| As a Holistic Health Counselor, one of my goals is | | | | but this demonstrates how much you can save |
| to inspire people to eat more home-cooked food. | | | | by cooking your own food. |
| Over time, I have gradually increased the percent | | | | 3. Get your dose of Vitamin "L" |
| of food that I cook at home, and I have | | | | The benefits of eating home-cooked food go |
| experienced the benefits. Here are a few of the | | | | beyond nutrition, calories, and saving money. I |
| often overlooked benefits of eating at home. | | | | know you've all heard the saying "you are what |
| 1. Know what you're eating | | | | you eat" and I think there's some truth in this. |
| The most obvious benefit to preparing your own | | | | Have you ever cooked a meal with friends and |
| food is that you know what's in it. Did you know | | | | been amazed at how good the food tastes? I had |
| that people consume 50% more calories, fat, and | | | | this experience last week when I cooked a basic |
| sodium when they eat out? I also find that | | | | stir fry with my friend Lisa. We had fun cooking, |
| restaurant meals are heavy on things like rice and | | | | were able to choose the ingredients we love, and |
| noodles, and lighter on vegetables. It's tough to | | | | then sat down and savored a delicious meal. I |
| get your days' worth of vegetables when you | | | | believe that part of the reason the food tasted |
| eat out. | | | | so good, is that it was made with love. Before |
| I find that when I eat out, I gravitate towards | | | | you laugh, think back to eating your |
| less healthy foods. Restaurants tempt us with | | | | grandmother's famous chicken soup (or other |
| French fries, pizza, bread, and desserts. It is also a | | | | traditional food). The soup was the best you'd |
| lot easier to overeat at restaurants because the | | | | ever had, and even though you have the recipe, |
| portion sizes are typically a lot bigger than what | | | | it's never tasted as good as when your |
| we'd serve ourselves at home. (If you do eat | | | | grandmother made it. Again, she put a lot of love |
| out, you might want to order a salad and split the | | | | in her cooking. |
| main course with the person you're with -- or ask | | | | Do you think the same is true of restaurant |
| for a doggy bag and put half of the food away | | | | food? Have you ever looked in the kitchen of a |
| BEFORE you start eating.) | | | | busy restaurant? What you'll probably find is a |
| 2. Save money | | | | group of tired, stressed-out cooks, running around |
| I've realized that I can save a lot of money by | | | | busily preparing your food. If you believe in the |
| eating more home-cooked food. This is true even | | | | idea "you are what you eat," do you want to eat |
| when I'm buying high-quality organic fruits, | | | | the food made with love or the food made under |
| vegetables, and meats. In our house we typically | | | | stressful conditions? |
| spend $100 per week for food for 2 people. This | | | | Get Inspired! |
| is usually enough food for all of our meals for the | | | | Don't get me wrong, there is a time and a place |
| week. We'd likely spend more than twice that | | | | for eating out. Going out to eat can be a |
| amount if we ate all of our meals out, and that's | | | | wonderful, relaxing experience. I would, however, |
| figuring we'd be eating at relatively inexpensive | | | | like to inspire you to prepare more of your food |
| restaurants. I figured $2 for breakfast, $6 for | | | | at home. If you love pizza, make a pizza. If you're |
| lunch, and $8 for dinner. Multiply that times 2 (for | | | | craving steak, make a good quality steak with |
| 2 people) and times 7, and the total is $224. Now | | | | some beautiful vegetables and a salad. |
| I know most people don't eat EVERY meal out, | | | | |