"W. Baker" > wrote in message
...
> Julie Bove > wrote:
> : 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?
>
> I have always cooked using few prepared producs. I dotend to use jarred
> spaghetti sauce for convenience, but stil would do up a home made one
> usign canned tomatoes and fresh other vegetables. My mother only used
> boxed puddings and Kojel, a kosher jello, but we both have always made our
> own salad dressings. I generally cook from scratch, but no longer do much
> baking. Even now, that I am alone, I still cook frm scratch, but I do
> keep some packages of turkey, in case I don't feel like cooking a dinner
> and can make either a turkey salad or sandwich on low carb bread. I have
> trouble gettign quantities right, both in buying and cooking , but am
> doing some soups and stews which I use for several days and freeze for
> future meals. Aside from the occasional frankfurter, or other deli item,
> I woudl never consider using a precooked meat in any form. Vegetables are
> generally fresh. Just this week I pressure cooked a large number of beets
> adn have been eating them for several days. I like beets and, for some
> reason, they do not spike me.
>
> I eat out a bit more than I did before Syd died, as it is just too lonely
> eating in the dining foyer alone all the time. I have always cooked form
> scratch and enjoy, both the doing and the eating of my own cooking.
> That's not to say that I don't like beign asked out t somenes
> house:-)(hint, hint hint!)
>
> I enjoy making some of my family's traditional recipes and plan to make a
> single, rather than a double batch of the honey/ginger candy that was my
> great grandmother's recipe and who knows how much further back, for
> Passover this year. I am, no longer physically able to make the
> traditional Seder meal, so will be with my older son for the first night
> and a close friend the second.

Gee... I don't think my family has any traditional recipes. I have a
recipe from my one grandma for Coca-Cola cake. I never liked it. Have a
recipe from my other grandma for something she called Cherry Jazz. I now
know that other people call it Dump Cake, but her recipe had no nuts. Just
canned cherry pie filling, Jiffy Cake mix and then melted butter on top. I
did like that, not that I can eat it now. But nobody else likes it so I
quit making it.

I did not care for my paternal grandmas cooking very much. She would not
cook anything she considered to be foreign. Seemingly her German Potato
Salad was not foreign. She did make that a lot but I don't think I ever
tried it because my dad warned me not to. I remember her making a lot of
ham for Sunday dinner. I never liked ham. She served canned green beans
cooked to death with bacon added. I did like those, but hardly what I would
call cooking. Mostly she liked to eat out. We often dined a restaurant
called Spears. It's no longer there. Or we went to some place that served
fried chicken. Not KFC. Some other place, kind of far away. I didn't like
it. I do remember that. Sometimes we went to a buffet at the mall.

My maternal grandma had 8 kids. And most of those kids had a lot of kids.
Then there were more distant relatives. We would all gather on their farm
for a meal. She always made ice cream. I do remember that. Old crank
freezer and we kids had to sit on the lid if we were not old enough to help
crank. I never liked ice cream.

They did BBQ stuff. Probably hot dogs and hamburgers. I don't remember.
There was always a lot of watermelon. They grew it. Neither of my
grandparents would eat watermelon. I hated it as well. Something about the
mealy texture. I've been told that this grandma didn't like to cook so she
turned it over to her daughters when they were young. Perhaps this is why
my mom didn't learn to cook a lot of things. This grandma did like to make
candy and bake things. She was a large woman. But AFAIK, not a diabetic.
Her brother was though.

When I stayed with her, she often took me out to eat. Or I had cereal. One
when my mom was in the hospital, she came to stay with us and made what she
called Spaghetti Red. It was just macaroni, beef and tomatoes. Because she
had known a lot of poverty she took once pound of ground beef and added
enough tomatoes and macaroni to feed us this dish for the entire week. My
dad kept trying to give her money to buy more groceries but she insisted we
eat this stuff. I think it was a good long time before we ate that again.

Sooo... No real fond food memories from my childhood. I do remember my
maternal grandma coming to stay with us when my mom had her hysterectomy and
my dad then broke his leg in the hospital after fainting from what he said
was an ether smell. I was 12 so it's doubtful to me that it was in fact
ether. Anyway, I was old enough to cook by then so likely it was me that
did the bulk of the cooking. I do remember her making the Cherry Jazz then.