Luxurious food at home?

**Early Bird** · 08-12-2005, 11:24 AM

I was just wondering ... the cost of luxurious food at home... is it less than the cost of a mediocre restaurant meal?

For example, I can get nice steaks for $5/lb on sale. Add some baked potatoes and steamed asparagus. Maybe even a store-bought cake.

For the 4 of us, generous portions of the meal would cost

steak $15
potatoes $2
asparagus $3
cake $6

So, $26 for a very nice meal. Let's add a bottle of wine for $7.

Total comes to $33.

When we go out to eat, even at a mom-and-pop Mexican restaurant, we rarely spend under $40. I don't think we EVER spend under $35.

And we're eating burritos, not ribeyes. We order water to drink and no dessert.

So, what 'spendy' meals can you make at home to satisfy the craving for luxury? Is it cheaper than eating out?

**Early Bird** · 08-12-2005, 11:32 AM

BTW, I realize that there is LABOR involved in the meal at home. But if you tell yourself, "I'm doing this extra work to enjoy wine with dinner," it could be more bearable.

I'm going to try that tonight!

**Goodi2shooz** · 08-12-2005, 01:26 PM

wow.. 40 dollars for burritos? must be in the midwest! heheh.. I have over 200 Mexican food places in town who have to compete.. we can get huge overstuffed burritos for 2 bucks each.

Back to the subject though, yes we have spent big money for dinners out.. but I couldn't recreate them.. my specialty is mostly casseroles and such...that's why we don't eat out much..only special occasions.

**Early Bird** · 08-12-2005, 01:37 PM

No, we live in the Southwest. But this is a sit-down restaurant, with table service. And not a lot of competition.

One person might have a burrito plate; another has a taco plate. DH usually has the 'super grande' plate. Nothing particularly elegant though.

By the time we order 4 meals [about $7 or $8 apiece] (and one guacamole salad to share [$6]), then add tax and tip, we're usually a little above $40.

[And don't suggest that DH give up his guac salad or his extra big Mexican plate! He loves Mexican food. And he cleans his plate ... we don't generally have leftovers to bring home!]

But the cost of ingredients is NOT what's making the meal expensive! It's the preparation and service.

I think I could re-create the burrito meal at home for ....

1 lb b/s chick breasts .... $2
rice ... $0.50
beans .... $0.50
tortillas ... $1
salsa ... $1
green chili from the grocer's freezer ... $1
canned tomatoes ... to go in the Spanish rice ... $0.50
fresh veggies for garnish ... $1
cheese .... $2
pre-made guacamole ... $3

So, total cost to make for all of us would be about $12.50. I think I over-estimated costs a bit too. And we'd probably have plenty of leftovers!

bg · 08-12-2005, 02:02 PM

I love quiche. But a single slice is really pricey at restaurants. So I make spinach quiche and it isn't too hard.

I've also made lemon creme brulee at home which came out really well.

**pkellyc** · 08-12-2005, 02:31 PM

I make a shrimp and pasta dish that's better than any I have had to eat in restaurants. I also make a recipie called shrimp fantasies as an appetizer, to the meal. As far as the cost, my shrimp dish runs around $14 to $18 a plate out. At home it runs me somewhere around $15 or less to feed 4 people. Depending on the price of shrimp.

**Michele Annette** · 08-12-2005, 03:25 PM

Being Italian, I make all of the fancy Itailian meals for much less money! Eggplant parmesan, Lasagana, homeade meatballs and sauce, alfredo with chicken and broccoli. All the appitizers too, roasted garlic and olive oil, fried ravioli, calamari, etc. For desserts I can make (but not very often) canoli, tiramisu, Italian cookies galore! DH never, ever wants to eat at an Italian restaurant. Believe me it is so much cheaper, but very labor intensive.

**Ssindi** · 08-12-2005, 06:56 PM

I agree that eating out is expensive,but we don't do the really expensive places often.Even at the chain places one could probably cook cheaper at home.But we go out for the change of pace and usually the comraderie(sp?) of friends.At Olive Garden,I love the portebello mushroom ravioli and tirimisu for dessert.I order it whenever we go there,maybe twice a year.I wouldn't think of trying to recreate them at home.

**Early Bird** · 08-12-2005, 07:23 PM

You don't have to necessarily re-create the restaurant dishes. I know I can't. But, by giving yourself permission to spend more at the grocery store (like buying ribeyes), you can save a bunch over eating out.

**Darlene** · 08-12-2005, 07:47 PM

Originally posted by Michele Annette
Being Italian, I make all of the fancy Itailian meals for much less money! Eggplant parmesan, Lasagana, homeade meatballs and sauce, alfredo with chicken and broccoli. All the appitizers too, roasted garlic and olive oil, fried ravioli, calamari, etc. For desserts I can make (but not very often) canoli, tiramisu, Italian cookies galore! DH never, ever wants to eat at an Italian restaurant. Believe me it is so much cheaper, but very labor intensive.

So Michele.... can you please part with some of these recipes? I so love tried & true recipes.   They sound wonderful! Pretty please?

**Jerseygirl** · 08-12-2005, 09:21 PM

When we go out to eat I tend to focus on foods I am not good with at home-steak, some seafood dishes etc. I will often make shrimp on the grill or salmon as our treat instead of eating out. I also keep a few convenience foods in the freezer to avoid eating out.

**Nada.Leona** · 08-12-2005, 09:39 PM

I'm a vegetarian and DH is a total "meat 'n' potatoes" type of dude. So most times, I have to be pretty creative in the kitchen, cooking a meal without meat and either adding it into his half or just cooking him a seperate piece of meat.

DH's favorite meal that I make is mashed potatoes with baked salmon and lemon juice. Usually with something like that, I'll prepare a vegetarian piece for mineself, and we enjoy a yummy, cheap supper.

Bright Blessings!
Aphrodite Pretty

**patches** · 08-13-2005, 12:58 AM

I make a chicken breast filet breaded in cracker crumbs and italian seasoning, browned in butter that my hubby thinks is out of this world. Usually goes good with a nice garden salad and/or glazed carrots, which he also loves.

We both like to cook so we switch off. Tonight he made Chicken Teriyaki w/rice and I fried up some patty pan squash from a friends garden. It was a perfect compliment.

It may not be elegant, but it's different.

Walmart has bacon wrapped steaks, individually sealed in a box of ten. Cheap! Wonderful on the grill or even cooked in the skillet. We don't defrost them...they turn out more tender if we leave them frozen. Toss a salad, make up some garlic bread, bake a potato and we are good.

We eat that about once every other week.

Of course we don't need to go out to drink the wine, we've both been sober quite a while and don't miss it a bit. Sparkling grape juice is nice once in a while but I don't do carbonation. But, we do enjoy good gourmet coffees and have two expresso machines...one kitchen sized and one commercial.

We used to go out constantly...wasted money constantly.

Now, we go to a lot of covered dish dinners in our community. We love the constant change in diet, different flavors, different influences.

There's on average 5 or more covered dish dinners per month around here. In fact we have another one to go to tomorrow.

**Mojjo** · 08-13-2005, 08:52 AM

We absolutely prefer to splurge at the grocery store and make it at home...there are a ton of benefits:

~no wait
~don't have to get a babysitter
~cooked the way I like it
~can mix and match...mexican appetizer and italian dinner
~leftovers taste better next day for some reason...restaurants tend to add more oil then I like
~CHEAPER!!!!!
~it's fun to make the cooking and the table setting a family event
~get more use of my china