Over the past several months my wife and I have been cooking almost every meal at home. Some nights when I am home, I help her do the cooking. I call her
the Queen of the Kitchen and I am her serf. I usually follow her instructions to make sure the cooking is done properly. I have learned how to cook some things, but mostly I just help. On some nights, I do the majority of the cooking but usually items that she has taught me how to cook. I have never ventured out on my own in the kitchen.
What are the benefits of cooking meals together?
- Spending time together. Many couples complain of not ever having time together. Cooking each evening allows you to be together as well accomplishes a daily task. Each person has their own role in completing the meal, whether it is preparing, cooking, or cleaning afterwards. Supper becomes a joint effort and no one feels that they are all alone in this task.
- Spending less money on meals. Over the years, we have been guilty of eating out quite a lot. No one
really knows how much money we have spent eating at different establishments. Since January, we have been cooking at home and our budget has appreciated it. - Eating healthier. Today, we hear so much about being healthy…cutting out fried foods and processed foods…eating less sugar…eating more vegetables, etc. When we cook at home, we can control what we are eating and how much we eat. (Personally, the food tastes so much better when cooked at home.)
- Losing Weight. Since we have been eating at home and not out all the time, my wife and I have lost about sixty pounds together. It has been fabulous.
Now many of you might already cook at home all the time, but when both spouses work outside of the home it is difficult. Some nights I work until 7 or even 8. Before, most of those nights I would stop on the way home and get something out. Now, my wife either has the meals cooked or I help her when I get home. Let me challenge you to work on this as a couple. We all need to spend more time together. We probably all could save some money. And we need to be healthy. Here are just a couple of suggestions of how to get started.
- Make a menu for the week. We make our menus on Friday night. We have a list of suggestions compiled if we ever get stuck. When you do this together, no one feels that he/she has all the responsibilities of the meals.
- Make a grocery list off of the menu. Again, we do this on Friday night. My wife knows the ingredients of the dishes that we are cooking for the week. I help with the items that we need for lunches and breakfasts. This list helps us stay on track when we go to the store.
- Post the menu where everyone can see it. If you have children at home, let them help in the process and see the menu. If the menu is visible and you stick to it, you remove the question “what’s for dinner?”.
- Have fun. Making menus, grocery lists, grocery shopping, and cooking are all chores. I do not know many people who like to do chores. Try to create a fun environment around these activities.
Meal times are important. The preparation time can be just as important. Work toward using this time for relationship building.
What do you do with the preparation time of supper to build your relationship?
After spending more than 25 years on church staffs, God has allowed me to take the experiences and knowledge that I gained to develop a Biblical Counseling ministry. The basis of this ministry is to allow God’s Word to shine on the main issues in peoples’ lives in order to bring His resolutions to problems.