Cook More, Eat at Home - The Survey Says!

I was just asked to answer a poll question from the FoodFit website,
"What's your food-related goal for 2009? The choices were:

• Avoid sugar
• Keep a food diary
• Be a better grocery shopper
• Cook more, eat out less
  

I, of course, chose cook more, eat out less since avoiding sugar and keeping a food diary don't appeal to me and I already am terrific at grocery shopping. The main reason for answering the question was to see what other folks goals are. I was extremely pleased to see that the majority want to cook more and eat out less. See the results below.

What's your food-related goal for 2009?

Avoid sugar 24%

Keep a food diary 28%

Be a better grocery shopper 19%

Cook more, eat out less 29%

Total votes: 492

Ok. So as of the writing of this blog entry there was a small margin between keeping a diary and cooking more. The interesting thing is that people are starting to care about what they eat. Home cooked food is really delicious and can be as elegant or simple as you wish. That's the fun of it. And, when you make meals yourself and enjoy them with family and friends, well there's just nothing more rewarding and enjoyable.

Eating out less is a great goal because it reaps you many rewards both health-wise and money-wise. By cooking foods yourself, you can control what goes into your meal. If you were torn between avoiding sugar and cooking more, well now you can do both! It also gets you to spend more quality time with family. Get everyone involved in the process. Kids are a great help in the kitchen and with proper supervision, can complete parts of the meal on their own. Or they can help in planning the meals and grocery shopping. And, of course, there's significant cost control as long as you avoid the packaged food, snacks and candy aisles!

When planning meals, plan to make extra so you can utilize the leftovers in another dish. And, also try to make weeknight meal planning easier. A hearty soup with a salad and good bread makes a fabulous, quick and filling meal. You'll save dollars too when you start to only shop around the borders of the supermarket, where the fresh food, dairy, and meats are.

If you'd like to learn more about how to cook great meals at home and you live in the NY Metro area, contact us. Our personal chefs can help plan a customized cooking lesson right in your own home (serving the Long Island and NY City areas of New York).