Going out can be a wonderful way to treat yourself but it can also take a hit on your wallet. I have it included in my budget to eat out once a week but, in the interim, I like to treat myself by creating restaurant-quality food at home. You can do this in a few different ways.
Set the table with the “good” plates
Growing up, my grandmother had a china cabinet where she kept the “good” dishes that only came out at holidays. Throughout the year, we used regular plates and, sometimes, paper plates. My mother adopted the same practice and, to this day, has a cabinet where the “good” dishes get tucked away and only seem to be admired through the glass. I never understood the point in purchasing something that no one got to use, so it’s not a practice I adopted, but I have definitely been guilty of switching out regular plates for paper plates, especially at the start of the pandemic. No more. Now, I always go for the “good” plates and don’t feel bad about tossing them in the dishwasher afterward.
Go for fresh ingredients
There is nothing I love more than fresh ingredients when it comes to cooking. Fresh produce and beautiful green herbs are a feast for your eyes and certainly for your stomach. Farmer’s markets are always my number one go-to for fresh ingredients but if one isn’t available, the produce section of the grocery store is the next best thing. Opt for organic if you can, the savings for your body are worth the extra cost.
Take a trip to the butcher
It can be so easy to grab those packages from the other parameter of the grocery store. The pre-packaged deli meats and cheeses, the plant-packaged chicken, and even the hamburger meat that looks like it could have been wrapped by the store. Skip them.
Walk right past them and go to the actual store butcher. Not just because the meat (and seafood) they have at the counter is fresher (based on my experience gigging in the meat department of a grocery store) but because you can gain a wealth of knowledge from the butcher in terms of cuts and how to cook certain meats. They even have recipes to try you may not have thought of on your own.
If you can afford it, skip the chain grocery stores altogether and go to a local butcher, or the farmer’s market, for the absolute freshest meat possible.
Plate perfect
There’s a well-known restaurant, famous for their cheesecake, that used to be my daughter’s absolute FAVORITE. We didn’t go there all the time, just on her birthday, but she loved it, not for the quality of food per se, but for the presentation of their food. When it changed to look like something they just tossed on the plate, she found a new favorite.
It seems like such a simple thing but plating your food to look like a work of art really does add an extra bit of excitement when it comes to sitting down and eating. It can also help you be more mindful about the amount of food you put on your plate. We tend to feel the need to clean our plates even when it’s simply too much and we’re already full.
Put on some mood music
It’s a scientific fact that music makes us happier but did you know it can enhance the taste of your food as well? Put on some low and slow jazz to help enjoy your meal at a slower pace that will really help you taste all those fresh ingredients you just cooked with. Switch up the tempo if you decide to go for dessert.
The pandemic has taught me to treat myself and this doesn’t mean running out spending all the money or dining out every day. What it means is going all out for myself, picking the quality ingredients, and making restaurant-quality food at home where I’m eating off of the good plates as an everyday occurrence.
