Q&A | $20 Takeout Date Ideas + Lunches Without Waste
Every other Monday, I answer reader questions. If you've got a question for me, leave it in the comments, or email me, and I'll do my best to answer it in a future post.
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First up this week, a question from an Alaskan reader about takeout date nights.
I stumbled on your blog a week or so ago because recently I became a stay at home mom again. This is the best option for my family. I've read about you doing a takeout date night for around $20, and if you don't mind me asking what usually do you eat for takeout? We live in Alaska so I know there will be a large pricing difference, but i would like to try to keep it close to what you do. Any input would be great!
-Kita
First, welcome! Always glad to have some new faces around here.
Since I wrote that post, two of our kids have become teenagers, which means that we sometimes actually go out for a date night.
(Having teenagers is seriously awesome.)
But, we do still opt for a takeout night sometimes because a certain small girl here doesn't like us to be gone too much. 😉
Anyway, here in the lower 48 at least, it's pretty easy for us to stick with a $20 budget without resorting to super cheap fast food.
A few of our staple meals:
- burgers and a medium fry to share from Five Guys
- sandwiches from somewhere like Panera Bread or Atlanta Bread Company
- two meals from Chipotle
- sushi
- seafood sandwiches from a local seafood shop
Hmm. It would seem that sandwiches are the theme for our cheap takeout nights, except when we do Chipotle.
So. Eat sandwiches, and save money. 😉
(If you are gluten-free or eat low-carb, you could opt for things like a lettuce-wrapped burger, or order a salad instead of a sandwich.)
Also, ordering only the main dish and providing drinks/desserts at home really helps us to stay within our budget.
Hi Kristen,
I've been following your blog for several years now, and love reading it every few days!
My question is, do you have any good lunch solutions for two working adults who have somewhat unpredictable lunch schedules?
I do the grocery shopping for my husband and myself, and it seems like we often have issues with not having the right amount of food at home for lunches. A lot of it has to do with the fact that our lunch schedules vary a lot because of work lunches that come up at the last minute, but I hate that it seems like the weeks that I plan for us to make sandwiches with lunch meat, we end up having several lunches at work and never end up making the sandwiches and throw away the meat (and often the bread, too) because it's gone bad. Then, inevitably when I do not buy lunch meat, we end up eating lots of meals at home and don't have much (if anything, it seems like) to choose from. We both also like to have leftovers for lunch, which normally ends up being easier for us to grab, so they get eaten first.
Is there a way to preserve bread and lunch meat/cheese so that we can use them as needed, rather than buy them and have to throw them out? Or do you have any suggestions for good lunch items that are easy to store in case we don't need them immediately? Thanks so much!
When I read your question, my first thought was that the freezer could really be your friend here. Bread/sandwich buns can easily be frozen and thawed only when needed. That way your bread at least wouldn't go to waste.
(If you buy your buns or bread straight from the grocery store bakery, place them in a sturdier bag for freezing. The clear thin bags from in-store supermarket bakeries tend to fall apart in the freezer for some reason.)
My other freezer thought: On weeks when you have a lot of leftovers and need to use up lunch meat, try freezing some portions of your leftovers. That way you can eat the lunch meat you have while storing up some frozen lunches for future weeks.
Another idea: If you buy lunch meat and notice that you haven't used it toward the end of the week, maybe scratch your meal plan for a night and make panini sandwiches (lunch meat is great in those and you'd use your cheese as well!).
Or have a big green dinner salad with the lunch meat, adding hard-boiled eggs, cubed cheese, and croutons to make it a meal.
Lastly, could you keep some easy-to-prepare lunch items on hand for weeks when you don't have lunch meat in the house? It sounds like you are maybe actually at your house at lunchtime at least part-time, so could you cook up some simple spaghetti for lunch? Or put together a tuna salad? (which mostly relies on pantry ingredients plus a few fridge staples.)
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Readers, the question-askers always love to have more input, so share your advice in the comments!
Any good $20 takeout date ideas? And how would you handle the lunch meat issue?
Lunch: depending on what kind of lunches pop up at the office, here are some things that work for me.
If a group suddenly decides to go out for lunch and invited you, and you think it would be beneficial for you to go (your boss is included, or you could use a change of scenery, or a new employee is going and you would like to get to know her), go, and maybe just order a side salad or a desert or something like that. (This may not always be a good option, but it's something to keep on file). You can still eat what you brought from home when you get back. (If you find out in the morning, you can eat some before you go--maybe eat what's perishable and keep the other items for another day--and then order only enough to fill the empty space left in your tummy.)
If catered leftovers are available from another group being hosted at the company (this happens a lot where I work), you could pack some for the next day. (Our office keeps takeout containers and ziplocks and stuff, but I have also brought a reusable container from home before on a day when I knew there would be leftovers but needed to eat what I was bringing.)
If you don't already have supper plans, you could keep what you brought and eat it for supper. That may not work for every family, obviously, but it works for mine.
There may be times when it's okay to opt out. I try to go out with people when they invite me, but sometimes opt out. It's good to be able to do that. For one thing, it sometimes gives others a sense of freedom that they can do it if they need to.
One of the cheapest (and actually good) places to have take out is the local grocery store. I can get a nice fish and chip dinner for $6 and take it home and have my own drink. My wife usually gets a chicken dinner they have for $5 so for less than $15 with tax, we get a much better meal than a lot of take out places.
I love this idea! I don't typically buy these types of items when I'm grocery shopping, but have had to buy them previously in a pinch. And the soups at Safeway are really delish! One container of those, a premade salad, and a treat from the meat bar/salad bar/pre-made bar would be a lot cheaper than some takeout places 🙂
I was going to agree with the reader above, there's no reason why you can't take your lunch home and eat it for dinner! Or eat it as part of dinner, like add soup or something. You could also take the part of the lunch that you're worried will go bad and eat it as a snack later in the day or on your way home. Or if you made the decision to get a meal out, you could donate your sandwich to a hungry coworker or even a homeless person on the street. Or you could take it home and put it in the fridge and eat it for breakfast the next day.
Also, peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread stays good a long time and is a staple for a reason. 🙂
While it's not always the cheapest solution, sometimes it's possible to get lots of Lean Cuisine-type frozen meals on sale. You can keep a stack in your office freezer, and take some fruit and/or veggies with you daily. On days you need to go to lunch, you go to lunch, and eat the fruit as a snack. On days you don't go to lunch, you heat up a meal in the microwave and eat it with your fruits and veggies.
Regarding dates--
Dates don't always have to involve food. Hiking, snowshoeing, attending free concerts or free museum days are inexpensive things my hubby and I have done. This may vary based on your location--if you live in a remote area, you won't have as many options available to you, although I have found that our local library occasionally has free concerts--local coffeehouses sometimes will have musical entertainment, too, and you should easily be able to stay within your budget with a coffee drink and a pastry. I know it's nice to be catered to, but if funds are really tight, packing a picnic (yes, we have had snow picnics before!) and bringing it along with you is an option. I find that the biggest expense can be babysitting costs. My kids are both in public school so we occasionally have lunch dates--meals at restaurants are cheaper at lunch, and we don't have to deal with child care. When the kids were younger, I would "trade" child care with another mom so that she and I could both save on those expenses (we don't have Grandma living near us to provide us with free babysitting).
Hope that gives you some ideas! You can always rent a movie, put the kids to bed, and pop popcorn. 🙂
We cook big dinners and eat leftovers for lunch. We even take the time to put them away in lunch size portions so it is more of a grab and go in the mornings. We all eat leftovers for lunch, even the three of us who stay home during the day, so I never plan for lunches in our grocery budget. I do plan for making large dinners.
We have no budget for eating out even if it is cheap take out. Our date nights include feeding the kids early and eating together later after they go to bed. To make it special we eat in the living room which is something the kids are not allowed to do. We will watch a grown up movie or play a grown up board game while we eat.
My husband and I had this lunch meat dilemma for the longest time until I finally woke up one day and said "ENOUGH WITH THE SANDWICHES ALREADY". I realized that I was only buying lunch meat and cheese because that's what my mom always packed in my school lunches and so therefore, that represented "lunch" food. Now what I do is cook 2x as much for dinner, and BEFORE I serve dinner, I pack our lunches. Whatever is left over after lunches are packed is what the family gets for dinner. And if tomorrow's work day brings a surprise luncheon, my leftovers will still be good in another day or two (unlike a soggy two-day old sandwich). Furthermore, leftovers can be recycled into tons o' stuff. Example: last night's dinner was Italian sausage with sauteed onions and mushrooms, served atop a bed of rice. The three random pcs of sausages that remained are going to be sliced up and thrown into tonight's kale/white bean/sausage soup. If I didn't have kale on hand, then tonight's dinner might be spaghetti and I'd toss 'em in there.
Anyhoo, just forget the sandwiches altogether. That totally worked for my family. 🙂
You said anyhoo! I love it. 😉
For lunches, think outside the sandwich box. Freezing leftovers in individual-sized containers, like Kristin said, is a double-win...a great lunch AND a way to use up leftovers. Be sure to label them...a piece of masking tape works fine.
My husband doesn't know from one day to the next whether he'll be in the office at lunchtime or out in his car, so reheating leftovers doesn't work for him. I buy a family-sized package of chicken drumsticks and cook them up ahead of time, then freeze them in pairs. He can eat them cold in his car or reheat them in the office. I try to vary the flavors so that he gets some variety from week to week.
For brown bag lunches, I make up a few items early in the week, for quick grab and go meals. These often double as breakfast for many of my family members. I baked a bunch of potatoes over the weekend, and have them in the fridge. Split, topped with frozen green veggies and shredded cheese, these baked potatoes make a hearty breakfast or lunch, and are quick to grab in the morning. I also make and package a few peanut butter sandwiches on Sunday afternoons. Dollar Tree sells some slim sandwich containers that I like.
This time of year, on Monday or Tuesday or each week, I also make a large pot of soup, stew or chili, just for lunches, to pack in screw-top, microwaveable containers. Friday supper is when I use up any remnants from our lunch selections. A mish-mash of items, supplemented with a salad or some fresh fruit, and Friday's supper is super easy.
i don't really care for lunch meat sandwiches but my husband does. he also doesn't mind freezing any meat leftover at the end of the week and then defrosting it to eat later. i also have thrown leftover lunch meat into a frittata. we often have frittatas for dinner w/ a salad & roasted potatoes. yum!
i have a friend whose husband LOVES sandwiches for lunch, and instead of buying lunchmeat, she will buy a small turkey or some beef or chicken to cook on the weekend. then she will carve the meat into sandwich sized pieces and freeze it in smaller quantities so she can defrost a portion each week for his lunches. i bet that's better than normal lunch meat too, even though it's a bit more work.
I made a large ham for Christmas dinner. We had lots of leftovers, so I sliced up some sandwich size pieces and put them in several small freezer bags in the freezer -I take out a little bag and thraw in the fridge when needed. This is the first time I've done this and I am definitely going to do it again. I made some ham and bean soup too.
We have done this for years and I love it. So versatile. I add the ham to soups and casseroles or we just pull some out if we need a super-quick dinner. We also do this with turkey--I use the pre-cooked turkey in place of cooked chicken in recipes. It's an economical way to eat.
Just a quick question- did I miss the Swagbucks giveaway? I know you have been busy with sick children, but I don't recall seeing anymore info on that one. Thanks!
Nope-you didn't miss it! I've got the winner submitted to Swagbucks and am just waiting back for confirmation that the winner did indeed earn 50 SB in the allotted time...then I can announce it.
Sorry for the delay! It's just a little slower than my normal giveaways due to the confirmation process.
my suggestion for lunches w/o waste is to portion the lunch meat & cheese and store them in the freezer. It's not like eating fresh food but I don't mind it too much. I'm single so a package of meat or cheese can't be used up in a timely fashion.
This is what it looks like for me: I take a loaf of bread, pack two slices per baggie than return all the baggies to the bread bag and freeze it. I buy 2# bricks of cheddar when they are on sale, I ask the deli to slice it for me. At home I freeze the slices with a paper between them. I haven't tried lunch meat but I think it might work the same way.
When I need a sandwich I get my 2 slices of bread and a couple of slices of cheese from the freezer and make a sandwich. Most of the time this is for eating at home where I can grill the sandwich but I have made them to-go also.
Like Kristen mentioned egg or tuna salad are quick to make when you keep the ingredients on hand.
I also make small meatloaves, freeze them, when needed thaw, and pan cook. Then in the morning I can slice off enough for my sandwich.
I live in Alaska, too, and if you don't eat fast food, a $20 date night is going to be tricky. We have one local place where we Can get two burgers for close to that. If you're not opposed to bars, check those out for another option. $10 burger & brew night is a great deal. And some have surprisingly good food, but not all.
I also will get one order of Thai curry and some fresh rolls to go. When I get home, I add extra veg to the curry ( leftover cooked ones or some steamed from whatever I have in the fridge). Makes it healthier and enough for two.
For lunches:
Seems like a tricky situation. My husband is in a similar boat, sometimes lunch is provided, but it's not always known if that will be the case. This week, for example, his company provided lunch for the entire crew three days out of the week. Normally though, he packs a sandwhich or a burrito. Burritos in particularly seem to do well in these instances. Make them ahead in the freezer, and take them with you to work. Pop them in the work freezer or fridge and heat if you need it. Eat it for dinner that night, or for lunch the next day.
Also good for that is mini quiches or frittatas, they tend to be good for any meal, and last a while, and can also be frozen if needed be.
Takeout dates when it's hard to leave the house (we have a toddler so we're on the same page). Takeout for $20 shouldn't be too hard to figure out from most places. When you're at home you can use your own drinks and extras, so that helps with the cost. You can also be a little more creative about sharing dishes, ordering apps as mains, and not buying the whole combo when you're taking them home.
I just wanted to add that I buy lunch meat and freeze it all the time - usually to stock up on a great price. It works just fine.
I live in interior Alaska, too, and your comment made me laugh. We do not have any of the stores you mentioned, not one. Our date night is a small plain cheese pizza and two cokes---that will bring us in at just about $20. On the other hand, I like living in a place without all the franchises, even if it does make it more expensive. We used to live in Barrow, at the top of the state, where there are no roads to get there and the only way in or out is flying. Our church youth group once had a fundraiser where they called the Fairbanks McDonalds and they delivered two hundred Big Macs to the airport. The kids et the plane, took them to the church to heat them in the microwave, cut them in quarters and sold them for $2 a quarter and sold out in no time.
Love your McD shipment story Lindsey! I'm in a fly in village as well, no restaurants. We joke about going to the store and getting those individually wrapped ready made frozen burgers with buns when we really want to order out. When we do get to town, we find Qdoba, Chinese, or Thai to be the best affordable options.
We have takeout with my elderly father who lives in a nursing home as an occasional treat for him, and we reduce our cost by buying only the main course (burgers, usually) and taking a large bottle of pop and a very small dessert, for instance after dinner mints or small cookies. When we go out as a couple, we drink water instead of other beverages and don't have dessert.
For lunches, don't forget the wide variety of canned goods - tuna, salmon, ham, meatballs, stew, soup, spaghetti, etc. Fish, meat and soup are generally available in lower salt forms. If you add meatballs to pre-cooked potatoes, rice or noodles, or add cooked frozen vegetables to the stew, it makes the portions heartier and lowers the salt content per portion. Canned items can be stored in a desk drawer at work rather than a fridge or freezer, just remember to take a can opener.
Make enough food to have leftovers for a few lunches and freeze them in individual servings. These are grab and go if there's a microwave at work. If not, quickly heat them in the morning and put them in a good quality wide-mouth vacuum thermos to be piping hot at lunchtime.
I also make extra servings of beef, chicken, or lamb, cut them into bite-sized pieces and freeze. I can pull out some meat to top a salad or throw into a quick stir-fry. I will often make a stir fry after dinner if there are no appealing leftovers, and take that the next day. It's a great way to use up leftover veggies--add the cooked veggies at the very end.
Finally, I often make a meal of a runny soft boiled egg as a topping on a salad, in a stew, or over veggies. On Sunday I make half a dozen soft boiled eggs, mark them and refrigerate. They are easily reheated in a cup of hot water at the office to break over my food, and if I'm not using them up I have a quick breakfast instead. And they will last in the fridge at least a week.
I love chili for a quick meal. I make a huge pot and freeze in individual servings for a quick grab-and-go on days I need it. I also love some outside-the-box things, like hummus and crackers or veggies. It's filling but can also stay in the fridge for a fair amount of time and serves as a healthy snack in the late afternoons...
And for date nights, sometimes we'll splurge on good steak or seafood and grill it up at home. It does involve some work, but grilling is simple and you can get deliciousness for a fraction of the restaurant cost. I just feed us stuff that I know the rest of the family wouldn't appreciate quite as much...
well... living in the city (NYC) there´s always options for a date, I totally agree with the person who is saying "you don´t need to get food to call it a date" but, back to the food we always can find good pizza in the street ... you pay 5 USD for two cheese slices and a can of soda (we share the soda, ´cause we don´t drink a lot of soda) ... also we find a Tai restaurant where we spend something around 18 USD... and if you want something nice or fancy (U know, special ocassion ) you can go to groupon o amazon local... there´s a REALLY good deals, for week nigths mostly.
We love doing take out date nights even though we're empty nesters & can go out if we want to. Our favorites: 1. a double burger & a dinner salad divided between us...for when we really want a burger but don't want the bread/fat. 2. Subway salad to share along with a favorite meat, usually fish or chicken. You can get the salad & have the dressing on the side so it will stay fresh in the fridge for a day, then on date night go buy your favorite entree to go with it.
For cheaper takeout, I agree with some of the above suggestions - Whole Foods has a great hot bar, and I know of a number of other supermarkets that have something similar. And it can also be fun to have picnic-ey foods - a baguette, good cheese and fruit for 2 is pricier than we often get for 'normal' groceries, but is definitely cheaper than a lot of restaurant meals.
My partner and I also tend to order the same thing at a lot of restaurants, and the giant portion sizes can be beneficial. If you get 1 entree and 1 appetizer, then supplement with things like drinks, rolls, veggies and dessert from home or from the pre-made section of the grocery store, you won't have to cook, but you won't be beholden to restaurant prices for everything either.
Lastly, I don't know if Restaurant.com has any deals for your part of Alaska, but it can be a great resource if they offer gift cards for places you like to go anyway.
With regards to lunches, we buy (or make) hearty rolls and then top them with cheese and lunchmeat along with a dash of Italian dressing. We wrap them in foil and freeze them. If my husband needs a lunch he pulls one out and it thaws out by the time he ready to eat it. I've also opened a package of meat and removed a small portion of meat to keep in frig and then froze remaining amount for later. It worked great!
Sushi for two, for 20$?!?!??
Wow I need to move to your town asap!!
I adore sushi but it's so freaking expensive! Where I live, the best price i found is a AYCE sushi bar for 25$ (plus taxes, plus tip, so around 35$) for one person, and this is not top notch sushi (but pretty decent still).
For date nights...weeknight happy hours at many high-ish end places have many appetizer and 'small plate' specials. We have found it easy to sample sushi and much more this way, and just order water. Sometimes we just buy a bit fancier food from the grocery store, like a really nice cracker and cheese, or a new kind of hummus, and some ice cream to share. Then we just wait until the kids are in bed, make a plate of crackers and cheese (or chips and salsa from our favorite Mexican restaurant) and enjoy the quiet. I have also been known to surprise my husband with a pound or two of bbq from his favorite restaurant, and just serve it at home with homemade fries or chips, and store bought buns.
For budget friendly work lunches...I learned from my mom to buy the whole ham, then take it to the butcher counter (before checking out) and having them slice and wrap it. Divide it up at home into reasonable portions for a few sandwiches and freeze in baggies. I have also made meals and frozen them in individual containers for the purpose of work lunches. Individual containers of hummus or bean dip that can be opened when needed would last for a while, add chips and veggies, maybe a cup of soup.
I also like the ideas above about eating light when out at the impromptu work lunches, and having part of your lunch as a snack before or afterward.
When we have lunch meat that has been in the fridge for three or four days we fry it. I don't know what it is but I don't think lunch meat freezes very well (many disagree with me) but FRIED lunch meat freezes great for me. For work lunch just make the sandwich with everything else you want on it and put frozen lunch meat in a baggie and by lunch time it will be perfectly thawed and you just put it together. If you make the sandwich before thawing it get the bread wet. Also, we try to pick a day when the skillet is going to be used for something else like burgers and then fry the lunch meat in the same skillet. Every so often I slice up and fry a can of spam at this time (I love it; she hates it) and I freeze that and use it for lunches and breakfast sandwiches as needed. Love your columns
As far as date night take out for under $20. I know you're in AK but these shouldn't be too off.
Chinese - split an entree and order egg rolls. They usually throw in fortune cookies for free.
Japanese - Order 2-3 sushi rolls. Sometimes we do 2 rolls and spring rolls. Philadelphia, California Rolls, those types, average $6 a roll. Sushi expands in your belly so this goes a long way!
Pizza - While we usually order something that my daughter isn't fond of, like BBQ Chicken pizza or loaded veggie/meat. While she'll eat them, she still prefers it rather simple and it's just nice to have a pizza to yourselves!
Thai - Same as Chinese. Meals at nice restaurants are a lot more but it seems to me, they always try to fill up a take-out container more full than a plate at the restaurant. So split the meal.
Grocery store - Get a rotisserie chicken and sides or spring for a steak or nice cut of meat/veggies.
Fast Food - While many blogs today advocate banning fast food industries AND we know it's all terrible for us, a bit isn't going to hurt. In fact, we did it not long ago for a date night and it was a lot of fun. Several places have upped their game and their items are getting fresher and better quality.
I like Chinese for a cheap date night. The meal is not expensive and we always have leftovers for lunch.
Make a bunch of sandwiches and freeze individually. They will thaw by lunchtime. Works for PB&J's too. More than a money saver, it's a TIME saver.