Help me stop eating out all the time

[sunnylady303]

So our life is really much better. We had to leave our home because it got totally wrecked with mold (it was a parsonage) and my kids and I were all in the hospital. Totally sucky. But it is better. Partly thanks to this forum. I'm the lady with the crazy taxes and that's under control. We did talk to a tax attorney and we are buying a house (closing is next week). So now we need to spend less so we can funnel more to the IRS and our mortgage.
I've always been a real homemade, from scratch, local foods kind of gal but the last three months when we've been out of our home with none of our own stuff (we have to get rid of most of it) in a roach & mouse infested kitchen, I've kind of gone off cooking. I've tried to get back on the bandwagon but I am having a hard time. We need to be saving money but we ate out lunch AND dinner yesterday, we ate out lunch Saturday, dinner Friday, etc, etc....I can't believe it's that much. It's totally not us.
So other than the obvious but unhelpful answer of "You just don't eat out" can someone give me advice? Pointers? A pep talk? Something? I'm really struggling. I just don't feel like cooking. This isn't my place. I've probably got mild depression (understandably and hopefully temporarily) but I've got to get out of this. Bad for my money, my body, and my kids. Thanks!

[BetsyS]

When I get in a "not cooking" jag, I try to ease back into it. If I try to jump from eating out 10 times a week into from scratch wonderful meals 21 times a week, well, it ain't gonna happen.

This is what Trader Joe's was made for. Seriously. Those frozen dinners there, frozen pizzas, whatever. They are quick and easy, and I would plan at least one meal a day to be quick and easy. Really easy. Like bagels and cream cheese. A frozen dinner. Cold cereal and milk. Cheese quesadillas with bottled salsa. EASY.

Then, you can ease from there into a little more complicated stuff. Salads with deli meat on top. Hamburgers. No side dishes, just hamburgers and maybe baby carrots. Pretty easy, but a little bit of preparation.

Maybe make a goal of 19-20 meals at home for the week, then reward yourself with 1-2 meals out. Choose the ones you want the most. Saturday lunch? Sunday supper? Wednesday supper? Whatever works for your family.

[tiffany21074]

I agree with the pp. It is a hard habit to break...so I commiserate! Another thing I found helpful (which may not be possible if you are living in an infested place) is to keep the kitchen clean and the dishes washed. Easier said than done with kids, but I found I am much more willing to cook if the kitchen is presentable. When there are no dishes and the counters are yuck, I am more likely to say "lets go get food."

Good luck!

[p1gg1e]

I upped my food money and made bigger meals for left overs...Its helped!

hope you stop soon I know how you feel :

[montlake]

I get in these jags as well. I really like to cook, I just get in ruts where I don't want to do it. I find the easiest cures for me are 1. watching cooking shows and 2. cooking multiple meals at the same time. Like on Sunday night, I might cook dinners for the next 2 or 3 nights.

[lotus.blossom]

What do you usually order when you eat out?

I find that when I am cooking super healthy foods sometimes my DH gets bored and feels like eating something naughty at a restaurant. So I try to plan something really tasty like fried chicken or a bacon burger or enchiladas....something that he would order out but make it healthier at home.

Oh and now that its spring/summer you could do some grilling. I hardly ever cook in my kitchen in the summer. Its so fun to pop a refreshing beverage and grill outside!

[shayinme]

Crockpot. I have a love/hate relationship with cooking, meaning when I cook I feel good about it, its just getting in the mood. In the past what happens is I plan nothing for dinner, next thing you know its time to eat, so I end up eating out or ordering a pizza. In the past year, I dusted off my crockpot and it helps seriously, a few mins of advance planning and at dinner time there is a home cooked meal. My fav crockpot recipe is chicken & barley. Just throw some chicken thighs, carrots, celery, seasonings, water and barley and 8 hours you have a meal.

Hope this helps.

Shay

[miss_sonja]

I agree on the ease into it idea. Start with semi and prepared foods--they'll still be cheaper than eating out. Maybe a family size entree frozen dinner, and then prepare a side vegetable at home.

Consider using a service like Leanne Ely's menu mailer (www.savingdinner.com). You get a week's worth of menus, along with a shopping list so you can grocery shop quickly. I love it, and the dishes are ones that the whole family enjoys.

Be kind to yourself--it sounds like life has been hectic. Take baby steps to getting back into the kitchen for dinner.

[mtm]

sounds like a really stressful few months. No wonder you were eating out so much. What worked for me was adding up how much I'd spent on takeout, snacks, coffees one month and realizing that I was basically just throwing that money away. Sure I enjoyed the food while eating it but after it was gone, there was nothing left to show for it. I'd ease back in to cooking, do some frozen pizza, easy pasta sort of recipes til you are feeling more like your normal cook from scratch self. When do you move into your new place, that might help a lot!

[jamiew]

Perhaps set 2 days a week as "dinner out" nights. That will cut it down, but you'll still be able to go out.

You could start eating back at home by making pizza, or burgers, whatever you'd really crave when you go out. We make nachos when we want to feel decadent.

[timneh_mom]

We stopped eating out for a couple of reasons. 1, it hasn't been enjoyable. The food really isn't that good, unless we go somewhere really high end, and then it's way too expensive except for something like our anniversary (plus the need for a sitter). 2, our kids are 1 and 3 and can't hold out for long at a restaurant. 3, no matter what we want to eat, it's always less expensive to make it at home. Steak, crab legs, whatever. I can cook steak and crab legs well, and a lot of other things we would get when out. I don't know where to get sushi grade fish so that's one thing I won't try here (although I've played around and made veggie sushi rolls before).

We have a really good Mexican place (it is owned and run by a local Mexican family!) and I can't ever quite get my cooking to come out tasting like what we get there. But, it's one of the less expensive places, it's not a national chain, and they are usually fast so we can get in and out with less hassle with the kids.

I used to like going out for lunch and dinner but I just don't anymore. It seems like it used to be good, it was a treat, but honestly the food just doesn't taste good to me most of the time (unless you count the higher end place we went to on our anniversary... but we can't afford that kind of thing very often!).

[lmonter]

Do you have a few favorite, but simple dishes to start easing back into homemade stuff with? Bonus if you can make stuff for the freezer to whip out at a moments notice or what not - a la OAMC a little I suppose.

Or maybe fudge a little with ingredients and buy pre-prepped/chopped things until you get into the swing of it again? I know it took me a while to get into the groove of getting used to so much chopping and prep work with fresh fruits and veggies...

And the crockpot, oh yeah. Pull out your crockpot recipes and go to town. I find I usually have slightly more energy earlier in the day or around lunchtime to pop stuff in the crockpot than whipping something together at 5-6pm.
By that time of day now I'm usually beat and end up doing something like chicken nuggets (yes, convenience foods, but still cheaper than fast food or anything), steamed corn and canned (by me) applesauce. But I've also had time to plan ahead this way for my need of quick-to-the-table things because of how pregnant I am; I remember the miserableness. So convenience foods are also part of my arsenal.

[cjr]

If I don't pack a lunch with snacks the night before, I know I will be buying something when I go into town. I have make myself make a salad or a sandwhich with munchies and have it ready for morning. I won't buy take out if I have good, yummy fresh foods on me. In the summer I pack a cooler ful of good foods and drinks (iced fruit teas). Of course I need to be very organized and prepared.

I stopped batch cooking. I would make 3 dozen of the same muffin for the freezer. Today I made a dozen of two different muffins plus a gingerbread cake for the freezer. I make a little extra grains and turn it into salads. I make it as easy as possible.

[EmsMom]

Great replies. You could plan to add one cooking day a week until you are back up to speed. And for the weeks when you are cooking only a few times, get yourself to make extra for the freezer. Decent frozen food like from Trader Joe's can be a real help for crazy days. It would still be much less than eating out. And I think that a key is to clean up from every meal and every snack as you go along. When I go into a dirty kitchen to make dinner, I go crazy. Also, if you have more time/energy/less fussy kids in the morning (or other time during the day) make dinner THEN - crock pot or just cook it and stick in the frig and reheat later. I do that on hectic days.

[KariM]

I just wanted to add that when we get lured into eating out frequently I ease back into eating at home by selecting restaurants that have bad food.

It sounds silly, but home cooked food seems more worth the effort when what you eat out at restaurants is not so great, KWIM?

[texmati]

Well I wouldn't beat myself up too much since ya'll are in a tough spot right now. It sounds like it will be much better once you close on the house.

I don't have a lot of tips on not eating out 'cept reminding myself that I'm paying money to get fat. that might not be an issue for you though.

But you can eat out for cheaper until you close on the house:

Use coupons -- restaurant.com is a good site for discounted gift certificates.
Split plates with your DH -- Just remember to adjust your tips accordingly
Eat healthy at fast food places.
Substitute fries ect with healthy foods.
Drink water instead of soda
order the lunch platter
no deserts or appetizers

HTH, and congrats on the new house!

[tracyhos]

Most places, eating out is really not good for you. Nutrition-wise and the pocket book.

I plan out a weeks worth of meals. I don't plan which night we're going to have what....just a list of like 7 or 8 dinners that I have everything to make. Some of them are quick and easy, and others are more involved. But it's nice to just look at my list (it's taped to the microwave) and be able to quickly decide.

You could start out by getting things to prepare at home that aren't super time-consuming. Like Boboli has a whole wheat pizza crust that is really good. Add your sauce of choice, cheese and other toppings and you've made dinner in like 5 minutes. Maybe a bit more if your kids are helping.

Or grab a rotisserie chicken from the store. And get some veggies to steam. Better for you than eating out and not a ton of effort.

Maybe the low-key, low effort dinners will help ease you back into cooking...

Good luck!

[meowee]

I am walking, talking proof that it is possible to produce beautiful, healthy, decadent (the last two not always together!) food from an ugly, depressing, occasionally bug-infested kitchen. But you'll be in a new kitchen next week, right?

My advice:

Buy some cookbooks you love, and/ or get some out of the library.

Pick an ethnic theme and cook in mostly that style for a week... Indian, Ethiopian, Italian, etc....

Cook your favorite foods, even if they aren't the healthiest, just to get back in the groove.

Fresh bread... the smell is intoxicating!

Even if the kitchen is ugly, keep it clean. Clean your fridge. Make sure all cooking surfaces are sanitized well. This can brighten up even the most miserable kitchen.

Watch cooking shows-- PBS has some great ones.

Remember most eat-out foods are sky-high in sodium and MSG. Most chain restaurants use MSG a lot.

HTH!

[Literate]

The two biggest things for us were:
A) Sit down and figure out the meal plan for the week on Sunday.
B) Organize your favorite 20 recipes all in the front of a binder, so finding them is easy!

Or, maybe you just need to get inspired! We love Cook's Country magazine -- not too complex meals that taste great. It's $20 a year (6 issues) and money well spent for us. We'd rather cook those dinners than eat out. They are that tasty and easy.

Sorry I sound like an ad there. I do love that magazine.

[Ruthiegirl]

I hear you! Lately, all I want to do is order pizza and call it dinner. Around here though, the pizza is expensive and not that good. So we have been doing a lot of pizza on the grill lately and I love it.

I just roll out the dough, grill it on one side, flip it, add sauce and cheese and finish it up. The kids run around in the sprinkler while I am 'cooking'. Add a glass of wine and this has been my recipe for calm, easy dinners.

I make own dough, but have seen pre-made dough for sale at Trader Joe's. That would be delightfully easy.