Americans are eating more and more meals prepared outside the home. In fact, a third of Americans eat fast food daily. I get it. Healthy eating can be one of the first casualties of a super-busy life. When faced with too much to do and too little time to do it, that industrially-prepared meal full of fat, sugar, and salt seems like just the thing to fill our bellies without having to think, work, or slow down. And yeah, we know it isn’t healthy, but we’ll eat better after all this current craziness calms down. You know, next month. And of course, next month is even busier and more hectic, and our bad habits persist despite our desire to eat healthier. It’s no surprise that eating food you prepare at home is almost always better for you than eating out or grabbing “ready-to-eat” products off the supermarket shelf. But home cooking is also far less expensive. In fact, in many schools, cooking classes were traditionally called “home economics.” But here’s the kicker: If you have the right kitchen tools, skills, and mindset, home cooking doesn’t have to take a lot more time than the drive-thru. If you include driving, ordering, waiting in line, waiting for delivery, paying, reheating, microwaving, and disposing of vast amounts of non-recyclable packaging, you can probably throw together a delicious and healthy home-cooked meal in about the same time as it takes to outsource your nourishment.When you can take the time to cook at home, you’re in control of the ingredients. You’re not playing Russian roulette with a food culture that’s often toxic — putting you on the fast track to disease. You may not include doctor visits and picking up prescription meds in your time accounting, but ask anyone with a chronic disease: being sick takes up a lot of time and energy. And make no mistake, home cooking can improve your health. As reported in a 2015 study, the more meals eaten outside the home, the fewer fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in your diet — and the more fat and sodium. Fruits, vegetables, and other plant foods are high in essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients like fiber — a lack of which is a precursor to chronic disease. Conversely, a 2017 study in The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found that participants who ate an average of five home-cooked meals a week or more enjoyed a healthier diet with lower risks of obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. So what’s one way you can ensure you’ll cook at home more, resulting in better health for you and your family?Even with knowing that eating at home is healthier, there’s some degree of preparation necessary to set yourself up for success in the kitchen. Having the right kitchen tools on hand is necessary for a successful cooking experience. They can save you time and money. And, as a result, they can mean the difference between enjoying a healthy and delicious home-cooked meal or foregoing nutrition for convenience with a packaged frozen dinner or fast food meal from the drive-thru. That’s why a well-stocked kitchen is a happy (and healthy) kitchen. And a happy kitchen is one that gets used frequently.
