Poll: Food!

CharmedPam

Where would you say you were, % wise, on:

1) eating out/ordering in/having someone else make your meals
2) convenience meals - little or no effort is needed (warm up in the oven)
3) cooking - some effort involved all the way to gourmet style cooking 

And where do you WANT to be?

Us:  we're 60% eating out, 10% convenience, and 30% cooking at home.  Where do I think we want to be?  40% eating out, 10% convenience and 50% cooking at home. 

sparklepants41

I think we are currently 40% eating out (I'm including lunches at work), 20% convenience, and 40% cooking at home. 

I think ideally we would like to be at 20% eating out, 20% convenience, 60% cooking at home. 

VarunaTT

Right now:

100 % eating out/ordering in/convenience meals.  Life is just too damn busy.

Want to be:

80% cooking
20% eating out/convenience

I really miss cooking.  I'm still having to make adjustments in expectations vs. reality coming from a really big, well stocked kitchen to my apartment kitchen.  K isn't much of a cook, but is eager to learn.  We've promised after nationals we're back to cooking.

thefanciestbeckler

I am at 25% eating out, 0% convenience, 75% cooking at home. I'm happy with that.

DH is at 50% eating out, 50% convenience since he's on the road and living out of a hotel right now. He'd love to be where I'm at with those ratios right now. Lol.

levioosa

Right now we're on a pretty tight budget so I'd say 10% eating out, 70% cooking, and 10% convenience. I actually like fresh meals so I cook a lot. If I make enough, then we heat it up for dinner the next day or two. Sometimes i make a huge amount so we can have dinner all week without the effort. 

CMGragain

Now that DH is diabetic and we are both retired, we are 95% home cooking (me) and 5% eating out.  It is difficult for him to be compliant at restaurants, and he has always been a fussy eater.  No more McDonalds for him!  No more gobbling a whole pepperoni pizza, either!

*Barbie*

probably 
60% eating out/takeout and 40% between "convenience" and cooking

I usually don't cook too often on weeknights because i get home later and don't feel like it it. I cook more on weekends, and when i cook, it's mostly in bulk - so that in turn becomes the "convenience meals" - DK will generally put something in to warm up when i'm later getting home. 

we also tend to travel a fair amount and run around on the weekends which impacts the % of eating out. 

I'd like to get back to healthier food/less takeout - but i need more time to make this a reality. 

I really enjoy cooking and am pretty good in the kitchen - so when I retire, I'll be golden. 

6fsn

We eat out once every couple of weeks as a family.  DH packs lunch every day, but will out once a month.  School kids get to buy lunch once a week and I usually take Max out every other week. 


Convenience foods are usually only once or twice a month and that's usually just a box a side.

I stay home though so it's easy to cook and prep ahead. 

southernbelle0915

Before child:
- 30% eating out
- 10% convenience
- 60% cooking at home (I LOVE making a good, gourmet meal)

After child:
- 20% eating out (the rare date night + ordering pizza)
- 75% convenience meals (all hail the crock pot)
- 5% gourmet cooking (as in..holidays)

charlotte989875

I'd say we're probably 60% cooking at home, 30% eating out/take out, and 10% convenience food (which is usually Annie's Mac and cheese although I think that counts as cooking). 

ILoveBeachMusic

southernbelle0915 said:

Before child:
- 30% eating out
- 10% convenience
- 60% cooking at home (I LOVE making a good, gourmet meal)

After child:
- 20% eating out (the rare date night + ordering pizza)
- 75% convenience meals (all hail the crock pot)
- 5% gourmet cooking (as in..holidays)

I don't consider crockpot convenience meals - that is cooking. 

We probably eat out 25%-30% depending on the week (H buys lunch at work). The rest is cooking with enough for leftovers.

Ro041

I am probably 60% cooking (crockpot or other quick meals, but ones that do not come from a bag), 25% convenience food (my lunch generally comes from a local store that makes single serving healthy meals to-go that just need to be reheated) and 15% eating out.  We used to eat out a lot more, but I am trying to watch my calorie intake and cooking is the easiest way to do that.

bleve0821

25% eating out, 75% cooking. I'd prefer it to be 10% out,  90% cooking, but DH is a foodie and loves going new places to eat.  

We do a lot of freezer meals and crock pot meals because of our work schedules, so they're convenient in the sense that we can thaw them and throw them in a pot and walk away, but I still consider them cooking because I take a weekend and do all the prep work in advance.  We really only have boxed or pre-packaged/prepared meals in a desperate moment, e.g. when Twiggy countersurfs or we both get hung up at work unexpectedly.  I prefer that our food be fresh and low-sodium.

I don't particularly like eating out, because it doesn't feel as healthful as a meal I prepare, and it costs money, which I'd prefer to hoard like Scrooge or use to buy new work clothes.

ei34

I'm probably 10% eating out (we get pizza take-in every Friday...H and I eat out maybe 2-3x a year?) and 90% a mix of the second and third options.  For example, dinner tonight is filet mignon tips, mashed potatoes (both take some effort, so the third one)...and then a bag of those green beans that go straight from the freezer to the microwave (easy...the second choice).  I work on Tuesdays, so we'll have a tray of lasagna tom night- making the sauce frying the eggplant and the cheese mixture were kind of labor intensive, but I did it while the kids napped.  Tomorrow all I have to do is pop it into the oven, so easy/convenient?

*Barbie*

yeah, i misunderstood about the difference between convenience meals and cooking. i rarely use pre-packaged/prepared foods. (frozen pizza or pierogies and canned soup when someone is sick are the few exceptions.) 

I will bulk cook about once every 6 weeks or so and make a bunch of different dishes to freeze (soups/stews/chili, lasagna, Swedish meatballs, stuffed pepper or stuffed cabbage, veal scallopini, spaghetti sauce, shredded chicken, pulled pork, pot roast, corned beef and cabbage, smoked meats, a huge turkey or ham, etc.) I consider this a "convenience" on a weeknight because DK can reheat it and make an easy side or 2 (steamed veggies, fries, fruit salad, etc.).

Our chest freezer died a while back and we bought a new one, but i still need to restock. Probably will do so in the next weekend or 2 since we've been travelling so much the last 2 months. 

mrsconn23

We eat out or order in 2-3 times a month or so (we usually order pizza one Friday a month, do Chinese one Friday, and then go out to eat at a restaurant once a month).  So that's about 10% of our dinners. 

I try to meal plan at least a week at a time.  That helps keep us from ordering out.  I'd say twice a month we eat sandwiches/chicken nuggets and fries/leftovers for dinner.  

DH might eat lunch out once a week, but he normally takes leftovers, and I will order Jimmy John's for lunch about once a month, or I'll run a lunch time errand and get lunch from McAlister's or Wendy's. 

kahluakoala

Question to all - do you consider "convenience meal" a pre-prepped at-home meal? I will make 6-8 servings of a meal on Monday night, and then BF and I will eat it for dinner on Mon, Tues, and Weds. If you consider that home cooking, I would say we're at 50/50 home cooking and eating out. We don't do much in the way of convenience meals

- we both eat take out for lunch at work everyday, which includes the salad bar at our work cafes, but still
- we eat take out 1-2 nights a week
- about every other week I have a dinner out with a few girlfriends, BF will either go out with the guys or get take out or eat leftovers
- I cook in bulk for the week

SP29

We're about 30% eating out, 5-10% convenience, 60-65% home cooking.

Depends on your definition of convenience. We don't buy too much frozen/pre-prepared meals, but on nights when I just don't feel like cooking I'll heat up a can of soup and make french fries in the oven, or grilled cheese.

I would like to eat out a little less, get that number to 15-25%. We've been eating out/ordering in more recently lately. It used to be once a month, now it's once a week, sometimes twice. That is partially because we can afford to eat out/order in now, but it's a habit that is easy to fall into.

lovesclimbing

95% cooking at home, 5% eating out. I'm happy with that. We eat out about once a week or less. We used to eat fast food more, but now it's maybe once a month. I'm happy with that. 

WinstonsGirl

Ugh, please don't make me do math.  

We tend to eat out Fri/Sat nights.  I refuse to cook Friday nights.  I'm too tired form work.  Sunday is 50/50 on going out or going to a parent's house for dinner.  We tend to cook at home Mon-Thurs, aside from occasional weird nights.  And all the leftovers from that go to lunches during the work week.  Breakfast is always at home.  French toast Friday every week in my house.  

OurWildKingdom

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say in our house, it's evenly split among the three choices. I'd like us to cook more and rely less on convenience foods, but we get home fairly late most nights, and eating together is more of a priority than cooking. We all like to cook, though, so most cooking is done together.

thefanciestbeckler

KahluaKoala said:

Question to all - do you consider "convenience meal" a pre-prepped at-home meal? I will make 6-8 servings of a meal on Monday night, and then BF and I will eat it for dinner on Mon, Tues, and Weds. If you consider that home cooking, I would say we're at 50/50 home cooking and eating out. We don't do much in the way of convenience meals

- we both eat take out for lunch at work everyday, which includes the salad bar at our work cafes, but still
- we eat take out 1-2 nights a week
- about every other week I have a dinner out with a few girlfriends, BF will either go out with the guys or get take out or eat leftovers
- I cook in bulk for the week

In my mind, convenience meals are like Stouffers frozen dinners, Hamburger Helper, boxed mac and cheese, Marie Calender's pot pies, etc. That may not be what @CharmedPam meant, but that's how I usually think of it.

I cook 4-6 portions every time I cook and eat on it for lunch throughout the week. I still consider that home cooking because it's leftovers of food I made from scratch.  

sparklepants41

thefanciestbeckler said:

KahluaKoala said:

Question to all - do you consider "convenience meal" a pre-prepped at-home meal? I will make 6-8 servings of a meal on Monday night, and then BF and I will eat it for dinner on Mon, Tues, and Weds. If you consider that home cooking, I would say we're at 50/50 home cooking and eating out. We don't do much in the way of convenience meals

- we both eat take out for lunch at work everyday, which includes the salad bar at our work cafes, but still
- we eat take out 1-2 nights a week
- about every other week I have a dinner out with a few girlfriends, BF will either go out with the guys or get take out or eat leftovers
- I cook in bulk for the week

In my mind, convenience meals are like Stouffers frozen dinners, Hamburger Helper, boxed mac and cheese, Marie Calender's pot pies, etc. That may not be what @CharmedPam meant, but that's how I usually think of it.

I cook 4-6 portions every time I cook and eat on it for lunch throughout the week. I still consider that home cooking because it's leftovers of food I made from scratch.  

I was imagining convenience meals to include reheating leftovers, cans of soup, and easy things like sandwiches/salad/boxed Mac & cheese...

TrixieJess

We are 90% home cooked/baked food; 5% eating out; 5% convenience. 

We are lucky to have one stay at home parent, otherwise I'm sure we wouldn't be able to have as much home cooked/baked food. 

The only times we eat out are special occasions. And for convenience food, if FI is working his casual job and it overlaps with mine, I'll pick up something quick from the store.

littlemushroom

I would say we are 15% eating out, 10% convenience, and 75% cooking at home.  We eat out once a week usually when we make a trip to town for groceries and other errands. Periodically we might get some takeout on the way home from work, maybe once a month or so. Otherwise we eat at home because we don't have many options in our small town. We do a "fend for yourself" night a few times a month where my H has his favorite food ever, ramen. I usually make myself eggs and toast or something those nights.

Heffalump

I'm going to say 20% takeout/eating out, 40% convenience meals, and 40% actual cooking, though that varies quite a bit.  (When swim season starts and Wooz has practice 3x/week, takeout and cooking swap places.)  And our convenience meals are from a local place that preps and packages them, and then you just cook them.  (Sometimes it's simple, like popping enchiladas in the oven; sometimes you sauté the chicken, simmer the sauce, cook the orzo, etc.)  Which reminds me, I need to get our March order over to them.

kahluakoala

sparklepants41 said:

thefanciestbeckler said:

KahluaKoala said:

Question to all - do you consider "convenience meal" a pre-prepped at-home meal? I will make 6-8 servings of a meal on Monday night, and then BF and I will eat it for dinner on Mon, Tues, and Weds. If you consider that home cooking, I would say we're at 50/50 home cooking and eating out. We don't do much in the way of convenience meals

- we both eat take out for lunch at work everyday, which includes the salad bar at our work cafes, but still
- we eat take out 1-2 nights a week
- about every other week I have a dinner out with a few girlfriends, BF will either go out with the guys or get take out or eat leftovers
- I cook in bulk for the week

In my mind, convenience meals are like Stouffers frozen dinners, Hamburger Helper, boxed mac and cheese, Marie Calender's pot pies, etc. That may not be what @CharmedPam meant, but that's how I usually think of it.

I cook 4-6 portions every time I cook and eat on it for lunch throughout the week. I still consider that home cooking because it's leftovers of food I made from scratch.  

I was imagining convenience meals to include reheating leftovers, cans of soup, and easy things like sandwiches/salad/boxed Mac & cheese...

I could see either! If you're talking about making things like scrambled eggs, grilled cheese and a can of soup, something like that - we do that maybe 10-15% of the time, but we never do frozen dinners or any of the other options you mentioned. Maybe a side of steamers veggies or trader joe's fried rice, but that's about it

short+sassy

We do a lot of eating out/convenience meals.  I'd guess 20% eating out, 60% convenience meals, and 20% cooking.

I define convenience meals as from a can, a box, or pre-packaged frozen.  I don't consider leftovers a convenience meal, if they are from the cooking category.

I'd REALLY like to jump more on the bandwagon of "make ahead" frozen meals I prepare myself and can then be thrown in a crockpot.  Which would also be the cooking category for me.  I'd like to get to 10-20% eating out, 10-20% convenience meals, and 60-70% cooking.

A real challenge considering my current MO, lol.