Thursday, January 14, 2010

Food for thought ...

So I read this article today -- no idea where -- and it said something about the author's new year's resolution was to cook every day. And by "cook" he / she meant even to put blueberries on top of cereal. And she / he encouraged every one else to do the same! Cook something! It's empowering!

I am flabbergasted. Are there actually people out there who don't "cook" -- by this lose definition -- at all? Seriously?

What on earth do they eat?

I admit to being a mediocre and somewhat careless cook. My criteria for a good meal is something easy and quick, so my specialties of the house are macaroni and cheese, pizza, and soups that need to be simmered for lengthy times while I stir on occasion and basically ignore them (not quick, but definitely easy). I also am very good at salad. And breakfast in general. I can put berries on flakes with the best of 'em.

(Also, I don't consider that "cooking".)

I don't think I have ever, in my life, regularly eaten breakfast on the run, from a cafe / fast food joint / package. And I always eat breakfast. But ... I mean, come on, people! How hard is it to "make" your own cereal instead of getting a breakfast 'wich from the nearest coffee shop? And let me tell you from the queen of quick meals: it's just as easy (and far better for you) to whip up single pot macaroni and cheese and broccoli from scratch than ordering in, microwaving a ready meal, or eating out.

I think perhaps I've just led a sheltered life as far as food goes -- my mother cooked every night, even as a working parent. Delivery was never an option, although we did, on some occasions, go out to eat. My current partner is a great cook, and my previous one liked to cook (although I now realize he was no where as good as he liked to believe.) And then I have a metabolism that hates fast food anyway -- the very idea of eating every meal from a restaurant or cafe physically repels me. Just the thought of it, let alone actually doing it.

And it's really no wonder why we're a nation (or culture) of terrible health issues when people actually DO eat that way.

2 comments:

JS said...

*hangs head in shame*

Does adding water to soup mix count for cooking at lunchtime. ;)

wealhtheow said...

Wow, that's ... disturbing.

I mean, we eat a lot of meals that I don't really consider proper cooking -- President's Choice meatballs/veggie balls out of a box, heated up in the oven; fish sticks and frozen peas; PC hamburgers and Lick's Nature Burgers on bagels, with frozen corn on the side; spaghetti with sauce that I thawed out from the freezer, with a salad consisting only of lettuce on the side; cold cereal with milk; peanut butter and crackers and a banana -- that kind of thing. And we order in at least once a week, sometimes twice. My time is limited, my target audience is super-picky, and sometimes nobody feels like cooking at all. So I tend to feel like something of a failure in this area.

But is it possible there are actually people (outside NYC) who don't even cook that much? What, as you say, do they eat? What do they use their kitchens for? Do they even own refrigerators?

I suppose this goes along with the advice I'm always reading here and there about how you can save, like, $100 or $150 a week by bringing your own coffee to work in a travel mug and packing your lunch. Obviously it costs less to bring a sandwich than to buy one, but seriously? People are spending TWENTY DOLLARS A DAY just on lunch and Starbucks? How much money would you have to be making for that to seem like a reasonable idea?

It takes all kinds, I guess...