Eating out !!

[BlondieMM]

Since my husband retired in March, and even before that, he discovered a new passion for cooking, and he is wonderful at it!! What he makes would be hard to beat in most restaurants, and I find myself more and more just wanting to stay home and eat his cooking together. He has learned to grocery shop (though I still make sure we have staples) and sometimes even cleans up. Other than a couple of favorite haunts that make specialties we both like, we eat out far less often than we used to by choice. We are also both losing weight because home cooking done carefully has much fewer fat and calories.

 

[youbet]

I don't like eating out. Most of the food is overly starchy/greasy/salty. I prefer to cook my own stuff.

Note to self: Don't dine out in the Dayton area!

 

[Westernskies]

It's nice to have someone serve me.

we're not worthy, we're not worthy...

 

[tmm99]

I eat lunch out with co-workers mostly for social reasons. I do bring lunch to work twice a week or so and eat out 2 or 3 times a week. We like going to Korean places. They usually have very good prices for lunch and they give you upwards of 7 side dishes with free refills on all of them. And Dim sums are good too. If I had to cook that kind of food, it would take me a lot of time/money/effort, so it makes sense to eat them in restaurants, and it's hard to beat their lunch prices. Good diners are hard to come by around here and they charge a lot for midiocre quality food. I like Reuben sandwiches but I haven't had a decent Reuben in a long long time. I guess I will have to wait until St. Patrick's day (that's about the only time I cook corned beef.)

We don't go out much for dinner. When we do go out, we tend to choose something different from our usual fare - Mexican, Japanese tapas, Peruvian, etc... The regular stuff we just tend to cook at home. I tend to do a lot of Italian and good ol' american comfort food like stuffed peppers, meatloaf, chicken pot pie, BBQ ribs....

I am getting hungry!

 

[bbbamI]

we're not worthy, we're not worthy...

Oh....I think you'll do just fine....as long as you wear that outfit I have in mind....

 

[NW-Bound]

http://inventorspot.com/files/images/French Maid.jpg

 

[bbbamI]

http://inventorspot.com/files/images/French Maid.jpg

Hmmmm...on second thought...I'll help myself....

 

[NW-Bound]

I thought so.

But then, please share an image of what you have in mind. Perhaps someone here might oblige.

 

[bbbamI]

I thought so.

But then, please share an image of what you have in mind. Perhaps someone here might oblige.

Oh no...can't do that darlin'. That would have to be on a totally different forum.

 

[NW-Bound]

I thought so too. I won't ask further.

 

[hankster]

We don't go out for dinner very often. After a steak dinner at a restaurant a few months back, we were looking at the total check of about $60 with drinks and tip. We agreed that we could have BBQ'd steaks at home and enjoyed them with some microbrews for about 1/3 that amount.

 

[Ronstar]

No loss of luster in the Chicago suburban area - good variety of tasty food. Usually only dine out once or twice a week. Its great to search out little family owned places. Makes dining out an adventure.

 

[Moemg]

We are also both losing weight because home cooking done carefully has much fewer fat and calories.

That is what I thought until my daughter and I saw the movie "Julie & Julia "and we both wanted to start cooking french with loads of butter .

 

[davemartin88]

I'm a picky eater so dining out has never been a big thrill for me although I do enjoy to have a steak or BBQ out once in a while. My actual preference for dining out is to go for breakfast, usually a lot cheaper and on weekdays, most places in the area have specials so I try to do this a couple of times per month.

 

[RonBoyd]

Dw & I have always spent considerable time traveling. For many years it was by airplane to faraway places. Several years ago, we decided to try the "road trip" model and see the USA in a more leisurely manner. The first trip -- Denver-Arkansas-Memphis-Nashville-Atlanta-St. Augustine-Miami-Tallahasee-New Orleans-El Paso-Sante Fe-Taos-Denver -- pointed out two major flaws in that plan. Some hotels (within the same to be unnamed major chain) were fabulous and others were comparable to "by the hour" dumps. The other problem was finding places to eat. Bottom line, we were very disappointed in paying $70-$80 for dinner and leaving, on our plates, as much as we'd eaten -- always left feeling robbed. (Leaving aside the fact that the food was never that great anyway.)

Anyway, as a result, we discovered the RV lifestyle (will be eternally grateful) and haven't been inside a restaurant for a couple years now. Or a hotel for that matter.

 

[Caoineag]

Oh, eating out is a weakness of mine. I love all food, the bad for you food and the good for you food. I even know how to cook a lot of ethnic dishes so I can have them at home or when a restaurant changes for the worst (has happened a couple of times). I still need to figure out how to cook Indian food (especially naan) and I think I will leave the sushi to the professionals. What's sad is that we tend to have periods where we eat out a lot (usually the summer) but we still cook a huge variety of food at home.

I live to eat, always have, probably always will. I always tell people that there is a 300-lb women inside of me just dying to get out. Fortunately I am so active that people can't believe the amount I eat.

 

[freebird5825]

Oh, eating out is a weakness of mine. I love all food, the bad for you food and the good for you food. I even know how to cook a lot of ethnic dishes so I can have them at home or when a restaurant changes for the worst (has happened a couple of times). I still need to figure out how to cook Indian food (especially naan) and I think I will leave the sushi to the professionals.

Indian food is actually very easy to make. Get yourself a basic cookbook, the right whole spices, a spice mill, and have fun. You can use pre-ground spices, but the intensity of the flavor is just not the same. Dry frying the spices is a critical step.
I actually made naan once. It was time consuming, but the results were fabulous. Very easy overall.

 

[Moemg]

Anyway, as a result, we discovered the RV lifestyle (will be eternally grateful) and haven't been inside a restaurant for a couple years now. Or a hotel for that matter.

That is the one thing I would really like about RVing . The ability to make most of your meals . When I travel I get so tired of restaurants especially the chain ones . I do like finding the unique to the area restaurant .

 

[RonBoyd]

I do like finding the unique to the area restaurant .

Oops! I was wrong. In March we took one of those "city" tours in San Antonio (primarlily to ride the River Walk Gondola on the cheap). This was an all-day tour and this "single" lady from Canada attached herself to us. Part of that tour was a visit to the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum and we ate lunch there at her insistence. Brenda and I ordered a single smallest hamburger and two plates. (I seem to recall that the smallest had one pound of meat.) We, also, had a couple beers (ordered unfamiliar local brands). The hamburger was good enough but ended up being our meal for the day because of the quantity.

The Museum, BTW, was fantastic. The saloon back in the 1800's would give free drinks to anyone who brought in a dead animal. There are, in this building, "stuffed" animals of every, and I mean every, variety -- both land and sea -- including elephants and huge sea creatures. (The Museum is about a block away from the Alamo.) I highly recommend it as a cultural event.

The lady who attached to us did it in a very pleasant and interesting way. She came up to us as we waited for the bus and explained that she was a people person and was not all that comfortable traveling in a "foreign" country all by herself. So would we mind if she spent the day with us. She turned out to be a very enjoyable companion.

 

[MichaelB]

We eat out a lot. Started when the kids were young and it was a way to get the family together without interruption. Even though DW is a fantastic cook and the kids are on their own, we still eat out regularly - always some type of int'l food. Easier to enjoy each other's company when there is no cook/clean to distract us.

It hasn't lost it's luster but finding places with high standards and accessible prices is not easy. I have found a few web site - like chowhounds - to be useful.

 

[Danny]

Eating out cheaply is a passion for Roxanne and I!

We are creating lists of pretty good cheap eats places by city on our blog - Frugal Danny & Roxanne's Eating Good On The Cheap as a hobby and to support some charities through the advertising.

If you got any suggestions please send them to me or post them here.

Thank you!

Danny

 

[FUEGO]

Indian food is actually very easy to make. Get yourself a basic cookbook, the right whole spices, a spice mill, and have fun. You can use pre-ground spices, but the intensity of the flavor is just not the same. Dry frying the spices is a critical step.
I actually made naan once. It was time consuming, but the results were fabulous. Very easy overall.

Mmm.. Indian food. We make the butter curry chicken that all our local indian restaurants have. Chicken breasts plus these curry paste packages we buy from amazon ("Kitchens of India" brand). The naan we buy frozen in 4 packs from trader joes and it is very similar to some naan in the restaurants. We make our rice and have sweet peas, plus hummus sometimes. We have bought the packaged daal bukara from amazon but it isn't great so we haven't bought any lately.

We manage to get about 90% of the flavor and quality of an indian restaurant but avoid the $30+ price tag for two that most local indian restaurants charge for weekend or evening plates or their buffet. And we have leftovers!

But there are definitely advantages to dining out. No dishes to clean. You can order complex dishes in single quantities without learning how to make it from scratch or buying dozens of ingredients and only using 1% of each one.

We have found a local place where everything on the menu is $5 (appetizers, sandwiches, salads, desserts, etc). Nachos are huge and basically a meal by itself - for $5, and the ingredients are top notch.

 

[Caoineag]

...

We manage to get about 90% of the flavor and quality of an indian restaurant but avoid the $30+ price tag for two that most local indian restaurants charge for weekend or evening plates or their buffet. And we have leftovers!...

I only have one indian restaurant I like because the others don't have the complex flavors (they must be skimping on some of the spices). Its about $30 with 20% tip and we always have leftovers. Given the startup costs, it would probably take a couple of meals to break even but eventually I will learn because you can't trust one restaurant to always stay in business or not change ownership. That said, all home food is from scratch; better flavors, cheaper and usually better for me. I eat enough junk outside of the home, lol.

 

[freebird5825]

I have 3 Indian cookbooks, gifts from a lady from India:

Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey
Best of India, Valerie Ferguson, Ed.
Indian Food and Folklore, Jo Lethaby, Ed.

Jaffrey's is great, and includes spices, techniques, and traditional recipes.
Ferguson's is a tiny little book, but adequate for a beginner at a lower cost.
Lethaby's is marvelous, a hardcover with some commentary on each recipe.

Have fun!

 

[Moemg]

Eating out cheaply is a passion for Roxanne and I!

We are creating lists of pretty good cheap eats places by city on our blog - Frugal Danny & Roxanne's Eating Good On The Cheap as a hobby and to support some charities through the advertising.

If you got any suggestions please send them to me or post them here.

Thank you!

Danny

Here is my favorite reasonably priced restaurant in Bradenton,Fl . The Anna Marie Oyster Bar . The food is great . The prices are reasonable and they always have specials .