So many people have a lousy excuse claim they have no time to make dinner.
They say they’re in a rush, they’re hurried after work, their kids have practice, it costs too much, blah blah blah.
I posted a question on Facebook:
how many wait until the weekend to really cook, enjoy food? or do you prepare food every day?
Here are some of the responses:
Christie McLamb Inge posted:
I prepare food every day but I also do prep work on the weekends.
I don’t buy into the no time thing. We make time for the things that are important to us. I also know that in most cases, you can prepare food faster than you can drive somewhere, order, etc.
Jenn Givler had this to say:
I prepare food all week – we do eat out, but usually only on the weekends and usually only dinner.
I totally agree Christie – And prepping is always less expensive – unless you’re using a very unusual ingredient…
and from Tammy Lance:
With all the different types of crock pots out there, there really is no excuse not to cook. I’m a BIG crock pot user. I don’t work outside the home, but I still use mine all the time. Not to mention you can cook a full meal without heating up your house this summer!
All great points!
So, now let’s go a bit further…
the number one excuse is time.
We all have the same 24 hours every day though.
It’s how we manage our time and what we decide is more important.
Is it a priority to make sure you (and your family) eat a healthy nutritious affordable meal or would you rather sit on the couch watching tv for 30 minutes?
It really doesn’t take a lot of time to prepare foods, once the prep work is done the rest is cooking, baking and you can do something else while that’s going on.
In some cases, people opt to run through the fast food drive thru but yet ironically it can take longer sitting there (wasting gas and polluting the air) than it would to make your own food at home.
If you plan ahead (even if it’s a day ahead, because personally I could never plan an entire week of meals in advance–never know what I’ll be in the mood for) but even a day ahead will give you ample time to have the food items in the house, and ready to prepare.
You can also have the family join in and help…spend some time together, talking about your day, preparing food…
You can do this!
Two advantages of making your own meals:
Less expensive – it costs much less to prepare your own food at home than it does to eat out (whether fast food or sit down restaurant)
Since they say a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll let this graphic do my talking for me!
Healthier – if you’re preparing the food yourself you know exactly what’s going into it.
You’re not going to layer the fat & calorie content to some insane amounts like some restaurants that will remain nameless Cheesecake Factory .
*Case in point: The Cheesecake Factory’s Pasta Carbonara: 2,500 calories, 85 grams of saturated fat.
Equivalent of eating: The saturated fat in about five cups of half-and-half cream.
If you want to see more insanely high calorie meals at restaurants, check these out
When you cook and prepare your own meals at home you know what goes into them and you can have a better idea of the caloric content.
You can modify recipes for any dietary concerns, use healthier fresher ingredients and overall make a much healthier, lower fat and lower calorie meal than you’d get eating out.
So, get off the couch make the time and prepare your meals and enjoy the experience.
