10 Reasons to Turn on the Stove Instead of Grabbing the Keys
April 30, 2008
Sometimes I just don’t feel like cooking, whether I am getting home late, contemplating what I should pack for lunch, or just feeling lazy. It can be a hassle. I also like restaurants - greasy pizza, the perfect burger, a well crafted omelet. Convenience can be a strong temptation, so I came up with 10 reasons you should put the keys back on the rack and turn on your stove when you are standing there hungry, frozen between options - Chinese take-out or cook?
- Cost - Restaurants are expensive! Beyond perhaps the McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger, whatever you get at a restaurant can be made cheaper at home. You are paying for convenience - rarely do I (and most) visit restaurants where a chef’s skills are actually required. I am not arguing that you should only eat beans and rice to save money, but if you want a delicious filet, a restaurant will charge over $20 while you could probably buy one at the supermarket for less than half of that. (Maybe I am wrong on this, I don’t really know the average price of filets, but the theory stands.)
- Health - You know what you’re eating. Whether you’re into organic or not, you know the ingredients and how much oil, butter, etc. is going into everything you eat. I have no problem eating unhealthy foods - but odds are what you make at home will be healthier than what you get in a restaurant. Fat tastes good, and restaurants know this. They also know that you can’t see how much they are using.
- Taste - I will admit that I love restaurant food - it is delicious. But everyone has those recipes that are just better than anything you’ll find in a restaurant. Not every recipe will be better, nor will you be able to duplicate everything you find eating out, but look to those recipes that you love. One of these for me is butter chicken. I don’t know why, but I love it and would gladly give up restaurant food for it.
- Satisfaction - I don’t know if everyone else is like this, but I feel good after I make a tasty meal. I’ve accomplished something - a feeling you won’t get sitting in a restaurant.
- Fun - Cooking is fun. I think I enjoy it because I like creating things, and on top of that you get to eat. It is a great combination and even more fun if you are cooking with someone else.
- Time - I’ll admit that the fastest of fast food is a little bit quicker than making your own meal, but there are plenty of great foods that can easily be made within 30 minutes, and no, I am not referring to Rachel Ray (although her recipes are actually quite good). If you are going to sit down at a restaurant, you will probably save time by just cooking yourself.
- Learning - I find that I learn something new every time I cook. Maybe this doesn’t happen for more experienced cooks, but this experience and education adds up the more you cook, making it even easier to throw together a meal the next time you are contemplating going out.
- Leftovers - Although you sometimes have leftovers after eating out, you can plan for them when you cook. You can ensure that you have a delicious lunch of leftovers the next day by cooking more than you will eat. Kill two birds with one stone.
- Convenience - I know this is an odd one, but going anywhere other than fast food is probably less convenient than just making something at home. When you include the driving and waiting, you could probably have been eating sooner had you not left.
- Variety - This is a tough one to achieve when you cook regularly at home, but you are limited only by what you can find in the grocery store. There are many more options to what you can make than you’ll find in any nearby restaurants. (I recognize that this isn’t always the case based on what you actually have on hand, but in the long run I think it holds true.)
I don’t want sound like I am condemning people who eat at restaurants - I really like them - I just hope this can motivate me (and maybe others) to put the keys down the next time the urge to to go out kicks in.
photo credit: giovanniscanavino
Posted in Other |
content rss
April 30th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Those are all great reasons! Thanks for the reminders!
April 30th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
All good reasons. However getting out to a resturant may be good for other reasons. We have a couple in our area where the owner/chef has won at Iron Chef, we can’t match his food.
Getting out should be an event, not because you wish to avoid the kitchen.
You can also try new foods or foods you are never going to manage, I do a decent maki but sushi is going to be beyond me as I don’t have the fish source.
We also avoid anything that resembles chains or fast food.
May 1st, 2008 at 4:13 pm
andy, I am going to print this list out and keep it handy at home, seriously. great summary right there. I don’t tend to eat out much, but I do get the occasional compulsion, even though I may already have a good package of fresh meat already in the refrigerator waiting to be cooked.
this reminds me, I was looking at this print ad yesterday for pizza hut’s pastas. in case you haven’t seen them, they’re making meaty marinara and chicken alfredo for 4 with breadsticks. and I couldn’t help but desperately want to print my own counter-ad to it. I mean, seriously. they don’t even look very good and in the 45 minutes it will take to call, order and have it delivered you could make a much tastier and healthier pasta for your family at home. ugh.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:29 pm
[...] 10 Reasons to Turn on the Stove Instead of Grabbing the Keys [...]
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:45 pm
@ntsc: Those are definitely great reasons to go out. I think my problem is that I usually eat at mediocre chains. I need to do some more work to find the places that really offer something special for the money.
@Melissa: I am glad it helped! I understand that desire to pick up the phone and order some delicious (but greasy and expensive) food.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
My husband thinks it’s nice to eat because he doesn’t have to clean up. When we got married 10 years ago the agreement was, I cook, you clean. Sometimes he just doesn’t want to worry with the hassle of cleaning.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:04 am
Often we eat out during the summer to avoid heating the house and the kitchen up. Being full time students and working full time plus raising a family usually leaves us exhausted during the week and on the weekends we are busy writing papers ( why is it all profs think theirs is the only class that requires papers?). This is why we often eat out. Ironically both my wife & I like to cook and miss cooking for ourselves.