Try these 3 quick and easy ideas to make dinner fast! Eating out frequently is one of the biggest mistakes you can make with money but these ideas will help you save! It’s much easier than you think to shift your thinking to simplify your life!
3 Quick And Easy Ideas To Make Dinner FAST! – Make Life Easier Without Eating Out
I have been saying this for years and I once heard it on Oprah so I’m sure that makes it true! Going out to eat is one of the biggest mistakes people make with their money. Most people would experience a radical change in their finances if they would cut back on eating out even a couple of times a week, let alone all together. I think that the main reason that people go out to eat is for the convenience. I hope to show you how eating at home can be convenient, too.
We seem to be people of extremes and that definitely spills over into our thoughts about meals. We have the idea that there are only two choices when it comes to providing dinner for our families. The first is to go out to eat and not lift a finger. The second is to become Betty Crocker, an Amish grandmother and Martha Stewart all rolled into one. Oh! And don’t forget to roll in Mr. Clean for the clean up!
It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing situation. For those of you who are extremely frugal, some of these suggestions might seem wasteful, but if making everything homemade is overwhelming to the point that you won’t be able to keep it up, try some of these suggestions to make dinner easier without eating out.
- Make meals easier by using convenience items. Even if you use nothing but convenience items for your entire meal, it is still less expensive than going out to eat. You don’t need to make homemade bread, muffins, biscuits, or cookies. Buy them already made. You can even buy things like French bread, already sliced and buttered and ready to heat. It’s perfectly OK to use bagged lettuce, baby carrots, or anything frozen.
- Keep it simple. Our grandmothers didn’t spend as many hours slaving away in the kitchen as we think they did. Instead of homemade bread or yeast rolls, the everyday meal included store-bought white or wheat bread on a plate with butter and jam. Grandma would open a jar of applesauce, a can of green beans or a jar of assorted pickles. She would toss a simple salad and have all her side dishes for that meal prepared quickly. For years our family raved about my grandmother-in-law’s great homemade noodles.One day when I asked her for her recipe, she pulled me to one side, laughing, and said “No one else knows this, but I always use frozen noodles!”Our grandmothers knew the secret. It didn’t have to be complicated, gourmet, or elaborate for our families to enjoy a meal. It just had to be good, there had to be lots of it and it had to be made with love. It takes only a couple of minutes to slice an orange, apple or banana and lay them on a platter. Throw in some unpeeled small red potatoes to boil, slice pre-cooked ham, heat up a box of fish fillets or lay out a variety of deli meats and cheeses for everyone to make their own hoagies. It can be as simple as that.
- Make clean up easy. I line almost every pan I use with aluminum foil or parchment paper, whether I’m roasting a chicken or baking biscuits, cookies or tater tots. I line every casserole dish too. Use paper plates and bowls if it helps. Use disposable pans when you can. You can usually find lots of them on sale around the holidays. Many people feel a lot of guilt connected with using anything disposable. If you are one of them, I give you permission here and now to use these things. Besides, when you eat out, just as much stuff gets thrown away. It’s just that other people throw it away for you. I would much rather see you at home using paper plates and disposable pans with your family than having to work many hours of over time to pay for dinner out. Relax, enjoy your meal. Your family and pocketbook will thank you.
For more practical tips and easy recipes to help you save money on food, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks!
Save Money On Groceries And Make Meals Easier! (Sale Up To 50% Off!)
Click here to get our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks SALE Up To 50% Off NOW! They’re filled with tasty recipes and tips to make your life easier!
I think the new site is great
I had a plant question Im growing herbs from the seeds and I have them in plastic contains from milk jugs cut down and they are under my skylight on my dresser
i tryed last year and they died and this year i wonder how offen to water them they just starting to sprout i thought watering them two times a week
would be ok the soil is kind of damp and i water a little on mondays and thursdays and i also put coffe grinds and egg shells in two of the larger containers
I love to cook with seasoning so i thought i try to do it with fresh ones
so if you could some how answer my question I would appreciate it thank you
Tracy
It sounds like they are dying from too much water. Water them only when the soil is dry. The best way to start seeds is to put them in the milk jug like you said and then water them just a bit. Then put a plastic bag over the top and put them in a warm spot. I put them on the top of the fridge. Then when they sprout take the bag off and water just when they are dry. You will have to check them every day.
With seeds right now I would start them outdoors in a pot. Water everyday if it’s warm and they are dry. If they aren’t dry don’t water them. After about 10 days you should have sprouts.
I hope that helps. Tawra
Hi,
I was told from a seed company to only mist them to keep the top soil a little moist for they can sprout. And put a piece of saran wrap over it and hold it with a rubber band. Poke 3 small holes in the wrap. This make a green house effect. and they do good!
Never just water them with a watering can.
And I would not add coffee and egg shells or fertilizer until the plants are well established.
I really, really appreciate this article. I did both of the extremes you have mentioned in your article. When I was newly married with no money, I cooked everything from scratch Martha Stewart style. Then I had kids, and my husband got a raised and he started to take me out because I was so tired. I knew I could buy bread, and even frozen entrees, bur I thought if I didn’t make it from scratch it wasn’t good enough, so we started to use too much money on eating out. And the clean up groan, makes me groan to think of it.
This article gave me the freedom to use paper plates if I need to, and to buy prepared food for emergencies. Just having a freezer to stick in teh oven or microwave when I am too tired to make a meal is really helping us so we don’t go out to eat as much.
I think balance is the key word. As you said we don’t have to be all or nothing.
Great article. Thanks
Another thing that I have found makes meals easier to prepare (and less wasted) is to get stuff off the salad bar (I presume they will eventually return) at your grocery store. I did this once when I had a recipe that called for bean sprouts and the only sprouts they had were in an 8 oz package that I knew would largely go to waste. I bought just enough for my recipe and while the price per pound was high, bean sprouts weigh nothing so it was about 25 cents. This also works for chopped onion and other veggies- you can also buy chopped onions and peppers in the frozen food section-
Thanks for your information. This is great ;)
Another awesome article. I would like to be home but following dh’s wishes that I work. I am a teacher and over the summer I stock up on paper goods, foil, etc. When I go back to work it makes my life so much easier on those crazy nights. I want to have as much time as possible with my kids and still save $. I also always have frozen pizzas on hand when they go on sale, it is way cheaper then ordering most times. And faster too. I also try to make part of another dinner each night. Like if we have pasta with sauce one night, I will boil extra noodles to make into cold pasta salad the next night. Chili on one night becomes taco salad the next night. Sometimes we moms think we have to reinvent the wheel! :))
You are so right Elizabeth, I just read a book which said the average person who cooks at home spends 2 hours cooking and cleaning up each meal. I’m not sure what they are cooking but if I spent 2 hours with each meal I would never get out of the kitchen especially when my kids were little and I fixed things every morning like pancakes, bacon etc. There is no way meals have to take that long to prepare and clean up which is why I’m working on another article on how to trim down meal time even more and some of the things I was going to suggest were the same type of things you mentioned.
I am not always up to cooking every night even though I am home all day. So days that I have the energy and my hands work properly I make up a huge amount of macaroni. I divide it into 2 serving packages and keep them in the fridge.
One night it is a macaroni salad with mayo. Another is macaroni vegetable salad. I am big on salads and my husband isn’t so I make several for each meal and they last a few nights and lunches for me when I am by myself and he is working.
I make about 3 types of coleslaws and lettuce salads.
We eat a lot of buffet type meals I have it all on the counter in containers with lids to be put back on to go back into the fridge. Makes clean up easier and we only take what we really want.
There is always meat with every meal except mac and cheese. We eat a lot of fish chicken and beef but in the summer is is all bbq’d no heat in the kitchen and if you do extra you can use the left overs in salads or just cut it up and stir fry it for another meal.
I use those baskets for french fries a lot. They hold a sandwich or two and veggies sticks or french fries and fish.
For something that might leak through I line them with wax paper for dry things I just use a paper towel.
No dishes to worry about. Just empty them and put them back in the freezer.
They also hold toast strips for when you have boiled eggs and toast. I line one with a paper towel and the egg shells go into it. The only dishes are the egg cups and a small plate for each along with a knife and spoon.
When I know that we are going out of town the night before for supper I cook steak or pork chops or chicken. I take the meat and cut it into strips and they make a nice sandwich or just finger munchies for the car on the trip. Healthier than chips or fast food and tastier. Restaurants are few and far between in the winter where we live. A fair number for when tourists are traveling but not so many when tourist season ends.
The other night I did something I have never done when we had friends over for a bbq. We had planned to eat outside so I had paper plates and then it got windy and rainy. We still had the bbq but had to eat inside. I was tired and thought about the clean up after so we used the paper plates. It was such a nice relaxed evening with only coffee cups and wine glasses to wash later. I think we may do this more often.
Yes convenience foods are great.
Honestly, my only problem with the article is that I would increase my bills if I lined everything with parchment, aluminum foil etc. or used paper products. We only order in pizza about once a month and eat out lunch once a month.
Yes, it would increase your grocery bill but only by pennies. Considering that the average family spends thousands of dollars a year eating out it’s a BIG savings.
What happens Monica is that most people would be willing to cook at home if they didn’t have to spend so much time cleaning up afterwards. They arrive home tired or haven’t figured out what to have for dinner so they go out to get something to eat or grab more expensive convenience foods for dinner. So if using a little foil will help with clean up it will save in the long run.
Plus I can get foil so cheap that I have to consider on some things how much water, SOS pads and soap will it take for me to clean this badly burnt and food stuck on it pan compared to one small piece of foil.
Then I too have always worked at home doing other things so I have to think which earns me more money – me spending 15 mins. scrubbing this pan or working that same 15 mins. on parts making $5 for that 15 mins. worth of work.
I always factor in everything to see if I am really saving or spending more.
Dollar Stores and discount stores like Big Lots have become my “go-to” places for inexpensive paper products and aluminum foil. (Be sure to watch the sizes, though, and compare them to your other local stores to see if you’re really getting a better deal per square foot or per plate.) Disposable aluminum pans can be quick washed and reused, as long as the finish stays shiny. If it goes dull, the aluminum can leach into your food (or so I have heard).
We keep a dishpan of warm soapy water in one side of our 2-sided sink basin (and a wire drying rack on the counter) when we start cooking meals. Makes it quick and easy to wash up utensils, cutting boards, pinch cups, etc. while things are cooking. I serve up plates/bowls for each family member so we don’t dirty up serving bowls or platters. We use paper plates sometimes – other times, my children get to wash dishes. In our house, we make a game of it and whoever cooks only has to wash dishes while they’re actively in the kitchen. Everyone who enjoyed the meal pitches in to clean up the dining area and kitchen while whoever cooked the meal gets to relax.
I have used my parchment paper again and again when I am making cookies, with no negative results to the paper or the cookies.
Fabulous article! I am so grateful to you 2; you keep me going!( And don’t forget the slow-cooker as a lifesaver, too.)
I’m finding your website and the Hillbilly Housewife’s most interesting and discussing things people here don’t.
I keep a section of a cupboard for quick meal ingredients, small quantities for me. Then when my mind has been on other things and i want something quick and easy i know where to go and put whatever i fancy together.
Canned salmon, sardines, various veges, creamed corn asparagus, various beans, noodles, cous cous, fine spaghetti, brown rice pasta, precooked brown rice, vegetarian sausages, nutmeat, refried beans, mexe beans.
When put together with some raw veges and previously baked bread or brown rice from the fridge these provide a quick easy meal with little cleanup.
If i’ve been home it’s easy to chop a few veges and cheap cuts of meat from the freezer ( think to put it in the fridge the day before ) and braise them together while i’m doing something else such as this. With one pot to wash i just run hot water into it a leave it to soak overnight. An easy wipe next morning and it’s clean.
I do use rice bran, brewers yeast and nutritional yeast with the white wheat products for better nutrition and fibre. The yeasts can substitute for bullion cubes.
I love the permission to use some convenience items! I like to cook from scratch, but sometimes there isn’t time to do it all. I recently broke down and bought boil-in-bag brown rice for the first time–more expensive than the regular stuff, but a nice option when you don’t have 45 minutes and way cheaper than eating out, which we don’t do much. I love that my husband offers to get take-out when I am busy and tired, but I rarely take him up on it. I take pride in putting nutritious and cost-effective meals on the table, and it is nice to know that it is okay to take some shortcuts from time to time. I berated myself for “cheating,” but my husband and a wise older friend assured me that I was just using my time wisely.
Years ago, I visited my sister, who was a single Mom, and worked long hours at a minimum wage job. She hated cooking large meals and was often exhausted, but understood that good nutrition was vital. She lived in the city, and had no vehicle, but was within walking distance of a good supermarket. She kept her fridge stocked with inexpensive fresh fruit and vegetables (some of it slightly bruised, and discounted). Every few days she bought milk and various breads or muffins (usually from the discount rack) for her and her son. Four or five times a week, she made a full fledged meal in the evening, but most breakfasts and lunches were from the stock she had in the fridge and cupboards…things that really didn’t need to be cooked. They ate well, and were healthy.
Thank you for this post! I realized I am one of those who feels like a failure if I don’t make everything “homemade from scratch.” I can use some convenience foods and still be feeding my family healthy, well-balanced meals. Thanks for taking way some guilt!
Good article. I do a lot of these things already. One of my tricks is to make double on some things and freeze the extra for those busy days. For example,it doesn’t take much longer to make 2 trays of lasagna as opposed to 1, use the disposable aluminum trays and then wrap the second in foil and freeze it. On that crazy day pull out that second tray in the morning and when I get home pop it in the oven while I’m taking care of the other tasks and paper plates and plastic silverware that night clean up is a breeze.
This was a great article! So simple but so true! I am about to be a mom for the first time and I know this will be advice I use for years to come! Thank you!
Just wanted to add that the dollar store is a great place to get inexpensive foil bakeware, and that you should always use a rimmed baking sheet under any foil bakeware for stability and in case of leaks.
Hi Jill and Twara
You won’t believe what I found at the dollar General store! I was in there roaming thru the clearance aisle and found 8 red Reynolds brand cake pans with lids. There was no price on them so I asked the store manager and he told me he found
these in the back left over from Dec.rather than storeing them in an already crowed stock room he decided to put them out to see if they would sell. Seems like no one wanted the color red now that we are in spring. I asked how much and he said you can have them all for .50 cents! Not a bad deal for 8 cake pans with lids. I could care less about the color and just had to share my deal of the day!
Blessings
Susan
Way to go Susan. Great buy. I had to chuckle because I know just how excited you must have been. One thing that I hope people learn from this is it always pays to ask about something. Some of my best deals have been when something didn’t have a price and I asked.
My husband and I work opposite hours. I plan the menu and meal prep as much as I can on my days off. I’ll make and freeze several meatloaves. I’ll cook chicken leg quarters and pick the meat off the bone for chicken and noodles, chicken and rice or chicken and dumplings. I’ll make the meat sauce for beefaroni and freeze it. Then a day or two in advance pull whatever out to thaw. All he has to do is heat it up and make sides.
Some days I’ll put a roast or whole chicken in the crockpot and its ready at dinner time.
Every other Friday is pizza night. Frozen pizza is something easy the teenage boys can do themselves.
I love my foil pans, paper plates and parchment paper.
We rarely eat out or order pizza anymore.
I like your website a lot! Tips how to organize are the best! Thank You very much!
But I’m curious: Don’t you worry about ecology at all? You don’t segregate trash? You really don’t care about how much of disposables you used?
I live in Europe, and here we try really hard to change live style to be more eco-friendly.
Please, don’t be offended by my questions. I don’t want to judge, I’m just really curious about your perception of the world.
Thanks
I am not offended Aniela. I understand your curiosity. First I don’t usually go along with what ever happens to be politically correct but try to use what I call practical, common sense. I never ever recycle. Now as soon as you pick yourself up off of the floor let me explain. After having said that I also believe I am probably 10 times more eco friendly than your most die hard environmentalist. I do it the old fashioned way and don’t go over board on buying anything and everything that I want, I most of all use what I have instead of going out and just buying what I think I need. I only have about 1/4 or less of the normal amount of trash that most people have because of this.
For example I never buy trash bags. I only use the small plastic bags they give me at the grocery store. I use them over and over for so many different things that sometimes I have to have Tawra save me some of hers because I run out. Once again I don’t have that many because I don’t shop and buy that much.
I don’t recycle things like plastic milk cartons because I use them for things like putting them in the bottom of my large planters to make them planters lighter. I use them for funnels or freezing ice in my freezer to put in my cooler instead of buying ice. I reuse so many plastic containers things come in for all kinds of different things around the house and I can’t seem to get enough glass jars to save and use. I have about 50% less food containers because the average American throws out 50% of the food they buy so since I use all of my food I buy less so I have less containers.
I save packaging from packages I get and reuse it. I even save things like the rubber bands that are sometimes around things like celery. Which means I have never ever bought a rubber band in my life. Reuse and no packaging to recycle.
I buy so many of my grand kids toys at garage sales or thrift stores so they never have packaging that needs to be thrown out and many other things I get from there so I rarely have any packaging. I save birthday and Christmas cards and cut them out to put on packages the next year or to write notes on the back of the unwritten on side.
Just yesterday I had a small coin purse I helped recycle by buying it used and have used it for years but it was really getting shredded. I finally had to toss it but before I did I took pliers and took off the chain and charm on it to save and use for something else.
I could spend hours listing things – tons of them. I once had a friend laugh at me and say “Jill you are the only person I know who goes to the recycling center to bring things home instead of having to take things there.” I am not saying this about you but I sometimes feel that recycling was invented because people are spending so much and are so wasteful that by recycling it makes them feel less guilty about spending and wasting. People don’t want to try and make do or fix things. They just want to toss them and wouldn’t dream of doing without especially if it caused them to do a little extra work.
That being said because I am so careful all the time once in awhile when I am sick or don’t feel good I have no problem and certainly don’t feel guilty using a disposable pan and that usually happens about 5 times a year if that much.
I also have problems with really believing or listening to environmentalist because they change their mind every few years on what they believe and rarely use any common sense.
Two examples are – for years we used real Christmas trees then environmentalists came unglued and said we were killing the forests by doing that. M I am thinking Christmas trees are grown like a crop on a farm and replanted each year – common sense would tell you that you aren’t destroying the forests doing that. But they were loud enough and able to brain wash people enough that everyone started buying artificial trees instead. Fast forward a few years and now they are hollering we shouldn’t be using artificial trees because it is ruining the land fills.
A second example is bottled water. I have never bought one bottle of bottled water. I just use tap water and one of those many containers I save if I need to take water with me. But everyone was on the bandwagon to use bottled water and how much better it is. Once again fast forward a few years and now they are having mega problems with bottles in the ocean and landfills. So they are back to trying to get people to use reusable cups.
Point being you need to really think about things and study things instead of just going along with what “they” say. Use less and use common sense and you are much better off.
Thanks Jill…very well said!!!!!
Great article!! Love everything you print.❤️
Good suggestions. Although I like baking, cooking meals is not high on my list. Convenience items are good. I buy bagged spinach or kale and baby carrots and make a salad. I buy garlic bread if I see it at the discount bakery I shop at and throw it in the freezer until I need it. I bought an Instant Pot last year and now I’m getting huge on cooking beans that are dried and making rice in it. Very easy and inexpensive. And usually able to freeze leftovers.
About a year ago I had a major promotion at work requiring longer hours. My daughter commented the other day that we never used to have frozen meals and that the only items in the freezer were ice cubes, ice cream, and a few frozen vegetables. I told her seasons of life change and cooking strategies have to change in response. We still eat every meal together as a family. To me that is more important than cooking every meal from scratch.
I do not often comment but this one with what Jill said about recycling was priceless and needs to be praised. I am no where near as good at watching how I spend , save , recycle etc. but I admire you for what you are able to do. I do watch flyers for sales , I bought bottled water then when empty , refilled them. I had lead pipes in the house so I thought doing it this way I might use less water, because water had to be flushed each time before drinking. I wash plastic zip lock bags to freeze things , then if they get holes use for non leaking items. I don*t have call display etc. on my phone , I quit smoking and bought a car , I was hit and miss for 20 yrs. with no cable , internet etc. but the way life is going the companies are forcing people into having these things. Balancing my checkbook has been taken away , the banks don*t supply the Transaction Books any more. One Teller said just buy a small book and keep track yourself , it is not the same. There I complained.
LOL yes Dale I don’t like it either that you can’t get the same kind of bank statement we use to get. Sounds like you are doing a great job watching your money. Keep up the good work. : )