I was going to have a picture of flowers.
I have been outside in the garden so much the last few days and have taken photos of the various flowers, but I have used them in the last two articles, so I thought I would give it a rest and let sleeping dogs lie. That idiomatic expression has nothing to do with anything related, but since there is a picture of our dog having a nap between my legs, it is close enough.
Since the weather is mostly sunny and warm today, we invited a friend couple around to grill some burgers with us, and eat on the terrace. It should be nice, as I am trying a slightly different burger recipe and will also try to make sangria for the first time. And yesterday, since we had a lot of cherry tomatoes that were softening, I made a tomato relish for the first time also, and at least I am going to spread that sucker onto my burger.
Smallsteps and I went to the shops earlier to get supplies and she was surprised at how expensive it all was for one meal. And yes, it is expensive, but considering there will be five of us eating, if we did it at even an average burger restaurant, it would cost fifty percent more, and there would be no leftovers. Doing it like this means that we will have various bits and pieces (not the meat) leftover to add to other meals in the future.
She has the habit of taking the receipt and reading it in the car, so this time I had her work out what was the most expensive things and what kinds of food they were. Other than the minced meat, she correctly identified that all of the packaged things were expensive and then we had a discussion about what kinds of foods they actually are in terms of health benefits. For instance, she has flavoured yoghurt for snacks, which have a fair bit of sugar in it - but for the same price as one tiny tub, she could eat half a kilo of apples. Or for the price of a couple tubs, she could have unflavoured yoghurt, some berries and some honey several times - which she also does and likes.
I have heard that in the US it is much cheaper to eat unhealthily, but I think in most of Europe, eating healthier is the cheaper option, but not the convenient option. So much of the food is pre-cooked and packaged now which saves time, but how much? Even going to a takeaway drive-thru takes time, so what would the difference actually be between getting takeaway or making a salad? Price-wise, the salad is much cheaper (here at least), and will actually take less time to prepare - but it has to be prepared.
People are lazy.
Anyway, I quite like eating home-made food and I am one of those sad people who think a home grilled burger is far better than one from a burger joint. Even homemade steaks are now better than many of the restaurant ones I have had the last couple years. So why go out?
Yes, there is the company aspect and for special occasions so no one has to prep or clean up, but overall, I am becoming less and less of a fan of eating food out, that I can make better at home. When it comes to ethnic food though with various Asian or Indian foods - I am happy for a decent takeaway place, because I can never get it even close.
Now though, it is time to prep the patties and get the sangria flowing!
Have a great Saturday.
Taraz
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