We save a lot of money in our household by preparing nearly all meals at home but that doesn’t mean we eat boring meals or the same old stuff. I found that by preparing meals at home that are similar to our favorite restaurant entrees, we actually feel content, don’t feel deprived by not “going out to eat”, and save money all at the same time.

One of our very favorite places to dine at is a local Mexican restaurant. They have the best chicken soft tacos and serve huge baskets of tortilla chips with the meal. I worked on perfecting the recipes for refried beans, Mexican rice, and the chicken soft tacos so the entire meal is very similar in taste and presentation to what we would purchase at the restaurant. The only thing missing is the pinata, the Mariachi music, and, of course, the one hour wait to get a seat!

Here are some tips for replicating your favorite restaurant meal home at home:

Start with a list of foods from your favorite restaurant. Detail all the things you like about it - the appetizer, salad, beverage, main course, dessert, and the presentation of the food.

Hit the internet and search for copycat recipes. Use the name of the restaurant and the recipe name while searching online to get better results. For example, try searching for “Olive Garden Recipes” or even “Olive Garden Fettucine Recipe.”

And if you are looking for Olive Garden recipes here are some that I’ve found:

Olive Garden Recipes: They have a list of all the favorites here from the five cheese lasagna to shrimp primavera.

Olive Garden Salad Dressing.

Olive Garden Fettucini Recipe.

Olive Garden Breadstick Recipe.

Once you’ve found the recipes, practice making them until you are satisfied with the results. Keep notes so you’ll know approximate prep and cooking times, because you won’t be inclined to stay at home and eat if takes you forever to make the meal.

After mastering the individual recipes, then create the entire restaurant styled meal at home including serving it in a similar fashion to the restaurant.

Finally, calculate your savings by figuring the price of the meal at the restaurant versus the ingredients used to make the meal at home. The money you save may encourage you to try duplicating more of your favorite restaurant meals.

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