Its a wonderful life !!!

[jyoutz]

The wife and I rolled out $55 lighter the other day. We talked about it. Figured we could have gone to Red Robin for less even with 1 beer each!

At Chili’s you can get a cheeseburger, fries, soup or salad and drink for $10.99. And it’s pretty good.

 

[JRHill]

Spices. A DW who can do a simple thing in a few hours with minimal work and you have five star food on a plastic plate. No meat and taters every day but just good food that is nutritious and you stop because you can't eat anymore. Besides, the leftovers are lucious.

Not bragging, necessarily. But very few know spices and what compliments what? You could eat so much better or less in bulk. Be healthier. Eat like a king.

I sometimes have a problem differentiating mushroom from beef. Sometimes I'd swear the mushroom is better. No, not a slab of whatever beef, a ribeye, etc. They are lucious. But a pot of something simmering.

Spices are a major thing. Not heavy. Just right. Complimentary. Study recipes and spices and you might eat less, be filled and the leftovers are excellent even cold.

Grandma, I could never get a recipe from her. In broken english a little bit if this and a little bit of that.

 

[Lil Foot]

A few years ago we were at the AZ State Fair. There was a SPAM food truck handing out little Spamwiches.
There was a young couple in front of us in line, and just as they got to the front of the line, the girl asked what spam stood for. Her guy replied "Squirrels, Pigs, And Mice".
I laughed my a$$ off, but the Spam people were not amused.

 

[BBFarmer]

Mmmmm.....Dripping with holiday cheer....Whatever the hell that is.

If you walked in there with a wife & 3 kids you would go broke.

Yep....that's exactly what I did. My 15 year old, he can eat just like me. But even with my wife and 2 girls getting the smaller burgers its a $100 visit.

Hell, the dang hot dog is $9!

We like to refer to it as 9 F@#kheads.

 

[JRHill]

Our spice rack covers an entire wall in the kitchen. And we have the pantry and crouch space below with bulk. I have my few but the DW has all this stuff including mixtures of stuff I can't pronounce.

I'll say again, spices, which are additives, change everything about what you are eating. Ya don't have to eat a bunch if it is made up right. And there is good stuff in there. Those spices have things you don't get anywhere else. This is just food, not crazy end of the world stuff.

Maybe a class or two, on line or whatever, in spices. Oh, and cooking with real food. Not prepackaged/prepared stuff. But we do like our mac and cheese....

 

[Lil Foot]

I have only eaten Taco Bell maybe 3 times in my life, and not for 20+ years.
I found their food tasty, but it ruined my digestive track for about a week each time.
The "meat-like substance" they put in their food is just not meant for this human.

 

[RCW]

Never had a McRib. We don’t eat out much or get takeout, etc.

We do have Chinese takeout New Years Day. Done it for years.

When we travel to visit our kids we’re more apt to buy a bunch of higher-end ingredients at the store and cook at their homes.

Last trip to CA I bought a grill from Amazon and had it delivered to their house in advance.

Glad I did, as some cocktails and appetizers at a local eatery was over $200….

A $500 trip to the store bought most of the food for our time there and I got steaks, seafood and all the fixin’s. Worked great for us.

Our restaurant tab for our time there would have likely been $2k or so.

It’s whatever works best in anyone’s situation. This is just what works for us and the Mrs. and I are both happy working in the kitchen.

We’re also far from being food snobs.

I very much enjoy hot Italian sausage sandwiches, hot dogs and fish fries.

I love Spam and Vienna Sausages..

We just tend to make them at home.

 

[JRHill]

Ouch. The DW is a scavenger at the supermarkets. She gets amazing deals even arguing with the butcher. Seriously, she can get a hunk of meat or a family pack marked down making her a point.

But travelling is a different issue. Plus ya don't have the cookware and spices. $2k, hmm. Now there is a reason to stay home. But I don't think the food budget is a concern.

 

[DustyRusty]

This thread has made me very hungry. Be back in 2 hours after I get some food in me.

 

[RCW]

Ouch. The DW is a scavenger at the supermarkets. She gets amazing deals even arguing with the butcher. Seriously, she can get a hunk of meat or a family pack marked down making her a point.

But travelling is a different issue. Plus ya don't have the cookware and spices. $2k, hmm. Now there is a reason to stay home. But I don't think the food budget is a concern.

A good thing is our daughters live Philadelphia PA (recently moved to Wilmington DE) and Santa Cruz CA.

A normal stop in Philly was Reading Terminal. Former train station turned into a couple acres of food booths. Love that place. Butcher shops, seafood vendors, bakeries; great stuff.

Santa Cruz is close to a lot of agricultural businesses and the Central Valley.

My background was Italian cuisine, but do a lot of pretty simple stuff.

You can do a lot with a few fresh herbs, spices, fresh garlic and wine.

Like the gas grill, we’ve also bought a few pans, etc. while visiting. I made a point to equip them both with good sets of knives…probably selfishly so I can use them whenever I’m there….

 

[lugbolt]

we rarely eat out. Just costs too much and hurts our ability to reach our income and investment goal.

that said we do eat, and we eat GOOD. As I said I have a bottomless belly and I can flat put away some groceries. I tried eating "normally" and lost like 10 lbs, and those that know me, you know that I ain't got 10 lb to lose. We also do not drink and would rather not be around it at all. I have that personality, where I don't know when to quit-and that applies to alcohol when I was younger as well. One beer, then the whole case until I was passed out. I'm clean of alcohol since age 24 (so, close to 26 years) and don't miss it one bit. Since most of the restaurants here kind of force it down your throats, that's another reason we stay in to eat. Plus the taxes. state sales & use tax (6.5%), county tax (0.5%), city tax (1.75%) state mixed drink tax (10%), state additional mixed drink tax (4%), city beverage tax (5%), total 27.75% sales tax if you sit down for a burger and a drink at any restaurant in the city. I refuse to get duped like that but thousands and thousands of people just don't care about paying close to 30% in sales tax.

Wife eats pretty good too but she doesn't have teh same worm that I have. She says when she looks at cookies she gains a pound. That's ok I'll finish them off for her and she don't have to look at em no more.