Eat at Home 3!

[DanceDisney23]

That was happening to me too. I find two things helped to get me back on track. The first is that even if I don't follow the meal plan exactly that just having one keeps me on track to at least make something at home rather than get take out or eat out. Which leads to the second thing, which is having some convenience foods on hand that I can make quickly if I forget to take something out to thaw or we just plain don't feel like eating what's on the menu. A frozen pizza from Aldi is way cheaper than getting take out and it's already built into my grocery budget to keep some of these types of things on hand. And breakfast for dinner is always an easy and quick option to fall back on as well as a can of soup and a grilled cheese. Progress, not perfection....that's the goal. It's not perfect but no one is starving over here and we have cut WAY back on take out and eating out.

Thanks! I should stock up more on convenience food. That’s not a bad idea. I’m off to Trader Joe’s right now. They usually have good options.

Yes, definitely a lot of breakfasts for dinner here as well lately. Also loaded nachos and such. But I am looking forward to the summer when we have less going on and I find more fresh veggies in my diet!

 

[DanceDisney23]

Agree also rotisserie chicken and frozen vegetables work well. Sloppy joes or tacos can be made in advance and warmed up. One quick meal meal I love is I put a roast beef in the crockpot with onion soup mix and Italian dressing mix. When I get home I mix a gravy packet in the juices and slice the beef and eat over mashed potatoes

I love rotisserie chicken! My family does not, unfortunately. Tacos are on our rotation, but I always forget about sloppy Joe’s.

The roast sounds interesting. I’ll give that a try. Thanks!

 

[#1hoosierfan]

Today- grilled salmon with yum yum sauce, rice, roasted asparagus

Sun- steaks, baked potatoes, salad

Mon- chicken jalepeno popper casserole

Tues- taco soup

Wed- black pepper chicken stir fry over rice

Thurs- spaghetti with marinara, garlic bread

Fri- we may go to a fish fry. We have not gone yet this year.

 

[dpswift]

So far this weeks plan is

Tonight hamburger and potato casserole

Sunday pizza day

Monday possibly leftovers

Other meals this week

Burgers
Drunken noodles
Chicken fajitas

Today I made the casserole and am cooking a pork roast to slice for sandwiches. I have leftover turkey and roast beef in the fridge that will be meals if DH doesn’t eat them for lunch

 

[newski_mom]

That was happening to me too. I find two things helped to get me back on track. The first is that even if I don't follow the meal plan exactly that just having one keeps me on track to at least make something at home rather than get take out or eat out. Which leads to the second thing, which is having some convenience foods on hand that I can make quickly if I forget to take something out to thaw or we just plain don't feel like eating what's on the menu. A frozen pizza from Aldi is way cheaper than getting take out and it's already built into my grocery budget to keep some of these types of things on hand. And breakfast for dinner is always an easy and quick option to fall back on as well as a can of soup and a grilled cheese. Progress, not perfection....that's the goal. It's not perfect but no one is starving over here and we have cut WAY back on take out and eating out.

I agree - my kids are older now, so life has slowed way down for me, but back then, I always had things on hand to just have something to avoid driving through McDonalds, etc.

Even things like fish sticks and mac and cheese, homestyle bakes box meals, hot dogs / corn dogs, frozen pizza, etc. Definitely not gourmet meals, but still better/cheaper and usually faster even then carry out/drive through meals.

I just remembered that my kids also loved frozen chicken patties with a dab of pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese on them. I just baked until almost done before adding the sauce and cheese to let warm and melt.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

I love rotisserie chicken! My family does not, unfortunately. Tacos are on our rotation, but I always forget about sloppy Joe’s.

The roast sounds interesting. I’ll give that a try. Thanks!

Will your family eat it doctored up a different way? Saves you the time of roasting the chicken, but you can make shredded chicken tacos out of it, bbq chicken sandwiches, chicken salad (mayo based or just chicken in a regular salad), bulk up a chicken soup or chicken club sandwiche on toast. None of these may work for your family but just trying to think of some ideas.

 

[DanceDisney23]

Will your family eat it doctored up a different way? Saves you the time of roasting the chicken, but you can make shredded chicken tacos out of it, bbq chicken sandwiches, chicken salad (mayo based or just chicken in a regular salad), bulk up a chicken soup or chicken club sandwiche on toast. None of these may work for your family but just trying to think of some ideas.

I appreciate it! DH could get on board with chicken sandwiches and soup. I considered packing him rotisserie chicken sandwiches for work before, but we just always had cold cuts left so I haven’t done that yet. I’m glad you reminded me though!

DD hates any kind of chicken that isn’t breaded and fried. She would eat beef every day if she could, but I try to cut down on red meat to once or twice a week. She recently decided that hot dogs are gross, too, so there goes another quick option. Honestly, if I could just deal with the constant whining and picking at her food for an hour at dinner time, I would just make a lot of easy soups, salads with protein, or fish with veggies, and my life would be so much easier. Instead I spread those nights out.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

I appreciate it! DH could get on board with chicken sandwiches and soup. I considered packing him rotisserie chicken sandwiches for work before, but we just always had cold cuts left so I haven’t done that yet. I’m glad you reminded me though!

DD hates any kind of chicken that isn’t breaded and fried. She would eat beef every day if she could, but I try to cut down on red meat to once or twice a week. She recently decided that hot dogs are gross, too, so there goes another quick option. Honestly, if I could just deal with the constant whining and picking at her food for an hour at dinner time, I would just make a lot of easy soups, salads with protein, or fish with veggies, and my life would be so much easier. Instead I spread those nights out.

I understand. I'm a super picky eater and it's not easy for people to cook for me. It's hard! You are doing the best you can and working with what your situation is. It's not easy!

 

[DanceDisney23]

I understand. I'm a super picky eater and it's not easy for people to cook for me. It's hard! You are doing the best you can and working with what your situation is. It's not easy!

Thank you! That is very kind of you to say!

 

[barkley]

I agree - my kids are older now, so life has slowed way down for me, but back then, I always had things on hand to just have something to avoid driving through McDonalds, etc.

Even things like fish sticks and mac and cheese, homestyle bakes box meals, hot dogs / corn dogs, frozen pizza, etc. Definitely not gourmet meals, but still better/cheaper and usually faster even then carry out/drive through meals.

I just remembered that my kids also loved frozen chicken patties with a dab of pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese on them. I just baked until almost done before adding the sauce and cheese to let warm and melt.

costco was/has always been so helpful in this way. i get the items you mention above in addition to some of their asian single serve items (frozen shoyo ramen soup is excellent as is their chicken fried rice). their bags of small cocktail sized meatballs are quick to heat and make with some pasta/sauce or meatball subs (same size as subway uses). i've recently fallen in love with their 'just bare' frozen lightly breaded chicken breasts.

DD hates any kind of chicken that isn’t breaded and fried. She would eat beef every day if she could, but I try to cut down on red meat to once or twice a week. She recently decided that hot dogs are gross, too, so there goes another quick option. Honestly, if I could just deal with the constant whining and picking at her food for an hour at dinner time, I would just make a lot of easy soups, salads with protein, or fish with veggies, and my life would be so much easier. Instead I spread those nights out.

i feel for you. i have one that would eat anything as a kid, one that still is very restrictive in his eating (his autism contributes to this). with the picky one i resorted to figuring out what i knew he would eat and planning around it. i'm not saying separate meal planning for just one person but knowing what was just not going to fly with him and having something set in place that was quick and easy to do in addition to whatever i planned for the rest of us. in his case he was fine with ground beef based stuff . i precook ground beef and freeze it. i pull out a container (frozen) and microwave it. i can season it for tacos/nachos/burritos, i can heat some marinara and blend it in for pasta, i can heat sloppy joe mix and blend it in...he does'nt do rotissery chicken but will do grilled so when we grill we do extra and freeze. easy to defrost and reheat. he is always in for chicken parm so the costco breaded are a go-to. i am very happy to say that there are 2 soups, both of which i can throw together in the crockpot with everyday items i always have on hand and make (that all of us enjoy). i kind of took a que from what the kids/we would always default to if we went running for to-go or fast food and started incorporating the less expensive store items into my grocery budget/list (when i started getting french toast sticks and tater tots it was a life saver/budget saver in the rushed mornings).

 

[focusondisney]

We got back from WDW late Wednesday. I had to grocery shop Thursday, husband went with me. We had some other things to deal with in the morning, so didn’t get there til mid afternoon. Husband suggested we get their deli subs which we had for an early dinner.

Friday - steak (husband), cedar plank salmon with lemon sauce (me), baked potatoes, green beans.
Today - Orecchiette with Italian sausage & broccoli
Sunday - chili with macaroni & crusty rolls
Monday - husband & I are going to the movies in the afternoon, we’ll definitely have popcorn & aren’t usually too hungry after. So I’ll have leftover pasta & sausage, DH will have chicken soup
Tuesday - BBQ pork ribs, garlic pasta & vegetables, apple sauce
Wednesday - spaghetti with meat sauce


Looking at that now, I seem to have a lot of pasta in there. So I might have to check what else is in the freezer for Wednesday. And I have butternut squash I’ll sub for the pasta & veggies on Tuesday.

​

 

[TwoMisfits]

So, only one shop for this week b/c I had a farm box midweek last week, and I'll be doing a shop late this week. I did not do my Wednesday, Thursday or Friday recipes last week b/c I had a ton of zucchini and leeks in my farm box, so I made a zucchini, leek, and white bean soup for the soup dinner with fruit, and I had perfect veg for the Aldi's turkey tendeloin, so I made that Wednesday and then somehow had enough turkey leftovers for a turkey tettrazini-esque pasta dish Thursday. So, as always, I'll post a plan...and maybe run with it. This week, I decided I was trying to Aldi sale and ad proteins, so you'll see the new ones here...

Sunday - Aldi's fresh salmon filet baked with pesto, roasted rainbow carrots, cous cous with pesto (same as the salmon), and strawberries and blackberries

Monday - Aldi's street taco chicken thighs in hard shell tacos with homemade guac, tomatillo salsa, lettuce, cheese for the willing, fresh onion and cilantro, roasted zucchini, green grapes and clementines

Tuesday - Aldi's birria beef tacos in the slow cooker on soft tortillas with the jus, cilantro, diced onion, and lime, roasted potatoes/peppers/onions, more strawberries and blackberries

Wednesday - Old freezer steak (I've also skipped this 2 weeks in a row, so it's time to try to get it out of my freezer Wed), carmelized onion and red wine jus, roasted green beans, more green grapes and clementines

Thursday - Aldi's Hawaiian and Thai Coconut Prepared Chicken Packs, White Rice, Diced Pineapple, Cucumber Salad

Friday - Church Soup and Pasta Dinner - Take 2 on bringing the Quinoa Tabbouleh with Fresh Fruit

Saturday - We skipped all eating out this weekend, so it will have been 2 weeks. My girls are meeting friends for lunch, so not sure if I'll take the boys to lunch, or if I'll take everyone for dinner. Either way, it will be leftovers/scrounging the fridge for the other meal (for my kids, it's usually air baked ramen packs with veg and soft boiled eggs)

 

[ariel1025]

costco was/has always been so helpful in this way. i get the items you mention above in addition to some of their asian single serve items (frozen shoyo ramen soup is excellent as is their chicken fried rice). their bags of small cocktail sized meatballs are quick to heat and make with some pasta/sauce or meatball subs (same size as subway uses). i've recently fallen in love with their 'just bare' frozen lightly breaded chicken breasts.

We love the 'just bare' frozen chicken. I just used the spicy tenders to make a copycat Chick-Fil-A SW salad!

That's so sad to hear. I'm sorry. I hope he's okay.

How scary, I hope he’s doing well now.

Thank you, both! He had a brain tumor (non-cancerous) removed in September. They think this seizure was a side effect of the radiation treatments that he finished up last month to remove the pieces they couldn't get to surgically. They put him back on Keppra and we're hopeful that will prevent any further seizures.

 

[ariel1025]

Tonight: Taco/Burrito/Nacho/Salad bar and calabacitas
Tomorrow: Steak/Salmon, rice, veggies
Tuesday: Pork chops, au gratin, veggies
Wednesday: Pasta & meatballs
Thursday: Hamburger Helper
Friday: Smoked ribs, baked beans, veggies (carried over from last week)
Saturday: Hamburgers/Hot dogs, chips

 

[Bellex917]

Mon- Rotisserie chicken, stuffing, green beans
Tues- ham, potatoes au gratin, cucumber salad
Wed- baked panko shrimp, angel hair parm, salad
Thur- crockpot ribs, mac and cheese, cucumber salad
Fri- penne parma rosa, salad, garlic knots

 

[Needsanap]

kinda boring for us

Pizza
Ribs
Chicken legs
Shish kabob
Hamburgers
Breakfast
Grilled cheese

We ended up with
Pizza, dinner out, chicken legs, pasty, roast and breakfast.

This week
Shish kabob (Sun)
Ribs (Mon)
Corned beef
Chicken pot pie
Salmon
Chili dogs

I’ve been in a slump not feeling like cooking, but still want to eat. Ugh

 

[PrincessNelly]

Wait... this is my kind of thread LOL
I'm constantly struggling with meal ideas. I feel like we eat the same 14 meals in rotation
Monday - Sausage & Pepper sandwiches
Tuesday - Whole Baked Chicken w/ mashed potatoes & veggies
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Ordering Pizza or Hoagies (subs)
Friday - Fish & Chips

 

[dpswift]

Tonight I am making a pork chop and o’brIen potatoes for my husband tomorrow he is having a corned beef sandwich. I will eat up some leftovers.

 

[tampabrat22]

Last week we were super busy and ate out way more than normal. Back on track this week...

Sunday- Redneck nachos (fries with pulled pork, cheese and BBQ sauce)
Monday - canned soup & baguette
Tuesday - air fried dumplings and eggrolls
Wednesday- grilled chicken breast & veggies
Thursday - beef tacos
Friday - sausage & veggies over rice
Saturday- some kind of seafood (maybe shrimp and grits)

 

[DanceDisney23]

I’m scrolling to get ideas for next week. This week got a bit derailed. My work trip got canceled because the destination is getting pummeled with snow. I had no plans for today’s dinner, so it’s breakfast for dinner once again.

I’m considering French dip sandwiches from the slow cooker for next week. Has anyone made this before? Did they come out good? I don’t know if it’s our slow cooker, but meat often comes out a bit dry, even the fattier cuts.