Yes, I do own a crockpot-I must admit I get a little overwhelmed when I look for crockpot recipes because there is are so many options! And yes, we actually have looked into cooking classes to take together. There is actually a place just down the road from us that has wonderful classes, but they are expensive. We plan to try it sometime though.

We also actually did try what’s called “Door to Door Organics” for quite some time and loved it, only until winter hit and they were sending things that were not very appealing to either of us. We did try and make do, but decided to resign from it, maybe just until the summer comes and there is better local berries, etc. And we also have a farmer’s market in the summertime just a few blocks away, as well. So we have lots of options!

I don’t want it to sound like we are fast food junkies or eat all meals out at restaurants, but as a young couple we needed some advice for how to plan ahead…something we’re both not so good at. So thank you for all your tips! And recipes! Keep ‘em comin!

All right, here’s some thoughts off the top of my noggin, as grandma w/say. (Sort of.)

1. Think in bulk, and freeze ingredients in baggies appropriate in size for what you need to prepare one meal for the two of you.
2. For instance, do you eat chicken? Prepare a whole chicken in a crockpot, separate the meat into freezer bags with enough in each for individual meals. That one chicken (<$5) w/probably last you a month's worth of chicken meals with at least one meal every week. Apply this example to other foods: homemade refried beans for Mexican dishes; separating ground hamburger into smaller freezer baggies when you bring it home from the store (whether you cook it beforehand or freeze it raw); the possibilities are virtually endless!
3. For just the two of you, I would think about what you like to eat, and plan meals accordingly for a month at a time.
4. Yes, that is a long time! But for just two people, that’s not a lot of food! And that gives you lots of options to choose from throughout your busy work weeks.
5. Start a habit in the evening of asking each other, “What should we eat tomorrow night?” (Instead of, “Where should we go to eat tomorrow night?”) Based off your list of food you like to eat (see #3).
6. Get the meat, etc., out of the freezer to thaw for the next night’s meal.
7. You may not always feel like having what you planned! And that’s okay. That meat, etc., can wait until the next night.
8. If you don’t already have a crockpot, get one: They are the working woman’s (and man’s) friend.
9. I also liked the tips from other readers about investing in steamers, bread makers, etc, (hmm… wedding registry?) that have timers and also prepare food/veggies for you while you’re at work. It’s true: there’s nothing more relaxing than knowing your dinner is waiting for you when you get home from a long day.

I get excited thinking of the possibilities of cooking for just two people, when all you have to please is yourselves! I’m thinking, Baked (or slow cooked) chicken breasts with yummy seasonings (buy chicken breasts in bulk and keep frozen); rice pilaf; steamed veggies… (will you have fresh farmer’s markets available in KC?) A nice glass of wine…

Or – Pasta tossed with olive oil and parmesan cheese, served with sauteed shrimp (buy frozen and uncooked in a large bag and only take out what you can eat at one time!), and a tossed salad and some crusty bread. Yum!

You could make enough for just dinner, as well as a little extra for the next day’s lunch. Do you know how cheap these meals are for just two people when you buy the ingredients separately?

And that’s the key to eating on a budget — and for your health: buying separate ingredients and freezing in bulk accordingly and not thinking so much in terms of buying and storing whole meals — especially if you’re bad about eating your own leftovers!

This is long and probably post-worthy on its own, but just a few more points:
1. For the healthy way you like to eat, Em, you might look into a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that delivers. Having fresh (possibly organic) local produce delivered to your doorstep w/also encourage you to find ways to incorporate those goodies into meals at home!
2. Meal plan, meal plan, meal plan. Just felt that needed to be said. It may feel like it takes time, but it’s just like paying the bills: you sit down and do it and in a few minutes it’s done. It saves so much time and energy come dinnertime.
3. Start small! In fact, I would maybe start by not doing anything differently at all! but write down every dollar you spend on food and drink, whether you used cash, debit, credit, or check. Whether it was eating/drinking out, groceries from the store, or a coke from a vending machine. Carry a little notebook or piece of paper around with you and simply write down the amount and what it was for. Or keep every receipt and write it down at the end of the day. Do this for a month.
4. When you see your totals, that might be all the motivation you need to sober you right up! (Pun intended)

I would recommend you and Alex sitting down and each writing out meals you like to eat, sort of a master list to base your meal planning off of that of course can be added to over time! You can shop for ingredients that can be bought in bulk like, once a month. That leaves smaller trips to the store maybe once a week for fresh produce, dairy and maybe bread. If you freeze in portions appropriate for what you need one meal at a time, no waste! And infinitely cheaper and healthier than eating out on a regular basis.

I definitely agree that eating out is wonderful entertainment! If you restrict your budget to eating out only for entertainment, and for convenience only occasionally, you will definitely free up money to go toward your financial goals. (You two do have financial goals, don’t you?)

Also! Have you ever thought about taking a cooking class together? Like, some Thai or some other kind of Asian food? Stir fry opens up all kinds of healthy, frugal meal options, and that would even be fun to do together at this early stage, to encourage the two of you to learn to cook together in the kitchen! Come to think of it, hubs and I perhaps could benefit from something like that, too…

I just encourage you to start preparing more meals at home. You will have failures! But then, you don’t always like every new restaurant you try, either, right? Just start small and don’t try every tip you hear at once. Just remember it gets easier the longer you do it. And before you know it, eating at home will be your fallback comfort zone of choice.

Oh, and Olivia’s a size 7; if it’s even sizes I’d go with a six. The dress your mom emailed a picture of was so cute! I am sure whatever you decide to go with will be adorable.

But my question is this: For just the two of us, what is the financial comparison of fixing a nice meal at home (going to the grocery store, spending however many odd dollars for the meal, spending time to fix it, having uber leftovers, then ending up throwing it away because it has gone bad) versus going to Subway, getting a $5 footlong, eating half for dinner and half for lunch the next day?

I am totally a believer in saving your dough and eating at home. But sometimes (ok, every day) it is so hard to plan and prepare a [healthy] meal for two. Tips? On a sidenote, what is Olivia’s dress size?

I’m not talking about the occasional outing, mind you — but the regular, budget-busting habit of feeding your family fast food.

I had been feeling guilty about doing so, but lately I wonder if I should. I don’t get much fast food (except for Chick-Fil-A which I’d get a whole lot more if it weren’t far away) and frequently eat at local restaurants where the food is homemade. I also really like eating out and can afford it. The only thing I like doing more is traveling, and I spend about the same amount on that. (I’d travel more if our schedules allowed.)

So, why not?

Three things that help with the exhausted mother syndrome (I work, and have a teen on the autistic spectrum and a demoralized college kid taking the year off) include: 1) I keep stocks of things like hummus, whole wheat pita, cheese, etc. for a bread and cheese type dinner on tired nights. Also of premade piecrust, and lots of eggs (quiche is quick and easy) Then 2) Right after supper, putting away complete meals from the leftovers with some new frozen veggies in, then freezing in single serve containers. For example, some beef stew, rice and broccoli. Then we don’t eat leftovers for days, and if I have hummus and crackers for supper, a kid can have the meat dish nuked. 3) Every weekend, I make at least one dish for two meals and freeze them (for example ziti) in a microwave save dish. That way, there is always something any of us can warm up on desperate nights.