24. Rethink Your Meals with Friends

One of the things Gibbs and I had to take a hard look at when we started to simplify was having people over for dinner. We enjoy spending an evening with special friends, but since meal preparation is not a high priority for either of us, we found the time and energy required to have even a casual dinner at home were more than we were willing to expend. Fortunately, after suffering through our home cooking, most of our friends agreed.

Now, we regularly meet friends at a local restaurant for a dutch-treat evening out. We avoid the shopping, preparation, cooking, and cleanup, and our time and energy have been freed so we can enjoy one another’s company. It doesn’t have to be expensive, and if you split an entree (#58), it doesn’t have to be fattening. It doesn’t even have to be an evening; Saturday and Sunday mornings are a great time to have a relaxing meal out with friends.

On the other hand, we know several people who’ve recently sworn off restaurant meals completely. They’re tired of the expense, the noise, the secondhand smoke, and the lack of privacy at most restaurants. Like us, they’re not all that fond of cooking, so, when they get together with friends, they’ve gone back to the potluck dinner where everyone can pitch in. They’ve instituted some new rules for that time-tested social gathering, however: people can bring whatever they like, as long as it’s low in calories, moderate in quantity, and lacking in the competitive spirit.