Day 91 - TV Dinners - Remix

My mom occasionally trots out the story of the first time she and her brothers were ever served a TV dinner. It was the night before a move - everything was packed up in boxes and shipping containers - and my grandmother served them the latest and greatest from Swanson: turkey with gravy, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, and maybe a dollop of cherry cobbler. TV dinners were brand spankin' new in the 1950's (here's a neat article on how they came to be); if you wanted to eat, you generally had to cook and make things from scratch. Lawzy, how times have changed!

Can you imagine a life without prepackaged food? Can you remember the first time it was served to you? For better or for worse, it's here to stay. On the up side? Oh, the convenience! Open, maybe mix in a little water, heat, serve! On the down side? Well, for starters, is it even food? Or just an edible food-like substance? Even if it's mostly "food", chances are that there are Major Downsides - everything from the traditional offenders like freaky additives, preservatives, and enough sugar/salt/fat to land you in the ICU before Friday, to more recent concerns like where it comes from - factory farm, laboratory, manure pile in China, etc.

My mission? To streamline dinner without having to resort to Trader Joe's frozen enchiladas every night (though they are mighty tasty). It isn't so much an issue when Marty's home, but when he's on the road, it's way tougher to make myself cook, especially when Sebastian is being "spirited". I also teach aerial fabulousness two nights a week, which throws another wrench in the cogs. So, here are my options:

- there are times when it's easy to cook, like when you're hubby's NOT on tour. During those times, I try to cook double and freeze the leftovers.
- all hail the Crock Pot - King of All Kitchen Appliances! Not only does the CP cook while you're off preparing for world domination, you can pre-assemble your meals, freeze them, and when you're ready to do your thang, just defrost & dump it in! Dinner is served... 8 hours later.
- I absolutely HATE menu planning, but thankfully there are ways around this. My personal favorite is to totally outsource this most hated of jobs! There's an awesome book by Leanne Ely called "Saving Dinner" that plans your meals by season and even gives you a shopping list! Her website also has weekly "menu mailers" you can sign up for, and several great e-cookbooks that you can purchase and download. We became "flexitarians" awhile back (a topic for another post), so I got the vegetarian one for all four seasons and am loving it. Have a look, or do it yourself if you're so inclined. Either way, it makes life WAY easier if you don't have to wonder what you'll be serving for dinner (at 5:45 with only ketchup and wilted Romaine in the fridge).
- convenience food (mostly Trader Joe's - a lot of their stuff is higher on the healthy, lower on the crappy) on the nights when I just don't get it together for whatever reason. Or, there's always pasta and sauce!

So that's that. I'm also not getting terribly ambitious with meals while he's gone, so that's easier too. Do you have any super simple tips to get homemade food on the table? Shout 'em out!

My sweet loves, pictures with the Hated Orange Touring Suitcases