Is Eating Out the New American Pastime?




Last fall when my daughter went on vacation she asked me to check on her 19 year old son and be sure he ate some good meals. So I called him and asked him what he would like me to make for him. He mentioned a few of his favorites dishes.  I had the best of intentions but with a busy lifestyle I made him only two of the home cooked meals that he requested and the other three meals we ate out.

My grandson Brooks

When I was growing up we rarely ate out. I do remember going on a couple trips and we ate in a restaurant and we had hot beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes. I thought that was fine dining! We also didn't eat out much when we were raising our daughters. I am a good cook and would always plan our menus for a week at a time. We only ate out on special occasions.

Hot beef sandwich

Eating out become a little more frequent when I went back to work when our daughters were preteens. I worked alongside my husband in the ministry and we would put in long hours and sometimes be gone from home 10 hours a day. So preparing dinner became a little more difficult. My husband, Mr. Calm, Cool, and Collected, was raised on a farm and he still has the internal dinner bell in him so he likes to eat at 6 am, noon, and 6 pm. Another thing he likes is at least one hot meal a day (even if he hasn't plowed the back forty that day!). So we began to eat a meal out a couple times a week.

The national average for eating out is five times a week and I would say I have met that average many weeks. I believe we live in a society that likes to be served and also likes convenience and that is what eating out does for us.

Now that my schedule is not as full, I am once again trying to cook at home more.

Here are a few things that has worked for me:

• Plan ahead, which means prepare my menu for the    upcoming week.

• Grocery shop for the meals I plan to cook. 

• Try to make at least one new recipe a week.

• Get help from the experts - one website that I like is eatathomecooks.com. It has everyday food for busy people.

• Actually prepare some of the recipes that I have pinned on my Pinterest boards.

• Have variety in my menu by adding ethnic meals but if they don't taste as good as the local ethic restaurant then treat myself to a meal out!

I hope this helps some of you that have gotten caught up in the eating out trap. I will keep you posted on how I am doing and hope to hear from some of you on tips that work for you.