Cooking or Preparing

The inspiration for this post actually came from my husband...thank you Hector.

We were watching TV(Which I do a lot since my spinal surgery) and we saw a commercial for a generic type of food that promised a wonderful meal after pulling it out of the freezer and adding a boxed side dish and opened a bag of salad and pour on bottled dressing and Viola!, you have dinner. WHAT??

When did opening a box, can, bag or anything pre-prepared become dinner. that is when my husband defined the difference. People are now preparing dinner, as opposed to cooking dinner. That is not to say I do not canned food for some convenience or emergency when I cannot make something myself, they do serve a purpose, but on a daily basis...come on.

Let me give you an example. Those who live in Florida and some states in the Southeast know of a grocery store chain called Publix. This is not an endorsement nor a bashing, just an observation. They have this little set-up called Aprons. It is a menu card with all items for said dish. gives you all the bells and whistles on what to buy and how to prepare said item. And conveniently enough all items for the dish are right there within an arms reach. The perfectly portioned meat(Which the dish asks for), the pre-chopped onions, pre-chopped green peppers, the pre-chopped tomatoes, you get where I am coming from.

I guess there is a market for this type of food, but again at what expense. I see moms that work all day, run to get the kids from school, drag them to whatever practice is that day and then fly home to barely get dinner on the table(That is if they have not gone through the Drive-Thru window at the local fast food joint, or called ahead for a 2 large 3 topping pizza with extra cheese) and then call it dinner.

What happened to making food. I know I am the first one to sit down and eat. I love food. It the gift from the Gods, it is here to be enjoyed, not thrown together with this preservative and that preservative. that's not food. And what genius(Most more then likely a man) invented preservatives? Now granted, they serve a purpose let's say in the battle field, but other than that there are few places that belongs, and definitely not in our mainstream of food supply.

I wish I could tell people how easy it was/is to cook/make real food. And it is not really all that expensive(I know this for we are on a super-strict budget, and yet somehow we manage to but some Kick-A(As my son has deemed if it is something of quality) food, and food I would serve to company. now there are nights we just have scrambled eggs and home fries, Yummo! But that is rare. I wish I could instill to people my love for food and cooking food. they have no idea what they are misisng. I know of a woman, through my husband, that does not cook. did you read that correctly? Yes you did. They eat out or order out 7 days a week. What kind of role model or example are you going to be to your children. come on folks, food is good, most of us like eating it but do not want to take the time to see the creative process in being in the kitchen. That's like a painter saying I like my finsihed prodeuct, but I hate picking out paints. Hellloo! It's a labor of love.

OK, I am obviously feeling a wee bit better, for I am complaining, and you know us women, if we can complain, then we are most definitely feeling better. Thanks for listening and hope to have some new recipes up soon. TTFN!