It's January. Your heart is full, but your wallet is not. Perhaps you ate like a queen during the month of December. You ate well, attended many a party, and gave and received fabulous gifts. January 1, 2011 rolled around, and you realized it's time to reel it all back in. Perhaps you've put yourself on a spending freeze or you're vowing to be healthier in 2011. We could all stand to do both of those!
At Mama Henley's house, our move to Florida has really put our lives in perspective. Knowing God and enjoying Him is our first priority. Our next priority is the 7 people who live under this roof. We've enjoyed lots of good family time, and one of our favorite times together has always been dinner together. In the past two years, we've eaten at home more than ever. Now don't get me wrong, I love nothing more than to sit and be served and to not have to clear the dishes and put away leftovers. However, reality is that it is smarter to eat at home than to eat out. It saves money and is often healthier.
Last night we drove in from a 12 hour drive. I did not make it to the store today in time to buy dinner. However, I have always been a planner and a girl who is not afraid to store some food. In situations like today, it pays off. I knew that I had plenty of delicious jasmine rice on hand and that our freezer contained some BOGO (buy one, get one free) PF Changs entrees. Voila! We had dinner. We simply warmed the beef and chicken dishes in the skillet, cooked the rice, and poured milk for the children. Using my coupons, I am guessing we did not have more than about $6 or $7 invested in our dinner that served all 7 of us with some leftover rice!
This month I will try to tell you ways that we are cutting back and eating at home!
6 comments:
YUMMY! I have always wondered if those are good. Looking forward to more posts about frugal dinners! Saw your previous post too about your dining experience. That's too bad! I think it's fine to bring in food for kids at a place like that. I went to look at the menu and there is nothing for kids except the hamburger. A very pricey one!
Love those meals in a bag. Public sometimes has BOGOF deals on those. I usually add more chicken, veggies, or rice/pasta and have a wonderful meal on the cheap!
I've tried the PF Changs and one of the others and they were pretty good. You are right , it is time to put things in perspective! Happy New Year to you!
DOTR's favorite line is "how much would this have cost if we'd gone out to eat?" With big families you have to plan ahead and be creative, no doubt.
I love this post! And love those PF Chang's entrees! And love getting them BOGO with coupons at Publix! This Shopaholic is a coupon queen! :-) Happy New Year! XOXO
You are so organized!It's amazing that you could feed that many people for just around $7.00.Just think of the savings! A few weeks back I was doing some research for a post I was writing on Green Savings In The Kitchen and was amazed to find out if the average family of four didn't eat one meal out just one day a week it would be an estimated saving of $1234.08 a year!
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