Anyone else eat out/carryout all the time?

[Anonymous]

Family of four. Me and husband both work fulltime jobs. I work a pretty steady 40 hours a week, but husband generally works about 50-60 hours a week. This means I have to drive the kids to all their activities so I don't have much time to cook. We probably eat out 5 times a week. Lunch is almost always at home but dinner is usually carryout from a restaurant. I feel like such a failure for eating out so much. Anyone else eat out this much? Help me feel better about my excessive eating out please. We do try to keep fast food to once a week and will get food from Whole Foods, cava salads, bbq, things like that.

[Anonymous]

At least switch to lunch out but dinner at home for your wallet.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't take long to throw together a simple spaghetti dinner with salad.

Make a big pot of stew or a roast chicken on Sunday and pick over the leftovers Monday night.

Sandwiches for dinner one night.

It really comes down to discipline. And being realistic about kid activities in the evenings.

[Anonymous]

If it works for you, you can afford it, and it's not affecting your health, why worry about it?

[Anonymous]

I’m more concerned about your grammar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it works for you, you can afford it, and it's not affecting your health, why worry about it?

This. Pre kids we ate every meal out. Now, just most meals.

[Anonymous]

We cannot afford to do that so we've learned how to make very easy meals at home. We always make food that produces leftovers, to reduce how much we have to cook. I make things that can be frozen for a month ahead of time, so if I make chili or enchiladas or baked ziti, I'll double the recipe and freeze one for a super easy meal (or two) a month from now. I also have a bunch of super fast meals we can do if we just have no energy, like: soup and sandwiches, pasta with Rao's sauce and sausage and a bag salad, or quesadillas with whatever veggies we have on hand.

You need a routine and a system, and it should be designed to minimize how much actual cooking you do on weeknights, because that's the pinch point. Maybe start by cooking a big meal on Sunday so that you can have leftovers Monday and also freeze some for a few weeks in the future. That's one night of cooking that will last you for four nights total. Do that every Sunday and you've already reduced the nights you eat take out by a lot.

[Anonymous]

Meh. If you can afford it, and if you can make healthy choices, and if you watch your portions and supplement with some fruit and veggies, I see no issue.

There's a big difference between a steady diet of a quarter pounder with cheese, large fries, and a coke vs. a 6'' sub with lean turkey, veggies, and light dressing with some watermelon and carrots on the side. Same goes for there being a difference between a 2,000 calorie deep dish meat personal pizza with 2 glasses of wine vs. 2 pieces of thin crust mushroom and pepper pizza with a side salad you made at home with pre-washed lettuce, grape tomatoes, and mini cucumbers and reasonable dressing and water.

[Anonymous]

Do you ever eat vegetables? It's so easy to get junk food from restaurants, because you can't see them insert the crap you wouldn't insert yourself.

[Anonymous]

Cooking isn't just about spending. It's also about being in touch with your humanity and not commoditizing and commercializing your life.

Cooking a casserole/stew dish on the weekend for leftovers at the week, and having whole food sides, is good for you. It's also not too hard to cook simple good meals. Microwaves and air fryers make short work of veggies and proteins, with minimal cleanup.
A little bit of startup planning effort pays dividends in the form of "go to" recipes.

Also question the abundance of activities. Why do your kids need so much distractions ? Sitting in a car isn't an important life skills to practice for hours ever day.

[Anonymous]

We eat out probably 4-5 times a week. Same situation -- DH and I both WOH, I work slightly more, about 50-60 hours. Elderly relative also lives with us so that's 5 people including the kids. We throw in a salad and vegetables from home and god knows I wish we cooked more but something has to give and for us it's cooking. We do cook on weekends and really enjoy it but weekdays are just so, so brutal.

[Anonymous]

I would really try to replace even 2 of those with something easy like sandwiches, breakfast for dinner, etc. My body feels like crap when I eat too many meals out too frequently (like toward the end of vacation).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Family of four. Me and husband both work fulltime jobs. I work a pretty steady 40 hours a week, but husband generally works about 50-60 hours a week. This means I have to drive the kids to all their activities so I don't have much time to cook. We probably eat out 5 times a week. Lunch is almost always at home but dinner is usually carryout from a restaurant. I feel like such a failure for eating out so much. Anyone else eat out this much? Help me feel better about my excessive eating out please. We do try to keep fast food to once a week and will get food from Whole Foods, cava salads, bbq, things like that.

I have in-laws who do this. They are busy and it’s an easy thing to outsource if you have the budget. Don’t feel bad! You have a full time job and you take care of your kids after school. The only way for you to cook more is if you stayed up late or woke up early to do it. Don’t worry about it. Takeout can be healthy and delicious and home cooking can be flavorless and unhealthy. I have the time to cook often, so I do. But I would never judge anyone who didn’t!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of four. Me and husband both work fulltime jobs. I work a pretty steady 40 hours a week, but husband generally works about 50-60 hours a week. This means I have to drive the kids to all their activities so I don't have much time to cook. We probably eat out 5 times a week. Lunch is almost always at home but dinner is usually carryout from a restaurant. I feel like such a failure for eating out so much. Anyone else eat out this much? Help me feel better about my excessive eating out please. We do try to keep fast food to once a week and will get food from Whole Foods, cava salads, bbq, things like that.

I have in-laws who do this. They are busy and it’s an easy thing to outsource if you have the budget. Don’t feel bad! You have a full time job and you take care of your kids after school. The only way for you to cook more is if you stayed up late or woke up early to do it. Don’t worry about it. Takeout can be healthy and delicious and home cooking can be flavorless and unhealthy. I have the time to cook often, so I do. But I would never judge anyone who didn’t!

Op here, thank you!!

[Anonymous]

Healthy take-out? That's unlikely to happen, unless you ask for a dry salad. Restaurants will hide extra fat and salt in sauces and marinades, and cook things in butter or oil, because they want to make flavors pop. It's only an ignorant non-cook who would say something like this.

OP, you might want to get into slow-cooking.I see this as your only home dinner option. It's pretty fun for winter - all kinds of stews and curries from around the world are available to you.