i cook as little as possible, the DH does most of it, but being here in the
hotel, with everything going on i occasionally go on cooking binges and prep
binges so he can put it together when we are ready, for example yesterday i
made chicken soup, puritst look away NOW

we are avoiding buying any spices because of space contstraints, so
seasoning is a challenge, i chopped up the remains of a rot. chicken, in
with a can of traditional progresso soup, a can of diced tomatoes from
costco, and a sixteen ounce bag of parisian vegetables from meijer, i
simmerred this for a while until i was sure the veggies were done, then put
it off the stove to cool and into the frigg, that will be today's lunch

I also made a fakey pasta sauce, which consisted of six ounces of frozen
broccoli that dh had cooked the whole bag for another meal, eight ounces of
that fake crab meat and a can of progresso clam chowder, dh will get some
multi grain thin noodles from barrilla or ronzoni and that will be dinner
tomorrow.

and the meal where we cooked the broccoli was a pork steak we split i cooked
in a frying pan with butter, potato pancakes i totally screwed up and that
other half of the broccoli...

I also made fake lobster salad using one of those eight ounce packages and
boiled eggs from the hotel's breakfast bar, and i understand these are some
pre done eggs they buy from the store,

sorry for going on so long but living here has certainly put the creativity
need up a notch, Lee
"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
...
>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?
>