The bill at the grocery store is rising faster than it has in nearly 20 years according to NPD Group.

Paradoxically, more people are stocking up at the supermarket and heading home for dinner to manage their family's budget. Americans are eating fewer meals in restaurants and spending less when they do go out.

NPD Vice President Harry Balzer estimates that it costs three times as much to eat out than to eat at home. He said Americans spend 10 percent of their income on food, and they won't allow that percentage to rise.

To keep food expenditures down, families are turning away from more expensive restaurants and meals, and cooking more meals at home.

"Consumers are getting fewer main meals at restaurants, and even though inflation at supermarkets is the highest it's been in 17 years, there are more fast and inexpensive options available to consumers at grocery stores that didn't exist years ago," said NPD report author Bonnie Riggs.

Home, Not Homemade

In the grocery store, Balzer said, families may decide to limit how much expensive meat they buy and stock up on sale items and staples. They'll also turn to frozen meals and easy-to-prepare items.

"I think people are eating at home more, but not necessarily homemade food -- maybe (they) pick up a roasted chicken at the deli or frozen pizzas," said registered dietitian Cindy Brison, an extension educator with the University of Nebraska.

Heading home to eat can have more advantages than just saving money.

"You have complete control of the food," Balzer said. "It's probably a healthier way to go because, if nothing else, you control portion sizes."

Brison said homemade food tends to be lower in saturated fat, calories and sodium than restaurant meals.

Family Time

She also said the family time an at-home meal creates has all kinds of other benefits.

"Kids are better able to handle social events, because they have had practice. They learn table manners, etiquette (and) how to sit still for longer than 5 minutes," Brison said. "(Also,) it is easier to get kids to try new foods at home than if the only selection in the kid's meal section is chicken nuggets or a hamburger."

"Youth who eat more family meals perform better in school, they spend more time on homework, get better grades … are happier, less likely to use alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana (and) are less likely to engage in early sexual activity or to have eating disorders," according to DrGreene.com.

Valerie Lawson, the project director for YMCA's Healthy Family Home, which helps families get ideas for creating a healthier home life, said she encourages families to work together to first create menus and then to cook dinner. She said that, instead of thinking of cooking dinner as a chore that has to be done before the family can spend quality time together, the meal can be the family time.

Lawson said one tip to create the balance between cooking and other activities is double up the recipe.

"Prepare enough to have leftovers. Grilled chicken breast one night, the next night could be a salad," Lawson said. "When you start to make the connection that you only have to cook one night for two nights, there's a payoff."

More Men Cook

Another thing changing in the American kitchen is a rising number of men at the stove, Balzer said. His research shows that the exponential rise in women leaving the home for work, seen in the 1970s, '80s and '90s, has leveled off, and now men and women are used to sharing more of the household burdens.

"I suspect we're going to push men into cooking more," Balzer said. "We're seeing more men under 35 cooking more. If you're the son of a baby boomer, you're cooking."

Restaurants, Groceries Respond

What hasn't changed is the squeeze families feel on their time. Between two full-time jobs, school and extracurricular activities, families have often relied on restaurants to fill the gap. Balzer said fast-casual restaurants, such as Panera Bread and Chipotle, are still attracting customers at a steady pace because their prices aren't that much higher than eating at home, and it takes the burden of cooking off the parents.

Finer-dining establishments are also expected to compete for the dollars.

"Casual and fine dining places may add lunch menus priced differently that traditional lunch menu. There are gong to be novel ways of providing new foods to attract customers," Balzer said.

The packaged food industry is expected to respond, too, with even more easy-cook meals.

"Grocers may create more deli items, more easy-to-make items priced at a point it is less expensive," Brison said.

"We're still looking for ways to get out of cooking. Frozen foods and ready-to-eat foods will do well. We'll also see the economy brands (and) store brands doing well," Balzer said. "There is not a recession in eating. There will not be a greater desire to cook. The question has been, who will win?"

On June 5, Bloomberg reported that Wal-Mart and Costco said May sales climbed as record gasoline and food prices drove shoppers to discount chains.

Meanwhile, Sarah Lockyer, financial editor at Nation's Restaurant News, told American Public Media's Marketplace that casual chains such as Bennigan's are suffering.

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