We decided to eat organic at home and so ordered a cook book “The EAT-CLEAN DIET Cookbook” by Tosca Reno from Amazon.com. One day, my wife chose a recipe from this book, “sesame tofu on soba noodles” and off I went to get the ingredients.
There were 12 ingredients on the list and we had only one ingredient (water) at home. Except for tofu, noodles, green onions, arugula and red bell pepper, other ingredients could be used later. So, I thought it was worth to get all the 11 ingredients. Remember, we were going to eat organic from now on.
Some of the items on the list were new to me. Did not have a clue what “tamari” meant. Googled it from my iPhone while I was at the store and found out that it is a Japanese version of Soy Sauce. It took me easily 1 hour to get all these ingredients. However, I was glad that I found each one of the ingredients.
The grocery bill came to approx $40. I reasoned out that most of these ingredients like “tamari”, sesame oil and other sauces will be used later. With this reasoning, I got all these ingredients home.
1 hour later, the food was ready.
Sesame Tofu on Soba Noodles
The food tasted wholesome and organic. Was never a fan of tofu and this dish did not turn me into a tofu-loving person either. Anyhow, we never got to making this dish again. So, the sauces are still there in the refrigerator and may never get used.
This not-so-successful-but-expensive-home-made-organic-experiment got me thinking. It would have been cheaper to eat-out rather than making this dish at home. Plus, it would have saved at least 3 hours starting from choosing the recipe, shopping for ingredients, cooking and then cleaning.
I know that this dish is not our staple food and so not a good example for comparing eating out vs eating in. There is also the fun factor of making a new dish at home. However, I have come across some articles that say that eating-out is getting cheaper than making food at home. At the same time, I have come across articles that say eating at home is healthier than eating out.
So, while the debate is on-going, we have come across this website www.supercook.com that gives recipes based on the ingredients that you have at home. It is time to find a recipe that uses lots of “gluten-free tamari”.
So, what are your thoughts? Is eating “healthy” at restaurants cheaper than eating “healthy” at home?
