There's been some debate here on Olive Street as to how to go about feeding our faces. Although I love to cook, sometimes deciding what to make after I get home from work is enough to send me over the edge and out for something someone else cooked. Yes, it's a bad idea in so many ways. It's either healthy and expensive or cheap and unhealthy. About the only redeeming quality is the economic stimulus aspect - people have to cook the food and serve it, and if we buy it, they work. And I don't have to do the dishes, and neither does Dan. However, there is something to be said for knowing more about what goes down the hatch at dinner (or breakfast, or lunch, or any meal in between). There really isn't much of a debate anymore about whether food out of a box is better for you than food in its original format. In fact, I'm not sure anyone ever really argued in favor of processed food in terms of health. The only arguments in favor of processed foods were convenience, uniform quality, and price effectiveness. Like most things that can be produced in mass quantities, the price of processed food is extremely low compared to its calorie content - relatively high. Now, in case you've forgotten your high school chemistry and physics, we use calories in relation to food because they are a measure of energy. In food terms, that means the amount of energy produced when you consume the food. Sounds good, right? We feel hungry, we eat, our bodies digest the food, we have energy, and we repeat. But it doesn't quite work that way.
It's easy - especially when you're busy - to forget this. You feel hungry, you eat, you repeat. Not as often as you should, and when you do, whatever is handy or whatever sounds good. Now, if you're lucky and there is fresh, healthy food around and you happen to crave it, you might be okay just eating whatever is handy and sounds good. My parents used this tactic with a lot of success when I was little - there were cucumbers and tomatoes all the time, and I loved them and would eat as many as I could get my hands on. It's definitely a worthwhile tactic for getting kids to like healthy food, but when you grow up and the world is filled with cheap, easy junk food, what's a busy person to do? Much as I could probably do it, you can't have a good microbrew and sweet potato fries every night.
I'll admit right now, I'm still in the process of finding a good answer for this question. Our situation is a bit unique in that I'm married to a wonderful guy who doesn't mind having the same thing for dinner several nights in a row. Therefore, I stocked up at our local healthy food supermarket (a cool, local version of Whole Foods) on frozen veggies and rice/bean combos, all ready to steam or sauté or simply heat in the microwave in minutes. The beautiful thing about these veggies is that they are locally grown, within about 40 miles of here, and their packaging is freezer-safe coated paper. Easy to open and close, and lasts really well in the freezer. Plus the veggies, etc., taste fantastic and have a lot of variety. They even have frozen lentils and black-eyed peas, all soaked and cooked. I see endless variety - I just need a bigger freezer :) Just add some chicken (or don't, you have beans and rice) and you have dinner! I spice things up a bit and add fresh or dried herbs to make everything more flavorful. Steamed broccoli with minced onion and dill added before steaming is delicious, by the way. Sautéed onions and olive oil made the red beans/rice combo taste fantastic, as did a little cumin and coriander (the basis of most Mexican seasoning, minus the copious amounts of salt and other things that are added to packaged versions). Overall, with some pre-grilled chicken added, the meal tasted pretty unique and well-planned, despite the fact that I just pulled things out of the freezer. Everything was relatively whole and healthy, and definitely recognizable. So where does the line between healthy packaged food and processed food get drawn?
Obviously, there are some things that make a packaged food unhealthy immediately. Excess salt, sugar, fat, and overall lack of nutritional value come to mind. However, there are some gray areas. Is it healthier to eat a sweet potato that I buy raw and peel and chop myself, or one that was picked and peeled and chopped and then frozen? The answer might surprise you - the frozen one is usually healthier and has more of the vitamin content retained. Frozen food just might be the answer to the dinner conundrum here in Lane Tower. That being said, if you are what you eat, neither Dan or I was cold after eating dinner tonight, so I am still skeptical about the whole "you are what you eat" thing.
How about you guys? How do you eat fast and healthy - or do you? When the going gets tough, do you go out to eat? Or are you cool and calm, above the pressure, and always have a healthy meal on the table? What do you think about processed food?
