The Benefits of Cooking at Home
After a long, busy day, the last thing you want to do is stand in the kitchen chopping, boiling, sautéing, serving and cleaning up a meal. You probably just want to slump on the couch, and order some delicious takeaway and spend the money you’ve been earning on something that gives you some joy.
There are so many advantages to cooking at home, though. Some of those advantages are more obvious than others.
So, with that in mind, here are some benefits of cooking at home.
- It’s so much better for the environment. From the plastic and the containers you would use with carryout food, to the fact that a large kitchen is mass producing your food, you’re going to do more for the environment if you cook at home. Eating at a restaurant isn’t even much better because restaurants use plastic straws and other non sustainable materials. If you’re cooking your own meal, you can choose organic or sustainably grown produce and meat.
Restaurants also tend to over serve, which means you’re going to have at least two meals worth of food. If you’re not a person who enjoys leftovers, you may as well cook the portion you know you’re going to eat.
- It’s so much better for your health. When you eat at home at least three days a week, you’re going to have an overall healthier diet. You’re more likely to make better and healthier food choices than those who don’t eat at home. This could reduce your risk of heart disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes. When you eat out, you can’t control the ingredients in the food in the same way you can when you eat at home. So this is one of the best reasons to keep cooking at home!
- It’s better for your budget. No matter how time consuming and exhausting cooking can be, cooking a chicken fricassee is going to be far easier for you than trying to manage your budget when you’re overspending on food, especially if you have a family to feed. And, it’s not just full meals that this applies to. It’s coffee or a bottle of water at the store. Those little purchases here and there can add up to hundreds of dollars, if you’re not careful.
What are some benefits you’ve discovered of cooking at home?
Linking to:
Esme Salon, Mostly Blogging, Thursday Favorite Things, French Ethereal, Fluster Buster
Wonderful, home cooking is our favorite! Featured in SSPS #252 at Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household. Thanks for sharing, see you there!
Wow, three times a week at home…? We eat out once a week at the most. Again, for health reasons…I can’t imagine a family or seniors able $$$ or wanting to eat out that much. Tonight we are having spaghetti made from home canned vegetables (zuchinni in homemade tomato sauce with six garden vegetables, ground turkey and fresh herbs. I’ll make a double batch and freeze one set of servings for another meal.
Bon Appetit—key to eating home, make multiple meals for later use! Sandi
I agree, Sandy! We go out to eat once a week at the most, also. It seems to have become very common to eat out a lot, and I think the ease of that, for working people, is the draw. (Although, at the link in my post that relates to this topic, a lot of people said the same thing you and I did-that they only go out about once a week at the most.) It’s SO much more expensive and SO much less healthy to go out to eat. Even unhealthy fast food is so expensive now. Lately I have been doing the double batch method, too. It makes cooking less of a drudge for me. (I used to love to cook, but lately it uses up a lot more of my energy than it used to!)