Taming the Takeaways!

Friday and Saturday nights are the ones where we are most likely to succumb to the temptation to buy takeaways because we are often tired or have been busy or can't be arsed thinking of what to cook! Then before we know it we've spent $35-$50 or even more on a meal - money that wasn't in the budget - and I always end up feeling like we could have done so much better and we can't get that money back. (See my previous blog on my thoughts on wasting money.)

It got me thinking about the last time we had takeaways and I can't remember exactly when that was. The last few weeks we have managed to avoid buying too many takeaways and have saved some money! My menu planning is working. 

Our favourite takeaway style meals at home are pizzas, homemade hamburgers and nachos which are always more tasty than bought versions. I know there will be times when we will still have takeaways -  getting to eat fish and chips out of paper with no dishes at the end is part of the attraction - but I am hoping that when we do have them the kids will appreciate them more as we haven't had them for a while.

The purchase of our air-fryer a couple of months ago has softened the blow for the kids as we can cook homemade fries that are almost like bought ones and we have made mini pizzas on soft tortilla bases and they worked really well.

I was pleased with the meal pictured, as although not a typical takeaway type meal, it stopped us buying a takeaway when there was food in the house. The leftover roast beef fried up with eggs and some veges, teamed with leftover roast pumpkin and new potatoes done in the air fryer was tasty and everyone ate it happily.

Taking back the control of the fast food buying in our house, so that it doesn't consume our hard earned money that we would rather spend on other things, is something I have been wanting to do for a while. The last few weeks have been relatively successful so lets see if we can keep it up for the rest of the year!