Local friends may recognize that question, as I used to write a column for our homeschool newsletter with that title.
It’s Frugal Friday! Various thoughts and themes have been chasing around in my head since I woke up (over here on the West Coast, after a very late night), but when I visited our host blog it all became crystal clear (stealth pun. extra points for those!)
Okay, here’s a short list of frugal alternatives to eating out:
- Invite friends over. Serve them a lovely meal.
- Invite friends over. Have a theme potluck.
- Invite friends over. Have them bring whatever they were going to make for dinner and you have potluck with whatever you were going to have. (We did this once for Easter and it was a blast!)
- Invite friends over. Serve them a simple meal.
Illustration: a frugal dinner party. In one instance when we had guests, choosing frugality as the theme took most of the hostess pressure off me. I made chicken and rice, avocado slices, cooked veggies, and I don’t remember what else. Then I was free to enjoy my guests.
If you don’t have the energy to have friends over:
- Just serve something simple. Like fried egg sandwiches.
- A family-sized portion of salmon, plus salad, costs the same as a Papa Murphy’s pizza, cooks in the same amount of time, and is much healthier for you.
One more thing: I agree with Crystal that it’s important to take your husband’s preferences into account. And I’ve found that most men don’t like breakfast for dinner.
Is anybody wondering what this has to do with dressing? Nothing. This post is pure turkey.
Since you asked, and I was here … lacking energy tonight I stopped at the pasta place around the corner and bought pizza dough (at $1.50 I’m not sure that’s much more money than when I make it myself and they do make it fresh there Thurs-Fri-Sat) and did the rest on my own! (Okay, so there’s not that much to it, but it’s not frozen and I know what’s in it.) I use my favorite spicy tomato spaghetti sauce and skim mozarella with already-in-the-fridge extras.
Hey, I loved your “pure turkey” post! And for the record my dh loves breakfast for dinner! ;O)
Avacados wouldn’t be frugal here in the mid-west…I’m always watching the prices, hoping to get one for .50, rarely do they get under .90 cents each. I love the west coast…was born in a coastal town in Oregon named Brookings Harbour. Most beautiful state in the nation!
I wondered if anyone would catch the avocado thing. They aren’t terribly frugal here either, but they were on sale at that time. I think they were some really outrageously good sale price, like 4/$1 or something, so it was worth buying more than my family could eat by ourselves.
It seems like they have been on sale for 49 cents more frequently recently. Good for us!