Inflation Edition: It's still more frugal to cook at home with premium ingredients than eat restaurant meals

I went grocery shopping yesterday morning and found myself taken a bit aback at the grand total of about $120.00 for people food only. This is a weekly shop for food for us. My husband was with me and asked what I honestly thought these foods would have cost 4 or 5 years ago. I told him this amount of groceries probably would have cost about $85. Some foods have seen a small amount of price increase, while others like eggs (which have more than doubled) have really skyrocketed. Butter is crazy high right now. Milk has increased 50% in price. I have primarily bought the same basic foods for many years, so I remember what I used to pay for items pre-2020. Even with more expensive grocery store prices, cooking and eating at home is still a better deal in most cases compared to restaurant eating.

I realize that my region of the US has a high cost of living. So understand that my restaurant meal prices may be more than yours. But I also believe that lower restaurant prices also correlate to lower grocery store prices. So, a similar comparison for your area could likely be made.

Here's a typical casual restaurant meal my family would enjoy.

A Five Guys burger costs $11.29 each, multiplied by 4, $45.16 for the burgers. If we split a regular order of fries 4 ways that adds $6.49. Our sales tax rate is 10.5%. So for $57.07 my household of 4 adults can go grab a burger out.

Or, we can use our premium ground beef bought on contract from a rancher, I can do burgers for 4 at home, including buns and all the fixings for ~ $20.00. If I add frozen fries, our home-made burger night would cost about $23.00. Judging by the fact that high schoolers are hired to flip burgers, I think it's fair to say that making burgers at home is very do-able for most adults.

So burgers can be a bit expensive for better quality ones. How about pizza? Mod Pizza is a popular choice for casual dining in my area. If we all got the Mad Dog (pepperoni and sausage), we'd need 1 "mini" ($9.39) and 2 "MODs" ($11.39 each) to feed us all. If we drank water, we could have a dinner out for $35.55 including tax.

Or, I can make pepperoni and sausage pizza from scratch at home to feed us for $8 or $9 at most. Scratch pizza is a bit more complicated than making burgers, as you have to make a dough. If I don't want to mess with a homemade dough, I can buy a Pillsbury Refrigerated Classic Pizza Crust at Walmart for $3.64. That would bump my homemade sausage and pepperoni pizza meal up to around $10. That is still less than 1/3 of a Mod pizza dinner out.

Even with significant grocery inflation, it's still a better deal for the 4 of us to cook and eat at home, and that takes into account that some of my ingredients are what I'd consider premium and not budget.

We may not be able to reduce inflation ourselves, but we can find ways to mitigate some of the effects of these higher prices.

Easy as Pie: A super easy way to make pie

The Rustic Bramble Tart

I make rustic fruit tarts as an easy way to make a two-crust pie. I've made these with apple, berry, cherry, pear, and plum pie filling. Those are homemade pie fillings, but a rustic tart would also work well with a can of commercial pie filling.

Right now, we are inundated with fresh blackberries. My daughters and husband are harvesting as many as we can wash and freeze to use in winter desserts, breakfasts, and smoothies. For tonight's dessert, I've made a rustic bramble tart. Did you know that blackberries, raspberries, and other prickly-shrub fruits are known as bramble berries? I come across the word "bramble" in my English cookbooks periodically, for example a recipe for "bramble scones." I use blackberries for that scone recipe.

ingredients:

1 patty of pie dough, enough for a single crust (pre-made rolled up pie pastry such as Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust work well for these tarts, too)

2 cups of fruit pie filling (fresh or frozen berries, fresh or frozen peaches, fresh, frozen, or canned apples, with appropriate amount of sugar and flour or 1 can of fruit pie filling)

granulated sugar, about 1 teaspoon

confectioner's sugar, 1-2 teaspoons

tools

a large baking sheet

rolling pie

off-set spatula or knife

time

20 minutes to prepare the tart (depending on fruit filling prep); 30 to 35 minutes to bake

I use the paper wrappers from a stick of buuter to grease the baking sheet.
There's usually enough butter left on the paper to do a thorough job.

• Lightly butter an extra-large baking sheet.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

I made this filling with about 3 cups of fresh blackberries, 1/4 cup of flour,
and 1/2 cup of blackberries.
I had about 1 cup of cooked filling leftover, which I will use on pancakes,
waffles or baked custard later this week.

• If making your own filling, prepare the fruit filling for the pie with fruit, sugar, and a thickener, such as flour, cornstarch, arrowroot, or tapioca flour. Precook the filling in a microwave in short bursts of about 1 minute each to thicken and stirring often or in a saucepan over the stove, stirring often. This typically takes 3 minutes for me in our microwave. Set aside, stir occasionally to help it cool.

• While the filling is cooling, roll out the pie pastry to about 14 or 15 inches in diameter, about as wide across as your baking sheet.
• Carefully transfer the pastry to the buttered baking sheet. Chill the pie pastry on the baking sheet in the fridge while the filling cools a bit more, about 4 or 5 minutes.

• Spoon the prepared and thickened filling onto the center of the circle of dough.

I made my tart a little small today, so it ended up not round, but a pentagon.

• Using a table knife or off-set spatula, gently fold the pastry over the filling to make a round-ish and flat tart. 
• Check for cracks near the edge that could leak filling. Repair any cracks with a scrap of dough and a drop of water.
• Sprinkle with granulated sugar (optional)

• Bake at 400 F for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 F and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Remove from oven.
• Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 30 to 40 minutes.
• Using a couple of regular or off-set spatulas, gently lift the tart onto a serving plate.

• Just before serving, sprinkle confectioner's sugar through a sieve or sifter. Cut into wedges.

I use my own homemade pie pastry that I make in a 5-crust batch, freezing in single-crust patties. I use this recipe. I wrap each patty separately, freeze, and then get them out and thaw for an hour, one at a time, as needed. If making your own pastry from scratch, make the pastry before preparing the filling, so the dough can rest before rolling out.

I make these rustic tarts for everyday desserts as well as company desserts. For some reason, they seem to look a bit more "wow" than my standard two-crust pies. I get a lot of compliments on their appearance. I guess the rustic or artisan look of baked goods is appealing to many people.

Keep rustic tarts in mind for fall potluck meals. They're easy, fast, inexpensive, and always enjoyed.