how to eat on the weekend without cooking or spending money out?

[yukookoo]

i cook from scratch 5 days a week. On the weekends i want something easy and cheap. I have tried getting dh to cook, but he has no idea how to make something out of nothing, he doesnt look at what we have he chooses what extravagant meal he wants to make then goes and spends more money on ingredients than we wouldve spend on dinner out.

I usually bake bread fridays and dd and i will eat bread and butter and jelly and sandwiches, but thats not enough for the whole family

today we did pasta and store bought sauce.

i have done home made dumplings with store bought pasta sauce. But the dumplings do take some time.

We are always on the go on the weekends and i just done have time to cook anything during the day, we get home and are starved.

Crock pot meals may be an option but the with lead in crock pots i dont want to be eating out of one every weekend.


So just curious what others do on the weekends as far as frugal meal planning?

[Grace and Granola]

Good question! I don't have a great answer, but we usually do leftovers one night and eat out one night...though we don't always eat out every week. What about leftovers one night and breakfast for dinner the other night? Breakfast foods are easy to cook and require little thought and are usually pretty cheap. Or what about making an extra meal during the week...something simple like a casserole that you can keep for the weekend.

[Aubergine68]

I am now working on a weekly budget and if I am careful during the week and have leftover $$, I might do take out. But the takeout we like really isn't healthy, so I'm trying to avoid that.

Other convenient weekend food go-tos for us include:

I gave in to bagged salad and preprepped vegetables for weekend meals if it feels like a treat and keeps us from eating out

There is a brand of Indian meals in our grocer's frozen food section that we like. If I plan to have leftover brown rice and veggies in the fridge, I can turn a $3 Butter Chicken meal for one into an Indian stirfry that feeds all of us.

Of course, the ideal would be for me to make my own butter chicken and freeze portions for a similar meal, but I'm not there yet.

I do make a pot of chili (different kinds) about once a month. I find that it is really quick to reheat a meal sized portion in a pot on the stove and serve with bread or taco chips and salad.

Having a package of good tortillas, sprouts, grated cheese, beans, maybe some hummus, and a kid-friendly jarred salsa on hand makes it easy to make quesadillas. I put the fillings in, fold in half and bake several in the oven on a cookie sheet for 10-15 min. Quick.

Pizzas are also a go-to. I can pull out a portion of homemade, frozen dough in the morning and make sure there is cheese already grated and toppings in the fridge ready to go. Then it goes together quickly when we get home.

What are you eating during the day? Maybe taking snacks with you that are higher fat/protien will keep you from feeling so starved and exhausted when you get home?

Our favorite "Saturday Snacks" include n taking cut-up fruit, cheese, nut butter sandwiches, nuts, wraps with eggs leftover from breakfast and salad greens, breakfast muffins, granola as finger food,

ETA good idea re: breakfast for dinner! We almost always have a covered bowl of homemade pancake batter, in the fridge, since my littlest one thinks pancakes are a food group. I add pureed veg to them, the only way he'll eat most veg right now, unfortunately.....We can use the batter in our waffle maker, too. I've been wondering if I could thin it with milk and make homemade crepes;we could have savory fillings, too....

How about a smoothie (green or dairy based) to tide everyone over until the dinner is ready?

[maciascl]

My favorite low prep meal is what we call egg pie. Mix 12 eggs, some leftover veggies, leftover meat (if you want), shredded cheddar, a splash of milk & some seasonings in a bowl. Pour into a lightly oiled 9x12 baking dish & bake for about 40 minutes at 350. Serve with toast, fruit & may be some raw veggies. It is very versitile & cheap becuse you can use any veggies or meat you have available. Our favorite combo is broccoli & tofurky (we are vegetarian, but like the smokey turkey-like flavor it adds)

[yeahwhat]

Saturday is usually our leftovers/clear out the fridge day. If we're short on leftovers, we'll do eggs and toast with fruit.

If I didn't want to cook or spend money on takeout on weekends, I'd do planned leftovers (during the week, make a double meal and freeze half, pull out on weekends as wanted), or crockpot meals, or pasta w/canned sauce and already prepped or bagged salads.

[happyhats]

I suppose the cheapest alternative would be to prepare frozen dishes that you could reheat for the weekends.

Here's what I usually do. I will buy an item or two that's a bit more of a luxury item/indulgence and we tend to cook that for the weekend. We discuss it ahead of time just like we would going out to eat. Usualy there's leftovers which go into the freezer for a busy day, or to take for hubby's lunch. Sometimes that's a huge take and bake pizza, sometimes it's something we actually take the time to prepare but has more expensive ingredients than what we would use on the everyday. But when it's all said and done we probably spend ten bucks to feed us both a nice meal plus a couple leftovers, so two fifty an entree as compared to a meal out being MUCH more even without tipping and drinks!

[jimblejamble]

Just make a little more of every meal during the week so on the weekend you'll have enough for everyone to have leftovers.

[amyamanda]

Originally Posted by yukookoo

Crock pot meals may be an option but the with lead in crock pots i dont want to be eating out of one every weekend.

Lead in crock pots?!?

[BetsyS]

We have a rhythm to the weekends that seems to work for us.

On Fridays, we eat a kid-friendly meal. Things like hamburgers, sloppy joes, chili, hot dogs, grilled cheese. The sort of thing my kids beg for.

On Saturdays, I make breakfast. Usually eggs, toast, and bacon. Pretty easy. Saturday lunch is either out, leftovers, or quesadillas.

Saturday night is our "at home date night". So, I feed the kids early (leftovers or pb&honey). Then, we eat something "good", which varies. But is usually pretty easy. Grilled steaks, grilled fish, take-out occasionally, nachos, sometimes a prepared meal from Trader Joes, whatever. But, I like for it to be easy and good, so that's my main requirements.

Sunday is an easy breakfast. Cereal, bagels, or a quick bread I made on Friday. That's so we can get out the door in a timely manner.

Sunday lunch is either hot dogs, soup in the crockpot, or a main dish salad that is prepped ahead of time, waiting in the fridge. We don't eat many sandwiches, but this would be a good time for that, too. We go to church, and eating out after church interferes with nap time, but everyone is starving by the time we get home. So, the main requirement is FAST.

Sunday supper is breakfast for supper. Cause at that point, I'm just done. I don't want to think about or cook a big meal, but everyone still (strangely!) wants to eat. So, breakfast it is. Blueberry pancakes, biscuits and gravy, omelets, egg tacos, chilaquiles are our most common rotation, but anything is fine in the "breakast" category.

[enkmom]

What works for us is to do our grocery shopping on Friday nights, and we choose a meal for dh to grill for us on Saturday. I get a break from cooking, my husband gets to show off his skills, and nothing extra is spent on a special trip to the store for unplanned ingredients. When it is too cold to grill, he fixes oven baked chicken or something else easy and relatively hands-off. On Sundays, if we feel like it we fix a big meal together, and if we don't we eat leftovers, hot dogs (tonight's dinner), or grilled cheese.

I cook the other 5 nights of the week, and he is more than willing to help out on the weekend.

[Purple*Lotus]

Originally Posted by happyhats

I suppose the cheapest alternative would be to prepare frozen dishes that you could reheat for the weekends.

[griffin2004]

on weekends we do:
--leftovers from M-F
--cereal w/ milk
--Costco free samples; seriously, this is a lunch for my DD
--invite friends over, or invite ourselves to a friends, and do potluck
--something pre-made out of a box
--soup and sandwiches

[Delicateflower]

How about making your husband king of pizza (or whatever meal you fancy as a weekly ritual) and have him and the kids make pizzas together.

[wombatclay]

I cook from scratch during the week and just "double up" a few recipes... the extra meal goes into the freezer for the weekend or whenever a pre-made meal is required! Our freezer favorites are:

lasagna
lentil/meat loaf
marinated tofu cubes (can be thawed, baked, then tossed over rice or salad)
build-your-own-taco fixings (seasoned meat, shredded cheese... tortillas, veggies, sauce added at the table)
pizza (dd1 has celiac so we make our own gluten free pizza crusts. Pre cook the crust, add toppings, freeze)
waffles (home made, topped with yogurt, fruit, and seeds/nuts)

For quick meals/sides we like:

scrambled eggs
crunchy salad (chop up apples, carrots, add raisins and seeds/nuts, stir in yogurt. Yum!)
smoothies (plain yogurt, juice, frozen or fresh fruit, a splash of vanilla, tofu/protien powder if you want, some molasses if you want, etc)
cereal with soy milk
oatmeal (I make a big slow cooker batch overnight... my crock pot doesn't have lead as far as I know)
brown rice (rice cooker!) topped with whatever leftovers we have in the fridge, or drenched in hot milk/raisins/cardamom/seeds/nuts

I guess my advice would be to look at what you and your family think of as fun food, then figure out how to prepare that during the week to have on hand for the weekend. So if pizza or chinese take-out are the favorites, perhaps make a few crusts on your baking day or double up a batch of sesamechicken or keep a pack of rice noodles on the shelf.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

The Grill.

For me, my lifesaver is the grill.

Throw something on the grill (chicken, steak, eggplant, a hamburger)

Toss a salad. Loaf of crusty bread...and you are done.

[Tuesday]

Roast potatoes and sweet potatoes in olive oil and salt. The potatoes take 45 minutes at 425F or longer if temp of oven is lower. Then I fry some eggs and cook some greens.

A can of tomatoes, some onion and garlic and dried basil pureed is cheaper and nicer than jarred spaghetti sauce.

Grilled cheese sands or tuna sandwiches and salads and crudites.

[Denvergirlie]

We do more snacks on the weekends. On Satruday for lunch, it was a tray, with cut carrots and celery, with dip. Tossed on some crackers, quickly cut up 3 apples, 2 oranges and some cheese. It was a feast, it stayed on the counter all afternoon and by 5pm or so, it was pretty much all gone.

Saturday night was a soup that I had started at lunch time, it just simmered until we were ready to eat it. The base actually came from the freezer, we had eaten that soup orgnally about 3 weeks ago.

Sunday morning --- fend for yourself, yogurt, cheese, fruit, toast, bagels, frozen waffles, soy breakfast meats, etc, etc.
Sunday afternoon - simple veggie sandwhiches (cream cheese, lettecue, cucumber, red pepper and avocado), a few chips and a half of a cut up orange. Took me maybe 5 minutes all together to make lunch.
Dinner last night was salad and baked potatoes. Salad was left over from previously in the week, this polished it off. Baked potato took 5 minutes in microwave, with another minute to put on butter, sour cream, shredded cheese and bac-o-bits. A dash of salt and pepper, and dressing on the salad.

We go for easy and filling more so on the weekends and do most of my actual cooking during the week.

Frozen meals really help a lot, as does the crock pot. I am not worried about lead leaching from the crock pot for one meal a week, but that is my comfort level and understand others might just not be okay no matter what.

Can you cook an extra meal during the week and eat it on the weekends?

[Ruthiegirl]

I switched it up and do most of my cooking/prep on Sunday.

Not sure if this would help in your situation, but for me I like to have less chaos during the week. It helps keep me sane and I look forward to Sunday's big prep day. I make a pot of tea, turn on some music and rock out while I chop, simmer, and saute.

Yesterday, I prepped a turkey meatloaf for Mon, made meatballs for Tues, stock for soup on Wed, cooked beans for tostadas on Thurs, and cut up a chicken to grill Fri. While I was at it, I made enchiladas with the left over chicken, onions, and a can of tomatoes. That is in the freezer as a back up for another day.

Yes, it is a lot to do at one time, but it is done! And now I can just pop things in the oven without too much hassle. I find that switching my cooking style and doing more work ahead of time has made my week less crazy and I am not so tired going into the weekend.

Just tossing out ideas....

[Ruthiegirl]

Originally Posted by Denvergirlie

Dinner last night was salad and baked potatoes. Salad was left over from previously in the week, this polished it off. Baked potato took 5 minutes in microwave, with another minute to put on butter, sour cream, shredded cheese and bac-o-bits. A dash of salt and pepper, and dressing on the salad.

I love baked potato night. My all-time favorite meal as a kid. I used to think it was quite fancy when my mom would open a can of baked beans and roast potatoes. She would serve it on her good china and we thought it was all rather chic. Now of course, I understand that she was broke and exhausted! But it still ranks up there in my top ten favorite meals.

I think it is important to remember that sometimes food is just food and simple meals can be a real life saver for tired moms and cooks.

Nothing wrong with potatoes for dinner...or eggs and toast...or cereal.

[wombatclay]

She would serve it on her good china and we thought it was all rather chic.

Good china, or at least nice plates, can improve any meal. Salvation Army here always seems to have a few "really nice" plates for 10-50 cents each so I don't worry about the kiddos breaking something.