9 tips on how to Cook Every Day and save $ Money $

Cooking our meals at home has done two things. First saved us a ton of money and Second has kept us eating healthy. BUT it is not easy to make every meal at home, it is easier to pick up a pizza, do take out, or swing by a fast-food joint or a restaurant. It took practice and living on a low income to train myself and this is how I've accomplished it.

Find these RECIPES HERE

Have a Meal Plan-if you don't have a plan, dinner time will sneak up on you and you won't know what to cook and you will most likely go out to eat

Only plan meals that you want to eat- if you are dreading something on your meal plan then you can bet you are going to skip it and go out to eat

Try new things- I noticed I need to have variety in my meal plans so I don't get sick of my own cooking. I watch cooking shows, surf pinterest's food section, and thumb through cook books at the library. Variety gives me something to look forward to.

Have a few easy quick meals on your meal plan- have easy meals for busy days. I have freezer meals I prep days or months ahead, crockpot meals, something for my husband to grill, or something that is just super fast to put together.

Keep your house stocked with food- take your meal plan, write out all the ingredients and have them in the house, if you don't have an ingredient to make your meal, you might be tempted to go out and eat instead of go to the store and cook.

Prep for the next day- for example when I am cooking dinner I pull the meat out of the freezer to defrost for tomorrows meal, and if I am chopping onions and I also need chopped onions for tomorrows meal I will chop them at the same time and reserve the rest for the next day

Give yourself time to cook- Don't wait until everyone is starving to start dinner. Give yourself time enough time to cook.

Have a back up plan- I have a back up plan in place for the times when dinner just didn't get done, or if dinner gets burned (sad, but it does happen) On our back up plan we can have sandwiches or eggs and pancakes, which are things I always have at our house for breakfast and lunch.

Give yourself a day off- Once a week I have a day where I don't have to cook dinner. On that day we either have a church or community event that is offering free food, or I make a bit extra throughout the week and we have leftovers.  It helps me from getting burned out.

Just so you don't think we are crazy, we do go out to eat every now and then! but we don't depend on that for our meals :)

What are your tips for cooking?

and if any of those dishes up top look good, find the recipes here