Made me a grilled cheese sandwich. Sorry, no image of Jesus appeared, but the cheese did ooze. My recipe for making grilled cheese was inspired by a local cafe that makes an awesome sandwich, so I tried duplicating it at home.

This got me thinking about the economics of eating grilled cheese at home compared to eating out; consider this.

A loaf of 9-grain bread costs $3.99, eight slices cheddar $2.99, eight slices Swiss, an eight oz. wheel of Brie $6.50 or less, two tomatoes $0.90, a handful of arugula $0.90, butter to grill sandwich $0.40. The ingredients to make eight gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches cost $18.67 or $2.33 per sandwich.

Driving 5 miles each way to said cafe at the federal government compensation level per mile of $0.48 adds a total of $4.80 in automobile and gas costs to the $0.96 tax, $1.80 for the tip, and $11.98 for our sandwiches (they cost $5.99 each). But when I’m finished having someone else prepare my food, the cost totals $19.56 or $9.78 per sandwich.

In other words, for the price of two cheese sandwiches at the cafe, I can make eight sandwiches at home. Am I turning into a stingy old man, or what?