Eating at home

[Gasser64]

I recently took a look at my bank statement online. I started looking at where I spend my money to see if I can come up with a few ways to save and start getting out of debt. Tired of debts hanging over my head.

And good God. The amount I've spent over the past year eating out all the time is just not right. No one should spend that kind of money on food. Im no chef but damned if im not going to learn. The wife can cook some stuff but she just eats out all the time too. So we made a resolution to start eating at home and stop wasting all this money.

So what do you all do? What are some simple things to make for a beginner? I recently tried oven cooked chicken legs and fried potatoes and onions. Banana pudding for dessert. Turned out pretty well. What are some of your staples that dont take too awful much time to cook, and arent too awful complicated? I got to come up with some ideas for every day of the week. And I dont mind eating leftovers like some people. And i mean for a real meal, not just pop tarts or a pbj sandwich

[jluv]

Ground meat. You can use it to make tacos, sloppy Joe, spaghetti, meatloaf, chili, etc. All simple, and all good leftover. Ground bison is a lot leaner, but more expensive.

[GrayStangGT]

Get a stainless pan rated to go in the oven and start pan searing chicken breast then finishing in the oven. Then just find some simple sauces and vegetables you like to go with it or put it over rice or pasta. Getting a grill you enjoy using also help, except for the sun going down early this time of year is awesome for grilling.

Made this the other night, except I made the sauce in a separate pan with a lot less butter and added some chopped onion instead of green onion, and it was excellent over brown rice.

http://abuelosathome.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

[bcoop]

Crock pot recipes are easy as shit.

[mstng86]

Start cooking multiple meals on one of your days off. You can cook a full weeks worth if you do it right

[Baba Ganoush]

I cook half my meals for the week in two sessions. When I'm tired of eating leftovers, I remember that my frugality is rewarding.

I cook pork loin or chops, Pasta dishes that are even better on the third day, or barbeque some burgers and sausage that make the break room smell wonderful!

I did some stuffed shells this week.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/stuffed-shells-i/

[03mustangdude]

salmon is easy to cook. Do it with red potatoes.

[jakesford]

Fish is super easy to cook and quick. The GF and I cooked a whole red snapper with veggies last night. 15mins to prep, 40mins in the oven and was enough for dinner last night and lunch today.

Pan seared trout fillets, takes maybe 15mins to prep and cook.

[BP]

I think the biggest problem people have is being scared of failure. Don't expect to make meals fit for a Gordon Ramsay show. You don't have to follow recipes exactly as they are written. Just make sure your proteins are cooked properly, your prep area is clean and you wash your veggies before you cook them.

Don't be scared to make mistakes and definitely experiment. If you can manage to chop up onions, celery and carrots then you can make a mirepoix which is the base for thousands of recipes.

If you can find John Besh's show on PBS it's great. Most of the dishes have less than 5 ingredients and they are geared for a home kitchen.

http://www.chefjohnbesh.com/recipes/

[bcoop]

I think the biggest problem people have is being scared of failure. Don't expect to make meals fit for a Gordon Ramsay show. You don't have to follow recipes exactly as they are written. Just make sure your proteins are cooked properly, your prep area is clean and you wash your veggies before you cook them.

Don't be scared to make mistakes and definitely experiment. If you can manage to chop up onions, celery and carrots then you can make a mirepoix which is the base for thousands of recipes.

If you can find John Besh's show on PBS it's great. Most of the dishes have less than 5 ingredients and they are geared for a home kitchen.

http://www.chefjohnbesh.com/recipes/

Mirepoix, holy trinity (bell pepps, onion, celery), and learn to make a good roux. Those three cover so much ground in the cooking world. This shit isn't rocket science. You learn through failure, so you shouldn't be scared to try.


I make a carne guisada in the crock pot that will feed my family 3x or more. We do a lot of Mexican and Italian at my house. Alfredo, chicken picatta, chicken marsala, etc. Enchiladas are great and simple, but time consuming. I'll usually make two trays and wrap one and freeze it. You can't jump right in and make Osso Bucco, but learn the basics and go from there. It really isn't difficult. It just takes time. The biggest thing I struggle with is taking proteins out of the freezer to let them thaw the night before. It also helps to make a meal plan for the week, and shop by that and that alone.

[Danny46]

x2 on crockpot! You can do a lot with it in a short period of time especially now that its cooling off; nothing like some hearty crock pot stew on a cold fall day.

I cube up venison (or beef/pork/chicken) season it with cracked pepper, cayenne, sea salt and garlic, brown the outside (cook on high heat in a pan just so the outside is cooked) then throw it in the crock pot with a cup of beef broth. Cut up your favorite veggies (I do 3-4 red potatoes, carrots, celery, 1 red onion and a can of fire roasted tomatoes), also throw into the crock pot along with some more seasoning and a couple tablespoons of flour and set it on low when you go to sleep. When you wake up (if you sleep 7-8 hrs) it will be ready for you to eat. I like this becase you get a lot of food out of it and its not hard to make. I will usually put one or two servings in some tuppaware and store in the freezer for later and still have enough for 3-4 servings. I'll also usually cut up double the veggies then store them raw in the freezer so that next time I make stew I just dump them right in and dont have to worry about it.

[mstng86]

The biggest thing I struggle with is taking proteins out of the freezer to let them thaw the night before. It also helps to make a meal plan for the week, and shop by that and that alone.

I agree on this.

You have to stick with your plan. If you get lazy and go out to eat, then you basically have wasted your money at the grocery store.

I guess what I am trying to say is, you are wasting your money getting groceries if you are just going to go out and eat. Then you have 2 costs for food instead of one. Its taken us a long time get past eating out alot.

[black2002ls]

We have been guilty of eating out too often at times. Though we have been doing better. We need to expand our spice cabinet so that everything isn't one note and starts to bore us. My problem is lunch. I work 45 min from home so I can't go home and eat left overs any more. I need to pick up a small cooler and start bringing my lunch.

For those of you who cook ahead and freeze, how are you prepping for the freezer? I need to pick up a quality vacuum sealer so I can buy in larger quantity when meat is on sale.

[bcoop]

For those of you who cook ahead and freeze, how are you prepping for the freezer? I need to pick up a quality vacuum sealer so I can buy in larger quantity when meat is on sale.

I vac seal proteins before they go in the freezer to prevent freezer burn, and give a longer shelf life.

Really the only stuff I will prep ahead and freeze, is casserole type dishes, or enchiladas. I bought Pyrex dishes with lids. Sometimes I'll make a marinade for fish or chicken, and pour it in the bag prior to vac sealing.


Go buy yourself a FoodSaver. Those ziploc vac sealing bags suck dicks. If you have a Tuesday Morning in your area, you can usually pick up a foodsaver pretty cheaply.

[talisman]

I make a big bowl of tuna salad pretty frequently and get about ten sandwiches out of it for around $8, not including bread. It's tasty as hell, too.