What? Bulk cook?
The main reason people eat out mid-week is they are tired when they get home from work or they don't have time to prepare a meal after work. BUT if you have a freezer full of ready-to-go meals, even when you are tired or don't have time, you'll have a meal ready-to-go, so you won't order out.
Well that sounds great but if i don't have time to cook how am I going to get a freezer full of Ready to go meals? Well, you bulk cook!
I have heard of doing this two ways.
One way is to cook twice as much food each time you cook a meal. So you set out to cook BBQ chicken and pasta. make twice as much as mornal and freeze half to eat another time. This sounds easy and takes no extra time, since you are cooking the meal anyway.
The second way is to set aside a few hours every few weeks to cook up several meals to freeze. I just did this on Sunday. This week I have 3 workshops I have to go to for work (Mon, Tue & Thurs from 7:30-9pm each night). So dinners will need to be easy and ready to go this week. So I planned an hour this Sunday to make a bunch of meals. I browned some meat and then seperated it into 2 containers, to one I added in taco seasoning, covered it and put it in the freezer for tacos later this week. The second one I added to a casserole dish to make a rice-bake. (rice, water,cream of mushroom soup, peas,shedded cheese and meat- bake for 30 mins at 350). Which I baked and is now in the freeezer for another night. I also baked up 5 chicken cutlets with mustard/marinate. And 5 more chicken cutlets marinated in BBQ sauce. I made a big pot of mac & cheese and froze half. The other half was part of dinner Sunday and then for lunches for the girls for Monday. I also baked corn bread, to go with the taco night. And a tray of brownines (for snacks this week). So all week I will only need to add a vegetable and a side dish, but the time comsuming parts are all made.
Eating out costs even more than buying lunch. And when I saying eating out I really mean ordering in, since that is what my family tends to do. In the past we used to get together with another family every Saturday and order in. One week it would be Chili's, the next Friday's, Outback, pizza, chinese, Uno's Grill, wherever. Once money got tight we did this less- by eating dinner at our homes before getting together or getting together to "potluck" and bring what we had at home and cook together, or we would feed all the children and then only order in food for the adults. Once we started to do this I realised how much money we were saving.
The scary facts:
If you eat out just once a week (for a family or 4-5, we typicaly spend about $40-$45/meal)
Once a week, 52 weeks a year = $2080 (assuming $40/wk)
But in reality when money wasn't a factor we usually ate out Saturday with friends and at least once during the school week. We's ordered pizza or chinese.... so if we figure $45 Saturday plus $25 on a weeknight.... 52 weeks out of the year.. that totals: $3640!
That's alot of money!! Just because I didn't feel like cooking.
I think the above senario is pretty typical for most families. Eating out 1-2 times a week cost alot. We still order in about once every other week. Actually last night we got chinese food. You can't deprive yourselves or your frugalilty becomes stingy. And we are not "cheap" or "stingy" we are frugal people. Using our money in the best ways possible to stretch every dollar as far as it will go, but not break.
SO go get cooking!
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Joe and I were talking about this last night. Since we love to order Chinese or pizza once a week and go out once a week, but I won't be working f/t soon, we are going to modify our plan. We still want to enjoy those treats, but we are going to make them more special. Instead of going to the diner for grilled cheese and fries when we are zonked, we'll make the effor to cook at home most nights. We'll save the 'night out' for a date night. A more special evening during that same week where we spend about the same amount of money, but it doesn't just buy us dinner and give us time out of the house, it gives us 'together time'. Also, we are going to try the route of a sitdown dinner... not sitting on the couch, mind you. We are going to clear the clutter off the dining room table and at least once a week turn off the tv and have a sitdown dinner together in our dining room. This could be a dinner we order in, or the chinese or pizza meal, but it makes that purchase a bit more meaningful. We figure we are going out at least once a week and ordering in once a week now. We are going to try to alternate it. Not sure if it will work, but we are going to trrrrryyyyy. :) And I'm all about the bulk cooking. Love it!
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