Not literally, of course. The sign still says Cheddar's, but what you end up paying for is smaller portions and worse service for a price higher than it was a year ago.
*restaurant inflation*
So what do you do?
First, we briefly looked at other restaurant options., but Cheddar's was still going to be on the bargain end for what we wanted.
Second, we decided to just cook it ourselves.
Thirdly, it has been awesome.
For the past three weeks, Mike and I have gone grocery shopping on Thursday nights and then stayed in and cook on Friday nights for what we would normally get at a restaurant.
The cost savings is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much more than I originally thought.
I remember a really deceptive commercial a while back that had ingredients like vegetables and steak being rung up at the grocery cash register saying, "It's costing so much to cook dinner at home now," making the argument that it was cheaper to go to a restaurant such as Logan's.
Bah. Such tomfoolery.
Because here is what we bought at Food Lion:
Whole pack of chicken (about 3 pounds) - $5.79
Fried chicken coating - $2.29
Cornmeal - $2.30
Ranch dressing mix - $1.29
Mayonnaise for the dressing - $2.39
a whole sack of potatoes - $3
Our "marginal cost" was $17.09 because we already had other stuff at the house like sour cream, eggs, milk, peanut oil, and greens that I would've bought anyway. This is still over 20% cheaper compared to the $22-$24 we might spend going out.
And then we spent some time baking the cornbread, double-battering and frying the chicken, making the ranch dressing and mashed potatoes.
It was all so very delicious. And we didn't have to tip anybody, or wait forever to get a refill on water!
Even more, we had trouble fitting everything we made into the refrigerator and the leftovers pretty much provided dinner for us the following week.
But here's where the real savings come in: let's make it all again in two weeks!
Whole pack of chicken (about 3 pounds) - $5.79
Fried chicken coating - $2.29
Ranch dressing mix - $1.29
Tater tots - $4.69
Now our cost is only $14 because we reuse a lot of the same ingredients we bought before.
ECONOMIES OF SCALE, YOU GUYS.
So we get restaurant quality food from our very own kitchen for a fraction of the cost of going out. Plus, we don't have to sit in traffic, wait for a table, and we get to wear comfy pants.
Yes, we have to clean the kitchen and risk hot grease droplets flying onto our forearms, but it's time we get to spend together working toward a common goal. Totally worth it.
After our dinner yesterday, Mike pointed out: "If we really wanted this to be like going to a restaurant, we should put a $10 bill in the garbage and throw all the leftover food in the trash."
He's absolutely right. For the amount you pay and the portions you get, going out to a chain restaurant is so not worth it. Like not even a little. This happened with pizza, too, after we were so upset with Domino's "Buffalo chicken pizza" that had like 4 pieces of chicken on it and a thin layer of cheese. Is there a greater waste?
One might argue that you just can't make food at home taste the same as the restaurant. This is where you must experiment with the seasonings or the way you cook it to get it to where you like it. For Mike, it was all about the ranch dressing and the crispy chicken. Once we figured out the right consistency of the ranch and the perfect frying temperature, we were golden. And so was the chicken. :)
We still go out for Mexican when we feel like going out, but for the most part, we're perfectly content to stay at home cooking comfort food in our comfy pants.
Also, shopping on Thursday gives you more time on the weekend to wake up, have coffee and more time to yourself to write a blog post, for instance.
I think next time we'll make our own chicken coating. Mike is skeptical, but it really can't be that hard.
TWS
Line of Sight; ODESZA
