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This looks like an advertisement for Wellio. The linked article, links to a Wellio page with the same content verbatim. http://www.getwellio.com/ranking-least-nutritious-meal-dolla... The information may be useful still, but it should presented as long form advertising
Yes. I think these are usually tagged or labelled as "Sponsored Posts".
This looks like an advertisement for Wellio. The linked article, links to a Wellio page with the same content verbatim. http://www.getwellio.com/ranking-least-nutritious-meal-dolla... The information may be useful still, but it should presented as long form advertising
Most content on HN would probably fall under your definition of "long form advertising".
As someone who cooks a lot at home I call this an overstatement. Cooking a restaurant quality food is anything but easy for a non-professional cook. It took me months if not years to learn how to not overcook meat, and yet I still can't achieve the same level of juiciness and softness I see in meat cooked in restaurants.
You will also need to invest in good quality kitchenware if you're going to cook at home.
The article also completely ignores the other costs of cooking at home such as utilities, food waste, and your time which used not just for cooking, but also for shopping groceries.
Great article. Hope the authors extend this comparison with more information about how much time you spend to get those savings. Restaurants are interesting because you're not really saving much time, but you're converting shopping/cooking time into socializing time. Delivery via uber-eats type services is nice to get good food without spending time, but it isn't cheap. Fast food is quick and cheap if you're already…
Personally, I'd say just developing everyday food shopping and kitchen skills is a good start.
Learn to recognise good ingredients when you're shopping. Finding fruit and vegetables at the right level of ripeness or choosing a good cut of meat will improve your meal quality, reduce your waste, and save you time and money. Buying very cheap cuts of meat or clearance produce is often a false economy, as the quality is often so low that you'll waste much more and what you keep will be less healthy and less tasty.
Knowing where to go shopping for the best ingredients is helpful too. Independent local stores, farm shops or markets might have fresher and less modified products than a big chain store or home delivery service, and you might have more flexibility to get exactly the amount you want instead of a pre-determined pack size. Sure, it takes some time to buy fresh ingredients in person every few days, but probably only a few minutes.
Speaking of time, the amount I have saved over the years by knowing how to prepare different fruits and vegetables efficiently must far outweigh the relatively small amount I spent learning. (Seriously, if you don't know the easy way to slice a bell pepper or dice an avocado, go to YouTube right now and spend a few minutes finding out how professional chefs do this kind of thing. You'll thank me later.)
It's also important to have the right tools, and this is about quality, not quantity. Non-stick pans, good sharp knives and the right utensil for the job can all be big time savers, as well as often being safer than inferior alternatives. And get into the habit of always cleaning as you work, instead of stacking up some huge pile of dirty cookware, utensils, knives and boards to wash later.
Ultimately, it's hard to beat a decent home-made meal with good ingredients for cost, and unless you're talking about a nice restaurant it's going to be hard to beat it significantly on quality either, but you can certainly do a lot to reduce the amount of time you have to spend making one.
I think this analysis is a little flawed. I can understand their argument against factoring in opportunity cost as this will vary widely from person-to-person (and is pretty easy to consider on your own), but they also don't factor in waste or cost of the tools necessary to prepare food. For example, the article mentions that they used the cost for only 1/2 of an onion if the recipe called for only 1/2 an onion, but…
You can freeze a lot of fresh food for later use. That's what I use with a lot of the fruits and vegetables I buy, and then use them in smoothies. Cookies can be frozen. Bread can be frozen.
Often I'll save time and effort by buying frozen fruits and veggies. They're often fresher than "fresh" produce, as they're usually frozen immediately after they're picked rather than sitting around unfrozen in transport and then on the store shelf who knows how long before you buy them.
For example, you can buy frozen, chopped onions, and save yourself the time, hassle, and tears of chopping them yourself. I buy frozen fruits and berries, and "triple washed" kale and throw it immediately in to the freezer for use in smoothies. Lots of time saved and it's very economical. Nothing goes to waste.
"Beef Wellington" price per meal is $4.53, their first example. This is not even close to anything realistic, even just for the beef and not including the spices/sauces/etc that one would need.
"Beef Wellington" price per meal is $4.53, their first example. This is not even close to anything realistic, even just for the beef and not including the spices/sauces/etc that one would need.
Chicken Tacos Restaurant Price: 18.94 Cook at Home Cost: 1.14
>However you can easily make these meals at home. As someone who cooks a lot at home I call this an overstatement. Cooking a restaurant quality food is anything but easy for a non-professional cook. It took me months if not years to learn how to not overcook meat, and yet I still can't achieve the same level of juiciness and softness I see in meat cooked in restaurants. You will also need to invest in good quality ki…