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| Froogs’ restaurant of choice! |
Hello Dear Reader,
I bet that got your attention. You may be, or may have been or know some one who eats out. They think it’s normal. They socialise in pubs or restaurants and meet friends in a pub for a meal. They like to eat out as a treat. Some one else does the cooking and washing up and they have nothing to worry about. Good for them! I choose not to. I save myself a fortune and don’t eat out but remember, this is my choice and I’m in no way suggesting everyone should live like me. I don’t have the budget or the inclination to eat in cafes, pubs or restaurants but if you do, that’s very much your choice.
I’ve eaten out on holiday this year , in the E Le Clerc supermarket in Auray on my way to my holiday accommodation in June and in the long weekend after our marriage when we went to Roscoff and went to a cafe in St Pol de Leon but mostly ate street food. I thought I was very very lucky on the occasions I went out and never see cooking as a chore.
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| Froogs’ main course |
When I did go to a good restaurant this year, I ended up having my money refunded as it was such a miserable experience. As I cook at home, from scratch every day, I know what good food tastes like, how little it costs, how little effort is needed for it to be of good quality and often feel that home made is better than anything we eat out.
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| Froogs’ dish of the day |
I don’t feel as if I’m missing out by not eating out. We tried once to have coffee and a cake in a bookshop cafe in a local town to be given a packet mix cake that was so dry it nearly choked us. A huffing, sighing petulant and underpaid waitress took it away and we were not charged for something we couldn’t eat.
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| Froogs’ tea room special |
As it’s becoming increasingly difficult to eat on a budget, eating out on a budget is ever harder. I sometimes surprise people, not you of course as you know me, when I tell people that I don’t eat out. It’s so far down my list of priorities that I really don’t even consider it.
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| Froogs’ bakery |
So my answer is not to eat out. Stick to a weekly budget. Menu plan to rotate the meals you know you can cook well, quickly and easily. Eat at home with friends. Use your slow cooker to make a casserole, serve with steamed veggies and buttery cous cous for a fraction of eating out. Ask guests to bring a desert or some ice cream to share. Make your own wine from kits or forgaged fruit such as wild damsons. A veggie curry, pilau rice and ask friends to bring a bottle of wine - a glass each with good conversation is plenty (Thanks for the wine today BTW!).
I often ask people over for mid afternoon tea. I make some scones, serve with home made jam and a pot of tea. It’s a very affordable way of giving people a snack and making them welcome. When I visit friends, I’m made welcome and even if they’ve bought the scones and cake, it’s still cheaper than meeting them in a cafe or tea rooms.
Over to you Dear Reader, do you entertain at home to save money? What’s your ‘special’ or ‘staple’ that you know people will enjoy every time?
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxx
I love to cook. Our adult children and our grandkids come once or twice per month for dinner at our house. I like to make pasta dishes with salad and garlic bread (day old bread or buns with garlic butter), or big casseroles with beans and meat. Desert is usually fruit crisp, or homemade cake.
During the week when I make dinner I always make extra. If my single son shows up now and then I can always invite him to stay, or keep the extras for my lunch to take to work.
We are going out for dinner on the 28th, but I have a gift card for the occaision. Our 35th wedding anniversary, and I am going to enjoy the evening out!
Happy cooking, Froogs!
Barb
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We are vegan so eating out here is a nightmare (and not that good when you do find something).Home is the way to go, I cook food I know people will like …I keep a list of people's like and dislikes, found out not through quizzing them but in general conversation. I serve hubby's homemade wine and beer, and decorate the table with things found around the house and garden.Playing music we like adds to the atmosphere…some of the stuff played in restaurants is horrible! Theme menus are good too….British pub,curry night,Mexican…all help the evening go well. My Dad was a chef,whenever we ate out with him he'd keep saying 'do you know how much this really costs to make? Such a rip off'!
Jane x
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I also choose not to eat out. It's too expensive and I cannot guarantee I will enjoy the food. Last week we had a client we had to take to lunch everyday and I managed to persuade him to have sandwiches, even these were 7 euros a day for a baguette sandwich, a drink and a dessert. Much too expensive to eat that way everyday. A lot of people here have lunch vouchers so eating out at lunchtime is a social event. Not for me,
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salmon! it's less expensive when we buy it frozen at the warehouse club and people are always wowed by it. Even though it is an extravagance, it's still cheaper than eating out, and tastier too.
Froogs, could you tell us about how you manage your time? You seem to get so much done in little time. What's your secret?
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I love cooking at home, pasta or meatballs as I am italian and my hubby is a sweede. So we have pretty strange food in our house. I love to bake, cakes, scones and biscuits. I make a pretty mean quiche as well.
We had KFC as a treat last night, it was okay, but boy was uit expensive. And only two of us. It came to over a tenner!!! I can see why we dont eat out. Sunday dinner today with dessert for four came to that and I think I had a bit of change left out as well. I think it is all about time management.
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Get up early! I get up at 5.30 and I'm showered and hair washed by 6. Put washing in machine, or hang washing up in drier, make the bed, tidy the kitchen and eat breakfast and leave by 7 .20 am. I have almost 2 hours of work done before I leave for work - in that time, I take something out of the freezer, e.g a casserole for supper, prepare some veg. I get home from work around 6 pm. I will plan my weekly shopping trip on my way home from work. When I get in, I'll make a loaf of bread, iron and put washing away and will have eaten by 7pm. the, I'll sew or knit or read or watch TV - I usually do some sewing or quilting every night. On the weekends, I still get up early and I'm up showered and ready by 7 pm and do all the house chores by 9am. I cook all the food for the next week on Saturday, DB does the gardening and chops and stacks wood, he cuts/chops kindling we work until 11 am then have a coffee break. We try and get everything done on Saturday to have a day of rest on Sunday.
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Until I became a full-time house-husband, I didn't realise just how much profit there must be on restaurant meals, and I've also discovered I can actually make some things just as well if not better.
Can't remember the last time I was in a restaurant, we very occasionally indulge fish & chips from a local chippy.
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I love this post! I admire your resolve in not eating out as that's something I really miss at the moment. I save money by having friends over for afternoon tea and always serve my signature Victoria Sponge. My German friends especially love that! But I still haven't shared my Gran's recipe secret for how I get it to taste so fluffy yet moist with anyone 😉
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i make a hearty beef stew from shin beef (cooked for about three hrs)and packed out with veg and topped with fluffy dumplings always goes down a treat-well, there's never any left!and for dessert a home made carrot cake
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We use to eat out more often (we're retired) before everything got so expensive. So we stopped (or cut down a LOT) and I was able to make homemade food that we enjoyed much more than restaurant food. I make all our bread now, bake occasionally (we don't need the extra fat…LOL), and make such a variety of good-tasting meals that we don't even WANT to eat out any more 🙂 I go to the meat market 2x a year and stock up on meat. We have a Food Saver and stock up the freezer. We live near a large Great Lake (in the USA) and my DH fishes all summer so we have fresh fish in the freezer all winter. Our eating out has dwindled to MAYBE once a month…if that 🙂 We'd rather eat at home 🙂
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Its not that great to eat out and I don't miss is, when I have eaten out I've felt ripped off by poor quality and poor service
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hold the spoon - i'm coming round, I love a good stew!
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I do a butternut squash and blue cheese risotto that is quite presentable. Recently, I went out for a birthday meal with family at a very nice hotel restaurant - such a treat, I never eat out - and I chose risotto. The portion was MINISCULE and although very nice it certainly wasn't worth the money. I make an equally nice risotto, and can serve a decent sized portion, for a tiny fraction of the cost. Why eat out?
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Since moving out to Orkney we have only eaten out twice. Both time were power cuts, and the eating out was us and friend going down to the pier to roast fresh caught fish over a bonfire. There are only tourist 'restaurants' here, and unfortunately that means something bought battered and frozen, and then microwaved or deep fried warm. Add £10 to the purchase price and we pay dearly for something we don't like, and would not normally eat.
I must admit, I can recall too many times where we went out to eat in the past and regretted it. I admire your courage to actually call them on it and get a refund. Go Froogs!
We don't bother going out for meals, but we eat very well. I make turtle brownies (brownies topped with roasted pecans, caramel, and then drizzled with chocolate… served with cream) if I am trying to persuade someone to come to mine instead of an over priced cafe. That typically wins the argument.
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I begrudge eating out, not that we do, maybe twice a year when we go to a steam fair and stay over. I think a meal for two would buy a tremendous amount of groceries.
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(Thoughtfully) Oh dear. Maybe the Garden Centre wasnt a good idea?
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Froog You do everything right and you are very disciplined. Bravo. JB
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I had been in conflict with a family member who was insisting on eating out for a family celebration. I held my ground, reiterating that the time of day for the function as well as my budget require that we eat at home. I'll get the party food, let's just split the bill. In the end, that is what we did. Why spend 3 x's as much for an Ok if you are lucky, meal? the celebration went fine. It was simple but good food.
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We occasionally eat out, but have found we rarely enjoy it. A large portion of our socializing is family gatherings and we have at times anywhere between 15 and 20 people. Helping divide up the dishes and saying who is bringing what helps us with that, but it can still be expensive. Just nowhere near as expensive as eating out.
It also helps to become known for doing one or two dishes well. As simple as they may seem to make, so many people here buy baked beans. They're simple to cook (mostly using the slow cooker), inexpensive and better than canned. I regularly get asked to provide them at family dinners. Keeps my costs lower than if I were providing other things and the family likes having them made from scratch. The two other things I get asked to bring are homemade bread because no one else in my family makes bread and baked desserts. Each of these can be as frugal as I chose to make them and still “feel and taste” nice.
However, when we do small entertaining I try to tailor it to our guests. If son and daughter in law are coming over I try to make one of their favorites — for example a casserole dish filled with baked mac and cheese and some light sides. If it is Mama visiting I try to make a dish from my childhood that I know she likes, but doesn't make for herself anymore. Things like that help me keep it simple but leave guests feeling like they were the center of attention.
As far as the few of us that are here full time — I'd rather have a simple meal of breakfast for supper or a sandwich on my homemade bread than a fast food meal any day.
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I told a friend I would join a group who were having a retirement party. I got the invite and it's $52 per person! So, it will be just me. We went out last week with a coupon so it saved us over half the meal. Other than that, I don't like to spend in one meal what I could use for food for an entire week!
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I think my last comment got lost in the ether.
Love to cook and love to entertain usually have people twice a week for dinner. I am partial to Faux -roccan at the moment or we will do a roast, or Mr FF will do a pasta (he is Italian). We never get take away and we cook everything from scratch. I find it soothing and calming after a hard day at the coalface.
I love to eat out too but agree that it is wildly expensive. I always find eating out in London and really anywhere overseas 100% cheaper than Australia. I do not know why this is.
The other night I have dinner with a girlfriend and my share of the bill came to $70 which is insane.
Love the blog x
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Love cooking and eating well. Which is the main reason we don't eat takeaway - the food is generally ghastly and overpriced. Current favourites are chicken pie and French peas; soft tacos; chicken and sweet potato in peanut, coconut curry sauce cooked in slow cooker; slow cooked Greek lamb roast. Loved afternoon tea. My current cake of choice is a raspberry yoghurt cake. A real winner.
Still like to eat out but I am very picky. I want something I can't do at home. Or couldn't be bothered. So love high tea with the fiddly little mouthfuls. And love seafood as I don't do that very well. I do enjoy Thai but find most Indian dishes we cook better at home.
Tonight's dinner will be left over slow cooked lamb from last night on Greek bread with home made Tzakiki (sorry about the spelling) and salad. And mangoes for desert. Yum!
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We used to eat out all the time when we were younger but now our budget is more limited I've been cooking most of our food from scratch. Thinking about it I know the food I make is much better quality and better portions than any pub locally. It is usually more than £8 for a main course and most of the places around here are not homemade stuff. The thing I do miss about going out is the dressing smart. I guess I should do this at home and not have my food on a tray in my comfy clothes! My aim next week is to make more of an occasion of meals and sit at the table!
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My favourite dishes to make are Lasagne, spaghetti bolognese and hotpot. I love making cakes usually just sponge cakes but also chocolate brownies!
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I do like eating out - and have only very rarely been disappointed. Maybe here in France it's a bit different. However, with rising costs, it isn't something we do very often, and we do go to the smaller, cheaper restaurants. I will usually choose something that I would never cook for myself, which makes it more of an experience. However, equally, we enjoy having friends for a relaxed evening at home too. Yes, it is cheaper, but for me, part of why we came to France was for the food/restaurant culture.
Froogs, I admire your determination to stop the spending, and I love your positive, can-do attitude. While I don't agree with everything you say - and, why should I, of course, we are all different - you have taught me to consider more carefully what I am spending my money on. Keep it up!
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I agree with you. I've never been a fan of dairy and we don't eat meat so there is no way I am going to pay to eat pasta in tomato sauce or a jacket spud with beans which are the regular meat free choices!
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When people come over I make all manner of things depending on what people are coming for. If it's to watch a game of football or have games night we'll make pizza. If we're having drinks we'll do flatbreads, dips, dukkah, olives, roasted chickpeas, spiced nuts and things like that. For a sit down meal I'll make a big vat of curry, chilli or a nice chestnut and ale pie.
We will be eating out next weekend. We're having some visitors come over from Germany so we're off out to a local Indian restaurant - it's something they requested and I'm happy to say yes. It's a rare treat so I'll enjoy it, but it's never enough to make me want to do it time and again. The rest of the weekend we'll be cooking at home as DH's friend wants to learn to cook British food which is a bonus, fun, frugal and delicious.
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You are such an inspiration Froogs!
Now I have my recipe books out looking for the cheapest and easiest ones I can find, and doing a menu plan…
Your food looks so good, why would you want to go out to eat?
x
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jane-you are more than welcome!let me know when you are free!
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The last 2 times we've eaten out I've gotten sick, so no more for me. I love to cook and since we've retired I have all the time in the world to do it.
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Froogs what time do you go to bed? i'm an early riser and manage to get most of my jobs done in the morning. I'm dreading the end of BST at weekend!!
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Froogs, I so agree with you, nothing tastes as good as home made. Four hungry (or greedy) people can be fed from the store cupboard and freezer for very little and as long as the company is good the rest takes care of itself. Chili is cheap and cheerful and everyone loves it. Mince, onions, tomatoes, canned beans and spices. Serve with a salad, rice and some home-made garlic bread. Yummy and all for less than some people would leave as a tip in a restaurant. When I shop I always look out for reduced meat and fish as a standard, it all goes in the freezer for later use and for a fraction of the price. I never discard anything and sell by dates are pretty useless, unless its off it gets used! I've been eating like that for years and it hasnt killed me yet
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I'm in bed and asleep by ten pm
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Food at home is wonderful and I do my fair share of cooking and baking just trying to keep the hordes fed but I dearly love a lunch out with just my dh on his day off. I also indulge in a lunch out with a good friend just a few times a year. We both get all you can eat soup and salad and it cost me under $10. When I am out with dh, we like places that are under $20 for the both of us. I think it's okay to eat out if you are careful and I do consider it more of a social thing. I am a stay at home mom and sometimes I just enjoy the outing.
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agree with you totslly and your way of life. we eat at friends house every other week and between us we provide a very tasty and wholesome meal with lots of lovely homemade scrummy dishes. i personally don't like eating out because i think if you don't know how foods cooked then was it in hygienic premises were the chefs washing their hands etc.i like to handle my own food and cook it myself. just love your bloggxxpippa
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We live in a small town with 3 pubs and no other restaurant for evening meals. They all do deep fried rubbish. At Chez Joolz & Gus there can be Thai green chicken curry, lamb korma, pasta bake, tacos, san choy bau, the best bbq steak known to man, chicken & corn mornay, fragrant chicken curry, shepherds pie, satay shaslicks, etc etc etc on the menu, any night of the week. We learned long ago that we can cook better than those pubs! Lunching out s a bit different but I don't do it much.
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