Julia Berenson
Word Count: 1209
The question that I want to ask this week is how can we make
food prep a simple priority in our busy lives?
In Season 1 episode 1 of Cooked, they mention that the
average meal prep time for Americans is 27 min per day, which is less time than
anyone else in the world. This goes to show that Americans do not put a lot of
thought and time into their dietary needs. Most people work a 9-5 job and come
home, exhausted, tired, and unwilling to properly cook for themselves or their family.
The thought of putting together a meal can be daunting, so they either eat out,
which is can be unhealthy if one is not carful and does it often, or they out
together a frozen meal. Frozen meals do not have as much nutrition as fresh
cooked foods.
This video shows an example of what meal prep
is. They cooked a large amount of chicken, rice, and broccoli. They divided the
foods up into seven portions, enough for a weeks worth of dinner. The entire
process took less than an hour. That way, when you come home form work, all you
do is heat up a container and then you have a hot and healthy dinner! There are
pros and cons to this method. The pros are that you can come home after a hard
day of work to a guaranteed healthy and nutritious meal that is already
prepared. It only requires you to heat it up. The second pro is that it is
healthy! You don't have to worry about eating unhealthy, processed foods. The nutritious
food was already prepared. The con to this method would be that you are eating
the same dinner for a week. Your taste buds may or may not get bored of the
same flavors day after day. Another con would be that it does take more effort
and thought to put together a meal plan. If this is something that is an issue,
maybe you should rethink your lifestyle and get your priorities straight.
Make meal prep fun! It does not always have to be a drag to
prepare food. Turn on some of your favorite music and blast it while you cook.
Look up some new recipes that are simple on the Internet. There is an abundant
amount of resources for easy recipes. Take time for yourself to create
something healthy and enjoyable for your body. Eating healthy is a mindset. We
make choices every day about what we eat. The ones that heat healthy have
chosen to make it a priority in their life. They practice self-control and have
prioritized their time to set aside a slot of their Sunday (or whatever day of
the week they choose) to make healthy and nutritious meals for themselves so
they won’t be tempted to go and buy junk food. They have discipline and strive
to live a healthy lifestyle.
I’ve taken on this method of meal prep because I try to
maintain a healthy lifestyle and diet. I do not agree with boxed and frozen
dinners every night, so every Sunday I set aside time to take care of my meal
prep. This way I can come home from class or practice and not be tempted to eat
out or cook an easy dinner from a box. I will admit that after a while, eating
the same thing gets old. This is why I will change up what I eat every week
with different meats or fish and different seasonings. I also choose to have a
side salad that can have different variations that go with my meal, just to add
something extra to my meal.
Meal prep is simple for me because I am just cooking for
myself. When someone cooks for a family, meal prep can be a little more complicated.
Not only does the cook have to prepare even more food, but also other family
members may have different dietary restrictions. Growing up, my mom loved to
cook healthy foods. She was an amazing cook and provided many wonderful and tasty
meals for our family. She would always make extra food just so she could take a
break from cooking for a couple of days while we ate leftovers. To me, it
doesn’t seem that hard to provide for a family that way. My mom had a job and
was busy as well, but she made time to provide healthy meals for her family.
Throughout the years, she has taught me many recipes and shown me how to make
simple food into something extraordinary and tasty. It has come in handy now
that I am in college and live on my own. My meals may not be as extravagant as
hers, but they get the job done for me. They are somewhat flavorful, nutritious,
and have only given me food poisoning once.
Finding time to make meals in the modern American culture
can be difficult. With our busy 9-5 work schedules, college classes, extra
curricular activities, etc, it makes it tough to set aside time to make dinner.
The group of people that were followed in
Season 1 episode 1 of cooked, Fire,
their livelihood was to hunt and forage for food. That was their job everyday,
to go out a gather food in one way or another. If they did not find anything,
they would be hungry and eventually die. We have the option to by food already
made for us. It was a social process. They would socialize while hunting and
gathering for their meals, while they were preparing it, and while they ate the food. They would sit around the
fire and share stories and socialize.
A goal that I have for myself when I start a family and take
on the role of the mom is to make sure that I put in effort to prepare healthy
meals for my family. Another goal is to make the meals enjoyable. Just because they are healthy does not have
to mean they are not tasteful. Many people from different parts of the world
sit around a fire to cook and eat. They also socialize and have an enjoyable
time together. I want to re-create that feeling with my family. We do not have
to necessarily cook over a fire, but have the table be a place where my family
can sit around, eat delicious food that is healthy, and have conversations with
one another.
A song that comes to mind as I wrote this was Family Table
by Zac Brown Band. This song is about making memories around a table. The
message in this song tells us that mealtime can be a staple in families. It is
the time where families come together after a long day and enjoy one another’s
company while eating food and having a good time. It is a time to be thankful
for what we have and whom we have in our life.
In conclusion, making meals for yourself or your family can
be a fun thing if you have the right mindset. With the Internet as a resource,
we can find easy recipes for us to share with one another.
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