I was thinking about this. Although there have been convenience foods for
as long as I can remember, the types of convenience foods I buy and consume
have changes.

As a child, my mom did cook some but they bought a lot of precooked things
or packaged things. Like Rice A Roni, Noodle Roni, Kraft Macaroni and
Cheese, Hamburger Helper (didn't come onto the market until I was older),
boxed puddings, Shake N'Bake, canned soups, frozen fish sticks, frozen
slices of turkey in gravy and of course the dreaded TV dinners. Our
vegetables mostly came from cans. I did grow some in our garden but we have
such a short growing season here. So we didn't get a lot from it. We did
almost always have a salad with dinner but it was almost always just iceberg
lettuce. My mom doesn't like a lot of other stuff on her salad. And she
doesn't eat dressing. Her spaghetti sauce came from a little packet that
you added water to. Perhaps there was meat added as well. I don't
remember. She didn't make it often as we certainly didn't like it. The
taco seasoning also came from a packet and that wasn't well liked either.
We did like tacos. Just not the stuff from the packet. She never seemed to
cook it long enough or something and it came out watery. We always had
frozen berries which were often picked by us during the summer. We did have
fresh fruit. She did bake cookies but often they were the packaged kind.

Then I got my first apartment. At first what we ate was a mishmash of
things. Partly because we didn't have a lot of money and partly because of
our different cooking styles. I had a roommate. I considered his mom to be
a very good cook, but she did cook things much differently than my mom did.
We did eat some things out of packets because they were new to us. And some
things were just bad! We did eat a lot of frozen pot pies. They certainly
weren't good but they were cheap!

That roommate moved out and the next one wasn't into cooking at all. I had
a series of roommates after that. Most just let me do the cooking. One was
very picky with her money and cooked only for her and her friends, although
she did let me try a meal once. One was Jewish and had to keep to his own
dietary stuff for that and some other reasons. He was a bit of an oddball
and his mom was on the Pritikin diet. I never got into the whys or
wherefores of his diet. I just allowed him to have his own spaces in the
kitchen.

So anyway... I guess I developed my own style of cooking.

At first I made everything from scratch when I could. Pizza dough, bread,
pasta, even ravioli. I did cook meats on occasion for friends but I myself
was a vegetarian. Of course there were times when money was tough. Like
the month that I ate spaghetti (from a package) and tomato sauce (I did make
that myself) for the entire month because I couldn't afford much more.

I did eat Carnation Instant breakfast bars for breakfast most mornings. I
guess I felt they were loaded with vitamins or something. If I wasn't
eating those I had hard boiled eggs. And there was the time that Safeway
was closing out the Linda McCartney frozen meals. I believe they were vegan
but they might have been vegetarian. They were not something I bought very
often because they were normally not cheap. But at the closeout price,
you'd be a fool not to buy them. Unless perhaps you didn't like vegan
meals. My freezer was stuffed with them!

There were other times that I did stupid things because I thought I was
saving money. Like the time I bought the cart full of chicken flavored
Ramen noodles. I don't even think there was real chicken in that stuff. It
was Campbell's brand. I was sick when I bought them. I thought chicken
soup would be good for me. I'd never had Ramen noodles before. And I
quickly learned I didn't like them all that much. Heh.

When I got my microwave, I made all sorts of things in it. Muffins, pudding
from scratch. I even attempted to cook meats but I didn't care for how they
came out.

Now today it seems I am cooking less than ever. My pasta is dried. My
sauce from a jar. My polenta from a tube. I buy frozen chicken nuggets,
fish sticks and other fish. Frozen cooked hamburger and black bean patties.
Pre-cooked turkey and chicken. Pre-cooked roast beef. I do buy occasional
frozen meals like tamales, cheese enchiladas and other things for Angela,
like lasagna. I know lasagna is easy, but time consuming to make. My
problem with it is the egg. I always put egg in my cheese. And now I can't
have egg. I've been afraid to try it without for fear that it won't come
out well. But I can find a gluten free boxed single serve of lasagna for
her. And the other day I found an organic meal of chicken and rice for her.

So it would seem now that I am only making a meal at home about three times
a week. Once or twice I double the amount so we will have leftovers. We
don't really like leftovers but Angela has to take dinner to the dance
studio at least twice a week. I may only be cooking from scratch once a
week. And some weeks not even that! If I make pizza I start with a
pre-made crust and use a canned sauce. Macaroni and cheese comes from a
box. Some nights the meal is as simple as pre-made hummus with baby carrots
and some olives and other raw veggies. Or a bowl of cottage cheese with
canned pears.

I find I am not cooking so much simply because I don't have to! Yes there
are countless frozen meals on the market these days. Mostly I don't even
look at those because we are allergic to something in them. And of course
most are very high in carbs. But once in a while I will find something
suitable.

It's just that there are so many ingredients that are made up already. I
can get sliced onions, chopped tomatoes, strips of pepper all cut up. I
don't often buy these things but they are there. If I make meatloaf I
always add veggies and I do get those from the salad bar so I can buy just a
small quantity. It seems it is just so much easier these days to come up
with a good, balanced meal without having to do a lot of work.

So... Do you find that you are cooking more? Less? Or about the same as
you used to?