"Saving" money by eating out less

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think you're shopping as wisely as you could be. Also, you should get rid of the cat. No more cat food OR cat litter. Plus, less cleaning supplies to clean up cat hairs. Win-win.

Who are you, the tin man?

[Anonymous]

Getting a bit off topic, but I find it odd that anyone uses bottled salad dressings. I'm not happy if someone tries to serve me that. Truly, just put some nice olive oil and vinegar on the table instead if you can't be bothered to mix one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 3 year old son's favorite food is tofu with vegetables.

This is a side note and I ope you understand it is well intended- please do not feed tofu or any soy based products to your kids. Soy is an inflammatory food. I give you kudos for cooking home made food to your kids and not feeding them store bought garbage. As someone who grew up with health home cooked meals every day, I am amazed the garbage people eat and how little people know about good food. I mean, someone few posts above commented that dressing always comes in a bottle!!!


the benefit of soy is a myth . I am a former vegetarian who used to eat a ton of tofu as I thought it was a replacement for meat. I stopped eating tofu, miso and any other soy based products 2 yers ago after I was diagnosed with endometriosis and learned about inflammatory foods. Quinoa is a great source of protein if you need a replacement idea.

Can you send a link to the science behind these claims? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting a bit off topic, but I find it odd that anyone uses bottled salad dressings. I'm not happy if someone tries to serve me that. Truly, just put some nice olive oil and vinegar on the table instead if you can't be bothered to mix one.

I've never made salad dressing homemade. I wouldn't know which seasoning to add. We like the refrigerated ones from the market. The Asian ginger one is great. I also like the Greek ones. I wouldn't like plain vinegar and oil.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 3 year old son's favorite food is tofu with vegetables.

This is a side note and I ope you understand it is well intended- please do not feed tofu or any soy based products to your kids. Soy is an inflammatory food. I give you kudos for cooking home made food to your kids and not feeding them store bought garbage. As someone who grew up with health home cooked meals every day, I am amazed the garbage people eat and how little people know about good food. I mean, someone few posts above commented that dressing always comes in a bottle!!!


the benefit of soy is a myth . I am a former vegetarian who used to eat a ton of tofu as I thought it was a replacement for meat. I stopped eating tofu, miso and any other soy based products 2 yers ago after I was diagnosed with endometriosis and learned about inflammatory foods. Quinoa is a great source of protein if you need a replacement idea.

Can you send a link to the science behind these claims? Thanks.

Here is one. You can also look up soy+ fertility and soy + inflammation .

http://www.endo-resolved.com/soy.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not to derail the thread, but can you say more about thefresh20? Looks great, but they dont' have any sample plans up. How long does it take you to prep and cook the dinners? Do you think it's worth it?

NP here but another Fresh 20 fan - after a 3 month trial subscription we bought the full year, which has the added bonus of full archive access.

But she also now has a Fresh 20 cookbook with 3-4 weeks of meal plans for each season. Not sure if it's in a brick & mortar store, but I got it through Amazon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A family of four can only eat for $25 if the food is pizza or fast food.

Agree. And when we were kids we were only allowed to get water when we ate out.

OP here. I said that it was possible but w do typically spend at least $40. For $25 you can get a couple of entrees around $8-12 which is not unreasonable for a casual (not fast food restaurant). Then we may get a side or a kids meal for the three year old and/or have both kids eating some if the adults entrees. Our kids are young and though they have good appetites they are cheap to feed. Obviously this would be different with teenagers. We all drink water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The question though is when you are comparing to your previous spending, were you including the extra groceries (e.g. TP, cat litter, kitchen rolls) separately from the food? You should be comparing food costs before and after without including the household supplies. Olive oil counts, but the rest are household supplies that you would/should be buying either way. I've found that when our family of four goes out, we spend between $25-40 for a single meal. When we eat at home, $75 of groceries will last us 2-3 days (average 2 meals a day, so 4 meals). So for $75 for two meals or four meals? I can definitely see the difference.

Where do you eat for a family of 4 for $25-40??

Seriously. I would love to know. With just the 2 of us and a 2.5 year old, we rarely spend less than $60, usually closer to $75-$100 if we each have a drink after all tax and tip is included.

Looks like a lot of people questioned my $25-40 for four. Sorry to keep folks waiting, but work got in the way. My family of four includes twin toddlers who share either a kid's meal or a selection of sides. We do a lot of fast food and cheaper sit down places, so we don't spend a huge amount on restaurant food.

Is this not OP?

This is OP. No that was not me. It was the person who wrote the first post above and said that they spend $25-40 for a single meal - which should be pretty clear to anyone.

I did not say that, I do not have twins and I do not eat fast food. However, we do sometimes spend in that range in our family too, though $40-70 is more likely. Yes, it's possible to get dinner out for two adults and two small children somewhere that's not a fast food restaurant in the $40 range.

This is the point where you apologize. Thanks.

I am the parent of the twins, and not OP. I'm surprised that there was a question of who was whom. The quotes are there for anyone to read the back and forth.

When I say that we eat fast food, that includes a number of counter service restaurants that are not Burger King, McDonald's, etc. We eat at places like Shane's Rib Shack, Bob Evans, Ledo's Pizza and Pasta, Three Brother's Italian and the local Chinese restaurant. There are many places that you can get a meal for 2 adults and 2 toddlers for under $40. And if you're careful what you eat, you can eat moderately healthy, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 3 year old son's favorite food is tofu with vegetables.

This is a side note and I ope you understand it is well intended- please do not feed tofu or any soy based products to your kids. Soy is an inflammatory food. I give you kudos for cooking home made food to your kids and not feeding them store bought garbage. As someone who grew up with health home cooked meals every day, I am amazed the garbage people eat and how little people know about good food. I mean, someone few posts above commented that dressing always comes in a bottle!!!


the benefit of soy is a myth . I am a former vegetarian who used to eat a ton of tofu as I thought it was a replacement for meat. I stopped eating tofu, miso and any other soy based products 2 yers ago after I was diagnosed with endometriosis and learned about inflammatory foods. Quinoa is a great source of protein if you need a replacement idea.

Can you send a link to the science behind these claims? Thanks.

Here is one. You can also look up soy+ fertility and soy + inflammation .

http://www.endo-resolved.com/soy.html

We limit soy intake in our family as much as possible because of health concerns, but everything I've read links the problems to non-traditional foods like soy milk and other soy derivatives. I don't think there's much risk to fermented soy products or "young" soy beans (like edamame), eaten in moderation.

[Anonymous]

[
This is the point where you apologize. Thanks.

NP here-- I was with you, OP, until you posted this. Jeez. I also thought you were the fast food poster, so it was not clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 3 year old son's favorite food is tofu with vegetables.

This is a side note and I ope you understand it is well intended- please do not feed tofu or any soy based products to your kids. Soy is an inflammatory food. I give you kudos for cooking home made food to your kids and not feeding them store bought garbage. As someone who grew up with health home cooked meals every day, I am amazed the garbage people eat and how little people know about good food. I mean, someone few posts above commented that dressing always comes in a bottle!!!


the benefit of soy is a myth . I am a former vegetarian who used to eat a ton of tofu as I thought it was a replacement for meat. I stopped eating tofu, miso and any other soy based products 2 yers ago after I was diagnosed with endometriosis and learned about inflammatory foods. Quinoa is a great source of protein if you need a replacement idea.

Can you send a link to the science behind these claims? Thanks.

Here is one. You can also look up soy+ fertility and soy + inflammation .

http://www.endo-resolved.com/soy.html

We limit soy intake in our family as much as possible because of health concerns, but everything I've read links the problems to non-traditional foods like soy milk and other soy derivatives. I don't think there's much risk to fermented soy products or "young" soy beans (like edamame), eaten in moderation.

I googled this before I asked for research and I found nothing convincing and plenty that said that tofu was good as part of an anti inflammatory diet. So I am pretty confused. What I'd be interested in seeing is some published research because I tend not to trust web sources that I can't verify as being reputable. I did find some fairly reputable info on breast cancer that said that 1-2 portions of tofu per day was fine. So, while I appreciate the concern, I don't think I'll be removing tofu from our diets (we certainly don't eat it every day!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[
This is the point where you apologize. Thanks.

NP here-- I was with you, OP, until you posted this. Jeez. I also thought you were the fast food poster, so it was not clear.

Perhaps it was confusing for someone who wasn't following the thread, but it was very obvious if you were. Regardless, this was in response to the pp who accused me of feeding my kids "disgusting crap". Yeah, I know, not the worst insult on DCUM, but one that I took exception to regardless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting a bit off topic, but I find it odd that anyone uses bottled salad dressings. I'm not happy if someone tries to serve me that. Truly, just put some nice olive oil and vinegar on the table instead if you can't be bothered to mix one.

I detest oil and vinegar so I'm pretty unhappy when someone serves me that for a salad. Will I eat it? Yes. But I won't be happy about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[
This is the point where you apologize. Thanks.

NP here-- I was with you, OP, until you posted this. Jeez. I also thought you were the fast food poster, so it was not clear.

Perhaps it was confusing for someone who wasn't following the thread, but it was very obvious if you were. Regardless, this was in response to the pp who accused me of feeding my kids "disgusting crap". Yeah, I know, not the worst insult on DCUM, but one that I took exception to regardless.

[Anonymous]

I want to know where these "casual restaurants" where entrees are $8-12 but "not disgusting crap" are, please.