Why I cook

[Warpy]

Well, besides being too poor to dine in fine restaurants three times a day. I cook to avoid fast food, processed food, microwave food. My six weeks in Florida in a kitchen not set up for cooking and (at my dying pop's request) eating up all the frozen dinners he'd bought on sale before he got sick was pure torture and the sky high salt content in that crap sent me back into heart failure.

The following link is one of the funniest descriptions of the stuff I was eating that I've ever read, although my pop was wise to the ways of microwave breakfast (ugh) and generally preferred a cuppa and a sweet roll.

Have fun, y'all: http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0744/index.html

[Duer 157099]

1. LOL, I actually read that whole thing

But here's my question: If I went to IHOP and ordered essentially the same thing... would it be as bad?

[Warpy]

3. Probably not. They have to DO things to food to makle it survive

long term freezing and then nuking. One of those things is to overload it all with salt. Another is to overload it with artificial flavors, "flavor enhancers" and preservatives. Overloading it with fat also helps a little.

It's foul stuff, really, and my bod told me it didn't appreciate the stuff.

[NMDemDist2]

2. OMG

I don't dare show these to Mr. K, he'd LOVE them :puke:

[murphymom]

4. My reasons for cooking

Type 1 diabetic here for 30 years - I cook because I enjoy it, but also because a diabetic HAS to eat the way everybody else SHOULD eat. I try to cook as much as I can from scratch.

Regarding that Hungry Man breakfast, I had to laugh - it reminds me of my MIL's homemade Mexican breakfasts. Imagine fried eggs swimming in grease, bacon, refried beans, papas con chorizo (fried potatoes with chorizo sausage) and homemade flour tortillas - all of which combine into something the consistency of a brick that sits in your stomach all day. Anything resembling juice is that Sunny D junk which I won't touch. Whenever we get home from a visit all my husband wants is salad for a few days afterwards.

Between all the refined carbohydrates and fats, a "traditional" breakfast in this country has to be the most nutritionally wacked out meal of them all. My favorite breakfast is either a plain bowl of oatmeal or a piece of whole grain toast with some fresh fruit and unflavored yogurt or cottage cheese.

[politicat]

5. YIKES! That is foul....

Not a big fan of the Huge Honkin Breakfast to begin with, but that's just wrong. You can't microwave that stuff. (Okay, maybe bacon. Sometimes. But eggs?)

I will never, ever complain about my lox and bagels with yogurt cheese and cucumber slices and fruit again.

[Dora]

6. Oh, that's disgusting. Next time, please use a "graphic" warning!

I'm half-kidding you. Like you, I cook because it's cheaper and healthier. I'm not fancy and don't have much time, so my repertoire is pretty limited right now. But one things for certain, it's always tasty and healthy.

My neighbor came out of her house yesterday wearing a t-shirt that says, "friends don't let friends eat junk"

I couldn't agree with her more, and I do everything I can to convince my family to change their eating habits (everything I can without preaching or being annoying, that is). It's difficult when their common perception was best summed up by my nephew when he informed me that "organic is gross."

[mike_c]

7. LOL-- that was scary....

I cook for many of the same reasons-- I like good food, not just tasty food but food that I know is good quality and made from real ingredients, and frankly I enjoy the creativity of combining ingredients and flavors to produce a memorable meal. Preparing food is an important part of my day.

It amazes me that people eat vile crap like that, and that I ate my share of it years ago when I didn't know any better.