Now, I'm sure you're thinking of all the things I did wrong here. I didn't have to pick a recipe with fancy ingredients like rhubarb and sage, and I could have gotten the almonds at Costco instead of Whole Foods.
Yeah, I am thinking that. I'm also thinking that for that much money you must've made a dessert large enough for the family to enjoy for several days ... that doesn't stack up against a one-serving purchase from a restaurant.
I just made a two layer chocolate cake with filling, ganache, and marshmalllow fondant cover for under 10$/16 servings. Easily fits within our reasonable 4$/person/day food framework.
Yes, for "everyday" I often make doctored-up cake mixes in a bundt pan /no icing ... that tends to run $3-4 for a cake, which lasts a week. Not a big expense at all.
I stand by what I said. I know many ways to make meals less expensive, but some meals are not within reach if you want to FIRE. You have to give some things up to reach your goals. You can choose to either be really fancy like people in the movies, or you can choose to accept reality, make some sacrifices, and get rich. That's just how it is.
Eh, if you say "some meals are not within reach ON A REGULAR BASIS if you want to reach FIRE", then I'll agree. We cook really excellent steaks or swordfish (accompanied by fresh vegetables and my homemade cheesecake, which beats Cheesecake Factory on their best day) on special occasions -- Valentine's Day, our anniversary, maybe Mother's Day. These are expensive meals, but less expensive than going out to dinner for those holidays. Now, if we cooked with those expensive ingredients every weekend -- yeah -- I'd say it would be an obstacle to long-term success, but occasionally it's a reasonable splurge.
It's all individual choices, cilantro tastes soapy to me so I don't use it.
My Chemist SIL says that's in your DNA. To me, cilantro tastes like freshness and springtime; I'd eat a whole bowl of the stuff -- and I can't think of another food I'd describe with that phrase. But if you're in the DNA group for whom it tastes like soap, it'll always be that way for you -- it's not about the recipe or the preparation.
There is no way I could make a Costco rotisserie chicken for the price they sell them. I mean you have to account for oven electricity and washing the pans afterwards.
True, but I can make a much, much better roasted chicken. The same is true of lasagna: I can make a better lasagna, but (on sale at least) Stouffers beats me on price.
Do restaurants still put "loss leader" items on their menus?
I don't know about that, but I've read that people are most likely to order #3 on the menu ... so restaurants put their
highest-profit item as the third item on the menu. I've looked over various menus with this in mind, and I think it's true -- at least for big chains whose menu is created at the regional/national level, probably not true for Mom & Pop's diner.
rdanlee0 expressed it well in saying that if you just buy a bunch of random ingredients for one recipe you've never done before, you'll get the impression home cooking is expensive.
Whereas, if you're looking at a recipe for "good old home cooking", you may already have everything you need. For example, today I was trolling Pinterest and came across a White Chicken Chili recipe I thought looked good -- yep, I already had everything in my pantry: Frozen chicken, it called for White Northern Beans but I had Canelllis, can of green chilis, and some spices. DONE.