re: 62% of Americans now cook at home

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one of my bad vices is chinese food.

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I remember when Chinese food was a cheap option.

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I meal prep every week and eating healthy and lean foods is not cheap at all. Buying steaks, chicken, and sausage for the meat parts of my food pisses me off at what they cost, especially the steaks.

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All depends on what and where you buy. Produce? Go to a farmer's market. Meat, chicken and sausage are relatively cheap. Grilling steaks, like ribeyes/filets/etc... can be costly, if you are getting prime. Much more affordable if you get choice/select.

Also, my wife meal prepped for awhile. It was expensive. Mostly because the stuff she was making called for quinoa ($10+ bag) and she'd only use a cup. Or some other non-standard ingredient that she'd buy (almond flour) that would inevitably go bad because she would not make enough to use it all.

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You and gaypride87 are so dense. It's an example of options for very cheap meals that can feed a family. Instead, they are eating fast food 4 nights a week.

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If you are being purposefully obtuse on how high the cost of fresh foods at the grocery store costs by dropping the “derrrr rotisserie chicken” as your example, that’s on you buddy.

We cook pretty much every meal sans a couple on the weekends each week. We buy in bulk as well. My grocery bill has still doubled post-COVID.

I also have the luxury of working a job that affords me the time in my day 3 out of 5 week days to prep and cook. A lot of people don’t, not as COL continues to rise.

My other issue is it feels like in the last couple of years finding good, fresh produce that doesn’t spoil quickly can be difficult. I bought one of those Dole salad bags the other day to eat that day and it was already part brown, almost 5 days before the due date.

So yes, is it cheaper? Sure. But you’re ignoring a hell of a lot variables that doesn’t exactly make it easier.

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Folks aren’t going to eat chicken and rice for every meal.

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There is a lot more you can do with a rotisserie chicken than chicken and rice.

I through together a pasta with chicken thighs, frozen roasted peppers and onions, San Marzano Tomatoes, beef broth (bought the wrong broth, chicken would have been better), Parmesan, and some Fusilli pasta. I'd say, the entire meal was about $25-30. It fed me and my wife for about 5 days, and i still ended up tossing about 1/3 of it in the trash at the end of the week.

Cooking at home is much cheaper than ordering out. Historically, most of the foods we Louisianians enjoy (gumbo, jambalaya, sauce piquante, etc...) are "poor people" food. Anything tastes great if you cook it long enough.

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I’m sure people could eat beans and rice or Raman and it would be way cheaper but no one is gonna do that.

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There's a guy on TikTok right now getting popular showing people how to build meals for $5 and $10 at places like Dollar Tree and WaWa. It's a pretty valiant mission he's on educating people on how to make food that tastes good and has some nutrients on a very tight budget IMO. That said, I would go crazy if that was all I had to eat.

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If you are being purposefully obtuse on how high the cost of fresh foods at the grocery store costs by dropping the “derrrr rotisserie chicken” as your example, that’s on you buddy.

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Rotisserie chicken is actually a good point. I made an incredible roast and gravy all day Sunday. Well, stupidly , i left it on the counter overnight to cool and had to throw the whole thing out. I pivoted and bought a rotisserie chicken, and some of those Alessi pasta sides, and a bagged salad. Wife and I ate off of that for 2-3 days and it was very cheap ($7.99 for the chicken, $3.50 for the pasta, $4-5 for the salad).

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We cook pretty much every meal sans a couple on the weekends each week. We buy in bulk as well. My grocery bill has still doubled post-COVID.

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That aint' a lie. But i also probably overspend on groceries more than most.

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I also have the luxury of working a job that affords me the time in my day 3 out of 5 week days to prep and cook. A lot of people don’t, not as COL continues to rise

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I usually cook big on Sunday to last me for the week.

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My other issue is it feels like in the last couple of years finding good, fresh produce that doesn’t spoil quickly can be difficult.

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Farmer's market or produce mart is the answer. Grocery stores are hit and miss.

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$25 to feed a family of 5 with a home cooked meal is insane

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Are you saying it costs more than that or thats too much?

A big pot of red beans that will feed 5-6 costs $10

Huh… you don’t believe the cost of good has gone up since 2003?

Are you fricking retarded?

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Sixty-two percent of Americans cook at home on a regular basis.

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This is the actual stat. That's a very low number. It's not even every day or most days. It's on a regular basis, which could be a few times a week or less.