HOMEMADE night out

Who doesn't love a night out? We do every once in a while, but always feel like we wasted SO much money for nothing.

I hope by this post I can show you how to have a restaurant type "meal" AT HOME!   Or at least appetizers.

A homemade night out!

We do not eat out very often.  For several reasons.
1. We can not justify paying for a sitter(around $10 an hour)JUST to go out to dinner.

2. If the four of us go out to eat the cost is CRAZY!  We budget for EVERYTHING!  Down to the penny.  So to use anywhere from $30-60 just to go out to dinner is a big deal to us.

3. Because we rarely eat out my body goes into shock mode. I usually get a bad headache that lasts the rest of the day or evening. From research I am guessing it is probably due to all the MSG most restaurants use. Or all the processed foods they serve. Because we rarely eat out my body can not handle it.
4. The money you spend eating out is absolutely ridiculous for food that taste like CRAP! "Most" all restaurants serve processed foods anyway. What, go out just so I don't have to cook? Why bother? I might as well just go to the grocery store and buy something from the freezer section. That is what you are eating from most restaurants anyway! NO THANKS!!!

So far this new year we have NOT eaten out one time!!!!

I'll be honest, it is FUN for the boys to eat out. They are usually so excited about it they act like back woods country kids gone to town! The restaurant staff I am sure gets a good kick out of them.

And yes it is nice to have someone wait on us. That part is nice I will admit, but still not worth it to me. 

BUT this post is not entirely about ragging on eating out. It is mainly to show you how you can have the same thing at HOME!!! And save money!!!

Saturday we decided to make a dish my SIL had mentioned before. I can't remember what she calls it, but we have decided we are going to call it Loaded Cheese Fries. And man oh man were they good!!!!!

I am going to list what we bought and what I spent in comparison to a local restaurant. For this comparison I am using Chili's Grill and Bar Restaurant. And THE only reason I am using Chili's is because it was the only local restaurant I could find that served what we had. It would NOT be my choice going out for an evening.

At Chili's you can order an appetizer of Texas Cheese Fries. It comes with cheese, bacon, green onions and Ranch dressing on the side.

Photo courtesy of Chili's

Texas Cheese Fries-$7.49 for a full order and $3.99 for a half order. We'll say Brant and I had a full order each and the boys a half order each.
Along with your fries you can drink a 32oz Coke for $2.29(why on earth would anyone need a 32oz drink?!?!). And we are assuming a 12oz draft beer would be $3-4.
Making the price of our meal $45.75, tax(8.25%)$3.75 and a tip $8.00
Total price for a night out $57.20

At Kroger I bought:
-5lb bag of potatoes $2.72
-green onions .62
-sour cream .99
-bacon-$3

World Market: 1 six pack $10. 
Note: I did not have to spend money on cheese or the boys' drink. We had cheese at home(about 3 cups)and rootbeer about 8oz.

Milk Stout-LOVE!

So our HOMEMADE night out came to a total of $17.33
We did not have to wait in line on a Saturday night. We did not have to be witness to loud noises, smoke and dirty tables, etc.

We did have to cook our own food, but did so in the luxury of our own home. The boys were able to run to and fro through their home and not have to sit coloring while they waited for their food. Brant and I enjoyed hanging out in the kitchen together preparing the food and drinking a beer.

And we had plenty of leftovers for anyone who wanted more. Matthew went back for seconds and thirds!!! I suppose at Chili's he would have had his half order and then filled up on the 32oz Coke!

There is nothing wrong with eating out from time to time. I love going out for Mexican food. BUT you can have that same type of food at home.

HOMEMADE is not always easy. It takes time and preparation. But the end result is rewarding. At least to us.

Loaded Cheese Fries:
First we peel and cut potatoes into french fry size.  Next we soak them in sugar water.  The sugar water solution has something to do with the carbohydrates, but by doing this they don't soak up so much grease, so they get crunchy.

For a 5lb bag of tators we dissolved 1 cup of sugar in 5 cups of warm water.  Let those soak for about 15 minutes or while you fry the entire package of bacon.  **Make sure you save that bacon grease for furture recipes.....I'll post about that later!!**

After the potatoes have soaked remove from water and dry thoroughly on paper towels. And then fry them up.  We use peanut oil heated to 375.  Fry until golden brown.  About 5-7 minutes.  Drain on paper towels. Season while hot....season while the potatoes are vulnerable. At least that is what Emeril says to do.

Chop bacon.  Arrange fries on a BIG baking sheet.  Top with EXTRA sharp cheddar cheese and sprinkle bacon on top.  Place in oven with broiler on just until cheese melts.  Plate up with sour cream and green onions.  YUM!!!  

Now sit down with a good beer or Coke and enjoy a HOMEMADE night out!