Homemade Takeout

Takeout is a wonderful thing. Someone else cooks, you eat some of your favorite comfort foods, and better yet you get to eat it in the comfort of your home (and if you're like me, in front of the tv in your pajamas). However, sometimes I end up feeling yucky from less veggies, extra sodium, and around 25 bucks out for a meal that wasn't super fantastic. 

One night we were desperately craving Chinese takeout, but were trying to be conscious of our budget and junk food intake. We had a full fridge, so I decided to make it at home. 

I followed Carlsbad Cravings recipe for Sticky Honey Lemon Ginger Chicken for the main dish. This is an absolute favorite at my house. It's a little time consuming but totally worth it. I took some shortcuts and cooked up a freezer bag of pot stickers- hey I think they're pretty good! I cooked up some white rice, and stir fried a mix of veggies with a spice blend of ginger, curry, red pepper flakes, and garlic. This feast looked and tasted better than takeout, and definitely fulfilled our craving without breaking the bank.

After this successful experiment, I decided to try to make more iconic 'eating out' meals at home. My dad visited us in the spring, and he absolutely loves barbecue. I made some crockpot barbecue pulled chicken (similar recipe). We served that on onion buns topped with homemade coleslaw and of course more barbecue sauce. The shortcut I took here was getting the bag of shredded coleslaw at the grocery store, but I made my own sauce. Sides were buttered corn and baked beans- I used beans from a can, but you could make your own if you have more time. This was delicious and just as satisfying as going out for a barbecue meal (without the country music and throwing peanuts on the floor, of course). 

A certainly cheaper meal but another common craving that we pick up is street tacos. These are especially fun to make at home because you can put whatever you want on them.

We cooked up some carne asada, stir fried an assortment of bell peppers, and topped it all with salsa, cheddar cheese, and avocado. Bell peppers isn't a traditional street taco ingredient, but it ups the veggie count and adds some nice flavor. This is a quick and tasty meal that can save you a trip, too. 

One of my favorite things about 'Homemade Takeout' is that you can choose to do a lot of work or a little work for these tasty iconic meals. I like to take my time on the parts of the meal that we find most important, and leave it to store bought choices for the ingredients that are pretty good in a can or frozen. I'm excited to keep experimenting and finding more budget and health friendly alternatives to takeout.

What is your favorite takeout meal? Let me know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this post, check out some more recipe posts like my homemade chicken, bacon, and spinach pizza with creamy garlic sauce or summer dinners menu plan.

linking up with:

Titus 2 Tuesday
Create, Link, Inspire
Women with Intention
Full Plate Thursday
Thursday Favorite Things
The Homemaking Party
Friday Favorites
Shine Blog Hop
Peace, Love, Linkup
Weekend Potluck
What's For Dinner Sundays
Making Your Home Sing Monday
Motivate Me Monday