Why Home Cooks Should Never Be Ashamed Of Ease & Convenience

This post may contain affiliate or sponsored links. All opinions expressed are 100% my own. 

Pexels - CC0 License

In almost every facet of life, we have curated ways to make our daily process easier and more convenient. After all, in our society we’re lucky to not have to walk miles to a local well in order to draw water for the day, and those that do in the world deserve to have indoor plumbing, appropriate irrigation, and excellent hygienic standards as well. 

This example shows that in order to live a comfortable life, some ability to rest into convenience is necessary. Yet it can sometimes be a point of pride for people to neglect those efforts, especially when it comes to practicing a craft yourself. For instance, home cooks often feel that starting from scratch is superior, as is growing your own produce and being sustainable as you  can.

You won’t hear anything against that in this post, in fact yes, this can be a fun and worthwhile goal to aim at if you have the means. Even curating your own fresh herb garden can be a lot of fun, as can learning new skills like how to carve a chicken properly, how to bake from scratch, and how to grow vegetables.

Yet sometimes, this desire can give way to shame when we neglect those opportunities entirely and instead rely on ease and convenience. In this post, we’re going to defend the latter, hopefully showcasing why no home cook should ever feel upset about relying on comfort or ease. Without further ado, let’s begin:

Time Is Limited

Lack of time is one of the main causes for which home cooks choose convenience foods. Finding the time to make a delicious meal from scratch might be tough with job, family, and other commitments. Pre-made sauces and pre-chopped veggies can save time and make it simpler to prepare a quick and wholesome meal. The same goes for pre-packed vegetables and pre-made pastry liners for baking or crafting savoury pies.

Always make sure you’re aware of the ingredients in each convenience, as just because you’re opting for a pre-made version it doesn’t mean you have to stomach enhanced sugar levels or preservatives with strange codenames that are less-than-healthy for you to eat. Regardless, it’s okay to save time, and to cook meals that require less perfect attention on the stove than others.

Nutritional Restrictions

Dietary limitations are another factor supporting the importance of convenience. It might not be possible for people with food allergies, intolerances, or special diets to create everything from scratch. 

For those with dietary limitations, it can be simpler to discover solutions that suit their needs if there are convenience products available that are gluten-free or vegan - or whatever other alternative they might have trouble curating at home. The accessibility of health can be improved in this way, even in some of the purchases necessary for your overall grocery list.

For example, when you know you have Omega-3 fish oil tablets, you might not need to purchase fresh fish every single week, and this way you could save a little money.

Cost-Effective

For home cooks, convenience foods can also be a budget-friendly choice. Fresh foods can be pricey and occasionally out of season, increasing their cost. On the other hand, convenience goods are frequently more available and affordable. Additionally, these goods could have a longer shelf life, which can be helpful for people who cook for themselves or a small family in particular. For example, frozen vegetables are generally considered to be easier to hold and cook with, as they last for longer. But because they’re frozen nearly immediately after picking, they also hold more nutrients than those sitting on a supermarket shelf for a week before purchase. So, cost-effective doesn’t always mean bad.

Convenience Isn’t Necessarily Worse

Long gone are the days where convenience means lazy, a shortcut, or getting over the essential preparation methods that work the best. For instance, as you can see with this instant pot ribs recipe, cooking ribs has never been easier to do, and you may even cut down on marination time beforehand thanks to this method.

But the recipe is absolutely delicious, crafting melt-off-the-bone meat cooked at the perfect temperature in uniform fashion. The cooking implement might be novel, but the results certainly aren’t, they provide the same great taste we’re looking for. It’s no wonder so many people enjoy this kind of cooking style.

With this advice, we hope you can continue to use ease and convenience where appropriate, without feeling bad about making things easier for yourself. For many, this can be the difference between someone ignoring or following the path to home cooking.