Author Topic: ober hates chicken wings  (Read 39994 times)

charlie

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #15 on: March 13, 2012, 06:02:22 PM »
Whole milk?



P.S. Jake's quick meal ideas above get :dblthumb2:

KnuckleBuckett

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #16 on: March 13, 2012, 06:30:29 PM »
We cook most days.  See Cooks Illustrated and Cooks Country for most of the recipes (that aren't hand created). 

She does most of the cooking.  I come in for the last quarter of most of her dishes and tweak them to our tastes.  I cook a few things that she never does.  Usually ethnic dishes that aren't Chinese.

She also cooks stuff just for her that simply do not interest me.

Mike

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #17 on: March 13, 2012, 07:24:26 PM »
If you can swing it, take part of that $50 / week savings and use it for some cooking classes.  Cooking is easier when you have the basic skills.  From what you posted it sounds like you guys are cooking boring food.  Look up at recipes online for ideas.  For example, this Friday is St Patrick's day and I want to do the corned beef / cabbage thing but the traditional method is pretty boring.  So I'm looking up recipes to see how to do it differently.  Learning food substitutions is a big thing too.  I made cioppino a couple of weeks ago and it called for halibut but I wasn't going to pay $10/lb for that.  So I subbed in another white fish and it worked just fine.

If you can get rid of the frozen meals and cook fresh.  I found that does require going to the store more often.

A note about salt:  After eating out all that time you get used to all that salt and home cooking will taste bland; but, after awhile you'll regain that sensitivity and home cooking won't taste so bland.

My staple meal right now:  3-4oz salmon fillet with a light dusting of garlic salt and cooked on the George Foreman grill.  The side is generally a salad with lettuce (romaine), red cabbage, carrots, zucchini, green onions, and bell peppers (any color but green).  It is pretty fast to put together.

Jake

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #18 on: March 13, 2012, 08:35:01 PM »
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Govtcheez

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #19 on: March 14, 2012, 07:19:55 AM »
> •frozen orange chicken from Trader Joe's

This is the one frozen meal we eat on a semi-regular basis.  It's just so easy and if I bake the chicken I don't feel as disgusting about it.

Other meal staples in my house
- Anything in a crock pot.  Tomorrow I'm throwing a pork shoulder in there with garlic, seasoning salt, and beer.  Throw on a bun with some BBQ sauce and some coleslaw and you've got good eats.  Also makes tons of leftovers
- Anything I can grill.  Chicken, pork chops (which I've just discovered I love after finally getting over the memories of overcooked shake and bake growing up), steak, hot dogs, etc. 
- Tacos
- Pasta
- Pad Thai from one of those kits
- Chili or other soups
- Jambalaya (a box of zatarain's and a pound of sausage is plenty for dinner for us and at least one lunch worth of leftovers)

I'd guess we spend about 90-100/week on groceries for the two of us.  I used to go out to lunch every day and would spend way too much on it (at least 70/week probably), but I'm trying to cut that back to once a week
« Last Edit: March 14, 2012, 07:31:34 AM by Govtcheez »

KnuckleBuckett

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #20 on: March 14, 2012, 09:18:36 AM »
Speaking of going out for lunch...

Who goes out for lunch regularly? 

I go out for lunch roughly two or three times a month during the work week.

micah

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #21 on: March 14, 2012, 09:41:02 AM »
Speaking of going out for lunch...
Who goes out for lunch regularly? 
I go out for lunch roughly two or three times a month during the work week.

I NEVER bring lunch but, I don't usually eat much. I get a half-hour for lunch and make a point of going out every day to get away from my desk but usually I just get a fountain soda and maybe a 99-cent snack at the gas station down the road.  Probably once a week I'll feel like eating more and get fast food, so I'd say on average I only spend $2 to $3 per day on lunch.

...and what is this "frozen orange chicken from Trader Joe's" you all speak of, it sounds like something I need to get!  what is the serving size and cost?  we don't usually go to Trader Joe's because, well, its not that close and we can't stand the snotty assholes that shop there.
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ober

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #22 on: March 14, 2012, 09:50:39 AM »
Mine is probably going to vary from others based mainly on the fact that my kids have food allergies.  Typical things for us:

1) Pasta - with a little butter, or some red sauce, or a homemade alfredo sauce.  Almost always with some Parmesan cheese.
2) Chicken - cutlets (covered with bread crumbs, cooked in a small amount of oil), straight grilled chicken in just a little oil, or BBQ chicken from the oven or grill
3) Red meat/Ground Turkey - either as burgers or ground up meat to be used in tacos or mixed in with pasta or some other dish.  The kids just take the chunks and dip it in ketchup - Ground turkey is usually healthier, cheaper, and tastes better depending on how you cook it or what you add it to
4) Shrimp - usually just fried up in some butter or marinated and tossed in a skillet.  This is a super quick meal.
5) Fish - usually talapia
6) Chili - we got a great veggie chili recipe but we usually add red meat or ground turkey
7) Rice - white/spanish
8) Veggies - the kids like broccoli/carrots
9) Some sort of bean - I usually go for peas/lima beans but we also eat green beans, chick peas, black beans, etc.

My wife cooks most of the time in our house but I usually do the cooking on the weekends.  I agree with the other people that have said you're desensitized due to the amount of sodium and stuff in the food you eat out.  It can be a huge adjustment to switch to making your own food and enjoying it but a lot of it also depends on the way you cook stuff (spices, etc.) and the methods you use to cook it. 

As for budgets, we run between 600 and 800/month for groceries, but that also includes BJs (similar to costco) so that includes things like toiletries and other things that are not food.  It's hard to separate that stuff out.  I rarely eat out at work anymore, maybe 2-3 times/month and we have a budget of about $80 for restaurants per month.

Govtcheez

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #23 on: March 14, 2012, 09:54:38 AM »
http://www.traderjoesfan.com/Trader_Joes/mandarin_orange_chicken/details/

I don't recall the cost off hand.  $5 or so, I think

Rob

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #24 on: March 14, 2012, 09:56:47 AM »
As for budgets, we run between 600 and 800/month for groceries, but that also includes BJs

You count that as groceries? :D

micah

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #25 on: March 14, 2012, 10:07:36 AM »
As for budgets, we run between 600 and 800/month for groceries, but that also includes BJs

You count that as groceries? :D

I break everything out when I update my ledger software so I can run reports on how much was spent on groceries vs household cleaners vs pet food vs whatever else.
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ober

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #26 on: March 14, 2012, 10:14:21 AM »
As for budgets, we run between 600 and 800/month for groceries, but that also includes BJs

You count that as groceries? :D
I knew someone wouldn't be able to let that go.  :p

Rob

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #27 on: March 14, 2012, 10:31:03 AM »
As for budgets, we run between 600 and 800/month for groceries, but that also includes BJs

You count that as groceries? :D
I knew someone wouldn't be able to let that go.  :p

Considering the thread title, I thought it was kinda appropriate...

charlie

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #28 on: March 14, 2012, 10:50:44 AM »
Ummm...   :lol:


http://www.traderjoesfan.com/Trader_Joes/mandarin_orange_chicken/details/

I don't recall the cost off hand.  $5 or so, I think

Fuck I love that stuff. I have to make sure not to cook it too often. We always bake it. The BBQ chicken one is nice because you can microwave it, but it's not as addictive.

Micah, these aren't frozen dinners like you'd think of TV dinners. But they're frozen and easy to make which is perfect for me, and less unhealthy than other frozen choices. Also expensive but much cheaper than eating out. We have to make two bags now if we want everybody to eat a full serving. One bag serves two adults.

Mike

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Re: Eating at home sucks
« Reply #29 on: March 14, 2012, 10:08:12 PM »
Tonight it took a bunch of willpower to not go out and get something.  Instead I ran to the store to get a few more ingredients and made a kick ass soup (thick) that was perfect on this rainy day.  I feel physically and emotionally better than I would have if I had gone out.  To me, that is the best part about home cooking.