RedGage

Most everyone enjoys eating at a restaurant, getting take-out or having pizza delivered. However, as the cost of dining out increases, many families are choosing to cut back on this luxury. Enjoy low cost restaurant style meals every night of the week with a few simple tips and easy recipes.Weekly Family Menu PlanUtilize a weekly family menu plan and incorporate restaurant style recipes into the plan. There are a few tricks to learn, but it possible to save big on a weekly menu that looks like this:

• Italian Style Spaghetti or lasagna, garlic bread, salad
• Tempura Chicken, beef & broccoli, eggrolls, rice, green beans – Buy the sweet & sour sauce from the local Chinese restaurant. Purchase Eggrolls from Sam's or Wal-Mart
• Enchiladas, guacamole, chips & salsa
• Pizza – Purchase cheap frozen pizzas and add toppings at home if necessary. One large frozen pizza will usually feed 2 to 3 people. Tony's Frozen Pizza averages $2.50 a pizza. For a family of 6, three pizzas are recommended
• Hamburgers, fries and onion rings – Purchase double cheeseburgers from a fast food dollar menu.Only buy for half of the family. Bring the double cheeseburgers home and make them singles using your own buns and condiments. Buy french fries and onion rings in bulk from Sam's.
• Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cream gravy, carrots, green beans and buttermilk biscuits – Purchase the fried chicken from the local supermarket deli. The average cost is $0.50 a piece fried. Purchase the peppered cream gravy mix and buttermilk biscuits from Sam's or Wal-Mart. Add side dishes from the home pantry.
• BBQ sandwiches, baked beans, cole slaw – For the above beef and broccoli a roast was purchased, however only a 1/4 of it was used for the recipe. Cook the roast and then shred it and add BBQ sauce. The baked beans come from a can and the cole slaw can be made fresh or purchased at the local grocery store deli

Semi-HomemadeThe basic concept for the above weekly menu is to cut corners wherever possible. Provide family favorites that are semi-home-made without breaking the bank and wearing out the cook. Let the fast food hamburger restaurant cook the hamburgers. Enjoy the fact that the local supermarket deli fried up the chicken. Savor the savings as the family devours sweet & sour chicken and beef & broccoli that didn't cost $10 a plate.Take Domino's and Pizza Hut off speed dial and make pizzas once a week or buy large frozen pizzas at the grocery store and desired toppings at home. Stretch the resources. One roast beef can make beef & broccoli one night and BBQ sandwiches another night. These simple tips and tricks will have the family eating well, but still keep the family budget in check.