I had a conversation the other day with a woman who said eating around here is expensive. I was confused. She had moved here from a city, but, in my experience, food costs more in big city grocery stores. The reason her bills were so high, it turns out, is because she doesn't actually cook. She tends to buy pre-made dinners and "cook" them. It's more convenient, it doesn't require any planning ahead or defrosting, and she knows that she and her husband both like the taste. But since "everything is freezerburnt" (her words, not mine) she and her husband have been eating out every meal.
Now, just about anything you buy pre-made can be made at home, but I will admit that there are some advantages to pre-packaged food.
Sometimes, it's cheaper. Factory-made pizzas and pies are made in extremely large batches, literally hundreds a day, and the factories can get bulk flour and yeast a lot cheaper than you or I can.
Sometimes, it's tastier. A lot of the folks in my generation grew up with fast food more often than once a month, and we enjoy the taste of Kraft Mac N Cheese more than a home-made version.
Often, it's faster. Occasionally not, but Often enough to consider it "Always". Yes, it is faster to open a can of soup than to make soup from scratch.
Sometimes, of course, you don't have the equipment to make it yourself. Even though I really enjoy cooking, I still don't own a vegetable steamer or dehydrator.
So, food I buy, that I could make myself: loaves of bread, cans of soup, mac n cheese, and cake mixes are the big ones. I make cookies and frosting from scratch. I think I buy cake mixes because I despise washing all those measuring cups.
And sometimes, I do make home-made soup, and pizza, and steam vegetables in the microwave. There's something to be said about doing things for yourself and your family, and knowing exactly what went into those cookies that are disappearing by the minute. Ummm... gotta go.
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