cooker, but it's totally won him over. My current go-to meals are spaghetti and meat sauce (all in one pot, no draining, cooked in 8 mins), macaroni and cheese, teriyaki meatballs w/rice, lots of soups and chilis and curries/butter chicken with rice and naan. You do have to wait for the pot to build up to pressure which adds a bit to the cooking time, but I mostly just love that I don't have to watch the stove and only have to clean one pot after!

When dinner isn't made in the IP, we often do quick and simple things like grilled cheese and tomato soup (I make big batches of soup and freeze leftovers), BLTs, breakfast for dinner (scrambled eggs with toast and bacon, cut up fruit), or sometimes frozen entrees like chicken pot pies, lasagnas, etc. I always keep a frozen lasagna and a frozen chicken pot pie in the freezer for evenings when I come home and don't feel like doing anything more than preheating the oven. It's not particularly healthy, but I also sometimes just grab a can of cream of mushroom soup, mix it together with some milk/sour cream/seasonings (even a ranch seasoning packet will work), pour over chicken breasts and bake then serve with rice and steamed broccoli. Once you have a rotation of easy dinners, make sure you always have those items in your pantry or freezer so you can have some quick go-to meals.

One easy meal prep that I do is whenever I'm making a marinade for a recipe, I double it and freeze half the meat in a freezer bag with the marinade. Makes it super easy to grab out of the freezer and stir fry with rice and veggies (frozen veggies if needed).

When I do grab takeout, I try to pick things that will leave us with leftovers for another meal or lunches. For example, I'm more likely to stop and pick up a rotisserie chicken dinner because I can use leftover shredded chicken for soup, quesadillas, chicken salad sandwiches, etc. Pizza often leaves us leftovers to bring to lunch the next day, and when we order Thai or Chinese I make a pot of steamed rice so if we have leftover beef and broccoli, etc. it's really easy to pop into a container with steamed rice! Then at least your takeout costs are doing double duty.

 

[low-key]

I eat out a lot also, and really dont have time or energy to be cooking, I found a quick easy meal is a Bologna and cheese sandwich with a bowl of Campbell Chicken Noodle soup. Im serious, real cheap, real easy and not bad

 

[sk!mom]

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.

I also dislike frozen or canned veggies. It seems that all of the flavor is lost. My go to hurry veggies are fresh broccoli and asparagus. Both take little prep and have a short cook time. I steam the broccoli and roast the asparagus with a little olive oil. Both can be ready in the time it takes to bake a salmon filet.