Worth the effort?

[viranimus]

My wife spent roughly 5 hours in the kitchen today preparing several Chinese food dishes because she recently picked up some recipes. When I ate it, I thought it was good but to me it really didnt taste any different than had we went to the restaurant or picked up similar dishes from the grocery store. I obviously told her it was good and thanked her for a well prepared meal, but I really didnt have the heart to tell her it tasted no better and no worse than something store bought.

So the question is, is it worth it to put in all the extra effort in preparing home cooked food? Now please exclude instances related to dish customization such as adding your own flavor to what a dish normally calls for, like adding jalapenos to lasagne or using what you consider to be healthier alternatives to other ingredients. Is it actually better because you put forth the effort?

 

[Levitas1234]

you're just not a picky eater, i get annoyed by tap water and different types of sauces.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Yes it is worth the effort because now you don't have to pay out several dollars to a restaurant or take out.

 

[Harkonnen64]

Home-cooked foods tend to have less things in them that are bad for you compared to pre-made food; including sugar, cholesterol, and fatty acids, among other things.

 

[Jake the Snake]

Yes, it's worth it. It's cheaper, and usually tastes better. Plus its usually better for you...though not always.

 

[darkknight9]

Totally worth it especially if you have guests over. Not to mention each and every step you take preparing at home eliminates a step in the restaurant/foodservice/grocery chain taken to preserve the food and keep it attractive longer.

If you can entertain while cooking... there's no substitute. And how do you know if something is going to be good or not unless you try it? Is your wife Asian? If so and you find the food too regular or bland, hit up her relatives to see what they season with on their table. And if you like hot stuff (peppers, etc) the world is your proverbial oyster.

I cooked for a living for years and still enjoyed having big ole parties where folks came over to visit and eat... even when there was nothing in particular going on...

If you're in a job where you work with your hands, and you create something every day you may not see the physical joy in cooking. But at the end of a cooking session you can look around and say "I did that" and that is somethin. The joy it brings to the individuals eatin it is just icing on the cake.

If, after all that, you'd still prefer store bought or take out and your wife does also, hop in the car and go get it! However if you don't care but your wife still wants to cook big meals, I live 45 minutes from the MN/WI border off of Interstate 94 in Wisconsin I can be reached at......



Strikethrough added after I noticed I was supposed to exclude such talk

 

[viranimus]

No the wifee isnt asian. Shes an atypical southern girl (though I think the fact that she is a southern girl and cannot make biscuits practically heresy) And somethings she can cook phenomenally on, other things, not so much.

I .. can be a picky eater, but I do tend to look at food as basically just bio fuel. Something to give you the energy to move on day to day. Which I really dont get the desire to put alot of effort into cooking.

I myself can cook fairly well in my own right, but I rarely do it, because from what ive seen personally, price wise alot of times preparing foods comes out more expensive than buying store bought or take out when you factor in all the ingredients. You typically get a little more for left overs, but the overall cost is roughly the same or more. The more usually comes in when you start customizing food to add flair. I think the confusion on cost comes when people forget to account for the cost of all ingredients because some basic ingredients they already have in the house for a myriad of purposes.

To me I would rather slap something together and take 10 minutes to do so, so i could get back to more important things. If I wanna eat, I wanna eat, I dont want a project.

I think that the sense of accomplishment, while a good thing, doesnt really merit putting forth so much effort when the end result will be right about the same of what you could have done easier and possibly cheaper, which is the whole reason I posted the thread. I do greatly appreciate the outside perspectives though