There can often be nothing better than getting a takeaway. The convenience, the comfort - sometimes it's needed and there's no shame in relaxing and letting someone else take care of the cooking once in a while. But what happens when those once in a while treats become weekly? Or even start creeping in twice a week? Your bank balance, how you feel about yourself and your motivation all begin to take a hit. And it can feel even worse when you regularly order something that you can very easily make for yourself at home. We are fully fledged converts to the concept of fakeaway, here's how we make it work for us:
Choose your fakeaway of choice
You might want to order a pizza one week, a Thai curry the next. You might crave the weekly Chinese and always order the same thing. Whatever your family fancies should be the fakeaway you make, even if it means taking a family trip to the supermarket there and then to stock up on supplies. Better yet, consult the family when you are doing your meal plan and work out which day of the week is most likely to lead to takeaway temptation and plan, as a family, to have the fakeaway of choice that night. We can guarantee that once you have committed to making such a treat together, you will look forward to that just as much (if not more) than you did the takeaway.
Plan to fake it
In a similar vein to our first tip - if Friday nights are always curry night at your house then stock up. Pack the freezer with the sides, make sure the cupboards are filled with the ingredients you need (including whatever is needed for a couple of options!) and be prepared to get together, as a family, and make a few different ones. You could even go the whole hog and serve it up in the middle of the table in the takeaway cartons which you can buy online and in the bargain home stores. Make it part of your weekly routine to cook as a family and try and replicate your favourite dishes. If it's effectively planned for, it's ten times more likely to happen.
Take the shortcuts
Make sure to have things in that make the fakeaway easier to do. If you're planning to have a pizza night but feel completely overwhelmed by the thought of making and resting your own dough, then your dinner is going to be arriving in a box which is exactly what you're trying to avoid. Use the pre-made bases. Buy the cheap pizzas and add even more toppings to customise them. Do what you need to do to make it work for you - it all works out more affordable than the price of a takeaway anyway, so take the shortcuts and know that any hack like that will inevitably work out cheaper than a takeaway.
Experiment
Don't be afraid to have a go at something you've never even considered making before. If your go-to takeaway of choice is a kebab, then make a kebab. Google the recipe, get the skewers - make an event of it and get the kids to help with it too. What's the worst that could happen? It's a bit of disaster and you don't make it again? Push yourself out of your comfort zone and try something new.
Have Fun x
