Cooking ‘from scratch’ to me means instead of buying ready-made meals or components, you spend time and effort making a meal from ingredients, seasoning and sauces. I’m definitely not going to go as far as telling you to start your own vegetable garden, but here are some of the benefits of home-made meals.
Weight Control
The best ways to lose or gain weight are difficult to understand at the best of times, it’s tough to know which kinds of fatty foods are good and which are going to leave you feeling greasy and sick.
If you cook your own meals, you have the benefit of being able to see what exactly goes into your dish, whether it be fresh vegetables, high protein foods like meat or soy, or your
carb-heavy pasta and bread.
Something I end up doing way too often when food shopping is checking the calorie count of almost every single ready meal, but when you cook for yourself you’re in control of exactly what you’re putting in your body, and how much of it.
Sourcing ingredients
We should all be trying to eat less meat because of its contribution to greenhouse gases and climate change, but if/when we do, we should make a conscious effort to check if the animals were raised and killed in a humane way.
If you’re buying pre-prepared food from a shop, most of the time there will be very limited information on where those ingredients come from. This could mean that by not preparing your own food, you’re unknowingly supporting bad trade practices.
Cost
Buying microwave or oven meals is EXPENSIVE. It might be quicker and easier but your bank balance will feel it faster too. Although some organic vegetables are a bit pricey, for most standard multipack veg like onions, peppers, and garlic you won’t be spending that much, and they’ll last a lot longer.
Buying the individual ingredients will seem like you’re spending more money, but especially compared to the cost of eating processed food, your money will probably go a lot further.
Pride
Ever feel a sense of achievement after cooking your ready-made oven meal? Me neither. This is in no way to shame people who do not have the time or means to cook their own meals, but there is a sense of pride that comes with creating a dish from scratch.
Especially when cooking for family or friends, it’s a great feeling to see people enjoy the food you’ve spent time making.
Cooking is also a really good way to learn time management, how to work under pressure and patience.
Cooking is something I personally really love, it’s a great break from studying and working, and it’s helpful to learn new recipes to impress your friends or in case-ready meals aren’t available. Obviously it’s not always that straightforward, and like with anything there are cons as well so it’s only fair I mention them too:
Tiring
If you’ve come in after a long day, sometimes the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven and spend time preparing dinner. Or, maybe if you work shifts it’s not easy to have a routine mealtime. It is easier to eat something ready-made, of course it is. Sometimes food isn’t meant to take even more time and energy, and you just need something to fill that space so you can carry on. That’s alright, don’t ever feel like you can’t do that.
Cleaning up
Using pots and pans and plates, making your own food does generate more washing up. And washing up every day gets frustrating and tiring too. If, like me, you don’t have the luxury of a dishwasher, it’s difficult to stop the dishes piling up in the sink.
Don’t feel like you have to cook from scratch every night. Something I do a lot is make huge amounts of food and separate it into portions and put them in the fridge for the following day(s). This means you can enjoy home-cooked food without feeling the pressure to cook every single night.
Cooking should be something to enjoy, it can also save you money and help you control what you put in your body. But it’s not always easy, and you’re entitled to a treat every now and then too.