Cost of eating out vs cooking at home

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Bones that sounds like our situation.  What I really wantis a meal planning that shows me how to make up three dinners at once and freeze two of them for going straight from the freezer to the oven for 30-45 minutes to be cooked or straight from the freezer to the Crockpot to slow cook all day. Too often I find it's time to ready dinner and I forgot to take something out two days ago to thaw.  So having things that can go straight from freezer to oven is ideal

 
It's really not hard to chop an onion and put it in a crockpot with babyback ribs on top.  Smother some BBQ sauce over it and set it to low, cook for 8-10 hours.

If you only cook occasionally, I can recommend an eclectic magazine "Garden & Gun" (http://gardenandgun.com/food).  They carry articles ranging from gardening, cooking, music, arts, culture, travel, dogs, fishing, and shotguns.
 
momopi said:
It's really not hard to chop an onion and put it in a crockpot with babyback ribs on top.  Smother some BBQ sauce over it and set it to low, cook for 8-10 hours.
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People are just lazy/don't have a desire/Supposingly don't have the time to cook.

 
I like my ribs with a little bark on them. The pulled pork too. Although crockpot carnitas with porky carrots and potatoes is super good and super easy.  Just a matter of precutting the pork to fit the crockpot (we use the 3.5 qt crock and not the big 6 one). Drop the frozen 2-2.5 chunk of pork in at 7/8 am with carrots, quarter onion and few baby potatoes and it's just perfect at 6pm.  For bark pull the pork and put it in the convection oven at 425 for about 5 minutes mopped with its own juice.

Works well too that you can pull the homemade biscuits out of the freezer and PPP them in the oven while your pulling the pork

Things like that but with a healthier bend would be good.  I could do it, just need some ideas and inspiration to stay out of meal ruts 

Now I have to get to work, just picked up 10 lbs of cryopac pork belly from Costco for two something a pound that needs baconization...
 
qwerty said:
I'm with IHO, cooking is way too much effort. We still buy fruits and veggies every week but for dinner it's usually takeout. Probavly spend $20-$25 per night. We do buy frozen food at costco and trader joes as well.
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Just tell your wife to cook Korean BBQ. Tuesday nights you can make tacos.
 
Thinking of trying www.blueapron.com after hearing good things about it recently. Don't know if you can freeze their food options though. They say $8-$9 per person per meal. Given that you can't get out of Subway for less than $6.50 per deal, an extra $3 or so for a quality meal doesn't sound too bad.
 
eyephone said:
qwerty said:
I'm with IHO, cooking is way too much effort. We still buy fruits and veggies every week but for dinner it's usually takeout. Probavly spend $20-$25 per night. We do buy frozen food at costco and trader joes as well.
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Just tell your wife to cook Korean BBQ. Tuesday nights you can make tacos.
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You have good timing. Last week she actually was going to make me tacos and I said I just wanted the meat seasoned with Lawrys taco seasoning then I mixed the cooked meat with tostitos nacho cheese and ate with Doritos. It was very tasty. Dinner of champions.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
What would be the grocery cost for 7 days of cooking (might need SoCal for this)? $100-$200?
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Since you're counting the value of your time, do you count the time spent waiting at a restaurant?

Tonight, I baked Smothered Pork Chops with French Onion & Mushroom Gravy, Yukon Gold roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and a broccoli-carrot-cauliflower medley. I've been checking TI from my phone while the homemade chocolate pudding is cooking and now cooling. I made a double batch to distribute into little 4 oz. cups for my kids' lunches. None of this is hoity-toity. It's just everyday food and it's good. Qwerty's engine is idling in a Taco Bell drive-thru as he shouts his usual order through the speaker. Iho's dining at "Chez Una Forde Able". (Oui oui, mon ami! Prounounced: Ooona-ford-eh-ah-blay. Now say it with an American accent.), a fru-fru venue of Mrs. Iho's choosing where it's $45 per Eye of Newt.

Cooking is what you want it to be. It can be much cheaper than eating out. It can be much more expensive than eating out. It's whatever a person makes of it. I'm blessed and grateful, as I'm sure everyone else here is, to be in a position to not have to budget for groceries, although I do enjoy a good deal when there is one to be had. My numerous reasons for cooking probably wouldn't resonate with most on TI since we could not possibly be any different from each other... I'm talking like... complete polar opposites. I won't even bother listing them. However, I will say, I think one of the most important things when you're a parent is actually carving out that time and sitting down to eat together. That matters more than what is eaten or where. "Several years ago, the media reported a study carried out by the Cincinnati Children's Hospital that found that kids who ate dinner with their families at least five times a week were far less likely to take drugs, become depressed, or get into trouble." ~ Ann Romney (wife of Mitt Romney) in "The Romney Family Table" cookbook, 2013. Carving out that time for them and creating a reliable routine where they get their parents' undivided attention is so important. (I do not allow phones at the table!)
 
Some people absolutely hate to cook or they just don't know how and they think it's hard. Some grew up on fast food and don't know how to shop, don't know a good price for chicken or what cut of beef is tough and what is tender.

I love to cook and bake and my hubby uses the outdoor bbq. For me the only part I don't like is clean up (so I absolutely love the outdoor bbq........ just throw the dishes in the dishwasher for me). I'll take home cooking over fast food most any day because I know what I stuck in the pan. I know everything got washed and it is way less expensive since I do know what good prices are and I'll stock up on nonperishables when they are on sale, only having to add a few things to get a nice home cooked meal. $40-$60 per week for a family of four is what aquabliss mentioned............ easily done..... you just have to stock up on nonperishables, look in the weekly grocery ads and make a quick trip to the grocery store for a few essentials.

When my kids come to town, they always ask what's for dinner? and lots of times they have requests before they get here. They have told me their friends told them they were "so lucky" they got to eat dinner at home with their whole families and wished they could do it too.

 
To your point about it being less expensive, I've been surprised that I have actually met adults who grocery shopped so infrequently that they were not even aware there is no sales tax on unprepared food items! Hellooooo!!! Big savings there. It puzzles me how they go that long without knowing this. 
 
My neighbor says the only reason she goes to the grocery store is to use the ATM.

I look at what people buy and it amazes me..... lots of prepared frozen dinners, chips, soda, booze, no fresh fruits, veges, meat and for those people....... no wonder they think the grocery store is as expensive as fast food.

When I'm out, I always stop to use the restroom before I head home cuz with Irvine traffic, who knows how long that might take so it almost always means stopping in a fast food place and the people eating don't look happy. They either are all using their phones or just eating in silence, not interacting, even families. I'm sure there are happy people, I just don't happen to see them.

Used to work at Winchell's and the stories I could tell.... sad that it wasn't only the donut shop that would make your tummy turn, the pizza place in the same center might as well have been run by the same people. In my kitchen, if something falls on the floor it goes in the trash, not back in the pot.
 
Ready2Downsize said:
Some people absolutely hate to cook or they just don't know how and they think it's hard. Some grew up on fast food and don't know how to shop, don't know a good price for chicken or what cut of beef is tough and what is tender.

I love to cook and bake and my hubby uses the outdoor bbq. For me the only part I don't like is clean up (so I absolutely love the outdoor bbq........ just throw the dishes in the dishwasher for me). I'll take home cooking over fast food most any day because I know what I stuck in the pan. I know everything got washed and it is way less expensive since I do know what good prices are and I'll stock up on nonperishables when they are on sale, only having to add a few things to get a nice home cooked meal. $40-$60 per week for a family of four is what aquabliss mentioned............ easily done..... you just have to stock up on nonperishables, look in the weekly grocery ads and make a quick trip to the grocery store for a few essentials.

When my kids come to town, they always ask what's for dinner? and lots of times they have requests before they get here. They have told me their friends told them they were "so lucky" they got to eat dinner at home with their whole families and wished they could do it too.
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Only if people knew the economic disadvantage people tend to eat more fast food/ unhealthy food. (maybe people do know, but don't care)
 
qwerty said:
Fast food expensive? Double combo at McDonald's = $2.50. That's what I'm talking about.
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I mean poor people eat fast food and tend to have more health problems. (Diabetes, high blood pressure) 
 
Ready2Downsize said:
My neighbor says the only reason she goes to the grocery store is to use the ATM.

I look at what people buy and it amazes me..... lots of prepared frozen dinners, chips, soda, booze, no fresh fruits, veges, meat and for those people....... no wonder they think the grocery store is as expensive as fast food.

When I'm out, I always stop to use the restroom before I head home cuz with Irvine traffic, who knows how long that might take so it almost always means stopping in a fast food place and the people eating don't look happy. They either are all using their phones or just eating in silence, not interacting, even families. I'm sure there are happy people, I just don't happen to see them.

Used to work at Winchell's and the stories I could tell.... sad that it wasn't only the donut shop that would make your tummy turn, the pizza place in the same center might as well have been run by the same people. In my kitchen, if something falls on the floor it goes in the trash, not back in the pot.
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You haven't seen me at in and out. Happy man.
 
Here's another fun toy for making quick meals:
http://www.amazon.com/Brieftons-5-Blade-Spiralizer-Vegetable-Gluten-Free/dp/B00WKENSDAhttp://www.brieftons.com/

fed4bfb896bb02843e038ecf4790acd9.jpg



There are many different brands of this product, costing $20-$50.  I bought the Brieftons 5 blade for $30-ish from Amazon.  Many recipes avail:
http://inspiralized.com/recipes/


Basically...  when you take daikon or zucchini and turn it into noodles, you reduce the cooking time to 2-3 mins.  Fun toy to play with too.  You will enjoy taking sausage shaped veggies and turning them into noodles.


Hint:  if you're making daikon soup noodle, go to H Mart and buy some large sized Shishito peppers ("sweet peppers").  Pan fry them with some olive oil and salt, then put a few on top of your soup noodle.  When the pepper is lightly soaked with sweet daikon soup, it produces good flavor.
 
^ I have a similar device called an apple/corer/slicer/peeler. It sure makes preparing apples speedy. The great thing is, it can also be used for potatoes. So much faster than doing it by hand!

Tonight for dinner, I made homemade chicken burritos (family recipe, really good), eaten with a splash of Cholula per my Iho-recommended purchase. Served with Spanish rice (cheated this time - thanks, Uncle Ben), and tried my hand at homemade Mixed Berry Sangria for the first time (substituted the white cranberry with white grape and did all blueberries & strawberries). I'm dry 99% of the time so I hardly have much experience drinking drinks let alone mixing them but it was actually delicious the first time around. And the second. And the third. And the fourth... kidding!! Then I went on to finish making a 9x13 pan of cinnamon rolls, using a bread machine to do all the hard work of kneading /resting / rising the dough which is a big time saver. A few bucks worth of ingredients made 24. Plenty for breakfasts in the coming days.

The dinners I make typically come out to between $3-7 per head depending on what's made, with $3-5 being normal. Tonight was cheap at $3 per head, if not under. I actually counted $2.70. Booze and desserts not included.
 
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