The question on many people’s minds when evening comes is “what’s for dinner tonight?” Increasingly, this answer seems to be coming from the restaurant menu instead of their kitchens. This has been escalated by the career person. Today, every person in the family set up is working; the father, the mother and the children. Therefore, it is not unusual for one to arrive at their homes and find nothing to eat. Most people are eating in restaurants. However, the question lies in how home-cooked foods and eating outside compare with regards to price, quality, variety, preference, taste and health among other factors.
Price
Debate continues to rage on which of the two is cheaper; is home-cooked food cheaper or expensive with regards to outside food? For example, according to Tuttle (1), a healthy home-cooked meal is cheaper than food at a restaurant. While restaurant foods might be immediately more pleasurable and gratifying, faster to prepare and consume, dinner that is prepared at a restaurant is not cheaper than that which is prepared at home. Tuttle (1) does some math on a supper of a family of four people. Dinner for a family consisting of four people at McDonald’s costs about $23 to $28. This is way expensive when compared to a full roasted chicken supper served at home with salad, veggies and milk, whose cost is about $14. The source of these figures is dated in the year 2011. According to Tuttle (1), home-cooked meals that feature cheaper staples such as rice, beans and pasta save even more money. However, with grocery prices going up, Bhardwaj (1) observes that dinner from the kitchen is not necessarily the most economical. Bhardwaj samples the cost of meals at a chain restaurant and concludes that the cost is less in comparison with a home-cooked meal. For example, an Outback Steakhouse meal was $17.99 at the restaurant while preparing the meal at home cost $20.52 (Bhardwaj 1). High grocery prices coupled with factors such as the costs of gas, electricity, seasoning and condiments make home-cooked meals expensive than outside foods. However, the difference might lie in the quality.
Quality
In terms of quality, home-cooked food is of a higher quality than outside food. A meal prepared at home can be compared to a sports car which has been handmade while a meal in a restaurant can be compared to mass produced vehicles. With the former, there is proper planning of a well-detailed meal which allows the cook to prepare a perfect meal. However, in a restaurant, food is prepared in a hurry which makes it have low quality. At the same time, one cannot be so sure about what happens in the kitchen, the cleanliness level, the condition of the ingredients and other aspects. The quality of food can also be examined in terms of health. Eating at a restaurant elevates one’s risk of having health problems such as obesity, overweight and diabetes. This is because it is hard to control conditions that happen in the preparation of restaurant meals. According to Pritchard (1), studies indicate that people who eat meals at a restaurant gain more weight and are more resistant to insulin. It also increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity. With home-cooked food, one is able control the amount of fat and salt that goes into the cooking. This also means one obtains the best-quality ingredients. Therefore, home-cooked meals are cleaner, of better quality and healthier than outside meals.
Variety and Preference
In terms of variety, outside meals offer a wide variety to choose from when compared to home-cooked meals. Looking at a restaurant menu, one is spoilt for choice and he or she can even try something different each day of the week. One can try sea food, pasta, Chinese, Italian and many other cuisines. However, with home-cooked meals, the easiest meal to prepare is usually the most frequent on the dinner table. Take an example of a working family. The father and mother usually arrive from work exhausted. In such a scenario, it will be difficult for either of them to take their time and prepare a meal that maybe requires the use of a recipe book. Instead, they will make use of the easiest meal. As such, restaurant food offers a wider variety as compared to home-cooked food.
In terms of preference, many people prefer cooking their own meals or meals that are prepared at their homes. However, with pressures such as limited time due to tight work schedules, people end up eating restaurants. While one would love to pass by the grocery store and buy ingredients for a nice meal to cook at home, many of them do not have the luxury of time. As such, they end up eating at foot stands. In terms of health, meals prepared at home are generally cleaner and healthier than outside foods. When it comes to taste, this depends on what is tasty to the person consuming the meal. However, home-cooked meals offer one the opportunity to play around with ingredients as well as try out new recipes. Therefore, many a times, foods that are prepared at home are tastier than meals consumed in restaurants.
Works Cited
Bhardwaj, Nick. Is Eating Out Cheaper than Cooking? MSN, 19 Jan. 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
Pritchard, Joseph. Home-Cooked Meals vs. Fast Food Meals. Live Strong, 11 Aug. 2011. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
Tuttle, Brad. News Flash: A Healthy Home-Cooked Meal Costs Less than Fast Food. Time, 26 Sept. 2011. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
