8 Reasons Why I Will Always Cook at Home

Published November 16th, 2008

It seems like lately the idea of cooking at home is making a comeback.  Whether it be for financial, health, or even social and family reasons, people are actively seeking out ways to get better, faster, and motivated to cook at home.  About two years ago, for both financial and health reasons, by husband and I decided to ditch the regular eating out and pre-prepared foods that we relied on throughout the weekends, and went on a mission to pretty much make our meals from scratch.  The funny thing is that I love food, and am a great cook, but rarely felt like I had the time or energy to cook before.  It was definitely an investment of energy and time, and even a bit of money, but so worth it.

For those of you who have read the post about My 25% Grocery Savings Rule, you’ll see that it can not only be done, but you can save thousands of dollars a year by doing it.  A lot of people have asked for tips on how to implement the rule.  In response to your emails, I will do a month-long series  in December called “My 25% grocery saving rule in action”.  I’ve already been saving receipts and taking pictures of my weekly purchases in preparation for the series– so look for it next month as Value For Your Life comes up on celebrating it’s one-year blogiversary!

On to my top reasons why I am committed to cooking at home:

1.  I know where my food comes from, what oils and fats go into it, and that it’s made in a clean kitchen

The same cannot be said for a lot of the food that comes from either a fast-food or sit-down restaurant.  A couple of years ago, when I had started to gain some weight, my doctor asked if we ate a lot of fast food, as some of the chemical changes that happen to foods and oils at fast-food places can really affect your hormones and other aspects of your health–actually stopping you from being able to lose weight.

2.  I’m tired of the sandwich

Through the first 2 dozen years of my life, I spent the better part of my lunches eating sandwiches.  Throughout elementary and high school, and then through university, the sandwich was the main part of my lunch, as I often didn’t have money to buy something every day, or have a place to heat up anything easily at school.  Let’s just say that I don’t hate the sandwich, but now that I’m in the working world, I relish the opportunity to be able to eat something warm and filling at lunchtime.  Most dinners I make have extra portions for lunches the next day, or portions to freeze for another day when there are no leftovers.  Not only does this save a ton of money–I really love eating chili or stew, or something else yummy and warm for lunch.

3.  I love gourmet food

One thing I love more than cooking is eating!  Cooking at home gives me the ability to try delicious gourmet and international foods that I might not have access to where I live, or be able to afford unless it’s a very special occasion.  I can prepare and enjoy delicious foods from the comfort of my own home, for just a fraction of the cost!  Thanks to the Internet, any recipe my heart desires can be found either in print or digital video format.

4.  When we do eat out, it’s that much more special

When we eat out now, it’s for the right reasons.  It’s for an actual special occasion, or celebration, or even just so that we can have some special time alone without worrying about the chores that come along with cooking at home–like dishes.  Before, we would eat out because we felt too tired, too hungry, or too stressed to cook at home:  We discovered that eating out for those reasons left us feeling full and uncomfortable, and only brought us temporary or no real enjoyment from scarfing down generally average to poor quality food, with the same level of service from the people who served it.  Now, on the rare occasions that we do go out to eat, we go to a place where the food and service are worth it, and we enjoy every part of the experience.

5.  The money I save by cooking at home allows me to live the rest of my life

By cooking at home and using my grocery savings rule, we literally save thousands of dollars a year, which go towards things like bringing us many steps closer to financial freedom, and also allowing us to travel and see the great people, landscapes, and food that the rest of the world has to offer.  The world is a big place, and so worth seeing and experiencing.  Cooking at home is one big thing we can do for our health, but the added bonus is that it allows to enjoy other parts of our life as well.

6.  It’s my small contribution to the environment

By choosing to grow my own veggies and herbs in the summer, and trying as much as possible to buy food that is grown close to home, I know that I’m helping the environment.  Between the two of us, by making our food from scratch, the amount of true garbage we produce is not even half a bag a week.  The rest is all compostable or recyclable.  It’s a good feeling knowing that over the course of a whole year, and many years to come, that I’m not contributing much to the extra carbon involved in shipping food halfway around the world, or any extra garbage going to the landfill.  We are only a couple of people, but I know that over our lifetime, what we do does make a difference.

7.  Two words:  Portion control

Eating at home allows me to control my portion size.  I can use smaller dishes, eat a reasonable amount of food, and not feel obligated to finish or pick away at what’s on my plate as I’m talking away like I would at a restaurant.   While they don’t make it difficult to get a doggie bag at a restaurant, we often don’t feel like getting one unlesss there’s a significant amount of food left.  At fast food places, we often feel obligated to eat those french fries because they won’t be good later, or we feel bad about letting food go to waste.  Eating at home, and taking only what we actually need, helps to avoid some of these of situations that might lead to us overeating.

8.  I know that my cooking is the way to my husband’s and family’s hearts

For as long as I live, I will never tire of the feeling I get when I see others enjoying the food I’ve made for them.  People often say that a big part of the reason why they give to others is because it makes them feel good.  I couldn’t agree more.  Cooking is one way that I give to the people I love.  My husband has worked very hard over the last few years to learn how to cook, and is getting better every day.  It sometimes takes him a very long time–but I don’t care–because I know his food tastes even better since he took the time to make it with love.

Feel free to share any of the reasons why you cook at home…we’d love to hear from you!

 Please subscribe to my feed if you enjoy the articles!

Category: Cooking/Food | Tags: