Tina, the one thing that helped me to cut costs was pre-packaging of ingredients. My roomie teases me that if she wants to eat in, she can just raid the pantry, or freezer, since she knows how I watch the sales.

I watch the sales every week. Today I am going to Sav-A-Lot-sort of a dumpy store, but they have some great coupon offers as long as I watch what I buy. They have a 5 lb bag of sugar for $1, and canned tuna in water 3 for a dollar. Of course I can only get 2 sugar and 6 tunas, but that is how I stock my shelves. The sugar will go into the freezer for the homemade kahlua for holiday gifts.(The kahlua is an annual request and costs me under $2 a pint to make plus the jar cost, which also run less than a dollar a jar!)

Over Labor Day weekend, there were specials on various meats/chicken. I purchase them, package and individually freeze them. When I buy ground beef, I will cook up a few pounds, pour boiling water over it in a strainer to remove excexss fat, and then put in plastic containers and freeze. This way, I have ground beef for whatever I want when I am in the mood. The rest is formed into quarter pound patties and frozen so if I need bulk beef, I pull out however many patties I need or I can have a burger when the mood strikes. I was also able to stock up on soda during labor day sales too. Though I don't drink a lot, 12 packs that were normally over $4.50, were on sale for 5 for $11, making them less than $2.50-or about 20 cents a can. Since I have the space to store them, I made several trips and stocked up...they will last for several months.

The most important thing for me is to stock up when something I frequently use is on sale(ex-mushrooms at 50 cents a can...a staple for me so I bought a dozen-normally they are $1.09 each), and taking ten minutes each evening to figure out what I will have for dinner the next night. The grocery stores around here also have 10 for $10 sales if you have a frequent shopper card, which I do.

If you are cooking for more than one, then a crock pot is a must. You can take any CHEAP cuts of meat, some veggies, seasonings, and cover them with water and set to cook on low before you leave the house.....and when you get home, you just need to thicken up the liquid for a gravy!!

One of my favorite meals is to pour a cup of rice in the bottom of the crock pot, then layer chicken on that, cover with a can of soup and a can of water or milk(I like either celery or cheese) then cover with some fresh or frozen veggies and cook.

Hope some of these ideas help

Ok ladies sending out an SOS here...

For those who don't know - my Dad passed away just under 2 months ago - and since then... I don't know, I can't really seem to pull it all back together (the spirit is willing, but the grief is unbelievable) -- and apathy. Wow is that my achilles heel at the moment.

Anyway -- so prior to Dad passing, we used to eat out "too much" as far as we both were concerned (both financially and fitness-wise (restaurant meals are NOT healthy!)) -- and had decided to cut down. Back then we were probably eating out 3-4 dinners, plus maybe 1 breakfast and 2 lunches. Yes -- far too much.

Now however (since Dad's death) -- we eat out... probably 6 lunches (big lunches) -- and 1 breakfast -- and probably still only 3 dinners a week -- so it's definitely worse, but even more so now as before I would've said "we eat all the rest of the meals at home" -- now I would say "and the kids eat breakfast every day at home... and sometimes we snack" -- but we're now down to almost zero meals at home for the adults -- and the kids (who are still made to eat 3 meals every day) getting a lot more toast, cereal and oatmeal than I'm happy with.

Financially - well -- we're managing because (sadly) we have a little extra money from Dad's will (*sigh* not how I want to spend my inheritance, y'know?) -- but it's not good, it's not good at all - and if it wasn't a train wreck enough - I'm still grocery shopping -- we simply end up throwing things out when on a daily basis I just can't seem to conjure up enough "care" to actually cook what I've planned - and DH just wants to make me feel better -- so he takes me out for all my favorite "comfort" food -- saying (as I do) we'll just cook <whatever was planned> tomorrow and stop all the eating out soon...

Yet tomorrow never seems to come.

Today - I have 2 1/2 lbs of ground beef in the fridge, along with a package of hot sausages -- and some rolls that need to be used up -- so my dd (age 11) is going to help me, we're going to do a nice LARGE pot of spaghetti sauce with meatballs and sausages -- and have sausage/meatball hoagies for dinner tonight. Tomorrow is going to be chicken parmigiana (using some of the suace from today) with spaghetti... and I might throw together a bread pudding for dessert tomorrow (with whatever is left of the rolls from today) -- and I'm making a fruit cobbler for tonight (before the fruit spoils)...

I need to spend a good part of today cleaning out the fridge and pantry of the last of "what we should've eaten" and make a clean start for myself - without the guilt I've been carrying... and somehow find a way to stick with it.

My question is this: When you don't feel well (either physically or emotionally) -- and can "buy" your way out through takeout or restaurant food -- how do you manage to resist it and find the strength/energy -- whatever -- to do what you "should" when you just don't want to, don't have to, and have plenty of other people making all the allowances for you (so you CAN just simply not do anything you don't want to..)

I can see where the longer this goes on, the less I'm wanting to cook (and though I've planned to cook today anyway - I'm more or less posting here so I'll be accountable to SOMEONE) --

Any suggestions on super-easy "get through" meals I can ease myself back into?

Appreciate any tips at all -- this is hard.

If making a large pot of sauce is too daunting, what about browning the hamburger and freezing it in meal sized portions? You can plan on making the sausage hoagies for today with your fruit crisp.

I know when I hurt if I can focus on helping someone else, even if it's "just" family, I feel better.

You can make a very easy soup using some of your hamburger, add a chopped onion, a couple of carrots, chopped potatoes some beef stock or even bouillon and let it cook in the slow cooker until the vegetables are tender. You can add any sort of canned or frozen vegetable, too. I add a tablespoon on worschetshire (spelling)sauce, as well. You could prep the vegetables and get them heating while browning the hamburger. If you add garlic bread, toast or biscuits it's a complete meal. Then pair it with your crisp.

Until you start to feel motivated try making a bigger dinner and using the leftovers for easy lunches the following day.

If the kids are eating cereal or oatmeal add a sliced orange with some peanut butter toast. That way they're getting some protein with the carbs and some fresh fruit.

Since you're doing a fair amount of eating out, why not transfer some of that to the grocery budget for easy foods. Bagged salad, shredded cheese, sliced deli meats and cheeses, bananas, lot of individual fruit: apples, oranges, pears. Maybe some frozen garlic bread, nuts, microwavalbe popcorn,vegetable juice, tea, steamer bags of vegetables, perhaps a frozen dinner or two, canned soup.

While cleaning up from breakfast you could prepare a tuna salad. When the kids are hungry they could make their own sandwiches add a piece of fruit and some baby carrots and dip. They've prepared lunch. You could put some tuna on a bed of greens, or use it as a dip with crackers.

Breakfast for dinner is super easy with pancakes, peanut butter and fruit. Scrambled eggs and toast with fruit is another easy dinner. Spaghetti with sauce is good. Homemade soup with a bread, is good. Baked potatoes cooked in the microwave with canned chili and topped with cheese is good. Grilled cheese sandwiches with soup.

Maybe you could make it a goal to eat with the kids for breakfast and lunch. Since they're eating anyway, just prepare something to nibble on throughout the early afternoon. Perhaps you can babystep your way back to eating out once a week. Maybe if you have a goal in mind what you would like to do as a family and use that eating out money differently.

For me, if I allow myself the mindset for "just now" I'll never want to break the cycle. Here are a couple of ways that I try and break the cycle. Use the kids as your helpers.

I have a circular tray with different compartments to hold different accoutrements. with a dip tray in the middle. I use it for taco's/tostado's. I can add shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, olives, sour cream, guacamole,and salsa. This makes it easy to prep when my energy levels are highest. I can take out a container of ground beef from the freezer. When it's time to eat I warm the ground beef with seasoning and add a can of fat free refried beans. The beef/bean mixture can be added to taco shells or tortillas and people can garnish as they want.

When that tray is in use, I can add different vegetables along with a dip or salad dressing. The tray can be slid onto the table for lunch and dinner for fresh easy sides.

I also try to make a big lettuce salad, or salad in a bag, for another alternative. A pasta salad or potato salad could be made and used as a side for sandwiches or with different meats for dinner.

When you are eating try eating the most nutritious thing first. Comfort foods are great for comforting, but your energy levels and immune system needs the varied diet. It's easy to get into the habit of using caffeine and sugar as a pick me up. Try drinking more ice water, as well.

we're here for you. Just keep posting and try doing one thing daily to change eating out for convenience.

Thanks Striving for the inspiration to get back on track. 3 things I need to do first are: wash out the fridge, clean off the counter, and clean off the top of the freezer. Then, I need to do some serious meal planning and grocery shopping.

Mischievia: Whenever I catch myself in a downward spiral, I take a deep breath, gather some inner strength and start simple. Last week for example I started with 2 bags of carrots and a bag of spinach (both on sale btw). DD (5yrs) washed the carrots, and dh washed the spinach. Although I love fruit/veggies, that's usually my downfall b/c of the prep time. So, if I get ones that have a longer shelf life and prep them ahead of time, its easy to grab them at meal time. Or snack on them rather than a cookie.

Thanks for the all the suggestions Striving & Canadagirl... apparently today is another "not so good" day here. I was wide awake at 3:45 this morning, feeling moderately ok - and determined to do better today than yesterday. By 7a I was absolutely exhausted (as well, 3 hours of sleep isn't really enough for anyone) and I went back to bed... until 11 (*sigh*) -- so by then, while everyone (else) had already had breakfast, it was lunchtime (and although I bought plenty of dinner-fixings - I neglected "lunch" entirely) -- so... well we did McDonald's for lunch (which is at least a little cheaper than what we've been doing... baby steps!) -- and now I'm home, it's after 2 and I could not POSSIBLY care less than I do about cooking tonight.

I did get ambitious enough to at least check dates on packaging (the ground beef is good until the 22nd, the chicken until the 25th and the sausages have at least a week or so..) -- so what to do? I dunno. All day long (ok at least the 3 hours I've been awake this 2nd time) I seem to be only able to focus on Dad today -- I see memories in everything I look at -- from a conversation about McDonaldland cookies (I got addicted to them when I worked there as a teenager -- you know, when DAD used to drive me to and from work every day) -- to Halloween decorating (Dad always said that kinda thing was a waste of time - and as I age, I'm starting to see his point..) -- to the (what Dad would've called) "stupid" shoes I keep wearing even though they hurt my feet (but look good)... to the woman in the red car who almost hit us while we were out (Dad and I used to debate whether "women who drove red cars" (his view) or "old guys who wear hats" (my personal view) were the worse drivers in general on the road...

I mean, today it's just EVERYTHING. I don't feel like I'm looking for it, I just can't seem to miss anything like that today. I don't want "beef" for dinner, I certainly don't want "sausage" -- but they're what I buy when I'm grateful to hubby for picking up my slack (No, they're not good for anyone, but he likes them) - and I'm totally wanting to eat healthier - and make everyone ELSE eat healthier... but *shrug* it feels like just a little too much effort. Ah... the familiarity of apathy.

Realized today I'm alarmingly dehydrated, so I'm going to fix that -- it's not that everything IS too much effort, it just SOUNDS daunting -- and so the day passes, I accomplish not a whole lot - and am a) mad at myself for not being stronger and more together and b) fairly depressed that I'm not quite mad enough to do better the next day. Vicious vicious cycle.

Since when does "TUNA SALAD" sound like a lot of work? GRRR!

Ok, I'm going to go do something - anything - in the kitchen - even if it's just toss out a bunch of stuff from the fridge that is past the expiration date. I'll report back shortly with something other than whine to add to the conversation... I think the worst part of it all, is that I annoy myself lately lol. I don't think that's a particularly good sign.

Wish me luck.

Ok -- NO actual progress on the cooking part, but I DID go through the fridge, cleaned it out completely - made peace mentally with all the food we've wasted and tossed relentlessly. I scrubbed the inside of the fridge (freezer to be done at a later date) - and made a brief inventory of what's left that's still good.

Honestly - other than perhaps some fresh fruit or veg - and some fresh bread (which I suppose I could use up some of my baking supplies and just make myself...) -- I don't need to shop.

Now, I just gotta figure out a plan of "what to do" with it all. The sausages are good until the 24th and 27th, so I have a few days still on the fresh stuff.

Aside from the obvious condiments, butter, juice, milk etc -- I have crescent roll dough (2 tubes) biscuit dough (4 tubes) which expired 3 days ago... debating if it's ok to use, or best to toss (thinking toss, but I haven't yet) - I have a pizza crust and a package of tortillas... sour cream (had 3, tossed 1 for date lol) -- ricotta cheese, have 2 of those and yogurt in 3 different flavors, both regular and greek style... I have fresh basil (which I bought to make the spaghetti sauce I haven't yet made) -- I have hot sausages, chorizo, ground beef (2.5 lbs) chicken breast (2 lbs) kielbasa, pepperoni and bacon... I have american cheese, cheddar, parmesan, mozzarella and an italian blend with some asiago and fontina... I have 2 dozen eggs...

Yeah, I don't need to grocery shop. What I need is a good solid plan and the ambition to implement it.

I'm still debating the toss or try on the biscuit dough -- but will probably toss it... that leaves tonight's quick and easy meal - I could do omelets, I could simply do bacon and eggs (or eggs and chorizo) -- I could broil the kielbasa and do sandwiches...

I could send out for a pizza *sigh*.

Thanks for at least providing the motivation to face the fridge -- it's only a little step, but it's still more than nothing.

Mischieva, I'm wishing you luck! I can't wait to hear your report.

Baby steps and breathe, baby steps and breathe. Repeat.

some times just taking the first step commits us...

I did get the fridge washed out and the counter much clearer. Am working on the freezer ~ almost done. There's a fudgsical inside motivating me...

Mischieva,

Put down the phone no calling for pizza. You can do the eggs and meat. I'd open the biscuits and see if they smelled off or are a different color or consistentcy. If they look good, I'd use them tonight. You can probably have this whole meal together in 20 minutes. It would take longer than that for the pizza to arrive once it's called.

You came up with several meals in your post. Grab a pen and paper and write them down. Then prepare your dinner.

You can do this. You have tonight's dinner, plus about a week's worth of meals from your fridge written down and posted.

Spaghetti with meatballs
Meatballs and hot sausage hoagies
Fruit crisp
Bread pudding
Chicken breasts
pepperoni and cheese pizza
tacos or tostados.

You've done your work. Tomorrow we can build upon today's success. Hopefully you'll be able to sleep tonight and come back refreshed.

Good Job! I'm proud of you. Seriously, put down the phone, LOL! You are strong!

I would be astonished if the biscuits were bad - that's usually the sell by day as opposed to the use by date. Also, those dates are guesses. We have a joke in our family - one of DD's friends was freaked out about the expiration date on milk. I explained to her that the milk can't read and doesn't know it's supposed to go bad on a certain day. DD and I laugh now and say - How does it know???? when we see an expiration date on things.