apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

we've always done a fair amount of cooking at home. i don't think that we are eating at home any more (or less) than we did three or four months ago. the biggest changes are at the grocery store - no more little extras. and i'd have to say that the eating out is less extravagant - pick up tacos or sandwiches when we are out and about and short on time instead of opting for a dine-in, nicer meal.

depression or recession?

We've definitely cooked at home more in 2009--our takeout and dining out experiences have been much fewer than in previous years. However, I've always loved cooking--we never ate out more than once or twice a week. And it's inspired more by health reasons than economic.

We've definitely been cooking at home more often, and from scratch if we can manage it since it's cheaper to do so. Lately I've been making big batches of foods like soups, pasta dishes, fruit salads, and steamed veggies so that we have enough for dinner and a couple of packed lunches.

We do still eat out, but less often and only at our favorite places that we want to support. And on those nights we spend more than we used to because it makes it more special, like a luxury rather than just dinner. I don't mind packing a lunch as long as I can occasionally splurge on dessert!

I gut renovated my kitchen last year, and hence have made a conscious effort to cook at home and eat about 80% of my meals at home.

The only time i eat out is when friends are getting together, or there is lunch with co-workers, and the rare few days when I dont carry lunch! But I have reduced my eating out significantly!

Guess I'm actually moving the opposite direction. I didn't have a job there for a while (i.e. pre-recession) and cooked all but one or two meals a week. (Eating out once a week was a big change for me when I got married; growing up, we rarely ate out.) About a year ago, I got a full-time job. I manage to still make most of the meals... I do some batch-cooking, some quickies (ie. pasta with sauteed veggies) and (sigh) yes, some frozen food has snuck into our routine. And we eat out more often, but not a whole lot... two to three times tops. I guess it's the frozen food that's the biggest change. I never used to do that at all.

I was already cooking 95% of my meals at home (I'm mid-twenties, single and live in a big city and I've seen too many of my friends spend 50% of their income on take-out, it's just not worth it to me), but I have been changing my eating-at-home habits. Because I cooked so much more than all of my friends, I justified it to myself when I spent a little extra on certain groceries, because I figured I was still spending less money than my Foodler-addicted friends. The biggest change I've made in the last six months is that I've gotten serious about making bread instead of buying it. Between me and my roommate, we could easily spend $20 a week on ciabatta, and so instead I spent $10 on bulk flour and have been making loaves using a no-knead recipe. This is already saving me tons of money!

Both Husband and I love to cook, so we're not necessarily cooking more.

What has changed in the past few months is actually due more to us moving halfway across the country than the economy: we joined a CSA and our weekend obligatory dinners (it's this guy's birthday, this guy is throwing a party, hey, we're all meeting for happy hour) have dropped considerably.

The CSA saves us so much on produce that I haven't really had to curttail any other spending. That plus the fact that it's supporting local farmers *and* it's the tastiest veg around...it's a no brainer. (localharvest.org will hook you up.)


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We've been cooking at home A LOT more . . . but I think that has as much to do with buying a house right now as the economy . . . once we move next week, having a decent-sized kitchen and garden box should encourage us even more.

We used to go out for brunch every Sunday, and that's out now. I've been buying frozen foods to take to work because I don't always have leftovers to take; frozen foods are are least cheaper than buying lunch out.
I cannot tell you how much I crave restaurant food, though. Ramen, korma, banh mi...stuff I could probably learn to make but for which I would need to go to special stores to buy special ingredients.

I am eating out a lot less because some of my friends are being impacted by the economy. Even in "flush-times" I was usually the person who wanted to socialize pot-luck so it doesn't bother me.

However, I do know folks in the restaurant business so I kinda feel bad for patronizing them less when the downturn economy hasn't directly affected my bottom line.

We have always had a good habit of weeknight cooking w/ leftovers for lunch the next day. However, we ate out way too much on the weekends. So, we've made an effort to only eat out once a week now... I've enjoyed my new love of cooking more elaborate meals on the weekends. It's fun to try out recipes that I wouldn't make on say a Wednesday night!

I've always been one to cook at home and eat out relatively little, so there's been little change on that front, especially since I've been spared any economic hardships (so far!)

But with spring coming on, I find I'm going out more often to enjoy the weather, which means more spending on food consumed outside the house. Spring/summer don't last long around here, I figure I might as well enjoy it!

My husband and I used to eat out about once a week- it usually came out to five or six times in a usual month. Now we're down to three or four times in a month, and it's more often going out for a burger at our local drive-in rather than a sit-down meal. I've also been making an effort to grocery shop cheaper- looking for sales and cooking with less meat.

Now that I have found myself as one of the 5M people who have been laid off, my wife and I have gone from eating out MANY times a week (lunches and dinners), to cooking more at home. We've saved so much money doing this that we can afford to shop at the "good" grocery stores (i.e. organics galore) and still save a ton of money.

Plus, I really love cooking.

I'm like kellyem in that I've been trying to bake my own bread as often as I can. When a loaf of bread can sometimes cost $5, it makes a lot of sense to begin budgeting there and with no-knead bread and Artisinal in 5 Minutes a Day, it's definitely a no-brainer.

I think the economic climate has been a blessing in some ways forcing this issue to the surface. For the past couple of years ( when we finished our kitchen) we have eaten many more home cooked meals gathered around the table actually TALKING to each other. It creates left overs for lunch as well.

But as posed in the question, the items I buy have changed dramatically. But again, I think it's a great learning lesson. OH the wonder of lentils! I am glad I now know what a WONDERFUL addition they are to my pantry arsenal. I also go through ALL items in my pantry before we restock. It has made me a much more creative cook. Really working those culinary muscles!!!!

We started eating in more mostly for health reasons a long time ago; we generally eat out for dinner once a week and lunch once a week. On weekends, it might be twice. The recession hasn't made us curtail our spending so much as our desire to save more, or to spend money on different things. I like to cook, so I don't mind it. A few weeks ago we vowed to go a solid 7 days without eating out, and really, it was fine except when things got busy.

Our dining out/eating in pattern changed early in 2008 when we welcomed our first, and only, baby into the family. Not only was it not in the budget to eat out as often as we used to, but it wasn't feasible given the constraints that an infant, then baby and now toddler put on eating outside the home. We have always been the type to cook most of our meals at home during the week and I bring my breakfast and lunch to work every day so the change was really in our weekend habits where in the past we would think nothing of eating breakfast, lunch and dinner out. We still eat a meal out but it will tend to be more low-key affairs at hole in the wall places that are conducive to toddler dining. A dinner out is much more special and we tend to splurge on those given that they are more rare than what they used to be. We make judicious use of leftovers and rarely let food go to waste.

I've been cooking in almost all the time anyway -- I still hadn't completely recovered from the LAST recession in 2002 when the recession of 2009 hit.

What I AM doing differently, though, is making smarter shopping choices and making leftovers go further, and making more things from scratch.

In the past few years my husband and I have been making the transition from college students to "real" adults. With this transition, we have been cooking a lot more at home. It's obviously less expensive, but in reality, we do it because we like simple meals and taking the time to prepare them!

I think that no matter what the reason, choosing to cook at home is always a good thing!

I am definitely eating at home more. I always cooked at home more frequently than most of my friends, but now I've become even MORE of a home cook. And like a previous commentor said, my cooking habits have changed. I have started to make bigger batches of freezable stuff so that I don't have the excuse that I'm too worn out to cook. I've also started making my own bread, mainly because I feel like I can control the amount I make at one time, so it doesn't go moldy and get thrown away like a lot of store bought bread used to. I'm also becoming much more aware of the ingredients I already have instead of just letting stuff sit in the pantry. Now, before I go shopping, I go through my cupboards and write down a couple of ingredients that I want to use up. Then, I go searching for recipes for that ingredient and make my shopping list accordingly. This has helped me cut my grocery bill AND my restaurant bills!

I've always been a home cooker... But maybe that's because 8 times out of 10, I know that what I'm cooking for myself will taste and feel better than what I would eat while out. Plus I couldn't order 99% of what I make at home in a restaurant.

I think one of the benefits of this slumpy economy and the crappy state of our environment is that people are rethinking the way they live they're lives. One aspect people are reexamining is how they eat. Cooking at home is not only more affordable and in most cases a heck of a lot healthier (for everyone, environment included) it's super fun and a wonderfully creative activity to share with friends and family.

I definitely eat at home more than I used, both for money and health reasons. It's been a challenge because both my husband and I work over 70hrs a week, and with a long commute, we don't get home until 9pm. So dinner gets ready around 10... it's pretty exhausting. I think what saves us, is also the fact that most restaurants are closed by the time we are ready to eat... and also I've noticed that I've grown accustomed to fresh ingredients, and find restaurant food either too greasy, salty or sweet. I guess it worked out in the end.

I already eat at home a lot and cook a ton. What I started doing was I only eat lunch out if I have a "lunch date" (which I do with one of my friends every few weeks). I'll still eat dinner out, but now, I freeze soups and have tons of leftovers so if I'm feeling lazy, I'm less tempted to call out for Thai...though if I'm in the mood, well, that's a different story. :)