Baby Steps to Home-Cooked Meals for Take-Out Addicts

Are you trying to reduce the habit of eating take-out? Is your food budget out of control because you eat more food prepared by someone else than you cook? Are you trying to incorporate more vegetables in your diet than French fries? These easy baby steps will help wean you away from the drive-through window and set you on a path of cooking more from scratch.

Buy one fresh fruit or vegetable that you've never had
How do you really know you don't like spinach? I have too many memories of boiled spinach on my grade-school lunch tray. I've learned that I absolutely love the taste of raw spinach in a salad - it doesn't even need hot bacon dressing - as a change from or mixed with romaine and iceberg.

My boyfriend - who won't eat cooked vegetables because they taste "green" - will eat almost any vegetable raw or stir-fried. Eat the fresh vegetables as an appetizer, with or without a low-fat dressing to dip them in, while you prepare dinner.

Make one meal from scratch rather than take-out
Do you regularly pick up Chinese take-out for a fast dinner? Did you know that fried rice can be prepared fresh at home in less than 30 minutes?

If you make your own rice for a dinner, make sure to make double the amount you would need for one meal. Refrigerate the leftover rice for a night when you are short on time. Chop up leftover beef, pork or chicken (you can chop fresh, too). Sear the meat in a large skillet, add chopped vegetables and then the leftover rice. Form a well in the middle of the mixture, add one or two beaten eggs and stir into the rice mixture when cooked. You can add soy sauce to your taste, but for a more authentic restaurant flavor, keep a small bottle of sesame oil in your pantry. Drizzle a teaspoon or two over the fried rice just before service.

Replace one convenience item with homemade
Do you buy frozen French toast or breakfast burritos for a quick breakfast? In less than an hour on the weekend, you can make a larger quantity of both for your freezer, save money and reduce the preservatives going into your body.

To make French toast for the freezer, buy a loaf of pre-sliced Italian bread. It tends to have a firmer texture that holds up better to the custard. In a large bowl, scramble 6-8 eggs with one-half to one cup of milk. Add a few drops of pure vanilla extract and a healthy sprinkle of cinnamon. Dip the bread into the custard and fry on a non-stick skillet, turning until both sides are brown. The whole loaf of bread becomes the equivalent of 3 packages of frozen French toast for about $3.

By following these baby steps each week, you can put more money in your bank account and think of cooking at home in a new light. Soon, you and your family will remember the taste of your cooking is better than a take-out bag cooked by someone else.

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