Why cooking from scratch is worth it

Here Are The 10 Reasons Why Cooking From Scratch Is Totally Worth It.  It tastes better! Okay, so this one is kind of a gimmie, but seriously.  While I do have a few favorite restaurants, I have found that 99.623% of the time I prefer the food I make at home to food I would eat in a restaurant.  Sure, it’s nice to be catered to and served at a restaurant, but most of the time the food isn’t worth the cost and calories! It’s Cheaper. This is probably the biggest reason to get off your rear and put your apron on rather than heading out to a restaurant, or even the freezer aisle at your grocery store.  The cost of convenience foods adds up QUICK and, as aforementioned, it usually doesn’t taste good enough to warrant the additional cost.  I will often “splurge” on grocery store items like fancy seafood and specialty ingredients as a reward for cooking from scratch and skipping the convenience foods.  It’s a great motivator and can helps me bring 5-star restaurant quality dishes to the table. It’s Fun. This was just the tiniest bit more true when I didn’t have a daughter who screamed as if she was being tortured when I put the baby gate up to keep her out of the kitchen, but it’s still a great motivator to get me in the kitchen. I love the creativity involved in cooking from scratch and I love trying new things.  It’s a good thing my husband and daughter are both adventurous eaters and humor me as I play in my adult playground.  I will also mention that cooking is a CHEAP hobby.  You have to eat anyway, right?  Might as well have as much fun and be as creative as possible when you put meals on the table. It gives you greater control of what you put into your body. This is one of the most important reasons to cook from scratch.  While I studied nutrition in school, I absolutely hate label reading and I find that trying to eat a balanced and healthy diet can be really disheartening and sometimes downright depressing.  I really don’t like thinking too much about what I eat, and I prefer to just trust my taste buds and my body.  When I am cooking from scratch, I know every single thing that I am eating.  Those things aren’t always the best for me, BUT I am aware that I am eating them.  I can’t tell you how many times I have eaten something only to look at the label and be disgusted at the amount of sugar, trans fat, or sodium that I have ingested.  When I make my own meals, and even my own desserts, there is a mindfulness of eating that comes from having seen the ingredients come together into a finished product and that knowledge changes the way that I eat.5. It connects you to the planet. So I recognize that this reason makes me sound a little like a hippie, but it’s totally true, and a totally awesome benefit of cooking from scratch.  Since I’m already being a little philosophical here I might as well keep going.  I believe that one of the BIGGEST problems with our generation is that we have been handed EVERYTHING.  Food is always in the refrigerator.  Water is always in the tap.  Anywhere you might want to go is a car or a plane ride away.  This creates a disconnect and a lack of gratitude for all of the amazing things we have been given.  When you cook from scratch you are one step closer to where food came from.  Bonus points if you buy your food from a local farmer at a farmer’s market who can tell you the story behind the food you are eating.  DOUBLE bonus points if you grow the food yourself and can truly see it come full circle, from seed, to plant, to table, and most importantly  TO BELLY! 😉Read more here.