8 Reasons Why I Cook At Home Almost Everyday, And Why You Should Too!
Home cooking has many dimensions! Let’s explore!!
“Do you cook?” or “Did you cook today?” initially, I used to get surprised by the question.
“Yes, Of course! Why?” would be my response.
Eventually, I realized that many US households eat out, take out from nearby diners, or cook twice or thrice a week. Generally, lunch is eaten in the canteens of workplaces or schools or eat ready-to-eat food.
The pandemic significantly changed most people’s eating habits and patterns. People started making their meals at home and rediscovered the joy of bonding over cooking meals together.
Here are 8 Reasons Why I Cook almost Every Day of The Year:
- The Ingredients of My Choice
I can pick fresh organic chicken, yogurt, fruits, veggies, and nuts over the regular ones. I can replace mayonnaise with ranch, a skinnier option, sugar with maple syrup or honey, choose fresh fruits over frozen fruits, olive oil over canola oil or animal fats, and paneer over Tofu (though the former is not much of a healthier choice 🙂). It gives me control over the portions and amount of butter, cheese, and sugar in my dish. I can alter the ingredients based on my family’s dietary restrictions or food allergies.
2. Not Too many Food Options for Vegetarians
As a vegetarian who doesn’t like Tofu and Eggplant, I am always left with very few options for eating out, only bread and salads, so going to fancy or high-end restaurants, Sushi places is a big NO-NO for me. Instead of shelling Money for eating salads outside, I prefer making them at home using freshly prepared dressings with my favorite veggies, fruits, and beans.
3. Comfort, Customization, and Style
I can make my guacamole with a dash of extra lime and green chilies when I want something refreshing. And, of course, red onions for that extra crunch. When I need more nutritious food, I make my homemade Burrito bowl extra healthy by topping it up with edamame or replacing rice with quinoa. Or If I want a simple food, I can make a sandwich with ranch and cucumbers. Authentic Indian food consists of hundreds of spices; when combined with aromatics such as Cardamom, Nutmeg, and Saffron, they elevate the dishes to a whole new level. Some food combinations are seasonal. Every family has a different recipe and style for making Dal (lentils), and a single family can make one in several ways. Cooking at home allows me to style my food in zillion ways based on the mood, weather, and time of the year and cater to the needs of my friends and family.
4. Bonding With my Family Over Food
During holidays or on weekends, how about spending a joy-filled evening making Pasta or Indo-Chinese dishes like Hakka noodles and Manchurian, or Make-You-Own Pizza with your kids? Trust me, cooking meals, or decorating cookies with them, baking warm cheesy garlic bread for them is such a joy.
5. Aroma Uplifts Mood
If I come home tired from work, even the smell of boiling ginger masala tea makes me forget all the day’s stress. Who doesn’t enjoy the aroma of freshly baked cookies or warm cheesy garlic bread served with pesto, or dinner rolls with melted butter oozing over the soft, warm surface? While cooking, the fusion of aromas of saffron, fried onions, and spices alone can make me drool over that delicious Biryani even before it is brought to the table.
6. Nutritious & Healthy
The freshly prepared meal, made from fresh ingredients, is healthier than leftover refrigerated food, frozen dinners, or ready-to-eat packets. Refrigerated food loses nutritional value, texture, taste, and smell. The sugar and sodium in frozen food are higher than in freshly prepared food.
Restaurant food is often more appealing but has harmful fats, lousy sweeteners, and poor-quality ingredients.
Once, we ate a veggie burger from a nearby place famous for its healthy ingredients; of course, the prices were 2.5 times the regular burger chains’. After a couple of hours, we checked the blood sugar and were shocked to see the spike, which was never seen after having a regular meal.
7. Saves Money
The most important and exciting part is that home-cooked food saves me Money. For a family of four, it costs around 50$, excluding tips or delivery charges. I can cook it at home for under $10, i.e., at one-fifth of the cost, using the best quality ingredients.
8. Tradition and Upbringing
I was born and raised in India. In our culture, there is a long tradition of home-cooked food. In most households, the meals are prepared twice or thrice a day, as per their family recipes which are transitioned from generation to generation. With urbanization and the rise in nuclear family structure, even though both husband & wife are working, in most families, they cook every day, if necessary, hiring some outside help. People generally eat out once or twice a month, whereas when we were young, we used to eat out three to four times a year.
As children, we were brainwashed that outside food was bad for our stomachs. So eating outside food would always be accompanied by guilt.
As they say, “Old habits die hard”, so as per the tradition, almost every day, I cook and feed my family fresh, healthy, nutritious, and delicious (? 😀) food, which brightens up my day!