Is Take-Out Really Faster?
I spent two nights this past week finding out if take-out was faster.
Well folks, I did what I often do on weeknights around 5 pm...I called my
husband at work and asked what he had for lunch. Is this some type of
obsession I have for him (or food)??? Not exactly, it's my way of deciding
at the last minute what to make for dinner. You see if he had tacos for
lunch, I rule out all things Mexican. If he had a sandwich, anything
deli-like is off the list.
I often decide what to make for a weeknight dinner mere minutes before the
troops converge on my kitchen. I know in this situation our knee-jerk
reaction is to do the "take-out" thing. We think it's faster. But is it
really???????
If you break it down, minute by minute, it really isn't that much more
convenient compared to a fast homemade dinner. Just last night I called in a
take out order to a restaurant chain. Here's how the time went from that
moment on:
7:30 pm cycling class ends and I place the order on my cell phone. They
tell me it will be ready in 15-20 minutes. So I drive over there, it's about
10 minutes away.
7:55 Once I park, get through the line at the restaurant, and pay.
8:10 I arrive home and am unpacking the dinners
Total Time: 40 minutes
Total Cost: $35 (that's with my two teen daughters getting the kids meal and
my husband and I splitting an entree and a dollar tip for the nice lady at
the front desk)
Okay, so now you're thinking "Well of course it took 40 minutes, she went to
a restaurant. That's why drive-through fast food is the ticket on a
weeknight." Okay, so I tried this and you are right, it improved my time,
but not by a whole bunch.
6:10 pm I'm on the way back from picking my daughter up from the dance
studio and I haven't had the chance to go to the supermarket and last I
checked there was next to nothing in the frig. So I'm thinking fast food is
the way to go and my daughter isn't fighting me on it. We drive 10 minutes
to a part of town we fondly refer to as "fast food row"
6:28 pm other families must have the same idea because it takes us 8
minutes to get to the intercom and order our dinner
6:32 pm we pay for our food and are quickly on our way home
6:42 pm we are home and unpacking dinner
Total Time: 32 minutes
Total Cost: $20 (that includes 4 chicken sandwiches and 4 side salads from
the dollar menu, and no drinks)
Am I saying never take-out dinner again? Of course not, I'm just saying, it
might not be as fast and convenient as you think it is and making a quick
dinner home may beat it in real time spent (and most definitely money
spent). And, staying at home on those comfy nights to whip a quick dinner
together instead of driving the car to and fro to collect your take
out?....Priceless!
~Elaine
Related Topics: Frequent Eating Out Hurts Kids' Hearts, U.S. Leads at Dining Out
Technorati Tags: fastfood, take-out, quickmeals
Well folks, I did what I often do on weeknights around 5 pm...I called my
husband at work and asked what he had for lunch. Is this some type of
obsession I have for him (or food)??? Not exactly, it's my way of deciding
at the last minute what to make for dinner. You see if he had tacos for
lunch, I rule out all things Mexican. If he had a sandwich, anything
deli-like is off the list.
I often decide what to make for a weeknight dinner mere minutes before the
troops converge on my kitchen. I know in this situation our knee-jerk
reaction is to do the "take-out" thing. We think it's faster. But is it
really???????
If you break it down, minute by minute, it really isn't that much more
convenient compared to a fast homemade dinner. Just last night I called in a
take out order to a restaurant chain. Here's how the time went from that
moment on:
7:30 pm cycling class ends and I place the order on my cell phone. They
tell me it will be ready in 15-20 minutes. So I drive over there, it's about
10 minutes away.
7:55 Once I park, get through the line at the restaurant, and pay.
8:10 I arrive home and am unpacking the dinners
Total Time: 40 minutes
Total Cost: $35 (that's with my two teen daughters getting the kids meal and
my husband and I splitting an entree and a dollar tip for the nice lady at
the front desk)
Okay, so now you're thinking "Well of course it took 40 minutes, she went to
a restaurant. That's why drive-through fast food is the ticket on a
weeknight." Okay, so I tried this and you are right, it improved my time,
but not by a whole bunch.
6:10 pm I'm on the way back from picking my daughter up from the dance
studio and I haven't had the chance to go to the supermarket and last I
checked there was next to nothing in the frig. So I'm thinking fast food is
the way to go and my daughter isn't fighting me on it. We drive 10 minutes
to a part of town we fondly refer to as "fast food row"
6:28 pm other families must have the same idea because it takes us 8
minutes to get to the intercom and order our dinner
6:32 pm we pay for our food and are quickly on our way home
6:42 pm we are home and unpacking dinner
Total Time: 32 minutes
Total Cost: $20 (that includes 4 chicken sandwiches and 4 side salads from
the dollar menu, and no drinks)
Am I saying never take-out dinner again? Of course not, I'm just saying, it
might not be as fast and convenient as you think it is and making a quick
dinner home may beat it in real time spent (and most definitely money
spent). And, staying at home on those comfy nights to whip a quick dinner
together instead of driving the car to and fro to collect your take
out?....Priceless!
~Elaine
Related Topics: Frequent Eating Out Hurts Kids' Hearts, U.S. Leads at Dining Out
Technorati Tags: fastfood, take-out, quickmeals
12 Comments:
My favorite part about take out food is not having to clean up afterwards. Just throw away the packaging and the rest of the night is mine. That has to save SOME time!
Did you subtract the ordinary amount of time you'd have used up driving home in those scenarios? In both you were out anyway and getting something on the way.
Listing the prices was off topic, since the issue you were supposed to be addressing was time.
In the second scenario, how much faster would it have been to go fetch food from the grocery store in order to go home and cook it? In the particular situation you were describing, that was your other real option.
Take out is generally probably much less time efficient than people think, but I don't agree based on my reading of what you wrote that the experiences you describe do much to establish that point.
Although off topic, I'd like to add that while time is important and clean-up a pain, the garbage generated by carry-out is a real burden to our environment. So plan ahead and save time, money, and the environment.
I plan my meals in advance. I have the items needed on hand, the decision is made once at the beginning of the week or month, I've done menus a month in advance too....people tell that's too much work! How much work is it everynight? I know what I'm having for dinner, I plan the meal according to my families activities. If something comes up that meal is shifted to another night, then I have an "extra" meal, that's a good thing! It's not even about money, it's about eating healthy and having the food ready when you need it, not based on some restaurant or fast food joint. People have teased me about my zeal for organization, but some have since joined me and now they tell others how great it is!
Did you prepare a meal to see whether you could do it in that same pickup time.
9 times out of 10, take-out does take longer than homemade meals. But thats okay for me. The whole reason behind buying take-out (for me)is so that I don't have to cook. So I'm willing to wait the extra couple of minutes.
But thats just me.
There is too much salt in most take out food. So we only use it when necessary. Planning to cook at home is best if possible.
We only get take-out at our house when there is nothing left in the fridge but air and condiments, mostly so we don't buy everything we see when we go grocery shopping. You know, don't go grocery shopping hungry. Before my girlfriend and I started dating, she ate fast food for almost every meal. Since we started dating a year ago, and fast food has almost been cut completely out of her life, she has lost at least 20lbs. Well worth the time if your health improves.
I agree with the second comment. You can't factor in the time it takes to get from wherever you are to your home in making your comparison. Whether you get takeout or eat at home, you can't prepare food while driving in your car. Your time comparison should only include the additional time spent getting takeout versus time spent cooking in the kitchen.
That being said, I don't believe anyone who says they don't have time to cook at home. Pasta with bottled sauce, salads with veggies and cold cuts, grilled cheese sandwiches and canned soups...these are all simple to prepare. Now if you were too lazy to go to the store ahead of time...that's your problem!
I don't understand why everyone can think of a million reasons to justify getting takeout every night and ignore the one good reason not to - your health! Isn't adulthood about delaying gratification and being able to tell yourself "no" sometimes because it's the best thing for you? You don't let your kids eat nothing but candy for supper so you shouldn't let yourself eat nothing but junk, either! Good eating and good health can't get much simpler and yet we're all struggling so much with it.
I rarely eat take out and I am glad. As for the time issue I am a full time student I really don't have much time for anything, so I spend less than 2 hours cooking a week. How? I do all the cooking at once. I'll make a lasagna, stir-fry, and shephard's pie all at the same time. Then freeze them in portions. Now I have time during the extremely busy week and I know exactly what is in my food.
It is really dis-heartening to see that a lot of people here that left comments are trying to "justify takeouts". I agree with the blogger that takeouts are sometimes very convenient but in my household, not every week. I plan my meals in advance. Atleast a week in advance if not a couple of weeks. I go "big" grocery shopping (for non-perishables and food that doesn't spoil easily- freezer food, some veggies) only once every couple of weeks. For perishable foods(eggs, milk etc) I go once every week. The once every week shopping hardly takes 15-20 min because I plan my time around the most-nonbusiest time like after a late night dance practice, gym session and stuff like that (NOT at 5:00 where the grocery stores are buzzing with people).
Not having to think about what's for dinner and not having to go grocery shopping every other night, cuts down on my time I spend for the meal every night. I also have the satisfaction of not ruining my health and my family's health by eating take-out where "god knows what they put in it". I also have a lot of go-to meals that are done and ready in less than 30 mins that I use. Those are usually the one-pot wonders(I call them, soups, stews etc) so there is less to clean up. I also chop my veggies over the weekend sometimes so I can cut down on that time as well.
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