UNITED STATES—How often do you craft up a home cooked meal? I already know with a lot of Americans it doesn’t happen that often. I know so many people who eat out and I mean eat out on such a consistent basis it baffles me to the core. The amount of money that goes towards eating out versus cooking a hearty meal at home would scare you.
The thought of spending $100 dollars plus on a single meal is scary, but if you have the money to do it, so be it. With that said, I’m trying to cook at home more often because I get satiated easier, and I don’t spend as much money on a single meal. Also, you have that thing called leftovers which is quite tasty to say the least the next day, then the day you crafted the meal.
In addition, I am discovering that when I craft a home cooked meal, it relaxes me in a way that not much else can. Why is that? I am cooking at my own pace. I’m not thinking about work, I’m not stressing about family life, finances, health or anything else that causes me strife. I am focused on crafting the meal in front of me.
I know there are so many people who hate prep work, and I used to be that way, but I have since changed my mantra on that. There is nothing like chopping items in the kitchen for a meal like chili, chicken fajitas, spaghetti, meatloaf, a three-course meal, or one of my favorites, homemade mashed potatoes.
I am a big spice person, and I have a rack of spices that stun a few of people when they see it, yeah, there’s at least 50 spices that I can utilize in a given meal. Food is food, how you cook the food is the difference between the quality and taste. As they say, when you cook with love it makes all the difference. So, this weekend I did some potato salad by scratch, which baffles me because if you asked me 10 years ago, I would say not in a million years. Why? I hated potato salad as a kid, and as a young adult. That has since changed with age because you wise up to things.
I took my time cutting some Russet Potatoes, and making my own mayonnaise by scratch, and chopping some fresh dill, utilizing a bit of salt and pepper and just a pinch of Paparika that gives that color to the dish. I also crafted up a Shrimp Alfredo as the main dish. The crazy thing was that it took me about 90 minutes to complete the entire feast, and I didn’t even want the alfredo dish when I was done. Why? I think the potato salad smelled and teased my tastebuds a lot more than I ever expected unfortunately.
Chili is a great dish to cook as we near the winter months, because it is warm and tasty and you can make it however you please, and eat it for several days. You can do spicy (which is my desire) or lighten the heat if you have those in your family who are not fans of it. What I’m saying is that a home cooked meal allows you to decompress and think. You get to take in the fresh air and show your loved ones how much they mean to you by crafting a meal that comes from your heart not something you picked up from a restaurant because you don’t feel like cooking.
Written By Jason Jones
