Find your quicker-than-takeout meal
How to beat the habit of ordering in
I love getting food delivered. Recently we ordered from a new BBQ place for my husband’s birthday, and sushi is always a special treat.
But I think that last word — “treat” — is key when it comes to ordering food. I want to know it’s coming up so I can look forward to it! Ordering in all the time because you don’t feel like cooking can get expensive and (depending on what you order) unhealthy. Fortunately, cutting back is pretty easy when you figure out what problem frequent ordering on GrubHub or Uber Eats is really solving.
Feeling hungry and tired
These services help when you are tired and hungry and want something tasty without much effort. In these circumstances, people often want something quick too, and herein lies a way to reduce temptation.
Even if you live very close to a restaurant, you probably won’t get your order for at least 20-30 minutes. And it might be a lot longer at peak times.
So, to reduce the temptation to order in, figure out a meal that is also very tasty, but that you can make in less time than it would take for the DoorDash driver to dash to your door. Then, make sure you always have these ingredients on hand, and you will be less likely to put in an order.
Make it interesting
For me, my quicker-than-takeout meal is an omelet with salami or pepperoni, and a vegetable like broccoli. The combination of flavors is intentional. Many restaurant meals are spicier than home made meals, and feature more interesting textures. Salami adds kick; broccoli adds crunch. Eggs also cook very quickly. I timed this meal while making it recently and it was less than 10 minutes start to finish.
So, in less than half the time than it would take for the food to arrive, I can be eating my meal. Now I’m happy and no longer hungry. And I didn’t pay extra for the privilege.
To be sure, this might be harder if you need to feed more than one person, though of course you can just make the meal big enough for 2 people (or more). I also have a few highly selective eaters at home who wouldn’t eat most restaurant options anyway so I’m generally just heating up chicken nuggets and cutting up fruit for them anyway. But that default meal serves the need of getting them fed, and I can feed myself something I’d actually enjoy. Figure out what this meal is for you and you might be able to save some cash and time as well.
You did not mention that order-in has no cleanup. Making at home should also include dishes and table cleanup.
I definitely have invested time into building up a good repertoire of meals and have this exact same conversation with myself all the time. Especially because of how expensive good takeout can be. Lots of days, even work from home days, I don't feel like cooking but i usually have planned something that takes less time to cook than it would be to order and wait for delivery or go out and get it. I am also surprised (and proud) of how my kids rave about certain things we do cook at home. Homemade pizza with frozen and thawed dough is one of my kids absolute favourites - and honestly, homemade pizza really stretches ingredients too which is budget friendly (not that pizza is usually super expensive but it can be) and can be so little work.