I still hate Winter but sometimes I forget how fun it can be to take a kid to the park in the dead of Winter. Something about snow piled up on the slide is hilarious. Hayley went to see her grandparents on Saturday, so I took Breanna for a walk; she had taken a long nap and I wanted to tire her out so she’d go to bed easily. When I saw the park, I took her in and she was amazed.
Good thing we went, since the temperature then dropped drastically over the last couple of days and there was no way I was going out unless I had to.
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I’ve mentioned before that I love to cook. I still do. However, there’s something to be said sometimes for getting yourself one of those sodium-laden convenience meals with little redeeming value. Some of them taste like the crap they are, but some are quite tasty and they’re great to have in your freezer on those days when you’re tired, or lazy, or just running around too much to start making a decent supper from scratch.
And it’s fine if that’s something you do in between regular cooking.
Yesterday I felt kind of icky. I wasn’t quite sick, and I had had a decent if not wonderful sleep the night before. I couldn’t figure out why I felt so blah. Then I went to take the garbage out. Instead of large garbage bags, we often use the plastic bags from the grocery store. Do you know what was in one of the bags?
An empty box of Jamaican patties that I had been eating for lunch the past few days. An empty box of fish sticks. A bag from french fries. A box of meat pie. Four boxes of those little individual turkey pot pies. A couple of boxes of microwave pasta meals.
O_o
No wonder I felt so crappy. Hello processed food hell! Other than breakfast, everything I had been eating for my meals came out of a box! Granted, we were also having salads and/or vegetables with them, but still!
I was horrified. To be someone who enjoys cooking and loves food, that was way too much convenience. That wasn’t even about convenience any longer, that was just laziness.
Tonight I made up a nice big batch of chili, and let me tell you, my whole body is much happier to have eaten something I actually made, rather than something I dumped into a pan and shoved in the oven for 20 minutes. Tomorrow I’m making up a list of groceries and it will include a whole bunch of non-convenience stuff, let me tell you. I think something vegetarian in the mix would be a good idea too. Maybe some Koshary. A nice Moussaka. Anything as long as it doesn’t come out of a box.
Sheesh.
Do you ever get carried away with the convenience of convenience food?
Look up the Bruschetta pork chops on the Kraft website. REALLY tasty and SO easy!
All the time, especially now that I’m so pregnant. We have a grocery delivery service in NYC that sells prepared meals – not quite as bad as boxed, but still isn’t homemade, and I’ve been relying on it waaaay too much lately.
Ugh, I go through some phases of that. Usually no more than two main meals in a row, and often mainly for the kids, but still, I know I feel guilty as sin when I do that. I have a fantastic Chicken Pot Pie recipe that is easy as sin and tastes better than those frozen ones. Let me know if you want the recipe. I always keep a pre-made pie crust in my freezer. 🙂
Amy’s kitchen meals are great if you’re going the frozen foods route. They’re mostly organic, no GMO’s, no preservatives, and veg*n.
Hello. Just came across your blog. You sound so much like so many of the rest of us. But–credit to you–you’re doing something about it.
I have been enjoying homemade eggnogs lately. They are quick and easy to make, really really healthy and just plain fun. Our kids love ’em too. There are a bunch of unique eggnog recipes at http://www.grassfedrecipes.com.
Adieu,
Mark
The link to grassfed recipes website doesn’t work. I don’t know why ‘cuz the site is up land active. How kto correct the link I don’t know. Oh well, just click on the Mark!