Many of us love a good home cooked meal, our parents and even grandparents’ dishes are our comfort food! However, as we transition into adulthood, we find ourselves going out for a nice meal with friends more. The fancy restaurants and ‘atas’ food attracts our attention.
However, cooking at home can mean healthier eating. When you explore meals to cook at home and take the time to prepare food for yourself and your family, you enjoy healthful and nutritious food. You also contribute to the health of your family, the planet, your community, and your finances.
Here are a few reasons why you should be eating home cooked meals more!
1. The Whole Family Can Be Involved in Food and Nutrition Choices
At home, you can decide how your food will be prepared so that you absorb the maximum possible nutrition from it. For example, you can pick parts of the protein or vegetable that have specific health benefits you think your family needs. You can choose to steam or grill rather than fry food to help you with losing weight and preserve more of the nutritional value of the food you eat.
If you have children, you are the ones teaching them healthy nutritional habits. They are likely to imitate your eating habits and form lifelong habits related to their own nutrition and health. When you prepare food for the family, you can control what your children eat more fully. You can also start conversations about food and nutrition choices, so they learn how to make better decisions for themselves.
2. You Can Choose The Best, Worth-Your-Money Produce
Eating out regularly can build up a bit of a bill, considering the increasingly high prices of food outside. If you switch to cooking your own meals, you can source for the best ingredients at your local supermarkets so that the food is not only of the freshest quality, but the costs are still within your budget. Moreover, you can choose food that are within your food preference, such as low-cholesterol or gluten-free products.
It’s also easier for you to try out new flavours! Cooking can be an enjoyable activity and spur you to try out a new recipe every now and then. You may also be intrigued by certain products as you walk through the supermarket yourself. Hence, diversity and quality are 2 areas you can look forward to when you choose home cooked meals.
3. It’s Easier to Control Your Portions
Restaurants have successfully attempted to attract consumers by increasing portion size, instead of lowering the price. This is especially so in fast food places. However, this can put pressure on you to overeat so that you can finish what you’ve paid for. Doing so once in a while is okay, but in the long-term, the built-up effect can be detrimental to your health.
In comparison, cooking your own meals allows you the flexibility to control your portions. Not only can you cook the amount you feel like eating, but you can also keep the extra food for the next day. It’s also easier to calculate the calories you’ve ingested, if you’re on a weight loss journey!
4. Save The Earth When You Cook At Home
Restaurants use utilities and may order foods from far away, resulting in emissions. Most dining establishments waste food because they need to keep a stock of all ingredients for the menu and will need to dispose of any unused food if demand does not meet expectations.
At home, you can minimize waste and spoilage by shopping carefully and only buying what you will eat. You can also shop locally to reduce the impact of your grocery bill on carbon emissions around the world. Promoting better health for the planet, of course, can keep you healthier by keeping pollutants out of the air.
Shopping locally and eating at home can be good for your community. You support local farmers and local food producers, as well as local grocery stores and farmers’ markets. Eating at home can be good for your community’s health!
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Cooking may seem like a tedious task, but once you get down to it, you might just enjoy it! Making a meal for your loved ones and having them enjoy it can be extremely satisfying so you should try it out 😛
Go home for dinner today, enjoy yourself and maybe get some secret family recipes from your mum to learn.
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