Eating at home more

[jayerose]

We've been eating out a lot to include carry-out since we are not good at cooking.

Do you have a schedule where it's sandwiches one night a week, left-overs another night, etc.?

How do you save money if/when you eat out?

[asianthree]

We were travelers during our careers. So long hours and eating out was a norm. We also both love to cook, but for most of our lives we cooked separately. We shared pictures of finished meal, and would have challenges on who did it better.

When we are both in the same house, we shop, and cook together. The only time we eat out is if we don’t want to fry fish, or dining with friends. With more time on our hands we enjoy taking cooking sessions. If you aren’t at ease in the kitchen, home delivery services have every thing included, one can achieve a restaurant quality meal. A really good wine from our cellar is always worth it. We definitely eat healthier at home, and save money. We go outside the bubble for a good restaurant.

Our meal schedule is early breakfast and late dinners. With one meatless day, soup day, pasta day, 2 fish days, one chicken day, and one red meat, per week. On occasion we will have sandwiches, but processed food, doesn’t set well for either of us.

[Bay Kid]

I cook for my parents everyday. Food decisions drive me crazy. I only do take out 1 night a week. Fish 2 nights, shake and bake pork chops, fish cakes and anything I can figure to fill in other nights.

[davem4616]

Meal planning and cooking isn't as easy as falling off a log for everyone...and at our age, if you've been doing it all your life, you deserve a break

here's a suggestion: We've been making a weekly menu and posting it on the frig since March 2020 when we were all basically in 'lock down'

I found that this was a practical way to blend in days when I'm cooking vs, days when I'm reheating vs. days when we'll have something really easy for dinner like soup and a sandwich. It also really helps when it comes to making out the shopping list

Yes, once in awhile we'll have a BLT for dinner, or pancakes, or I'll throw some store bought tortellini in a pot of chicken broth ....nothing wrong with that....supper doesn't always have to be mashed potatoes and a big roast.

We tend to shy away from take out...as it's often soggy by the time we get home (and reheating doesn't fix soggy)

Cooking continuously day after day gets tiring...let alone the meal planning

my wife has advanced ALZ and is now in active cancer treatment...so she's no longer in the kitchen...and because of the chemo treatments, we're basically in lock down again, as her immune system is all messed up

what I try to do is cook as if the kids are still at home, so we end up with left overs, which I'll freeze

Labor Day when everyone else was cooking burgers and dogs on the grille, I roasted a turkey....lots of meals coming out of this
....and I made turkey soup

some days it is a true gift to just have a bowl of soup and a sandwich...especially after a long day of chemo treatments

I picked up a small freezer for the garage which helps

I've always enjoyed cooking and it was something that my wife and I did together....but it's still a chore doing the cooking, the dishes and the planning

I hope this gives you a few ideas

hang in there

[John41]

We've been eating out a lot to include carry-out since we are not good at cooking.

Do you have a schedule where it's sandwiches one night a week, left-overs another night, etc.?

How do you save money if/when you eat out?

We will get a take out pizza from NYPD pizza and eat it over two nights. Sometimes we get a take out from Burger King when they have two for $10. Olive Garden spaghetti dinner takeout gives us three nights meals for the two of us. Then my wife makes a meal or two each week. I think we break even in take out versus home cooked meals.

[Stu from NYC]

We never decide what to have for dinner until mid afternoon.

As a result we do have a large freezer in the garage as we basically live out of it.

I will make a large pot of soup or turkey and have it for lunch for almost a week as leftovers are my friend. My dear wife, not so much.

[dewilson58]

We were travelers during our careers. So long hours and eating out was a norm. We also both love to cook, but for most of our lives we

We R with U.
Dining out is the exception to our norm.

The Instant Pot was a nice addition to our eat-in options.
Bake, Grill, Crock Pot & Instant Pot.

We know what we are eating.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

I don’t cook ever in fact I don’t even know how, some of the reason I guess is I spent much of 40 years outside USA in mostly 3rd world dangerous and adventurous places. The last time I turned on a stove was the day I got my first Keurig after that I didn’t even have to boil water. I do bring home a chicken once in awhile and I eat lots of raw vegetables , maybe the 100% whole liquid eggs I heat in microwave in morning could be considered cooking lol I love eating out, shopping for clothes and spending money foolishly and no meds at 82 5ft 6 136 lbs

[DAVES]

We've been eating out a lot to include carry-out since we are not good at cooking.

Do you have a schedule where it's sandwiches one night a week, left-overs another night, etc.?

How do you save money if/when you eat out?

"Not good at cooking." When, you eat out, typically they serve more than you should eat.
You decide to order fish. You read that it is good for you. They typically put butter on the fish. You order a steak. They typically put butter on that as well.

I like soup. I have a large pressure cooker. The ones sold for canning. I will make 2 or 3 different soups 2 gallons of each. It is just a matter of following instructions. Clean up takes time. It does not take any longer to clean up after 2 cups of soup than from making four gallons. With the right containers, soup does not take as much room in your freezer as other foods. Mine is concentrated, so you add water when you heat it.

Like most anything, you can watch videos on how to. I am not a chief. I do not create my own recipes. I simply copy what others have created.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

You can ask for no butter and they will do this for you or send it back I have

[kkingston57]

Find a restaurant that serves large portions that you really like and share a meal.
For breakfast we go to Billies Cafe on 27 North of Spanish Springs and can easily share a meal between two. Prices are better than resonable.

On your other questions, they do appear to be more of a matter of personal taste.

[Ingenuity]

When we first moved to the villages we got caught up eating out almost everyday. Whether it was lunch or dinner or both. It is so easy to do around here. When I added it up we were spending $400 and over a month eating out. I went back to cooking and coupons. The savings makes cooking at home worth it. What I do is what I've always done that is I spend about an hour and a half during the week going on websites and looking at various stores and their coupons. I then formulate menus on what's on sale that week. I have been learning to cook various dishes from other cultures which has led me to incorporating two vegetarian dishes a week. I know this isn't for everyone but it does work for us and the savings have allowed me to more freedom in donations and upgrading our home.

[CFrance]

"Not good at cooking." When, you eat out, typically they serve more than you should eat.
You decide to order fish. You read that it is good for you. They typically put butter on the fish. You order a steak. They typically put butter on that as well.

I like soup. I have a large pressure cooker. The ones sold for canning. I will make 2 or 3 different soups 2 gallons of each. It is just a matter of following instructions. Clean up takes time. It does not take any longer to clean up after 2 cups of soup than from making four gallons. With the right containers, soup does not take as much room in your freezer as other foods. Mine is concentrated, so you add water when you heat it.

Like most anything, you can watch videos on how to. I am not a chief. I do not create my own recipes. I simply copy what others have created.
Well said. My friend told her new boyfriend/now husband of 26 years, "If you can read, you can cook." He went from knowing nothing to following cookbook instructions and became a great cook. And that was before You Tube.

Our son taught himself to cook on You Tube. He doesn't have an Instant Pot or a slow cooker, and he doesn't like meat. I'm amazed at the dishes he comes up with that are simple and inexpensive.

OP, get yourself an Instant Pot and a cookbook to go along with it (there are tons online and at Barnes & Noble). Make some simple things--soups, spaghetti sauce, chili. Get some eggs and watch a You Tube video on how to scramble them for egg sandwiches. Go for the simplest method, not some fancy chef's method. Buy a rotisserie chicken (i.e., already roasted) at the grocery store and google some things you can do with it.

Even if you can make a few items during the week, you're ahead of the game dollar-wise and taste-wise.

Weed through these posts and throw out the boasting and the negative. What you have left will be some simple, good ideas. Good luck.

[Velvet]

Except under very special circumstances, we never eat out. Husband likes to prepare the proteins and I do the veggies. We use Google for many recipes. Put it on the iPad and on the smart TV in the kitchen. Just follow along. We shop (hunt down) the freshest groceries once or twice a week. We make shopping an adventure. (He will drive for miles to get Georgia peaches. And to Costco for a decent baguette.)

We also bake, sometimes; Napoleon, crème brûlée, etc. The freezer is filled with his meat balls, my salmon, sea food etc which takes minutes to prepare when we are busy or just plain tired. We can’t eat out because we find most of the outside food low in taste.

[New Englander]

When we first moved to the villages we got caught up eating out almost everyday. Whether it was lunch or dinner or both. It is so easy to do around here. When I added it up we were spending $400 and over a month eating out. I went back to cooking and coupons. The savings makes cooking at home worth it. What I do is what I've always done that is I spend about an hour and a half during the week going on websites and looking at various stores and their coupons. I then formulate menus on what's on sale that week. I have been learning to cook various dishes from other cultures which has led me to incorporating two vegetarian dishes a week. I know this isn't for everyone but it does work for us and the savings have allowed me to more freedom in donations and upgrading our home.

Where do you find coupons?

[Koapaka]

I cook for my parents everyday. Food decisions drive me crazy. I only do take out 1 night a week. Fish 2 nights, shake and bake pork chops, fish cakes and anything I can figure to fill in other nights.

How kind of you to cook for your folks! Just FYI, if you have "stuff left over in the fridge" and need a recipe, try ALLRECIPES.COM for ideas.

Your folks raised a good son.

[patfla06]

During Covid we cooked and stayed home. Now with the variant we went back to eating at home. We used to go for lunch or takeout 1-2x/week.

I go back to Tampa once a month so will bring back really good Chinese as a treat.

[asianthree]

Well known fact, when looking at preowned homes, look in the oven, 60% still have original stickers on them, never used. Even on homes over 10 years old. We bake at least 4 days a week.

[vintageogauge]

We changed during the Covid restrictions and now eat out only once a week. We tend to make the mess once and cook enough to freeze. When I grill burgers I grill 10, 8 of them are cooked on high heat for just 3 minutes to medium rare and then instantly into the freezer, later 2 minutes in the microwave and they are as good as just off the grill. I don't like processed lunch meat so we will buy a cooked ham and then bake it for a couple hours and the next day slice and cut it for freezing, you can get a lot of sliced ham for lunches out of one of them. We also bake boneless skinless chicken breasts that we slice for sandwiches. Lots of things you can do to make it easier as we age.