We all want to enjoy a delicious, satisfying Meal at the end of a long day. Unfortunately, we don’t all have the luxury of endless time to prepare homemade meals. What you may not realize, however, is that home Cooking is not as difficult or time-consuming as you might think.

With a little planning and preparation, you can eat well every day of the week. Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of cooking from scratch to see why you should make this change to your family’s routine.

1. It’s more cost-effective than eating out. A meal for the whole family at a restaurant could cost you $100 or more. If you spent the same amount on groceries, you could feed the family for several days or even a whole week.
2. The taste and quality are much higher. Restaurants are concerned with their bottom line, so they’re more likely to use low-quality ingredients or to make compromises on flavor. With home-cooking, you can do things like using butter instead of margarine and customize the flavors to your own taste.
3. It can be much healthier. At a restaurant, the cooks are concerned with getting the food out quickly, so they don’t pay attention to how much cooking oil they use. They are also concerned about getting the most bang for their buck, so they might not go the healthy route like you can if you cook at home.
4. It’s a great opportunity for family time. Involving your family in the meal prep process is great for bonding and simply sharing a meal at home has its benefits as well. Eating out puts you in a time-constrained situation and if you order in, you may not all eat together.
5. Cooking can be a great stress reliever. Once you learn how to cook from scratch, you may find that you really like it and the simple act of cooking can become a stress reliever. It might become something you look forward to at the end of the day as a means of unwinding after work.
6. You have the opportunity to be creative. Though you may start out by following recipes, once you get the hang of home cooking you can be creative with your dishes. Challenge yourself by picking out different ingredients and try to create something unique with them.
7. It gives you better portion control. When you cook for yourself, you can prepare as much or as little as you like. This makes it easier to control your portions instead of trusting the restaurant to do it for you.
8. You don’t have to worry about food allergies. If you have food allergies or sensitivities, eating out can be a nightmare. When you cook at home, you know exactly what is and isn’t going into the food and you can be mindful of cross-contamination.

Cooking from scratch doesn’t need to be difficult. By compiling a collection of your favorite simple recipes, you can make a plan for the week and do all of your shopping at once. You might even do some of the ingredient prep work over the weekend to minimize your prep times during the week.