Anonymous
Post 02/15/2024 15:48     Subject: I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
If you are coming from a place of ignorance, cooking will seem daunting and wasteful in terms of time and resources and expenses. But if you are even a moderately competent cook, all those fears disappear pretty quickly.

I'm a first rate cook but even I have a busy work schedule. There's no shortage of simple dinners I can throw together quickly. Pasta, stir fries, good quality frozen pizzas, rotisserie chicken turned into sandwiches or more. There's plenty of semi-prepared foods in supermarkets and some are excellent, not "sysco trash." For example, Bell & Evans breaded chicken strips is a staple in my house that I serve with kimchee or other relishes and rice and sauteed or steamed vegs. Quick and easy. I buy frozen strips of salmon that are quick to thaw and quick to bake in the oven with seasoning and serve with rice or a baked potato.
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2024 15:47     Subject: I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
Hire someone to prepare meals for you. Saves you most of the time and is probably healthier than eating out.
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2024 15:36     Subject: I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
Anonymous wrote:You must be seriously over complicating your recipes. Buy your veggies pre-cut and steam them or roast on parchment paper. Serve with plenty of butter and salt.

Buy your protein in cutlets and shove it under the broiler for five minutes each side. Spend $20 on seasoning mixes at Trader Joe’s.

Invest in a good rice cooker if you like rice. Buy your pasta fresh, so it cooks up quick. Pre-boil your water in a kettle, it comes up to temperature twice as quick. Buy lots of good bread and eat it with your dinner instead of faffing about with risotto or gratins or other complicated starches. It’s all carbs in the end anyway.


Good tips, but I'm trying to recall if I've ever faffed . . .
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2024 12:41     Subject: I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
You must be seriously over complicating your recipes. Buy your veggies pre-cut and steam them or roast on parchment paper. Serve with plenty of butter and salt.

Buy your protein in cutlets and shove it under the broiler for five minutes each side. Spend $20 on seasoning mixes at Trader Joe’s.

Invest in a good rice cooker if you like rice. Buy your pasta fresh, so it cooks up quick. Pre-boil your water in a kettle, it comes up to temperature twice as quick. Buy lots of good bread and eat it with your dinner instead of faffing about with risotto or gratins or other complicated starches. It’s all carbs in the end anyway.
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2024 12:15     Subject: I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
Anonymous wrote:Cooking at home is cheaper, but only if you buy cheaper ingredients obviously. So no big steaks, expensive seafood, out of season organic veggies... With regular ingredients you can easily eat for under $15/family per meal with planning. At a restaurant that is $50+. As far as time, I work too and I never make weekday meals that take over 30 minutes of active time. Getting in the car and going out, waiting at restaurant would take much longer, and delivery services cost extra.


In addition to all these, You don't know how clean the food in the restaurant. I don't want to think how gross the food they served us in the restaurant.
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2024 02:27     Subject: I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
Anonymous wrote:Cooking at home is cheaper, but only if you buy cheaper ingredients obviously. So no big steaks, expensive seafood, out of season organic veggies... With regular ingredients you can easily eat for under $15/family per meal with planning. At a restaurant that is $50+. As far as time, I work too and I never make weekday meals that take over 30 minutes of active time. Getting in the car and going out, waiting at restaurant would take much longer, and delivery services cost extra.


This is more about eating out vs cooking at home, not cost. I think high quality food makes a big difference in cooking at home. And specialty food stores an example is Zabar’s in NYC where you can buy premade pieces of your meal, fresh vegetables or cooked already, fresh bread, bakery, salads with fresh lettuce and other ingredients. It makes it really easy. No pots or pans.
Anonymous
Post 02/15/2024 02:18     Subject: I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There are so many ways to prep ahead, clean as you go, and generally make it easier for yourself. But if you are committed to not learning any of those techniques or skills and are instead convinced that cooking = making a huge mess and doing it all in the moment, then what is there to say?

For *you,* it does sound better to eat at a restaurant. For people willing to learn some basic skills, techniques, tips, and tricks, and put in some practice, it's well worth it--rewarding, satisfying, even--to cook at home.


OP here. Actually I do know how to cook. My mother taught me in my childhood in Europe, mostly French and Austrian dishes. Because she was busy working, as a teenager it was me who would cook for our family of four on a daily basis. I dare even say that I am an excellent cook. But I just do not enjoy it, and now that I am older, I tire more easily than in my youth.


I kind of doubt this because an excellent cook who has cooked her whole life would know how to create simple healthy meals. We should be asking you for advice


OP here. The French and Austrian dishes that I learned in my childhood or neither simple nor particularly healthy.


No they aren’t. They aren’t easy to cook either but you said you were an excellent cook. An excellent cook can easily simplify recipes and switch up ingredients to make it healthier.
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2024 18:56     Subject: I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
Don’t cook everyday. Make things that could have leftovers the next day. It’s what I do and it makes my life easier. But I also can’t afford to eat out every day. It would make me feel like trash too.
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2024 18:52     Subject: Re:I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I can’t imagine not raising a child to be able to cook properly for him or herself. I can’t imagine modeling that you eat dinner at a restaurant or from a restaurant every night. That’s so sad, such a disservice to your children.


100%. Food is love.


+1 I know someone who grew up in a family like this. It's a very dysfunctional family to say the least. But eating out might not have caused the problems, maybe just a symptom of problems that were already there.

In any case, you can eat better at home. For the same amount that you spend on a meal out, you can have much higher quality food at home. Restaurants often do not prepare good veggies or fruit dishes for example. You will get too much starch in a restaurant meal because it is cheaper and they are all about making a profit.


NP but I'm a terrible cook, so the bolded is not true. And we often order from salad places where they prepare much more diverse and healthy foods than I ever would.
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2024 18:50     Subject: I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
OP we are just middle class worker bees and we often have similar conversations. For us, it is obviously cheaper to cook our own food, and we mostly do that. But we have really demanding jobs and often just are tired at the end of the day. So we order in a couple times a week and feel zero guilt about it.

Being relaxed and happy with your family is more important than cooking, and it sounds like you can afford to order in a lot. Maybe cook together as a family once a week if you have time. And it's totally possible to get healthy food from a restaurant.
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2024 17:33     Subject: Re:I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out

Anonymous wrote:
I can’t imagine not raising a child to be able to cook properly for him or herself. I can’t imagine modeling that you eat dinner at a restaurant or from a restaurant every night. That’s so sad, such a disservice to your children.


100%. Food is love.


+1 I know someone who grew up in a family like this. It's a very dysfunctional family to say the least. But eating out might not have caused the problems, maybe just a symptom of problems that were already there.

In any case, you can eat better at home. For the same amount that you spend on a meal out, you can have much higher quality food at home. Restaurants often do not prepare good veggies or fruit dishes for example. You will get too much starch in a restaurant meal because it is cheaper and they are all about making a profit.
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2024 17:31     Subject: I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
Anonymous wrote:
I've been trying to persuade myself to cook more at home. But when I cook, it takes at least an hour to prepare a decent meal. I am alone in the kitchen and tired afterwards. Our child is not interested in cooking, so it is not a pleasant family moment of being together and teaching life skills.

Then the kitchen looks like a mess and I spend another 30 minutes cleaning up.

I am an attorney and work from home. My hourly rate is $625. I always have more than enough work. I keep thinking that instead of cooking I could have cleared $1000 during the same time. That is an expensive meal!

Driving to a restaurant and waiting for the food takes time, too, but we always have pleasant conversations in the car and at the table. So that, to me, would be much more worth it, even if I don't do billable work during that time.

From an economic point of view it seems to me that ordering in is the best option. Saves time, and I can get work done if I don't feel like driving to a restaurant.

What is your take on this?


Troll. If you can't afford time to cook, you can't afford to drive to a restaurant either.
You can have pleasant conversations in the kitchen at home too, while your spoiled brat talks about what color Stanley she wants this week.
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2024 17:27     Subject: I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
Anonymous wrote:I can’t imagine not raising a child to be able to cook properly for him or herself. I can’t imagine modeling that you eat dinner at a restaurant or from a restaurant every night. That’s so sad, such a disservice to your children.


100%. Food is love.
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2024 17:24     Subject: Re:I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
You should take that hourly rate and go buy groceries for someone that is struggling.
Why did you even post this ? Is it a brag ?
Anonymous
Post 02/14/2024 16:59     Subject: I doubt that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out
Anonymous wrote:Your sh!tposting on DCUM costs $0.25/min in opportunity cost. Mine costs $25/min. We are not the same.


Cute. Are you an intern or what? I just secured $287,757.34 in capital gains in a single day. You should both check your humblebragging at the door and start looking for real jobs. Oh…and all I needed to do was place a simple limit sell order on VBK at 9:00am for $247.00. The rest of the day I had plenty of time to relax and cook! Pathetic.