Preparing meals at home saves a lot of money and tends to result in healthier diets. However, a lot of people are reluctant to do so, and it’s not just about time and cleanup. A lot of people assume that most restaurant meals are too complicated to make at home.
truth, though, is that there are a lot of delicious meals you can make at home with far less hassle than you might think. Check out the meals on this list!
Lasagna
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Lasagna looks complicated but is actually pretty easy to make. It’s basically layers of pasta, meat sauce, and cheese. You used to have to boil all the noodles before baking, which did add some time, but now you can find no-boil noodles in most stores.
Fajitas
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There’s a lot of food on that steaming, sizzling plate the server sets down on a restaurant, but it’s all pretty simple to prepare. At its most basic, this dish is warmed tortillas, grilled peppers and onions, salsa, guacamole, and skillet-cooked steak, chicken, or shrimp.
Chicken Caesar Salad
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All you need for this often-pricey restaurant meal is romaine lettuce, grilled chicken strips, dressing, and parmesan cheese. You can even find salad kits that include all the ingredients so that all you have to do is mix them up.
Pizza
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Make-your-own-pizza night is always fun. Just by some pizza crusts, pizza sauce, and shredded mozzarella cheese at the store. Don’t forget your favorite toppings. This is a cheap and fun meal to make.
Gumbo
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This hearty favorite is easy to make. You’ll need shrimp, sausage, rice, and okra at the very least. A big pot of gumbo can feed a family for two or three nights, so you get a lot for your money as well.
Jambalaya
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Another favorite from Creole culture, jambalaya is also cheap and easy to make, and it goes a long way as well. Spices, beans, rice, and chicken and/or sausage are the essentials, but you can get creative as well.
Chicken Parmesan
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After you discover how simple this is to make, you might never want to pay for it in a restaurant again. It may sound fancy, but it’s really just a boneless, skinless chicken breast, breading, pasta sauce, and shaved or shredded parmesan cheese.
Soup
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Soup is easy to make, and it’s an especially good choice around holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. That’s because when everyone is tired of having leftover turkey or ham every night, you can take what’s left, chop it up, and use it in a hearty, tasty soup.
Bread Crumbs and Croutons
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Okay, these aren’t meals, but they’re common in recipes and as toppings for foods like salads. All these things are is seasoned, stale bread. They don’t cost much in grocery stores, but they’re even cheaper to make on your own.
Jam
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Save your old jars and make your own jam. Berries and other fruit are pretty much all you need, and you don’t need any special equipment. If you love jam, you’ll love finding out how easy and cheap it is to make it.
Cinnamon Rolls
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Buying the premade stuff doesn’t count! It’s a little more work to make cinnamon rolls from scratch, but they’ll be delicious if you follow the recipe carefully, and you’ll question why you ever bought a hot one at a restaurant instead.
Chips and Salsa
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We’re not talking about the stuff in bags and jars. Making your own salsa is easy and lets you be creative. To make your own chips, buy soft corn or flour tortillas, coat them with some oil, slice them to size, and then bake them or pan-fry them until they’re slightly browned and firm.
12 Foods To NEVER Eat After They Expire (Throw Them Away Immediately)
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The “Sell by” date on food packaging tells how long the food can stay on shelves, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s when it expires. On the other hand, the “Best by” or “Use by” date is something to really pay attention to.
Some foods can be fine well past that date, but others don’t, and consuming them can lead to food poisoning, a trip to the hospital, or worse. Following are some foods you should never consume after they expire.
12 Foods To NEVER Eat After They Expire (Throw Them Away Immediately)
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