Eating out

[allybabba98]

We are a family of five and to go out in Toronto it would easily cost between 50-75 dollars. We eat out maybe once a week. Honestly...I hate cooking. It does not bring me joy. My boys are young and think I am an awesome cook but I know once they get older they will look back and realize how awful it was. And I am okay with that.

 

[aprilgail]

We used to eat out at restaurants a lot when the kids were small and ate kids meals. Now they are teens/preteens. So now eating "out" is take out and we don't do it as often as we used to. We usually Pizza and wings, chic fil a, local bodega food, Mexican, Dominican food, etc. I can usually walk away spending 30ish bucks for dinner.

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My daughter is 17 and still eats off the kids menu- most places we go don't bat an eye when she orders from the kids menu.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

My daughter is 17 and still eats off the kids menu- most places we go don't bat an eye when she orders from the kids menu.

My kids eat too much now. My son is 17 and can easily finish an adult meal. DD11 still orders kids meals at times but she has to have some type of appetizer or soup/salad to go with it. Plus she likes food and most kids meals are boring.

 

[CdnCarrie]

My daughter is 17 and still eats off the kids menu- most places we go don't bat an eye when she orders from the kids menu.

LOL. No way my teenage son is ordering off the kids menu. If he did it would be an appetizer. Or he would go home and make himself 2 sandwiches.

 

[NYCgrrl]

DGD is now 12 y/o and found most of the kids' meal offerings @ Disney not what she wanted to eat. On the other hand her 8 y/o cousin found them just fine for his wants whether it was a Mickey's Choice/Check? meal or regular kid menu's option.

When we take DGD out to dinner in our hometown we rarely eat at places that offer a kids' menu so I find this aspect of the discussion particularly interesting.
And truth be known her father and uncle rarely ate at eating establishments that offered kids' menus either so maybe this is a new eating trend for millennials.
Keep in mind that for many decades NYC was a "closed shop" for many national food chains.
Now they are flooding the place; aren't we lucky.

 

[runwad]

We hardly ever eat out. I guess we never got in the habit. We both were raised the old fashioned way with a stay at home mom that cooked and we just kept that up. Even when it was just the two of us and newly married we still cooked. One reason is because my DH is a good cook and restaurant food just can't compare to what he makes. And two as others have stated is the cost! And now with 3 kids and one a teenage son, no way. Restaurants just don't provide him with enough food. Heck I can barely keep the kid full! My grocery bill is going thru the roof and I cook from scratch practically every day!

Although I do work part time so the days I'm home I cook and the next day when I work we eat leftovers, that's how it's been since we've had kids. Heck we even make our own pizza from scratch. I make the pizza dough in my bread machine and we make our own pizza's.

We just like our own food. Even on vacation we cook, I totally get getting tired of restaurant food, we can't eat out like that all week. But it does take a lot of time to cook so I totally get people working full time not having the energy to do after work everyday. Heck I'm usually in the kitchen 3 hours in the afternoon getting my dinner ready for that night.

 

[grumpy28]

Chick fil a is food sent down from the heavens. I would eat there everyday if I could. And their sweet tea is the best around!

 

[aprilgail]

My kids eat too much now. My son is 17 and can easily finish an adult meal. DD11 still orders kids meals at times but she has to have some type of appetizer or soup/salad to go with it. Plus she likes food and most kids meals are boring.

If we go to a place like Houlihans or chain like that sometimes she will order a kids meal of chicken fingers and I will order like rosemary chicken and we will switch since it comes with a soup and I have the soup and chicken fingers and she has the adult meal. At the Melting Pot I will order the cheese fondue and she hates cheese so I will eat that, she will order an entrée which comes with a salad and I will eat the salad and she eats the entrée so its basically like ordering once meal between the 2 of us there.

 

[NYCgrrl]

We hardly ever eat out. I guess we never got in the habit. We both were raised the old fashioned way with a stay at home mom that cooked and we just kept that up. Even when it was just the two of us and newly married we still cooked. One reason is because my DH is a good cook and restaurant food just can't compare to what he makes. And two as others have stated is the cost! And now with 3 kids and one a teenage son, no way. Restaurants just don't provide him with enough food. Heck I can barely keep the kid full! My grocery bill is going thru the roof and I cook from scratch practically every day!

Although I do work part time so the days I'm home I cook and the next day when I work we eat leftovers, that's how it's been since we've had kids. Heck we even make our own pizza from scratch. I make the pizza dough in my bread machine and we make our own pizza's.

We just like our own food. Even on vacation we cook, I totally get getting tired of restaurant food, we can't eat out like that all week. But it does take a lot of time to cook so I totally get people working full time not having the energy to do after work everyday. Heck I'm usually in the kitchen 3 hours in the afternoon getting my dinner ready for that night.

Sounds like you are already on the road to self sufficiency nicely. When my kiddos were younger and still at home, I made much from scratch due to dietary beliefs, budget, and well... family traditions. Both of my grandmothers worked in the food industry at times in their lives. One was a line cook @ the Waldorf ~Astoria ( it was kinda funny since I also worked there but in a different department) and the other was a private cook in Manhattan and Westchester county.
You might want to explore utilising your freezer to optimum extent. With proper storage utilities it's a wonder on my end and no freezer burn.

 

[Skippy918]

My kids eat too much now. My son is 17 and can easily finish an adult meal. DD11 still orders kids meals at times but she has to have some type of appetizer or soup/salad to go with it. Plus she likes food and most kids meals are boring.

My 9 year old can eat an adult meal and then say he’s still hungry afterwards. He’s 54” and maybe 65lb. He’s active and burns it all off.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Chick fil a is food sent down from the heavens. I would eat there everyday if I could. And their sweet tea is the best around!

Chick A Fil just recently opened a restaurant in Manhattan. I think it's near the bus station but I've never eaten there.

 

[grumpy28]

Chick A Fil just recently opened a restaurant in Manhattan. I think it's near the bus station but I've never eaten there.

I highly suggest you try it at least once. You can come back and thank me later

 

[CdnCarrie]

We hardly ever eat out. I guess we never got in the habit. We both were raised the old fashioned way with a stay at home mom that cooked and we just kept that up. Even when it was just the two of us and newly married we still cooked.

This is us too. We never grew up eating out that much. Once or twice a month if that including pizza delivery. Both our Moms are amazing cooks and bakers.
It honestly never crosses my mind to eat out that much.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I highly suggest you try it at least once. You can come back and thank me later

.

 

[pittypat]

Chik Fil A has the best chicken tortilla soup I've ever tasted! Unfortunately, they only serve it during the fall/winter.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We hardly ever eat out. I guess we never got in the habit. We both were raised the old fashioned way with a stay at home mom that cooked and we just kept that up. Even when it was just the two of us and newly married we still cooked. One reason is because my DH is a good cook and restaurant food just can't compare to what he makes. And two as others have stated is the cost! And now with 3 kids and one a teenage son, no way. Restaurants just don't provide him with enough food. Heck I can barely keep the kid full! My grocery bill is going thru the roof and I cook from scratch practically every day!

Although I do work part time so the days I'm home I cook and the next day when I work we eat leftovers, that's how it's been since we've had kids. Heck we even make our own pizza from scratch. I make the pizza dough in my bread machine and we make our own pizza's.

We just like our own food. Even on vacation we cook, I totally get getting tired of restaurant food, we can't eat out like that all week. But it does take a lot of time to cook so I totally get people working full time not having the energy to do after work everyday. Heck I'm usually in the kitchen 3 hours in the afternoon getting my dinner ready for that night.

We never ate out as kids either. My mom cooked all meals from scratch. We did pizza on Fridays. I can recall the very few times we did McDonald's and we did a restaurant once a year if that.

 

[IAHFTPT]

Much of my social life involves eating at fun places with family and friends. We try new places and we have our old regular places as well. I probably eat 85% of my meals outside my home. It just works for me.

 

[Klayfish]

For us, it's also a lot about teaching the kids healthy eating habits. Nothing wrong with enjoying a meal out, or a snack or a treat. It's just making sure that's the exception rather than the rule. Hate to say it, but I have a few coworkers (and have had plenty of others I've known) who come in every morning carrying a big bag from McDs or BK or Chick Fil A...the bag is already stained with grease. At 8am they're eating some kind of fried breakfast sandwich, fries and a soda. Yes, they're morbidly obese, very much so. It's just a horrible trap to fall into and I don't want my kids going down that road. So we strive hard to teach them good choices...have a good "base" nutrition and never feel bad about allowing yourself a treat sometimes.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

For us, it's also a lot about teaching the kids healthy eating habits. Nothing wrong with enjoying a meal out, or a snack or a treat. It's just making sure that's the exception rather than the rule. Hate to say it, but I have a few coworkers (and have had plenty of others I've known) who come in every morning carrying a big bag from McDs or BK or Chick Fil A...the bag is already stained with grease. At 8am they're eating some kind of fried breakfast sandwich, fries and a soda. Yes, they're morbidly obese, very much so. It's just a horrible trap to fall into and I don't want my kids going down that road. So we strive hard to teach them good choices...have a good "base" nutrition and never feel bad about allowing yourself a treat sometimes.

The only technical fast food my kids will eat is Chick Fil A. My son works at BK and won't touch the stuff. My kids are used to home cooked meals. My grandmother has been my babysitter while I worked and then watched the kids before and after school for over 11 years now (no more before school now). She never eats out. She cooked them entire meals for breakfast and still cooks them an entire meal for when they get off the bus. They know what good food is and refuse to touch "fast food." So when we get take out it's usually pizza and wings or some kind of corner store Spanish food (Dominican, PR, Mexican, Dominican).

 

[ronandannette]

I have survived 50 years without Chick Fil!. I don't think there are any in Canada. Are there any in North Dakota? Never noticed them there or Minnesota on our travels.
Bill Miller's is a new one to me to? Is that a sit down?

I hear t hat PTA is a big this in the USA. Our PTA revived a few years ago and I was on the board one year. It's not as big of a thing here. One meeting a month plus some busy times around a fundraiser or two a month. The President did do some grant writing but she had some background in that. I guess that is time consuming.

Only one in the entire country and weirdly, it's located inside the Calgary airport. The next time we fly I'm going to build in time to see what all the fuss is about.