Date nights at home and takeaways really do go hand in hand. It is such a treat to have your dinner delivered to your front door.

When you have children the idea of “date nights” may take on a different meaning. It may be quite some time before you feel comfortable with or even interested in leaving the house for a date night without your baby.

That is completely normal.

You may find that couple-time goes through a bit of a transformation also. Suddenly the comfort of your own home is the ideal venue for some quality time together. It is where your baby is most comfortable and it doesn’t require packing a bag or a serious briefing with the babysitter. It is the best opportunity to relax a little bit and catch up with your other half.

Date nights at home and takeaways really do go hand in hand. It is such a treat to have your dinner delivered to your front door. It leaves more time for enjoying each other as you don’t have to worry about cooking and the clean up after. It’s also an opportunity to have something a bit naughty as a bit of a weekly treat.

But are you making the most of your weekend takeaway? Are you getting value for money and a really delicious stress-free meal at the end of it? There may be some simple changes that could really help you to make the most of your weekend takeaway. The idea here is to maximise enjoyment and reduce stress. Now that is our kind of date night.

How to make the most of your weekend takeaway.

  1. Use an app to order your food.

    This is how most people order their food these days and there are so many benefits to it. Firstly you don’t have to speak to anyone else and let’s be honest after a day of parenting duties every little helps. The apps are also really well designed so that menus are easy to read and ordering is quick and easy with options to add special requests or swaps in the comment bar. JustEat.ie and Marvin.ie are the two most popular apps but there is also Deliveroo and Ubereats.

  2. Are you availing of the best deals?

    For example, some of the apps have regular discount codes. You can find them in your email inbox or on websites like boards.ie for example. It is always worth checking before you order. They often have 10-20% off the regular price and it all adds up. Some of the apps also have rewards such as a free take away after every ten orders. On top of this the apps tend to have exclusive meal deals and offers that have been designed with the restaurant and are only available via their app.

  3. When the food arrives are you eating it comfortably?

    I am a fan of a takeaway-on-the-lap situation because I love to watch TV and dig in. I know that a LOT of people prefer a table though. Either way, as soon as you’ve made the order fetch the plates, cutlery and a drink so that when it arrives you are not fumbling for things and taking away from the joy.

  4. Do you always order the same thing and is it getting a bit boring?

    Well how will you know if you like other things until you try them? There are probably so many meals that you would love if you just step outside of your comfort zone the odd time. In the same way it can often be a good idea to get a few bits that you will both enjoy. A bit of a takeaway tapas – I really enjoy this. One will get rice, one noodles and we will share the two mains. It makes it more interesting as I get to try more than one dish.

  5. Order at the time that suits you.

    If you know that the baby wakes up at an awkward time that happens to coincide with dinner time then change things up to suit you. The idea here is to make this experience an enjoyable treat so order as early or as late as you need to when considering your children’s routine and what will bring you the most amount of joy. For example, I love a few goodies with a movie later that evening so I don’t like to order a takeaway too late as I’ll be too full to enjoy them also. Priorities!

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