Having Difficulties Cooking at Home? Here are Ways to Overcome Them
When people begin to track their expenses, food is the most shocking category that they spend the most money on.
From the weekly grocery trips, eating out for entertainment and convenience, to getting snacks at gas stations' vending machines, food expenses quickly add up. If you do not monitor the amount you spend, you'll likely be in for a serious awakening.
One of the ways to become more frugal is to change our habits, and that isn't always easy. What we will do now is try to reduce our food budget by preparing our meals at home.
You might think you are too busy to prepare meals at home, or maybe you're not good in the kitchen, which makes you want to give up. Don't do that. For everyone, it's possible to increase the frequency at which we cook at home. With a couple of adjustments and consistency, you can make cooking at home efficient. It isn't only important to save you money, but also excellent for your health.
Tackle Your Excuses and Worries
When it comes to making a plan, you need to always remember the things that made you not create it in the first place. Why did you decide to eat out or order take-out in the first place? Address these concerns and you'll see that you'll not have any excuses for not making a plan and old habits won't come creeping in. I've created a list below that shows some common reasons most people do not cook at home:
● I don’t have enough time.
● I am uninterested in the "same old."
● Cooking isn't for me because I don't know how to.
● I do not prepare in advance.
The way you make your plan should be determined by your concerns, as the aim of the plan is to help you combat them.
Meal Prep at Home
When you've got an idea of the food you'd like to make and the time to prepare it, schedule a time to go to the store to shop for the ingredients you don't have yet. Check out your recipes and create a list so that you don't have to go there multiple times. If you're new to cooking at home, you'll likely have to develop your pantry’s staples stock. So you'll not get overwhelmed, try to shop in bits weekly. If you are someone who cooks often, you can decide to create your shopping list and buy for a longer period.
If you have a busy schedule or you want to save time, find out the prep work you'll be able to do beforehand. It could be chopping vegetables the night before or the morning of the scheduled meal. You can also make several crockpot meals during the weekend and put them in your freezer. Find a way to involve your kids and partner in the preparations. When you get some of the prep work out of the way, it will make it easy to fix dinner, thereby preventing you from eating out even after you've had a long day.
Make a Home Cooking Plan
It's very well known that cooking at home requires more planning and effort compared to ordering take-out or getting it from a drive-thru. Being aware of what you will fix before the dinner hour is important. Begin by creating a list of the meals you'd like to cook or maybe learn to cook for dinner. If you are stuck trying to get the perfect menu, you can simply search Pinterest and you'd surely get a lot of mouth-watering and tummy-growling options. Try to ask your family members to ensure you also put their favorites on the list.
Check out your calendar to decide on the way you will fit in the meals. If it's your first or second time cooking at home, you should start by just cooking a couple of meals. If you eat out often because you're too busy, select nights where you will have some more time to cook well. As you become more experienced, you'll get the chance to quickly make successful meals with less effort.
If you already have the habit of preparing meals at home, create an entire menu for about 3 weeks. Although I cook at home all the time, sometimes I get too lazy to simply create a menu. When you make a menu, it'll save your sanity! Having a menu that you're prepared and excited about can make you feel more excited about cooking at home when you are not really in the mood.
Fighting Cooking at Home Conflicts
Hopefully thinking about your issues at the beginning has helped you to think well about how you can overcome every challenge you face when it comes to cooking at home. It's more efficient if you find your solutions compared to providing you with all the answers, but if you still need more hints, below are some ways you can fight the common issues listed above:
1. I'm too busy to prepare home cooked meals.
Make use of a slow cooker or a similar appliance. Your dinner is going to cook while you are not there and will be set at mealtime.
Purchase a rice cooker that has a delay timer. This is one of the most loved features by many.
Prepare your plans for the next week during the weekend.
Prepare enough for you to have leftovers. If you'd not like to eat the same thing consecutively, simply freeze the leftovers.
Prepare simple meals. Your dinner does not have to look like that of a restaurant.
Request help from your family.
2. I'm uninterested in the "same-old."
Create a challenge where you add at least one recipe to your menu weekly.
Ask your internet friends to show you their favorite recipes
Get new ideas by following recipe boards on Pinterest.
Let your family members suggest ideas.
3. Cooking isn't for me because I don't even know how to.
Now is the time to learn! You can head over to YouTube to watch unlimited videos.
Begin with your favorite dishes so you'll be highly motivated.
Search for simple recipes.
Learn a couple of versatile basics.
Involve your family members in the process.
Invite a friend over to have a freezer cooking day.
4. I do not prepare in advance.
Select a day of the week to create a menu.
Plan trips to the store so you can have ingredients ready.
Look for freezer meals that you can make now and keep for days that do not go as you planned.
No matter the reason you have for not cooking at home, there's always a way of making it possible. It might require some discipline and creativity, but it'll be worth it. You'll save a ton of money compared to buying pre-packed food, getting take-out, or eating out.
It's never easy to build a new habit, and for a habit that's as complex as cooking, you should know that it'll be more difficult. That said, when you break it down into smaller and easier to achieve steps, there's a guarantee that you'd succeed. Reading this post is a sign that you're willing to do it, and that's more motivation than several people have. So, try it out. The benefits are worth it, and as you progress in it, I'm sure you'll start to enjoy it.
What are the things you've done to get the chance to start cooking at home?
What are the challenges preventing you from cooking at home?