We recently did something we that used to be a norm, but now I could probably count on my hands how many times we do it in a year: ate out at a sit down restaurant.
We are an ingredients household, for the most part, and have been for several years. Way before it was a trend. I don't even follow things like that, so it's the luck of the algorithm that I even know that's a thing. Anyway, we do have some pre-packaged things that the kids eat, but Philip and I rarely eat any of that (I would love it if the kids didn't eat that stuff either, but we can't win them all). We stock so many staples that pretty much anything that we want to eat is available to make. This system is certainly made easier by our lifestyle--one parent who stays at home, one parent who works remote (so no travel time), and no kids in sports (yet), so we are able to to make it work. But I have a whole list of other reasons why we don't eat out very often:
- Prior to this stage of life (children being 6.5 and almost 4), eating at restaurants with kids wasn’t fun. We occasionally go to Chinese, and that usually goes okay because of the instant gratification of the buffet, but actually having to order and wait equated to impatience and whining, which isn’t fun for anyone.
- I'm decent at cooking and Philip is pretty phenomenal and we can make just about anything we would choose to order at a restaurant, at home, andddd it will likely taste better.
- It will also have less calories because we’re not deep-frying anything here because I absolutely hate the smell. You could argue that that is a reason it won’t taste better than at a restaurant, but we don’t really eat foods that would taste better deep fried on the regular, so I guess it doesn’t matter.
- Eating out is super stupid expensive! We ate at two sit down restaurants, costing us $150 between the two, and one only was kinda worth it.
Last month, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings when they were packed, so we had to wait quite a while on our food, but it wasn’t the worst. The boys did okay during the wait, and Quinn even tasted my parmesan garlic chicken sandwich, said he liked it, and ate half 🤯. Now, this was, of course, after saying he didn’t like his own food that HE CHOSE 🙄. So there’s reason number five:
5. Children will choose to order foods that they eat every friggin day but then won’t eat it because the fries are too potatoey, or the chicken tenders aren't the right shape of chicken, or the breading has a crunchy end, or any other nonsense they can think of. Money wasted.
However, despite Quinn reneging on his order, the experience was mostly positive because he tried something new, and they both sat patiently and didn’t act like wild animals. Quinn liked the garlic parm sauce so much that I bought a bottle of it and he will now eat it on chicken 🙌🏻. Anything that lengthens the list of foods Quinn will eat is a win in my book.
A few weeks later, our outing lead us to Olive Garden, which used to be a favorite. I loved their lasagna and Alfredo, so the tour of Italy is usually my pick, and it’s Philip’s, too. He ordered it, but I had just had some creamy pasta the day before, so I went with just straight lasagna. Quinn got a second meal he didn’t like for the same reason as before (nonsense), and Ash got a pizza that was too cheesy 🙄. If not for the breadsticks, they would’ve starved. Olive Garden salad used to set the bar for me, their dressing was my absolute favorite. My tastes have changed though, and while it was good, I’ll take Ken’s Zesty Italian over it any day. I rolled my eyes about Ash’s reason for not eating his pizza, but I also complained about my lasagna having too much cheese 😂. That is in stark contrast to the man beside us who answered, “As much as humanly possible,” when asked if he’d like freshly grated parmesan on his food. My answer to that was, “No, thank you,” which I feel as though the servers always have a hard time accepting 😂. The amount of marinara sauce makes or breaks it for me, and there definitely wasn’t enough for my liking. I could've asked for more, but I didn't bother. I brought half of my lasagna home and ate it the next day with my own additional sauce. Truthfully, the lasagna that we make tops Olive Garden's. It's a pain in the ass to make, but it's worth it!
If I ever had any FOMO surrounding dining out, it has been quelled. Our recent experiences gave us an adequate reminder of why we don’t do that more often. I do have Wendy’s every couple of weeks because burgers are my favorite food in the entire world and Wendy’s does burgers right by me 🤤. We also love Sam’s Club cafe pizza and brownie sundae. If Defelice Pizza was in town, I'd definitely have it more often. I miss when Garfield’s existed at the mall. I loved that place. Aside from those, I’m not really that interested in frequenting any big chain establishments. The prices alone make me wonder how half of these subpar places are still in business!
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