Why Order Food When You Can Make It At Home?

Food Spreads Happiness

Who doesn’t see a buffet table with all their favorite fixings and smile from ear to ear? Sure, you may be slightly concerned about whether you’ll stop yourself from eating too much, but inside you’re drooling at the prospect that that yummy looking food is about ready to touch your lips.

Our conditioning to correlate the things we eat with making us feel good starts very young. You could argue that breastfeeding is the first opportunity to mix food and emotion since it helps correlate food with love but, realistically, it goes on and on long after that.

When you were sad, maybe your mom would give you a cookie so you felt better. Or when you fell off your bike and skinned your knee, it wasn’t anything that a Popsicle couldn’t help. Food is used as a band aid for most anything that ails kids as they are growing up.

And, food tables are the cornerstones of family gatherings and holiday celebrations. They’re where you share stories and laughter and create great memories. Imagine if you showed up to your parents for the holidays and there was no food in the house. Wouldn’t that just make your head spin?

Cooking Inspires Creativity

Even the most novice chef becomes an artful chemist in the kitchen from time to time. You start mixing flavors and spices to see what you come up with. You experiment with tastes and textures to create dishes that satisfy in more ways than one.

The kitchen is the one place that you can release your creative juices without worry of screwing up too bad. If you ruin a meal, so what? It’s not the end of the world. You just phone the pizza place and you’ll have a tasty dinner in twenty to thirty minutes. Nothing lost.

Of course, some people follow recipes, which is great. If that’s you then more power to you. But, isn’t it great when you can remove the constraints and venture where no one has ventured before to create a yummy masterpiece you can call your very own?

It’s Always Made Your Way

When you go out, you can’t always get exactly what you want. Maybe the restaurant doesn’t allow for substitutions or perhaps they don’t have the one thing that you’re hungry for.

However, if you cook your meals at home, you don’t have to worry about that because you’re the one in charge. You can make whatever you want however you want it.

Sure, you can take other family member’s opinions into consideration if you want. But, you can also tell them to eat what you make or show them kindly to the peanut butter and jelly.

So, if you don’t like mushrooms, leave them off. If you want extra jalapenos, put them in. Want an extra helping? Go for it. You made it. It’s all yours.

It’s Less Expensive

If you look at the average restaurant meal, you’re going to pay anywhere from $10 to $30 or more per person. And, that’s just the meal. That doesn’t take into consideration if you’re starving and want an appetizer or if you need to satisfy your sweet tooth with a dessert.

Take out a family of four and you’re easily going to spend $50-$100. Throw some drinks in there and the bill can skyrocket into large enough amounts to feed several starving children somewhere in the world.

However, if you buy your food at the grocery store and make it yourself, think of how far that same amount of money will go. You can easily get two, three or four meals out of what it would normally cost you for one meal out.

It’s even expensive if you stop at fast food joints. It used to be that you could get a value meal for just a few bucks. Now, it costs you more along the lines of $5-$8 apiece. Not like that’s a tremendous amount of money but if stopping for a quick lunch or dinner is a habit for you, it’s going to add up.

Your Waistline Will Thank You

If you’re watching what you eat and trying to make healthier choices, eating out can easily put you in the calorie danger zone. You’re tempted by all the smells and sights of foods and desserts that clearly will add inches to your waistline.

Even if you do have the willpower to make a healthy choice, you can’t assure that it’s cooked in a way that is as low-fat as you want. Oftentimes there are hidden oils or fatty dressings that you don’t realize until the food is set down in front of you. And, if you’re like most people, you just eat it that way and don’t say a word.

Trying to choose healthy and nutritious foods is hard enough when you’re at home. But, when you’re eating out it’s even harder. It’s like you view it as a celebration and doesn’t that always deserve a special treat?

Sure, it’s nice every once in a while to go out and let someone else do the cooking and cleaning up. But it’s also nice to prepare a home cooked meal exactly to your liking while creating memories you and your family will cherish for a lifetime.

If you want the best of both worlds, let your kids cook for you every now and again. That, I assure you, will be an experience you won’t soon forget.