Frugalicious Friday No.4

Tina the valiant conqueror of gourmet kid’s meals… I will let her explain…

I Took a Corn Dog to Perry’s

Oh, yes I did! For those of you who don’t know, Perry’s is a fancy, schmancy steakhouse in our metro area. I mean, they have this giant glass-encased pillar of wines with those ladies that go get them all “Mission Impossible”-style. I think Stephen Spielberg must have designed it. Anyways, Cory and I have never been there at night, but we have taken advantage of lunch there on a couple of Fridays. See, they have a fabulous deal on Fridays: $11.95 pork chop. And it is goo—ooo—oood! It’s fancy y’all. They bring it to your table and slice it for you in three different sections. One section is meant to be eaten alone, the next is supposed to be eaten with the garlic potatoes, and the final is with their homemade applesauce. I’d say that this is absolutely one way to eat fancy on a budget: Partake of the menu at lunch! (And most places offer a lunch menu or half portion prices if you order before 4 pm.)

So here’s the scenario for the first trip to Perry’s: I decide on a whim that I am going to go pick up Cory from work so we can have a family lunch. We decide to go to Perry’s. The kiddo DOES NOT EAT enough to justify purchasing a restaurant kid’s meal…never has. So we usually pack her a meal from home. But this is spur of the moment. I can’t go home to make a PBJ for her! There’s no time for her to eat beforehand from McD’s. THERE’S NO TIME! So what do we do? We go through Sonic and get her a corn dog. We throw caution at the wind and be-bop ourselves up in all the fanciness with a greasy Sonic bag of tatertot goodness. The server for our table was so nice! We asked him, straight up, “is it okay that we have this in here because she doesn’t eat anything on your kid’s menu (hello $8 spaghetti!), and this will keep her quiet. He was cool with it. So there we sat, with our juicy, delicious pork chops. And there the kiddo is with her delicious (to her), pork-ish (heavy on the “ish”) corn dog. It was a win-win lunch for us!

Now, I realize this effort to refrain from restaurant kid’s meals is not ideal for most people. It’s just easier to order something. But, if you plan ahead and make a little time for it, most restaurants don’t mind that you’ve brought something from home (or Sonic) for your kid to eat. We haven’t found one yet! For multiple kids that are little, most of you probably already know to share one kids meal between two of your munchkins. I have several friends that do that. Or they just share their own adult meals with their kids. Happy kids, happy parents, happy wallet!

So next time you’ve got a hankering for something fancy to eat, BE WEIRD!!! Go there for lunch and take a corn dog! Your tummy and your budget will thank you for it!