Monday, June 29, 2009

I'd like to teach the world to cook....


I realized something walking around the store today so many people in this country don't cook really don't cook. It got me thinking ya know when Steve and I go to the store we kind of stick to the perimeter where the whole real foods are we occasionally drift down the aisles for the odd canned vegetable or bag of rice, beans or flour. But on the whole I hope we don't do too badly when it comes to the choices in our shopping cart.
My pantry isn't perfect. I have cake mixes and pre-made cake frosting. There is always a brownie mix or 2 in there also the odd side dish helper. The top shelf has lunch stuff and popcorn more of the junk food things we seem to never eat but that's besides the point. I confess to some pre-packaged convenience food short cuts on occasion!!! However, overall I think it would be fair to say that I don't really cook with that stuff.
I was noticing carts around me at the store tonight with piles of tv dinners stacked like tall buildings cushioned by pillowy potato chip bags on a foundation of diet pop the biggest irony of all... (I do confess an abiding love for pepsi and a stubborn reluctance to even consider its removal or reduction in my life...is a 12 oz can a day really that horrific?? I try not to think about it...I drink like a gallon of water a day lol ok I'm going to stop justifying my horrible behavior now) I couldn't imagine dinner being whatever I could pull out of the fridge/freezer and then microwave into existence or wait whoa some of them even work in a skillet... mmm yummy....
Good REAL food doesn't take more time it doesn't take more money( I promise I'm CHEAP) it doesn't even take a lot of skill... all it takes primarily is just a little thought. The ability to handle a knife and a decent spice cabinet can help you along the way too.

***** BREAKING NEWS*****
This type of cooking doesn't even necessarily require a recipe...
If you have taste buds you're all set!
Retire your microwave. Buy a cutting board did you know those shriveled dried up colored bits in the "flavor pouch" aren't really shriveled up things in real life and they don't have to be glazed in ice either! ( right now I'm trying to remember why we own a microwave?? Popcorn? a placed to store baked goods? ) Meat doesn't come pre-cooked and real chicken doesn't look like that. It makes me sad to think of all the culinary joys and adventures in the world and to see how our society lives and thrives and drives on over salted faked to be cheap pre-processed dehydrated food on a daily basis... I know this rant has been ranted 100 times but still our stores are filled with a new "just add Water" or "microwave for only 90 seconds" package every day and grocery carts seem to be taking them into our homes also....

I'd like to teach the world to cook...

3 comments:

Kate said...

To tag onto your rant: I got rid of my microwave two years ago. At first it was so difficult, but it was the kicker I needed to teach myself not to rely on TV dinners, and boxed foods that just add water.
(I also have never owned a TV, but I'm about ready to crack on that one.)

Deaira Dea said...

Lol I dunno if we could do that I know Steve sure couldn't haha the first thing we did with our wedding money was start shopping for an HD tv... Nice to see/hear from you Kate :)

Scott said...

Julia Child already tried it and all those food network guys are trying it too. People don't want to cook its not that they can't. Microwaves make life a lot easier.