No-Fuss Meals = Money Saved
As I've mentioned before, I'm no Betty Crocker, but I've tried and I will continue to try to come close to being domesticated in the kitchen. Unfortunately, I think I may have found a solution that helps put dinner on the table every night, but aids to my laziness in the cooking department.
Two months ago I reviewed my budget spreadsheet and noticed I spent somewhere between $400 - $500 on food alone. I normally try to budget at most $300, this includes going out occasionally and my all too occasional trips to the gas station for energy drinks. I thought of as many solutions as I could to bring me back to my budget and even considered going back to my ramen noodle days! I ran across Mr. Foods No-Fuss meals and found that they have a location around the corner from me. They place a monthly menu up on their site containing a handful of dinner meals as well as add-alongs (side dishes and some desserts) that you can order. They offer delivery options, pick-ups, or you can walk in and prepare them as you wish. A little skepticle about the taste and portion sizes, I decided to pick up 5 meals to start with. I chose the medium portion sizes which feeds 2 - 3 people and ordered:
Bruschetta Chicken Breasts
We’ve taken the taste of a classic Italian favorite and combined it with our all-natural whole fresh chicken breasts. We paired it with our crispy garlic bread. It's "Magnifico!"
Crunchy Chicken Caesar
Our garlic-Parmesan chicken is crispy on the outside, moist and juicy on the inside. Serve as is or over romaine with our Caesar Dipping Sauce.
Honey Lemon-Dijon Chicken
Plump, juicy, white-meat chicken is marinated in our light sauce and accompanied by our Roasted Pepper-Infused Couscous. You'll flip over this fresh flavor!
Pork Oreganata
Hand-trimmed melt-in-your-mouth pork tenderloin is bathed in an herb-infused olive oil and served with seasoned potato wedges. Grilled or roasted, it's Mediterranean magic!
Smothered Salisbury Steak
Our take on this diner classic comes smothered with fresh mushrooms and rich beef gravy along with a heaping helping of mashed potatoes. This homestyle comfort dish gets a "10" every time!
These five meals cost me only $73 and I picked them up after work on Friday. All meals were either in a ziplock bag or tin with baking directions on them. I placed all my meals in the freezer and that was that! We decided to try one out last night so I pulled out the Crispy Ceasar Chicken with dipping sauce. Pre heated my over and baked for 22 minutes. To our surprise they were actually good! :) They were coated with a crunch crouton and onion type breading and the chicken after baked wasn't dry at all. The medium portion I bought had 5 decent sized pieces of chicken, which on a weekday would have worked out well for having one piece left over for me to take for lunch! I can't wait to try the four other meals!
But, like I mentioned before, this solution to my budget aids in my laziness in the kitchen. I may be saving tons of money on food (we all know that actually buying ingredients for one meal usually costs around $40 - 50 bucks if you don't keep your kitchen stocked like me) BUT since I'm not actually MAKING anything I'm now considered 'lazy' to a certain someone! I'm not saying this is a permanent solution and I won't continue to try my hand in cooking, I'm just making my bank account look a little larger as well as making sure we have dinner on the table those nights I don't feel like actually cooking :) All in all, this Mr. Foods seems like it's a good thing!
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