I eat out waayyy too much

I cannot believe how much money I waste on eating out. I was doing good for a while but moved back in with my sister who also loves to eat out and have been spending waaayyy too much. I no longer eat out for lunch which is a great thing but dinner still gets me. I am also trying to lose weight and get out of debt and eating out isn't helping either goal.

Anyone else eat out waaayyy too much? or been able to stop the habit? I have a great kitchen now and would love to start using it more.

We also eat out a LOT, just because of the convenience factor. We'd probably save a lot of money if we didn't. I hate cooking though. As for the weight factor though, almost all places now offer healthier options, so maybe try to choose that instead.

I get caught up in the amount of food there is also when I eat out. I will usually have a salad, roll, than my main meal of some sort of protein and veg. But it adds up quickly....and no, I can't not have a roll.

Just say no? I don't mind going out occasionally, but it's generally safer for me to eat at home. (GI issues)

If you don't like spending a lot of time in the kitchen, get an electric roaster if you don't have one. You can cook all sorts of things in there and they come out better than in an oven. Meats especially. You can even put baking dishes inside them and make more than one dish at a time.

About a month ago I realized we were eating too much and I realized it was mostly because we were bored with eating the same things. So I started searching online and asking a lady I work with about recipes. I've commited to trying at least two.new recipes a week and its been great! I also keep a running list of recipes we can make so that what I think about eating out I look at the list and pick a meal from there instead! I also recently went and got like 8 cookbooks from the library to browse.

Leslie

I bought a new spice rack also. I want to find recipes that use Cardamom and Marjoram. I've never used them before and am very interested to try!

It is a very good idea to start perusing cookbooks! I love watching the cooking shows also. I love Lidia's Italy. I am dying to get her new cookbook! Need to stop watching and start doing I suppose!

when me and blaine had the flat we ate out way to much, we realised one week that we were spending to much money on take aways when we were counting out the 20p's to make up pounds for a pizza not good

I eat out too much. I am trying to cut down on it, but it is so much more convenient. I am trying to plan my meals and go to the store and get exactly what I need for them so that I don't eat out as much.

Try living in a rural area-that will cut down the eating out! No such think as delivery.
The closet fast food restaurant (which we don't eat at anyway) is 10 miles away.

I like epicurious.com website for recipes. If you want recipes for herbs and spices check out Penzeys.com. That the only place I buy spices/herbs from. If you get their catalogs they have 6-8 recipes in them and I've tried lots and they are really good.

To me so much food at restaurants is mediocre so I would rather cook myself.

For magazines check out Cook's Country-lots of great recipes each issue!

Originally Posted by GailC

To me so much food at restaurants is mediocre so I would rather cook myself.

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Usually the food will be good but I'll think "it would be better with ___, ___, and ____ added". I also have problems with how greasy food is, even in a nicer restaurant. Would it kill someone to drain the grease off or cook the food a bit different/use leaner meat?


There's lots of recipe sites online. You could probably even find a few free programs to help you organize them. Some higher end model tvs even come with recipes preloaded - I haven't played around with that option on my tv, yet, since it's in the living room it's kind of useless.
Check thrift stores for recipe books. Often some older ones will have great bread and cake recipes.

Originally Posted by fifi1puss

I bought a new spice rack also.

I want to find recipes that use Cardamom and Marjoram.

I've never used them before and am very interested to try!

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You'll enjoy them. To start with, remember that cardamom is related to ginger -- not the same bite, but a similar flavour; likewise, marjoram is related to oregano -- again, not as pungent, but a similar flavour. That should give you an idea of where you can substitute, as far as the flavour is concerned. Just be prepared to make other adjustments in the seasoning, if the kick is important. Have fun.

You might also find it useful to keep a log of your meals. Sounds like work, doesn't it? But it doesn't take much effort to jot down a few details, and then when you are scratching your head, thinking, "What the HECK am I going to cook tonight??", one of the things you can do is glance back over the last few days/weeks, and be reminded of things you haven't done for a while -- helps keep things interesting, so you don't get bored and default to eating out. I have almost 6 years in my dinner log, and it's really neat to glance back every so often and find myself saying, "Is it THAT long since we did that?? WOW, this week for sure!"

Just think of it this way...you'll save money and you can make healthier things at home!

i have been thinking about this topic since i replied before and there is some great recipies on http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/ i dont think you weigh stuff out like we do but some recipies show a couple of different ways of measurement

Originally Posted by fifi1puss

Anyone else eat out waaayyy too much? or been able to stop the habit? I have a great kitchen now and would love to start using it more.

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Food is on area that is easy to bring down in cost if you are eating out all the time, as the little costs easily add up fast, and more often than not you will pay a high price for convenience, both economically and health wise.
If you are serious about getting out of debt you have to have a plan and budget. That will be your biggest help. Track all your expenses and give yourself a monthly food budget. Then break that down into a weekly allowance for food, which will make things more realistic and make you more aware of what you spend on food.
You can make awesome meals at home that are very filling and healthy and suited just to your taste. It just takes a bit of planning and some time in the kitchen.
When you go the grocery store always arm yourself with a list and also your budget, it helps if you go on a cash system for this, it makes it more concrete. It also helps to write out snacks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner ideas and make a mock menu for a week, then make your grocery list from that and what you have on hand on the kitchen already. Also it might help you if you grew some vegetables, it is pretty easy to do and the difference between home grown and store produce in many vegetables is night and day.
Good luck!

Thanks for all the advice and ideas. Two meals out can feed me all my meals for a whole week! Sick! If I can keep that in my mind it makes it easier to not indulge myself.

Can't wait to go on epicurious and get some recipes.

I agree about living rurally....I lived in an area where the only resturant was McD's so I actually fell in love with cooking when I lived there. Where I live now is just too easy to be lazy and I pay in more ways than one.

I got a slow cooker cookbook last night and the meals look and sound delicious! Now I just need to get a slow cooker.

www.taste.com.au type in an ingredient and it will give you heaps and heaps of recipes!
i use it every day!!!
The only thing you might need to do though is that certain words are different in Australia than they are in the US

When I order out it's because the kitchen is a mess to the point that I have to tidy up first before I can cook , so my main point is to keep the kitchen neat.
I'm on the Flylady email list (www.flylady.net) to help keep me organized and that method starts with the kitchen because when the kitchen gets messy the rest of the house often quickly follows (it does for me) and vice versa.

I sit down every sunday and look at our calendar, who works nights, do we eat at our parents' , do we have people over, are we going somewhere, etc. If I have a really busy day planned somewehere I plan to cook for two days the night before. Then I look at the supermarket website to check out the special offers. After that I plan a menu for the week and get all the groceries for the week on monday.
With everything on hand and the kitchen tidy cooking is no problem. It's when I procrastinate things don't work out.