So this would be part two of menu planning (or maybe it's the "lack of planning" part) that I didn't include the other day. We all love to eat out, but with 4 kids, how does one do it cheaply? First of all, having a baby helps you to NOT eat out. How much fun is it to spend $30-40 on a meal and all the while you are wolfing it down while jiggling a fussy baby. Or you and your husband are taking turns with him (while dancing around your table, or in the lobby or the car (been there, done that)) all in the name of "going out to dinner". Not fun!
What we've learned in our few parenting years is in one word: Breakfast. We love to go out for breakfast, and it works well for these reasons: kids are well rested and thus well behaved, less noise=less fussiness in babies, less money (depending on what you order), more normal food=less picky kids, you also usually can skip lunch if you eat a restaurant breakfast. With our 3 eating kids, we can order 2 entrees and split it 5 ways equaling a pretty good deal. We drink water most of the time or the kids bring their own milk cups. (toddlers can get by with that stuff, a 6 year old not so much!)
So, when we do occasionally eat non-home food, this is how we do it. We call it the $10 special limit. We have 3 local options.
1) Papa Murphy's take'n bake pizza (whatever is on sale for less than $10). Other company's pizzas may be cheaper but we've found they aren't as filling, so everyone wants more than that.
2) Nacho plate at a Mexican restaurant. Let the kids eat lots of chips and salsa, and you're set!
3) House special at our local Chinese restaurant. We love the House Lo Mein at the Lucky Dragon and we order it as take-out and eat at home with our own added stir fry veggies. There's even enough for Greg's lunch too. Score!
I did try making Chinese food at home from scratch, and used up every dish in my kitchen (or close to it). For the time and energy put into it, I vowed not to do that again anytime soon! Usually lunch specials are even cheaper than dinner ones, which we do sometimes on our way home from church for lunch.
And of course, water to drink all around. We only eat out when there is leftover grocery money, which also helps us to not go out very often, because, umm....that rarely happens! It is also motivation to stick within budget so that we can go out now and then. We also quit going out for supper when we had a date, as I was always making food for the babysitter and our kids anyhow. We usually eat at home and then grab a coffee or dessert instead, which is much cheaper.
What we've learned in our few parenting years is in one word: Breakfast. We love to go out for breakfast, and it works well for these reasons: kids are well rested and thus well behaved, less noise=less fussiness in babies, less money (depending on what you order), more normal food=less picky kids, you also usually can skip lunch if you eat a restaurant breakfast. With our 3 eating kids, we can order 2 entrees and split it 5 ways equaling a pretty good deal. We drink water most of the time or the kids bring their own milk cups. (toddlers can get by with that stuff, a 6 year old not so much!)
So, when we do occasionally eat non-home food, this is how we do it. We call it the $10 special limit. We have 3 local options.
1) Papa Murphy's take'n bake pizza (whatever is on sale for less than $10). Other company's pizzas may be cheaper but we've found they aren't as filling, so everyone wants more than that.
2) Nacho plate at a Mexican restaurant. Let the kids eat lots of chips and salsa, and you're set!
3) House special at our local Chinese restaurant. We love the House Lo Mein at the Lucky Dragon and we order it as take-out and eat at home with our own added stir fry veggies. There's even enough for Greg's lunch too. Score!
I did try making Chinese food at home from scratch, and used up every dish in my kitchen (or close to it). For the time and energy put into it, I vowed not to do that again anytime soon! Usually lunch specials are even cheaper than dinner ones, which we do sometimes on our way home from church for lunch.
And of course, water to drink all around. We only eat out when there is leftover grocery money, which also helps us to not go out very often, because, umm....that rarely happens! It is also motivation to stick within budget so that we can go out now and then. We also quit going out for supper when we had a date, as I was always making food for the babysitter and our kids anyhow. We usually eat at home and then grab a coffee or dessert instead, which is much cheaper.
