I have been thinking of doing a cost comparison breakdown between cooking at home and eating out. I think that it can be very useful (not to mention encouraging) to see how much money some of the frugal things we do are worth. It can also be an impetus for some folks who are “cooking shy” to plunge in and give it a go.
In the interest of realism, I wanted to make sure I use the types of meals that folk commonly eat out. I figured my family is probably not a particuarly good representation-we don’t eat out that frequently, and since I do cook I tend to only chose dishes that I wouldn’t make at home. (More complex international food, Tuna steak, Ribs, Prime Rib etc)
So help me out folks-what types of dishes do you normally order when you do eat out. Don’t be shy-post a comment.
We also tend to order things we wouldn’t cook at home; like real BBQ (where they cook it for days over a pit. I don’t care for salmon, meaning I don’t cook it, so my husband typically orders that. Lately, I’ve been ordering stuff that my nearly 1 year old can share with me. My four year old orders anything that accompanies mac & cheese or can be dipped in ranch dressing.
We’re pretty boring- burgers, pizza, and sometimes Mexican food that I don’t cook at home, like chile rellenos.
For the record, tuna steak is actually pretty easy to cook.
When I go out to my favorite restaurant, I’ll get lobster if it’s a big occasion but mostly I prefer shrimp parmigiana. I haven’t been able to find a good recipe to make it at home. For more casual eating out I like a good hamburger more than anything. I only very rarely eat fast food.
We tend to go to Sweet Tomatoes, which is a really good salad and soup buffet. We also use their cupons for $1.40 off, so the four of us costs under $25 when we do not get beverages. They have free refill kids cups, that once you purchase them get free refills, We makd a point of remembering to bring them each visit, or it is water only for the kids.
If we go out otherwise, I get stuff I do not cook at home also, or I get what ever I’m craving and then copy the recipe at home. For example, I got a really yummy salad with blue cheese, hazel nuts, and an orange dressing. something I have successfully copied at home several times for WAY less than $7.95. Would I copy the prime rib or steak porto? I tried. We go out for that stuff.
BTW, that bit on sleep was very timely. I was up for 2 days on a birth (I got about 5 hours of cat naps, the mom got maybe one…). The next day I was fine, but the day after that I had a really bad muscle spasm in my back. A week of treatment later it is ok but still buging me. Talk about inflamation!!! Owie.
We have decided to eat out as little as possible. We are concerned with the additives and quality of food rather than cost comparison. Most restaurants buy food that is essentially, “heat and eats.” Practically all prepackaged foods have ingredients that we do not wish to eat. We are eating so well at home, that we usually do not enjoy the food at the restaurant!
Ginny