Here are some short sharp facts on why preparing your meals at home have huge benefits!
1. Saves money
Stress comes in all different forms, but financial stress will affect 95% of families at some stage. The average takeaway food will cost between $15-$25 to serve one person. If you have a family of 3-4 people, the monthly cost is far greater than preparing meals at home.
2. Saves time
You might think that jumping in your car to head to the closest drive-through was saving you time, but in most cases this isn’t true. The most basic and healthy (protein and two vege) meals can be prepared in less than 20min, and that’s to feed 2-4 people. When you learn that the real art is in preparing larger meals that you can portion out for other days, makes life even easier and need I say faster and less stressful, you are now saving time, money and lowering stress levels.
3. Healthier ingredients
You never know what they are cooking your food in, let’s just be real here. A takeaway store will do anything and everything to reduce cost, including what cheap oils and ingredients they use. It’s a business and it’s all about profit vs loss, so don’t get angry at them, it’s your choice.
Cooking at home gives you the power back, you get to know exactly what is going on your plates and into your bodies.
4. Avoid food allergies and sensitivities
If you have allergies and have gone out for a relaxing meal with your partner or friends, isn’t it great when you call the waiter back to re-do your meal because you asked for gluten free/nut free/no chilli/shellfish or egg to be in your meal?
Again, it’s about having control of what goes on your plate, but we all love going out for dinner, so finding places that suit your needs is always a good bit of research before planning a meal out.
5. Portion control
Depending on where you like to eat, will determine a lot about portion control. Cheaper takeaway restaurants are always happy to fill the plate/box/bag up because they know that a happy customer will always come back again, and tell everyone about the massive meal portions.
If you are from New Zealand like myself, I loved going to the Lone Star for the portions they offered. This is called a “unit bias” which basically means that we will judge on the quality of a place by the portion only.
I still love a good Lone Star meal, but they have reduced the portions a bit.
Think about your local chinese takeaway places, they will fill the containers high and watch them fly.
When you are at home, you can gauge your portions better and take back the control of your weight management.
6. Brings family together
I’m a family man, so family is really important to me.
I love having my meals at the table with my son so we can just sit in silence, or talk about the events of the day. As your children become teenagers, moments like these will be limited with new technology creating distractions a many.
I hope these 6 tips help you in some little way.
