As much as I love to cook and bake, I also enjoy eating out and can get lazy in the evenings when it’s time to make dinner.
My partner is the same way, and that means we often spend a lot on groceries and even more on going to restaurants every week.
So for one month, I decided to try cooking all of our meals at home. I knew it’d be tricky to stop dining out and spend more time in the kitchen, but I was determined.
Here are some of my biggest lessons and takeaways from my monthlong challenge.
Prioritizing plant-based proteins and produce helped me bulk up meals while reducing my grocery costs.
I was a vegetarian for nearly 10 years, but recently began incorporating meat into my diet for health reasons.
However, I was quickly appalled by how much money meat added to my grocery bill, even when splitting costs with my partner.
To use less meat while still ensuring our meals would be satisfying, I decided to load plant-based protein sources and produce into every dish.
Instead of expensive eggs and breakfast meats, I started my days with oatmeal and yogurt topped with fruit I wanted to use up and seeds or nuts for protein.
I also used lunches and dinners to load up on produce and reduce food waste, from cooking veggies close to spoiling in quick curry sauces to tossing them onto store-bought frozen flatbreads.
Using premade ingredients helped me stay on track when I was short on time.
Whenever I felt like I didn’t have much time to prepare meals, I relied on premade ingredients.
For example, it’s easy to spruce up a frozen flatbread with my favorite toppings. Jarred sauce, boxed pasta, and pre-grated cheese can also be great in a pinch.
This was rarely the most cost-effective option, but premade items helped me stay on track on especially busy days. There’s no shame in not making every component of a dish from scratch.
Celebrating at home meant our meals were cheaper.
The month of this experiment included a lot of celebrations, including multiple date nights.
I was worried they wouldn’t feel as special if we didn’t go out, but we made restaurant-worthy meals and shared special moments — all while saving money.
One date-night meal included chicken cutlets, lemon-garlic pasta, and Broccolini, and another featured lamb chops, asparagus, and smashed potatoes.
Either of those dishes would easily be over $25 each at a nice restaurant. The groceries to make them cost less (and sometimes gave us leftovers).
We also saved on our bar tabs.
With at-home date nights, we saved money by sharing bottles of wine at home instead of ordering marked-up glasses while out at dinner.
Since we were home, I also had the time and resources to make mocktails using sparkling water that I made with a carbonator. This was way cheaper than ordering spirit-free drinks at restaurants, which often cost almost as much as a cocktail.
Overall, eating at home helped curb expensive food (and bar) tabs while still allowing us to treat ourselves and celebrate.
There were also lots of special moments to be shared while cooking from home.
During the experiment, my mom and younger sister visited for a weekend. Instead of dining out, we took time to cook together.
We made homemade pasta, which we paired with kale, mushrooms, and jarred sauce. Then, we finished our meal with chocolate-covered and cheesecake-filled strawberries. They were ugly and messy, but delicious.
I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly our dishes came together and how fun it was to make them with my family.
I pushed myself to cook instead of ordering takeout — and choosing simple recipes made this way easier.
When my partner is out of town for work, I usually treat myself to takeout. Instead, I decided my treat would be preparing myself easy but delicious homemade meals.
I made white-cheddar pasta with apples, kale, and bacon; Parmesan-crusted grilled cheese with basil-tomato soup; and an easy spaghetti dinner with lentils.
All in all, it was fun to find new ways to make dinner feel special that didn’t involve complex recipes or ordering food online.
When I got tired of cooking, I learned to make the most of leftovers.
In a typical month, I eat nearly every breakfast and lunch at home, but dinners easily veer off track.
When my partner and I are tired from a long day, we often ditch whatever dinner we’d planned to make at home and go out to eat instead.
So, this month, I had to learn to embrace leftovers when I was tired of cooking. To keep myself from getting bored, I looked for ways to spruce them up.
I found certain leftover foods, like cooked chicken or roasted vegetables, were easy to turn into something fresh by changing up my sides and sauces.
Trying new recipes and keeping my pantry stocked also kept me from burning out.
Finding new recipes to throw in the mix helped me prevent boredom in the kitchen.
Throughout the month, I tried lots of new recipes, like a carrot-and-arugula salad, coconut-crusted chicken tenders, and lamb cutlets — all of which are now in our regular rotation.
Plus, keeping fruits and veggies in the freezer and staples like seeds, nuts, beans, and legumes in the pantry made it easier to throw together simple dinners when I didn’t feel like cooking.
I estimate I saved hundreds of dollars just from one month of eating at home.
My partner and I typically dine out casually one to three times a week (about $30 to $50 each time), and go on a nicer date night around once a month (easily $150 to $300 a meal).
Before this, I’d estimate we usually spend at least $100 on dining out a week in addition to regular grocery spending.
Groceries certainly aren’t cheap right now, but when they were our only food expense this month, we saved so much money.
Much to my surprise, our grocery spending (typically around $70 to $120 a week) didn’t increase much over the month — probably because I spent more time planning our meals. We also wasted less food.
It’s a lot easier to not let produce go bad or forget about it when you’re pushing yourself to cook every meal at home and not giving yourself an easy out by ordering delivery from a restaurant.
About halfway through the experiment, I noticed I started feeling better, too.
Throughout the month, I loaded up on a lot more veggies and fruit than I would’ve had I been regularly dining out.
I felt a lot more energy toward the latter half of the month, which I attributed partially to the healthier meals (and partially to some warmer, spring-like weather). I found I was able to go for longer walks and spend more time at the gym than usual, too.
I’d also argue having mocktails at home instead of ordering cocktails out contributed to my feeling better physically over the month.
Ultimately, from the start of the year until the end of the cooking-from-home experiment, I lost about 10 pounds and felt much better mentally and physically.
Overall, I’d considered this month a success.
After a month of eating only home-cooked meals, I saved a lot of money and felt much more energized, but I never felt left out of any celebrations.
I love dining out, but this process reminded my partner just how much we could save by making meals at home. I feel inspired to save going to restaurants for fewer, more special occasions — especially now that I’ve added so many great recipes to our repertoire.
Although cooking can still feel like a chore, I learned combining new recipes with repeat staples is my ideal way to keep meals feeling exciting and appealing.
Plus, I realized just how much leaning on premade ingredients, like jarred sauces or frozen flatbreads, can make cooking more accessible, especially on busy nights.
Fortunately, these results were so impressive that it’s already been easier for me to cook more meals at home since the month ended.
The post I spent a month only eating home-cooked food. I felt better physically, financially, and mentally with little sacrifice. appeared first on Business Insider.
