Meals From the Heart For the Home

December 19, 2012

Home cooked meals bring the family together. For example, has it ever been said, "Since you bought McDonald's, I’m coming over for dinner?" Fast food tends to be easy food for private consumption, separating the members of the house. On-the-go type morsels set the stage for each person to eat in their own private quarters. Meals prepared in the house set off a siren as to say to everyone in the home, "Calling everyone to the table!" All the inhabitants of the home should desire to be at the dinner table when a home cooked meal is prepared! "Food can bring people together to laugh, to eat, and to simply celebrate life." With this type of dining, the entire house can get involved. Children may arrange the table while teens fix beverages, and the adults can arrange the side items for fixing plates. This is meal time in a way that pleases everyone. Everyone can do something. The meal can accommodate everyone’s taste, and everyone’s needs may be considered.

Cooking in the home allows you to control the components of the meal. Home cooked meals may consist of salty and fatty items, but you regulate the ingredients. You have the ability to make the healthier choice in home cooking. "The most important thing to keep in mind when experimenting with new seasonings and while you adapt your eating lifestyle, is you can make a commitment to better manage your health." You determine the makeup of each course. Whether reading a recipe from a cookbook or one handed down from a previous generation in your family, you orchestrate the meal plan to fit your needs and taste. At home you can take charge, desiring to have more healthy options, or you may want to be creative like adding chunks of chicken and bacon bits to your meatloaf. Meals prepared in the home allow you to be the meal inventor, cook, and dietician. Carry out and fast food purchases cannot accommodate these aspects completely. Preparing food at home allows you to have total input on the meal, and you can even specify quantity and portion sizes as you desire.

Home cooked meals allow you to get more for your dollar. Fast food and take-out purchases are so expensive! You can easily spend up to twenty dollars on one meal. Many meals prepared in the home can extend to four to five meal times. Meals prepared on Sunday may last until Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on the family size. The average cost of a home cooked meal can be twenty dollars (just like that single dining out meal), which will produce enough food for three persons for at least two days equivalent to four meal times. This is an advantage for families wanting to save money and wisely use their resources.

Home cooked meals satisfy everyone in the home. All the members can enjoy a specific meal intended for them. The cook is pleased by creating something for the family. Arranging a meal made from the heart feels gratifying. Fast food does not naturally nourish the family in this way. Cooking like this expresses your feelings of love and care to your family. Patti LaBelle says, "Many people can throw a meal together, but those who cook with love have more than a meal-they have the makings of a good life!" The members of the house appreciate the time and effort from those who prepared the meal. There is always a sense of affection and thankfulness toward those who arrange and serve their families like this. "Setting out a ‘little something’ [for family to eat] is like giving somebody a hug when they walk into the house." Over the table of a home cooked meal, families share their feelings, thoughts, and concerns about any and all matters. This is the type of fellowship that bonds a family tighter. Home cooked meals bring a quality of provision, concern, fondness, cheer, and unity to the home that no other type of meal may provide. Fast food is just a quick fix to get you by. Home cooking is an experience that lasts.

Chris W.
Red Bridge Branch