The world of television and video games has captured our quality family time.
To me, watching tv is not what I consider quality time together.
What little bit of family time we do get is often gotten at dinner time.
We try to sit down to at least one meal a day.
Sometimes it's just not possible though.
Most people do, however, make a point to dine out at a fairly nice restaurant at least one weekend night.
Restaurants offer great food and a great atmosphere.
The only drawback to this routine is the expense.
A dinner at most restaurants for a family of four costs about $100, including appetizers and dessert.
Keep in mind, that's just one meal.
What about those of us who pick up meals through the week as well.
I Our hectic schedules prevent us from cooking at home a lot of nights and when we do cook, the food can just get plain boring.
There are fun, creative ways to stay home, have quality family time, have fun and save money.
One option is to find a cheaper restaurant.
You could probably save half the cost by doing this.
The only problem is that the quality of the food and the service are often poor.
Yes, you will find some placesout there that offer high quality and good service for a reasonable price, but it is hard to find those places.
Another option is to simply stay home and order pizza.
You'll definitely save a lot that way, but what fun is that? There is a compromise.
Stay home and "recreate" the restaurant experience.
Be sure to involve all members of the family.
Get everyone to agree on a restaurant or "theme" and then cook your favorite dishes from that place together.
Give everyone "jobs" to do.
Don't be skimpy, include appetizers and desserts.
Have the agreement that no one is to be on the phone or in front of the TV for a few hours that night.
Let the kids pretend to be waiters and chefs, they love this part.
Turn your dining room into a restaurant with nice tablecloths and decorations.
The kids love doing that as well.
You will have more fun than ever doing this and will save about $250 or more a month, depending on how much you spent going to restaurants.
This is what my family does now and we love it.
We even use the recipes to wow our friends.
You can create your own version of the cuisine or you can go to http://www.
dinneronabudget.
com for some great ideas.
They have cookbooks full of the very best recipes from the most popular restaurants.
I have personally made many of them myself.
You will be amazed to see many of your favorites and some that are unique as well.
The recipes are great for the weekend meals or just when you want something different.