Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

How to Save Money on Eating Out

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We save money on eating out simply by not eating out much. Boring, right?? To some, maybe. But we have fun with food in other ways, which gives us treats while saving a lot of money! Here are some fun ideas I wanted to share with you today!

A few weeks ago, I shared about how our family avoids eating out. We do this to save money, to avoid the hassle of taking a bunch of little kids into a restaurant (oy!!), and to keep ourselves from feeling crummy.

The irony

As I’m writing this post, I’m currently sitting just outside of Panera sipping something delicious, for which I paid $4.00. Earlier today, I ate a burger and fries at Culver’s. What do I have to say for myself?? :)

I have to say that I’m not against eating out at all! We just don’t do it very often, and when we do, it’s a big treat! Today – the day I’m writing this post – I am taking a day off, which I do about once every month if I can. I leave the kids behind with Daddy and big brothers and any other helpers we wrangle, and I go out of town to do a big grocery shopping and work day. These days are INCREDIBLE for my mental health as we care for so many high-need children in our home right now.

My day off always includes at least one meal out and usually a coffee treat. It’s a hot one today, so I am really enjoying my Charged Lemonade from Panera (while I write about avoiding Panera, hahaha). Anyway…

Why don’t we eat out much?

We’re the geeky people who can’t handle ordering an $8 plate of pancakes and eggs for breakfast at a restaurant because we are silently (ok, verbally) calculating the $0.90 we would have spent on that same plate of food had we made it at home.

Truly, we are a barrel of fun at a restaurant. :/

Awwww. Here we are back when we only had four kids.
This was our traditional back-to-school restaurant meal.
See? We are so much fun. Sometimes.

Today I will share some ways we eat fun food at home while saving a lot of money on restaurant prices!

How to Save Money on Eating Out

The short answer is this: We make restaurant-type food at home when we need a fast meal or when we want/need a night off from cooking or dishes.

Here’s a price breakdown to show you how much money we save when we buy convenience foods at the store compared to buying them made for us at a restaurant. (Obviously, you’ll save even more if you make these foods from scratch!)

Chicken Nuggets and Fries

I buy big bags of nuggets and fries at Costco. We cook them in our air fryer, slice some apples, and this makes a delicious fast food meal for $10.16 – total! For ten people (four adults, three kids, and three toddlers). This is huge savings and super fun for our family! We had a movie night on this particular “French Fry Friday.”

Burgers and Fries

Burgers cost a bit more to make, but even with high quality, pre-made patties that I pick up at Sam’s or Costco, our family can have a burger and fry night for a total of $15.34.

How much would burgers and fries cost our family at a restaurant? Our littlest kids would eat from our meals, so we’d probably buy four adult meals, and three kid meals. This would cost $47.03 at McDonand’s. And we’d have spilled ketchup everywhere. We’d rather spill our ketchup at home. ;)

Note: We do grab fast food while traveling sometimes! Usually we pick up a few boxes of 20-piece nuggets and a couple large fries for everyone to share. It’s a fun, crazy picnic!

Pizza

The best I can find for a take-out pizza right now is $10.99 for a one-topping.

Meanwhile, I can make a loaded pizza at home for $5.75. Or I can make frozen pizzas from Costco for $3.42 each. We need three large pizzas for our family, so we can either spend $33 total for take-out or $10.26 total for frozen. Take-out is fun, but so is frozen pizza! The kids love pizza nights!

Chicken Sandwiches

I don’t buy these very much, but when I do, we all love this!

I buy a bag of frozen chicken patties at our local grocery store – $4.48 for a bag of ten patties plus a package of buns for $1.29. This makes each sandwich cost $0.58. Currently, McChickens are $1.79. :)

Hotdogs

You know me, I always grab a hotdog while I’m shopping at Costco.

The dog/drink deal there is $1.50 which is awesome and it helps me survive my huge shopping trip, ha! If we ever took the family there (maybe someday when the littles are old enough to help!), I think this will be a perfect “meal out” to treat everyone to the hotdog and drink for just a buck fifty each!

Meanwhile, at home I make the awesome beef hotdogs from Sam’s, which cost $0.56 each.

Ice Cream

We don’t give our little ones much sugar yet, but not to worry, our big kids make up for it. And at the end of a long day after all the littles are finally tucked in, Matt and I sometimes have an ice cream date on the couch. :)

We’ve been getting the 48-ounce Wal-mart brand cartons, which is a Bryer’s knock off. These are made with slightly better ingredients than some brands, and they only cost $2.24/carton! What a fun date for just a few cents!

Those are some of our treats at home. What ways do you have treats at home to save money?

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How We Avoid Eating Out (And What We Eat Instead)

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We try to avoid eating out if at all possible. I’ll share why we do it and how we do it!

First, why do we try to avoid eating out?

  1. The cost. For our large family, eating out, even at a fast-food restaurant, can cost $60+. It just doesn’t feel worth it to drop that much money for one meal.
  2. The mess. Maybe it sounds silly, but with six littles, all the wrappers, dips and drippy burgers are a huge hassle. Also, can you imagine what it would look like if we took alllll of our babies to a restaurant? I’m not sure there are enough high chairs in any facility to accommodate us, ha.
  3. The gut. We know occasional eating out won’t hurt us since we try to eat well at home. But eating out frequently makes our bellies bloat. :)
  4. The treat. We like to keep restaurant food as a special treat for our family. So when we do go out or grab fast food on a road trip, it’s super fun for all of us!

When do we eat out?

Here are some examples of times we enjoy restaurant food:

  1. Matt and I occasionally go out for a meal and have adult conversation. Yes, we often talk about the kids when we’re out. There are ten of them; how can we not?
  2. Our teen/adult kids grab food with their friends, of course. Malachi has the McDonald’s app so he finds reasons all the time to “get a good deal on McD’s.” It’s his hard earned money, so… ;)
  3. When we are on a road trip, I usually pack food for our first meal or two (see details below). But after that runs out, we do something like grab a bunch of nuggets and fries for everyone to share in the van or at a park.
  4. Matt’s folks give us a sweet gift at Christmastime to use for a meal out with our family. We save this to use when all of our kids are together, and it is such a fun treat!
  5. Sometimes we order pizza if we find good deals. We do this sometimes when all of us are together so we can enjoy our family time. Or we might do it sometime if Matt is out of town and we want a special pizza/movie night to help us miss Daddy a little less.
  6. We have a traditional “Back to School” meal at our local Runza. We’ve been doing this since our big boys were little – back when they earned free kids meals from the library during the summer reading program! While there are no more free kids meals, we have had fun treating our family to a Runza meal right before we all settle into a new school year. (This year we just did a big to-go order because again, can you imagine taking this crew into find seating? And ketchup? Oy.)

What We Eat Instead

Just because we almost never eat out doesn’t mean we don’t have fun treats at home. Also, as much as I love cooking, I need breaks too! Here are some our tricks. Maybe you can steal some of these ideas for your family!

  1. We kind of like that we can get a couple of cartons of ice cream at the store for $3 each – spending $6 total for our entire family to have ice cream – instead of spending $40 for everyone to get a cup or cone.
  2. When I grocery shop, I intentionally buy convenience foods that I can make on days I don’t have time to cook. I’ll share some ideas below!
  3. We pack food to take to ball games and on road trips. This saves money, but honestly, I most appreciate that it helps us avoid messes and hassles. I have all of our food in a big cooler bag, we spread out on a blanket, and we eat. Yes, I have to do prep-work at home before we leave. But I find that this is SO MUCH EASIER than messing with a drive-thru or trekking back and forth to a concession stand with so many little ones. Here are some great ideas of different foods I’ve packed for us to eat at games and on the road.

Convenience Foods I Buy to Feed Our Family Instead of Eating Out

While shopping, I sometimes hesitate about a boxed/prepared item because it costs more than homemade food. But then I consider the comparison to how much it costs for our family to eat out.

For instance, spending $15 for a package of really tasty frozen tostadas at Costco feels like a big splurge to me. But then I remember that I’ll have them in the freezer to use on an extra busy night. So the $15 convenience food suddenly turns into a money-saver compared to the $40 I’d pay for ordering pizza.

With that in mind, now when I’m at Costco or Sam’s I pick up four or five ready-to-warm up items to keep in our freezer on our “no time to cook” or “don’t feel like cooking” nights. Here are some examples:

Frozen Pizza

Costco frozen pizza for the win. Am I right?

Five Cheese Tortelloni

Our entire family loves these and they cook in just a few minutes. I dump sauce into a pan to warm and eat with them. We eat whatever veggie and fruit we have ready to grab. It’s such a fast meal!

Frozen Meatballs

Our kids love these! I often put them in a crockpot with barbecue sauce to warm all afternoon for a fast meal at night. Or I’ll cook some to eat with spaghetti, which the kids think is fancy. ;)

Orange Chicken

We get this at Sam’s, heat it in our air fryer, and serve it with packages of quinoa/rice we get at Costco. Eat it with salad or leftover veggies, and our meal is fast and fun!

French Fry Friday

Often on Friday nights I make nuggets and fries in our Air Fryer and we put in a movie for the kids. They LOVE this!

I think the main key for me is to always keep our meals simple. If I regularly made complicated meals, I’d burn out quickly and want to resort to take-out. But Simple Meals and easy recipes help keep me sane in the kitchen as I feed our large crew!

When do you like to eat out as a family? What are some of your tricks for eating at home more often?

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How to Eat Healthier While Traveling

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paleo while traveling

Remember when I shared how I survive road trips while eating paleo? We can eat healthier while traveling by planning ahead, eating before we leave the house, and pack our own homemade delicious snacks… but sometimes we are just hungry and we’re miles away from resources and a kitchen and there are business all about with their flashy signs and great deals and what’s a girl to do but order a medium potato óle? Again, I urge you to set your boundaries and know why you chose to eat the way you do. If you’re doing the Whole Thirty challenge. You can not afford to go off-plan. One sip of a milkshake will set back two weeks of the dairy and sugar cleanse you are on. It can take 30 days for your body to fully rid itself of the dairy and up to 90 days for gluten. But if you’re just trying to lose 5 pounds, you may give yourself a treat here and there. I get it.

If finances are tight, eating out ever can wreck your food budget.

I’m not here to talk you into anything. But I’d like to encourage you in your healthy food journey! Let’s hear it for REAL FOOD! Where can you get real food while traveling? There are some ways to eat healthier from fast food. Some offer salads that aren’t half bad. But if you’re counting calories, you’ll be surprised what you find in the dressings or add-ons. I don’t count calories, but I do avoid most commercial dressings.

The #1 way I eat healthier while traveling is to “eat out” at the grocery store.

Go to the grocery store! Just pretend the grocery store is a huge buffet. Grab a cart, bring all the kids inside and walk around the outer edge of the store and buy lots of things that you can eat immediately. Get some fruit. A few vegetables. Some protein. I promise this will save you money and keep you feeling great. My husband will argue that he doesn’t get full this way, but I argue it’s because he just didn’t eat enough—and next time he will need to get a rotisserie chicken or some other hot meat.

What do we actually buy to make a meal for the family?

Anything we want! And we don’t just do this for traveling, we swing by the grocery store to grab food for picnics, parks days, play-dates, etc. Here are a few meal suggestions that I’ve bought in the past:

Romain lettuce, lunch meat, guacamole, bell peppers, dill pickles, grapes, oranges, carrots. My total was $23 and we had enough for two full meals. We used the lettuce to make wraps with the guac, meat, peppers, and pickles and ate the fruit and carrots on the side. (Hint: I usually have a knife handy to slice bell peppers, cucumbers, etc.)

Last time we splurged and spent a whopping $45 dollars. We bought oranges, apples, bananas, guacamole, Nuthins, Ritz crackers, salt & vinegar potato chips, 12 pack of Lärabars, lunch meat, almonds, and a jug of water. Oh, and The Wonky Donky.

My kids are currently 9, 6, 5, and 2 years old. The six of us generally eat paleo, but nobody but me reacts to gluten, dairy, or sugar, so they’re allowed to eat whatever they want. I prep them before we go inside the store: “Don’t ask for a bunch of things you know we’re not going to buy. I will let you know when it’s time for you to pick something out. You will stay with me and not run off down the aisles. Let’s go get some yummy lunch!”

Here’s a $12 dinner: Small jar of peanut butter, jelly, loaf of bread, bag of oranges, and a 6-pack of ice cream sandwiches. Even though it’s still processed food, it goes better for my family than buying a meal’s worth from a fast-food joint. And you will probably have leftovers of everything but the ice-cream sandwiches!

A few grocery store recipes to eat healthier while traveling:

1) Single serve apple sauce, yogurt cups, deli meat and cheese, Hawaiian rolls, carrots, grapes.

2) Hot chicken from the deli, clearance French bread, sliced cheese, rocket apples, dill pickles.

3) Premade salad mixes, a $1 bowl, can of chicken, small bottle of dressing, ask for forks at the deli counter.

4) Fruit/veggie pouch for the toddler, variety of Naked or Bolthouse Farms juices to sample, bag of chips and jar of favorite dip, box of Lärabars, container of mixed nuts.

5) A protein, a vegetable, a fruit, some add-ons to make the meal fun.

6) Yes, sometimes I still find myself munching down on a handful of potato óles and I have no shame in this.

healthier food while traveling

Don’t make food while traveling harder than it has to be. Just . . . pick out some yummy healthier foods and eat.

My favorite is to let each kid pick out something. One kid will get to pick out his favorite vegetables, while another is in charge of the fruit, one helps decide which type of meat or nuts. You get the idea. They’re much happier this way and so am I.

Is this something you have ever done? Can you bypass the fast-food and grab lunch at the grocery store and eat at the park? Or the trunk of the suburban? Or your friend’s backyard?

Tasha Hackett Tasha Hackett is a friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie. When Eloise and Zeke meet under an extremely embarrassing circumstance, Eloise is fine with pretending the whole thing never happened. But they continue to be thrown together when Zeke lands a job working for her brother and it appears God has other plans for this couple. Find a copy of this touching romance wherever books are sold.

To connect more with Tasha and her historical fiction writing, you can find her at www.TashaHackett.com.

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Let’s Talk About Eating Out – I Need Your Input!

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Let's Talk About Eating Out

I’m working on a new project that I’m hoping will:

  • Save you $$ by helping you avoid falling back on take-out as frequently
  • Save you $$ by helping you avoid unnecessary trips to the grocery store
  • Save you time by helping you easily prepare tasty meals for the freezer which can be thawed and cooked with little effort
  • Save you even more time by making your dinnertime meal prep take 10 minutes or less
  • Save your energy when you’re tired at the end of the day
  • Make your family meals times a blessing

I want to equip you with everything you need, from grocery list to check-list. And of course, I’m playing with new recipe ideas that your family will love. My men happen to love this part of my job. ;)

Before I get too far into this project, I’m hoping you’ll answer these questions for me:

  • How long do you spend cooking dinner each evening?
  • How many nights per week do you “not feel like cooking?”
  • How often do you throw your hands in the air and say, “Forget it. Let’s go out.”
  • About how much money do you spend for your family to eat a meal at a restaurant?
  • What kinds of recipes would help you eat at home more instead of resorting to going out?

By the way, you’ll receive no judgement from me about your eating out habits. :)  As you know, our family eats out here and there when we’re on the road and shucks if I don’t love me a good burger and fries as a treat when we splurge like this.

But since you and I are working together to become healthier, to feed our families well, and to save money and time while doing so – I think we can all agree that eating out should be a treat, not the norm. Not to mention the deliciousness of home-cooked food. Melt-in-your-mouth goodness, that’s what it is. Thus, we will all benefit from this new project I’m working on.

Thank you in advance for helping me by answering any or all of the questions above. :)

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The Traveling Casserole

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When we travel, I always pack quite a bit of food. This takes some effort when you’re getting ready to go on a trip, but we find the work is worth it as we save a lot of money on eating out. Plus, it’s a lot easier on our systems. (Don’t even get me started.)

Aside from good ol’ sandwiches, here are some other food items that we have found travel well:

In January, after our 3,800 mile road trip, you could say that we were just a little bit tired of traveling and eating in the car. We’d eaten packed food, fast food, snack food and well…a few too many beans. Vegetable soup and salad from the comfort of our own kitchen had never sounded better.

And yet, just three days after our return home, we needed to make a two hour (one way) trip to one of Asa’s basketball games. Matt and I tried not to groan as we discussed our food plan for the day. The idea of eating out or eating concession food made us turn green. Packing sandwiches didn’t appeal to us in the slightest. Nothing sounded good. Even the kids, who normally think eating out or having sandwiches and chips is a big treat, curled their upper lips at us.

What to do…what to do…because we did need food.

Enter….The Traveling Casserole:

I’ve gotta say…I’d never thought of this idea before. (I didn’t think of it this time either…it was Matt’s brilliant idea.)  He dug out the very cool Pyrex Dish with Insulated Carrier that someone had given us as a gift. Why couldn’t we just make a “real meal” and keep it warm in this until we were ready to eat?

Did I mention that my husband is brilliant?

One of the boys suggested Cheesy Beef and Rice…also brilliant. Cheesy Beef and Rice is not messy or runny or gooey or likely to cause stains on basketball uniforms.

I made it, baked it and packed it up just before time to leave. I grabbed a serving spoon, some paper plates and plastic forks….tossed in some yogurt and fruit and we were good to go.

When we were ready to eat, I just served up paper plates and passed them to the back of the van. Not one bit of casserole was left at the end of the night…and not one of us was whining about having a stomach ache or about having to eat a sandwich…again.

So…all that to say…think outside the box just a little bit when packing food for trips. There is no limit to the traveling food ideas.

Except for I don’t think I’d ever want to pack spaghetti. Or anything you’d have to eat with chop sticks.

Like we ever even eat with chop sticks when we’re at home at the table?

I have no idea why I just said that.

What are  your favorite travel foods?

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Eating Out Less

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simplesteps

Here’s what I’ve decided as I’m writing the Simple Steps Toward Healthy Eating series:  These steps can be taken in any order. There is not necessarily one step that should come before any of the others (except perhaps deciding that you need to take steps??!)

If you find yourself stumped as to where to start on your healthy eating journey, read through the Simple Steps posts I’ve written so far…and just pick something. You might start with drinking more water (and less soda or juice). You might start by eating an extra piece of fruit each day. You might start by eating out less (like we’ll talk about today). The point is that you start.  Pick something, set a goal and work toward it. Once you’ve accomplished that step, take another step. Go at a pace that works well for you. You can do this!

Okay, now let’s talk about eating out less. 

I did actually address this topic quite a while ago, so I would like to suggest you go read what I wrote previously too! The thing is…eating out is addicting. I have found that the more I eat out, the more I want to eat out. Or should I say…the less I eat out, the less I want to eat out.

I used to crave it. I used to sit at home dreaming of french fries from my favorite restaurant. I used to go out of my way to find a chance (or a few dollars) to eat out. And of course, I’d take big time advantage of the free Pepsi refills!!!

It’s amazing how the additives in fast food restaurants (and beyond) make your body crave more. And I don’t think I need to tell you that food from restaurants is hardly ever good for us? Do I need to say that? Okay, here I’ll say it:  The food from restaurants is usually rancid, poor quality, full of MSG, fried in nasty oils… Should I go on? 

How about expensive? In my experience, eating out costs more than eating at home, no matter what kind of value menu you order from or coupons you use. If you’re having a hard time figuring out how you can afford to eat healthy foods, you may find you have extra money for good groceries if you eat out less.

Now, am I suggesting that you don’t eat out at all? No, of course not. Sometimes it’s a necessity. Sometimes it’s a treat. Sometimes it’s fun. Our family enjoys the very occasional dinner out…and sometimes I go out and have a nice lunch with a girlfriend. Eating out isn’t evil…I’m just suggesting that as a step toward healthier eating…you may want to look into eating out less often.

You’ll save money and I promise that even if you aren’t eating the absolute best foods at home, eating at home is still better for you (generally) than eating out.

Okay, those are my thoughts. What are your thoughts about eating out? Do you find yourself wanting to eat out often? Have you ever craved certain fast food or restaurant food?

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