JONTILLMAN.COM | part of the problem since 1976

We have been making an effort to be more cost and value conscious when making purchasing decisions as a part of our new deliberate lifestyle, but there is one area where that is extrememely hard for us: restaurants.

We have been able to internalize and “own” (to use the hip business term) most all of our decisions about how to live frugally and deliberately, but the question of not going out to eat has always been something we thought of as a deprivation, not an empowering choice. Jenn has always been a huge restaurant fan, so much so that she has admitted to me that resaurants comprise the terms in which she thinks of food. I may not be quite as bad as al lthat, but I have been known to wax poetic for hours about the meals I have eaten in world-class restaurants and kitchens.

So, imagine our suprise at ourselves when, on two weekends in a row, we have opted out of going out to a restaurant, and chosen to cook at home instead, and not for fiscal reasons.

First, we discovered how to make thin and crispy pizza dough at home, something we had struggled with in the past. That fueled a round or two of experimentation that led to the creation of a few excellent pizzas, and delivery started to seem like not such a good option, ever.

Then, last night, we had planned to go out for burgers and beer to accompany the hockey game. Something came over us, and we decided that it was silly to go out and get a hamburger when they never live up to our expectations. So, off to the only local grocer with a decent butcher we went, and $25.00 later, we had our entire menu, and plenty of leftover cheese, beer, and snacks for the coming weekend.

I only mention the price because even I, Mr. Grocery Miser, was a little taken aback by how cheap it was to not only reproduce, but far surpass the quality of food we could have gotten at a restaurant. Had we not bought half a pound of Maytag blue cheese in order to cut off a couple of hunks to stuff our hamburgers with, it would have been around $15.00 for dinner for two, with drinks….

For some reason, sitting on the patio, grilling blackened blue-cheese stuffed sirloin burgers and sipping an amber lager, it finally sunk in; most restaurants don’t offer anything that we are interested in. We can beat them on food quality, price and atmosphere/experience almost without even trying. Of course, there will always be those rare and wonderful restaurant experiences where something magical happens between the chef and the ingredients, and you are not ashamed to cry in joy over what has just been served to you, but even I have to admit that that almost never happens, and certainly will never happen at the likes of Outback or Carraba’s.

Dinner as empowerment - who would have thought?