I need some help
Posted by Lynnae on July 26, 2007
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I need ideas for what to do on nights when you’re totally unmotivated to cook. Unfortunately I get a lot of migraines, and they seem to be more frequent in the summer. I take medicine to help with the pain, but one of the side effects of the migraines is that I am bone tired. On nights like these, I always call my husband to bring home dinner. It’s a huge killer on our budget.
So I need ideas on what to do on nights when I’m just too tired to cook. What do you do? Favorite quick dinner ideas? Any advice? This is my biggest budget buster by far, and I need to get it under control.
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I am not a financial expert. I'm just a wife and mom doing the best I can to live a frugal life and get out of debt. Like any human, I make mistakes. I write this blog out of my own experiences, and nothing I write should be taken as expert advice. If you need financial advice, please consult a professional.
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I have a couple suggestions for you. One is to invest in some of those aluminum foil trays and next time you make dinner, make double! You can fill it with spaghetti, lasagne, chicken casserole, roast/mashed potatoes, then just freeze it. When you are feeling yucky, just pull it out and throw it in the oven (or DH can) and open a can of veggies and then you have dinner. Its a Double/Freeze option.
I also use my crock pot a lot! When you know you will be busy or are not feeling good, pull something out, throw it in the crock pot and add some liquid. 6 to 8 hours later, you have dinner. I even throw stuff in frozen! Roasts, chicken, pork chops, all are good! Stir up some mac and cheese for a cheap side and viola!
I’m a huge fan of cold cereal. It’s quick, easy, and doesn’t require any effort at all. As an added bonus, it’s easy to cleanup - just a bowl and a spoon to wash.
Granted, I don’t even know what a crock pot is, and I don’t know how to use that big square thing in the kitchen that gets hot, so take my advice for what it’s worth.
I also suggest using a crock pot! I have a toddler and by dinner time he is tired and cranky and it’s hard for me to cook. There are tons of recipes that are fast. THey aren’t always cheap, but still cheaper than eating out. Check out my blog as I’m trying to particpate in slow cooker Thursday, every THursday bloggers post crock pot recipes. Hope this helps!
Have your husband pick up a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store on the way home? You get a very easy meal that day, and then you can make soup in a day or two when you’re not so tired.
Thanks for all your suggestions! I will definitely be using some of them. We’re really limited on freezer space, so I can’t put too much more in there. I will try to keep a couple of meals in there for emergencies, though.
I love using the crockpot. I need to search for more recipes, because my family gets tired of eating my same tried and true recipes. I also need to make sure I plan ahead.
Rotisserie chicken is a great idea, and I’ll definitely be doing that in the future.
And I have been known to feed the kids cold cereal at night on occasion. Definitely not something I want to do too much though.
Lean Cuisine dinners!
The rotisserie chicken is one I most often use in a pinch. I also get 1lb of deli potato salad. It’s about $2 and I open a can of baked beans, corn, or anything else I can convince the family to eat!
This also works with burgers, hotdogs, pork chops (on the grill) I just open a bag of chips and a can of baked beans and dinner is served.
If you like the canned beef stew, you can also prepare a quick meal with that and instant potatoes. There are so many varieties to choose from. And of course, open a can of vegetables of microwave the frozen ones.
I realize these may not sound too healthy, but they are quick and shouldn’t be so bad as long as it isn’t supper everynight!
Hope this helps.
OK, this might give you more headache, but you could probably give it a shot.
We try some chopped zucchini and mushrooms - lightly fried (about 5~7) minutes. Add salt and sugar to enhance the taste. Sprinkle some ground pepper for a bit of spice.
If you buy chopped mushrooms, this thing is ready in less than 15 minutes (probably around time it takes to microwave a ready made dinner).
Add beans for a change at times.
$10 worth of ingredients will give you about 2~3 meals for 2 people.
We always have a few frozen pizzas in the fridge (Trader Joe’s usually), as well as good ole pasta and canned sauce in the cupboard…
While it’s great having frozen meals ready to go, there’s till going to be those nights that there’s none. I think the key to having cheap take out is knowing what cheap options are around. I eat out more than I should, but I also know what my cheap options can be any given night. For me, it’s Burritos at a local taqueria. I imagine for a family it’s important to have a couple different options and sticking to those instead of splurging.
I know this is an older post, but I thought I’d throw in my two cents.
I love the Frozen Menu Mailers from http://www.savingdinner.com. 30 days’ worth of frozen meal recipes, a complete shopping list, and instructions on how to do a months’ worth of cooking at once.
I totally love it - I’m very unorganized and tend to procrastinate, so this system works fantastically for me!
I hate cooking so when I do cook, I cook ahead and fridge or freeze for another day. My kids also like doing breakfast for dinner (cereal, pancakes, waffles, whatever) and breakfast is always easier to make than dinner.