Frequenting Restaurants? Try An Option That Will Improve Your Lifestyle

You don't have to be an economist to see that the average American family will spend in excess of $2100.00 annually frequenting restaurants and Financialnut.com suggests the whole country will spend over $110 billion this year on fast food alone, but isn't it obvious why we eat out: to have time for our family to spend together, to avoid the arduous task of cooking, and to taste great food that you are otherwise unable to make on your own?

Oftentimes, when we arrive at a restaurant, we find the typical time spent corralling the family, traveling to the restaurant, sitting in long lines or waiting areas for long periods of time, and in addition to all of that, we run the risk that the food isn't prepared correctly. You also never really control what is in your meal. Add this to the obvious expenses of gas, meal, and gratuity.

Is it the same going out for fast food? Consider the following scenario: Let's say, for instance, your family remains at home while you head down the street to the local Kentucky Fried Chicken a couple miles away. You grab a $10 to $20 bucket of chicken, and you arrive home to find what you believe to be a human hair softly nestled in your purchased meal that is probably from an employee that wasn't being very attentive. You then take the bucket of dinner back to have another one prepared. In this short span of time a thought crosses your mind: you were only engaging in the task of "grabbing dinner for your family". You goal was not to use up your precious time, gas, and more than likely, your family's patience trying to make this evening meal work.

You are now barraged with thoughts about rising gas prices and the economic forecast. You believe you've inevitably wasted your resources, and in the back of your mind you see the hair among the cooked food that was intended for your family reminding you of how helpless were in preventing this event. You know the food preparation is completely out of your control. Sure, your family was craving chicken, but how can you really cannot be certain how well the food was prepared and or really be confident in its ingredients.

The truth is that the situation above is one of a whole host of problems faced by restaurant and fast-food frequenters. We Americans eat out a lot. A Gallup poll indicates that like this example, 60% of Americans frequent restaurants at least once per week, while that number increases two to three for 42% of the nation's population. Add to this the messed up orders, ignorance of who prepared the food, the ingredients they used, and the occasional occurrence of food poisoning, and you begin to have ample reason to try the universal, time-honored, and elementary alternative: prepare the food yourself.

Several studies suggest that is not only much healthier and cost-effective to cook from home, but it promotes a healthier family lifestyle. We often think about the time it takes to cook, which is usually a strong motivator to hitting the road and looking for our favorite eatery, coupled with the need to satisfy our family's taste buds. These are usually our biggest deterrents from cooking.

The answer is right at your fingertips. It comes in the form of several time and cost saving options. If you are internet savvy, you probably know that you can find a myriad of resources online. There are not only cookbooks, recipes, blogs, and websites dedicated to cooking the kind of food you would like to enjoy, but you can find recipes with varying ingredients based on your family's lifestyle and degree of cooking expertise. You'll also find that it is easy to locate restaurant-style recipes, grilling options, and "no-cook" options that can be prepared in minutes.

Pull up your favorite search engine, type in "quick and tasty recipes", and try limiting your restaurant visits to once per month. When you find and cook some of these recipes, you will see the major difference it makes for yourself.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/6270893

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