When only takeaway will do?

Psykicpup

we tend to have a take away once a week! but we shop around for deals & special offers!

themmackas

We used to get the kids a take a way pizza as a treat but since disovering hm pizza's we havent bothered and the kids havent been bothered either HM pizzas taste soo much nicer. We used to have chinese as a treat but dont even have that now. Im very lucky because my oh is an excellent cook who loves to cook and experiment with food. :j So despite cooking all day (we have a small cafe) he also cookes all our meals.:A ( i know im soooo lucky)

KittyBoo_2

I treat my son and his girlfriend to one last night (lovely Indian curry). It was a treat for them as they are both working hard on their dissertations for Uni. and I have just finished paying off a balance of £1450 which was at 12.5%.
I am now starting April with a clean slate apart for the mortgage.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and believe that a little of what you fancy every now and then does you good. Tonight I had egg and chips and that was yummy too.

lynzpower

I prefer to go out than have a takeaway TBH. Most takeaways round here are pretty dire and in all fairness, a rip off. I know that "cant be bothered feeling" but I often feel worse after having a takeaway, theres the omnipresent "weve been ripped off" feeling. I know when OH goes ,its not bad, weve been robbed :rotfl:

When we really cant be bothered we have fish fingers & chps or eggs chips & beans and Ive been known to say "we just saved 15 quid there!" By the time weve a) decided what sort of takeaway we want ( i agree, we NEVER have pizza any more after getting our BM) b) decided what we are having c) argued the toss over whos phoning for it! d) been and got it or waited 45 mins to have it delivered we could have eaten & washed up.

I do like going out for meals, most of the time its dissapointing, I do like going out tho and making a night of it with a few cheeky cocktails after ;)Im gravitating towards giving up takeaways for good, but a nice romantic meal out cant be beat ... unless the food is rubbish which it sometimes is.

I liken a meal out as minimum 35 quid between 2 with drinks, for 35 quid you can get a flight to paris!

shirlgirl2004

We eat out as a family at least once a week and have a take away maybe twice a month. I eat out without DP another 2 times a week on average but that isn't normally more than a main course. I've got a 2 1/2 year old and a 2 week old baby. I'm not sure why that would stop you eating out We tend to eat out at lunch time and then just have a sandwich for tea at home.

Pink.

Hi Donna,

We have a recent thread on having takeaways so I've merged your thread with it to keep all the replies together.

These older threads might give you some ideas:

Chinese and Indian Takeaway Cheap Alternatives

Which is the best supermarket takeaway?

Pink

DonnaP

I've got a 2 1/2 year old and a 2 week old baby. I'm not sure why that would stop you eating out

The point I was trying to make is that we haven't eaten out as a couple since last September as we don't have babysitters and don't have the money.

We have used takeaways as a substitute for going out, but it just isn't the same. I agree with lynzpower that I always feel ripped off after eating one (we have had a jar of curry sauce with quorn tonight - very nice AND cheap).

I am really missing going out for a meal with OH though. My DD's are great but sometimes it is nice for some couple time. I think we are going to have to beg grandparents to help us out with babysitting, but this doesn't solve the problem of being really broke!

Donna

lil_me

Just to add, don't think I did before. Made a meal with the recipes from the curry secret book, absolutely lovely. Korma was fab, but I did add a little extra cream Sheek kebabs DP loved. Got some more of the base made and am hoping to try Tikka Mossalla (DPs fave from takeaway) next week!

Donna there are some places which accept vouchers from Nectar, there are some survey sites (Lightspeed and Pigsback for example) who do the eating out vouchers.

Good luck with the babysitter, been a very long time since we went for evening meal out as no childcare but now the boys are at school (since DS2 was at nursery) we sometimes have lunch out on a Friday together which is nice. I'm thankfully not broke now and this is affordable for us, but also would hate after all the work I have put in lowering our spending etc to waste going out for meals I can cook for less than 1/4 of the price and know what is in it and how it was cooked! I find the going out lunch time makes up a little for the lack of evening time out, I don't drink anyway so that bit doesn't bother me, plus places do things cheaper at lunch times as there are very few places I trust when it comes to food and actually enjoy eating at this also helps.

Tiger_greeneyes

Asda do a really nice jar of Chinese curry sauce - it's very authentic.

I usually make my own curries using Patak's Korma Paste. Follow the instructions on the jar but add coconut cream or milk and stir in a couple of large tablespoons of ground almonds towards the end - it's lovely Butternut squash goes really well in it.

There was a recipe for rice earlier in the thread - it's pretty much what I make. Sometimes I'll dice two or three medium potatoes, fry some mustard seeds and then add a sliced onion and the potatoes - fry them for a few minutes then add a chopped chilli and spices like ground ginger, turmeric, cardamon seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek - anything you like really, so long as you think they'll go. If you've got poppy seeds, sprinkle them over the potatoes when serving.

It makes a huge curry - we normally eat half and freeze the rest.

overlykeensaver

I've got a 2 1/2 year old and a 2 week old baby. I'm not sure why that would stop you eating out (quote)

Well our parents are 40 minutes drive away and while they willingly babysit we don't want to have to ask them every week or fortnight as they have their own things to do too. We can't meet for lunch because DH is at work and doesn't work in the town, although I can see that would be a good idea if you could do that.

We are looking forward to warmer weather so we can go to eat out at some lovely country pubs and make the most of their garden facilities.