8 Smart Reasons to Cook at Home

8 Smart Reasons To Cook At Home

It’s no secret that eating out isn’t necessarily great for you. While picking up dinner on the way home or taking the family out to their favorite restaurant might be convenient ways to keep everyone fed, it’s important to incorporate at least a few home-cooked meals into your weekly routine. Believe it or not, there are a whole host of benefits to be gained by cooking at home – both for you, the cook, and those enjoying your culinary creations.

Not convinced? Here are my 8 smart reasons to cook at home!

Have Exactly What You Want

You can have exactly what you want. One of the biggest benefits of cooking at home is you’ll have the ability to be creative. When you order at a restaurant, you’re often limited to the menu in front of you, but in your own kitchen, you’re only limited by the ingredients you have on hand. One of the reasons that I love it when we cook from home is that we make things perfectly tailored to our needs. For example, Ray is allergic to peanuts. We all love pad thai. We make pad thai at home using almonds and almond butter and it’s delicious! I couldn’t get that at a restaurant.

Control Your Portion Size

You’ll control your portions. Portion sizes are a huge problem at restaurants. It’s easy to overeat and devour far too much when you’re faced with a heaping plate of your favorite dish. Cooking at home allows you to prepare only as much as you need to eat, helping you control your calorie intake – and your waistline. What I’ve really noticed since I started the keto lifestyle is that I can often only eat 1/2 or less of the food on my plate at a restaurant, so I always have leftovers to take home. I was prone to overeating but it helps that my stomach has shrunk. It really is one of the smart reasons to cook at home!

Know What’s In Your Food

You’ll know what you’re eating. While restaurants and fast-food menus often include a quick write-up of the dish you’re ordering, it rarely includes a list of ingredients or outlines the cooking process, so you really have no idea what you’re consuming. On top of that, you don’t know the conditions of the kitchen or how safely the ingredients were stored. As someone with a food intolerance of bell peppers (which are often used in dishes because they’re a good source of vitamins) and problems with most nightshade foods, this is critical. Cross contamination makes me sick. And when I’m sick with my food intolerance issues, I’m very sick for 4 to 8 hours (one rare case 12). It can even trigger a seizure. So I NEED to know what’s in my food to avoid getting sick. This is definitely one of the most important reasons to cook at home for me!

Save Money

You’ll save money, which is one of the smartest reasons to cook at home. You definitely pay a premium when you order food cooked by others. Whether you’re eating fast food or sitting down at a five-star restaurant, you’re almost always going to pay more than you would if you bought the right ingredients and recreated the dish at home. The same goes for if you like to drink alcoholic beverages with your meal. You’re paying a premium for being in a restaurant.

Be Healthier

You’ll be healthier. Want to know the reason 90% of food prepared at restaurants tastes as good as it does? It’s loaded with butter, sugar and salt. Cooking at home allows you to reduce the amount of sugar and control the number of calories you’re consuming. Heck, just cutting the amount of sugar in recipes in half will make a difference and the food will still taste good! It really is a great reason to cook at home.

Eat Better

This is one of the best smart reasons to cook at home. You’ll encourage your family to eat better. If you’re responsible for feeding others in your family, your decision to cook at home won’t just benefit you. You’ll do your whole family a favor by introducing them to more home-cooked meals. In our household Ray and I work together in the kitchen. He’s a great chef and I’m a baker. We plan meals together to figure out how to accommodate our food allergies, as well as our desires.

Improve Your Cooking Skills

You’ll develop a valuable skill. There’s nothing like the satisfaction that comes from knowing how to whip up your favorite meals and have them taste better than your favorite restaurant.  I’m slowly getting better at cooking, but I’m still far better at baking.

Have Fun

You’ll have fun. Believe it or not, cooking can be a ton of fun. Put on a little music in the kitchen and call on your family to lend a helping hand, and you’ll be surprised by how much fun you have. Some things, like personal pizzas or chocolate chip cookies, are more fun to make by nature, so add them to the menu if you’re looking to help your family get into the habit of cooking at home more often. Ray and I normally have fun in the kitchen together, especially when we’re trying out a new recipe!

As you can see, these are my 8 smart reasons to cook at home. What reason resonates with you the most? Leave a comment and let me know!

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