this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2023
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Cooking! You don't need to be a Michelin-star chef (or even aspire to be) but if you can make your own meals regularly you can save so much money. It's a great way to bond with your kids, too!
Also, maybe it's weird to say, but 'learning' is an incredibly valuable skill that Will see you through a lot of hardship. The ability and drive to continue learning and having curiosity late into life makes people healthier, happier, and more well-rounded persons in my opinion.
Totally, some of my favorite memories are cooking with family. Baking Christmas cookies with my mom, with the same Time-Life Christmas tape playing every year. Learning how to bake with my grandmother, memorizing her pie crust recipe and our family's centuries old shortbread recipe. Surprising my wife with our wedding dinner for our 5 year anniversary that I cooked myself.
We all have cell phones and the internet and there's countless recipes out there to try from all over the world.
Also adding food safety to this too. Cooking temps, how to avoid cross-contamination, how to use knives, food prep... I've had an uncomfortable number of trainees who think you need to wash meat with soap to clean it, that you don't need to wash vegetables, and that cutting and cooking an onion with the skin on is totally acceptable.
Also, I highly recommend trying spices on their own. Smell them, taste them. Any time I come across a new spice, I taste a little. Knowing how things taste individually and then how they work with other parts of a meal helps build your flavor palette and will lead you to being a better cook that doesn't need a recipe for a meal.
Financially, you can save 2-3x more making a meal yourself versus getting something pre-made, ordering takeout, or eating out. I can feed 8 grown men on less than $30 a night at work. Last night I made grilled London broil, quinoa, and salads for 7 on about $25 worth of food. They all had seconds and I had enough left over for 2 more servings. You'd pay at least that much per person for beef in a restaurant. Penne and vodka sauce costs $5-7 to make from scratch, maybe around $10 if you add sausage. One box of pasta will fill half a catering tray. $20 per person in a restaurant, without meat. For that much at home, you can feed a whole party.