Our culture is set up for obesity.
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Exactly.anything BUT cooking appealing, nutritious and economic meals for the entire family (which by the way, takes A LOT of time usually).
If that takes "A LOT of time," it's being done wrong.
BS.
Even the simplest meals can take a significant amount of time...between taking out containers, peeling or preparing the fresh food, and cleaning up, putting dishes away, etc. Do remember I also assume you cook economically. For example I never buy chicken breasts because I want them organic and organic chicken breasts are expensive as H.
So I buy whole organic chickens that come out less expensive, and I butcher them myself.
I can assure you that takes a significant chunk of time - just to get the meat ready for cooking.
Haha and then you wonder why people don't want to do it?
Why would any women or man at that want to spend so much time in the kitchen when they could be playing with their children,at the gym or working their job.
No, cooking time can be kept to a minimum, especially with simple meals.
You don't have to...in a span of 6 hours on a Saturday I can have made at least a winters supply of homemade spagetti sauce from organic veggies grown in my own garden plus have the fresh pasta made and frozen to go with said sauce and fresh strawberry rhubarb pies x4 made and frozen as well never mind the homemad bread in the ver...that above all sounds like someone who can't organize their time well....
Plus, she's only talking prep time, not the actual time it takes to make a meal. If you choose to butcher your own chicken, sure, it will take longer. But there are other ways that don't.
I always thought it took hours and hours to bake from scratch before I actually learned to do it myself. I make the best apple pie (including crust) any of you will ever have and it takes me about 20 minutes to put it all together, then an hour in the oven. Now, it takes an hour and 20 minutes total, but only 20 minutes of that requires me to be actually working. I don't stand over the oven for 60 minutes.
Also, I can hand-wash an entire day's worth of dishes in 20 minutes.
Can I come over?0 -
And why think control negates cultural influence...because it does.
Impossible. If control negates cultural influence, then there is no such thing as cultural influence, because any cultural influence can be controlled. And if there is no cultural influence, there is nothing to negate.
The very fact that personal responsibility and control must come into play proves cultural influence.
Thank you.
Sure it does...influence is just a push in one direction it's not a gun pointed at your head forcing it....you can choose not to follow that influence by exerting contol over your own actions...ie the cultural phenomenon in Canada of loving hockey...I am influenced to love hockey where ever I go...doesn't mean I have to...I have control over myself...same thing applies to the amount of food an individual "chooses" to eat...for that individual.0 -
Exactly.anything BUT cooking appealing, nutritious and economic meals for the entire family (which by the way, takes A LOT of time usually).
If that takes "A LOT of time," it's being done wrong.
BS.
Even the simplest meals can take a significant amount of time...between taking out containers, peeling or preparing the fresh food, and cleaning up, putting dishes away, etc. Do remember I also assume you cook economically. For example I never buy chicken breasts because I want them organic and organic chicken breasts are expensive as H.
So I buy whole organic chickens that come out less expensive, and I butcher them myself.
I can assure you that takes a significant chunk of time - just to get the meat ready for cooking.
Haha and then you wonder why people don't want to do it?
Why would any women or man at that want to spend so much time in the kitchen when they could be playing with their children,at the gym or working their job.
No, cooking time can be kept to a minimum, especially with simple meals.
You don't have to...in a span of 6 hours on a Saturday I can have made at least a winters supply of homemade spagetti sauce from organic veggies grown in my own garden plus have the fresh pasta made and frozen to go with said sauce and fresh strawberry rhubarb pies x4 made and frozen as well never mind the homemad bread in the ver...that above all sounds like someone who can't organize their time well....
Plus, she's only talking prep time, not the actual time it takes to make a meal. If you choose to butcher your own chicken, sure, it will take longer. But there are other ways that don't.
I always thought it took hours and hours to bake from scratch before I actually learned to do it myself. I make the best apple pie (including crust) any of you will ever have and it takes me about 20 minutes to put it all together, then an hour in the oven. Now, it takes an hour and 20 minutes total, but only 20 minutes of that requires me to be actually working. I don't stand over the oven for 60 minutes.
Also, I can hand-wash an entire day's worth of dishes in 20 minutes.
I want some apple pie! :happy:0 -
It is amazing how many people think that preferring an option to purchase a normal single meal when going out for dinner or lunch = wanting to police restaurants.
That an option of being required to purchase 2-3 dinners at that one seating (one fresh and 2 stale ones to take home) is a far more reasonable alternative to so many posters there than a normal portion size And that if this is not my preferred choice, than there is something wrong with me.
Perhaps you just are used to small meals, I don't think I've ever encountered a restaurant entree that was 2-3 of my dinners0 -
I think we should make it the fashion to bring our own tupperware, cut our meal in 1/2 or into thirds and store a bunch away before starting to eat. It will eliminate toxic foam to go boxes from the landfills and make a statement. We should make this a "thing"
I have actually brought containers from home to restaurants because I knew I'd never be able to eat the whole meal. It prevents sauces from spilling in the car. Granted, it's gotten me some odd looks, but I get odd looks anyway
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It's nearly apple season, so everyone come by for some pie!
Exactly.anything BUT cooking appealing, nutritious and economic meals for the entire family (which by the way, takes A LOT of time usually).
If that takes "A LOT of time," it's being done wrong.
BS.
Even the simplest meals can take a significant amount of time...between taking out containers, peeling or preparing the fresh food, and cleaning up, putting dishes away, etc. Do remember I also assume you cook economically. For example I never buy chicken breasts because I want them organic and organic chicken breasts are expensive as H.
So I buy whole organic chickens that come out less expensive, and I butcher them myself.
I can assure you that takes a significant chunk of time - just to get the meat ready for cooking.
Haha and then you wonder why people don't want to do it?
Why would any women or man at that want to spend so much time in the kitchen when they could be playing with their children,at the gym or working their job.
No, cooking time can be kept to a minimum, especially with simple meals.
You don't have to...in a span of 6 hours on a Saturday I can have made at least a winters supply of homemade spagetti sauce from organic veggies grown in my own garden plus have the fresh pasta made and frozen to go with said sauce and fresh strawberry rhubarb pies x4 made and frozen as well never mind the homemad bread in the ver...that above all sounds like someone who can't organize their time well....
Plus, she's only talking prep time, not the actual time it takes to make a meal. If you choose to butcher your own chicken, sure, it will take longer. But there are other ways that don't.
I always thought it took hours and hours to bake from scratch before I actually learned to do it myself. I make the best apple pie (including crust) any of you will ever have and it takes me about 20 minutes to put it all together, then an hour in the oven. Now, it takes an hour and 20 minutes total, but only 20 minutes of that requires me to be actually working. I don't stand over the oven for 60 minutes.
Also, I can hand-wash an entire day's worth of dishes in 20 minutes.
Can I come over?0 -
anything BUT cooking appealing, nutritious and economic meals for the entire family (which by the way, takes A LOT of time usually).
If that takes "A LOT of time," it's being done wrong.
BS.
Even the simplest meals can take a significant amount of time...between taking out containers, peeling or preparing the fresh food, and cleaning up, putting dishes away, etc. Do remember I also assume you cook economically. For example I never buy chicken breasts because I want them organic and organic chicken breasts are expensive as H.
So I buy whole organic chickens that come out less expensive, and I butcher them myself.
I can assure you that takes a significant chunk of time - just to get the meat ready for cooking.
Haha and then you wonder why people don't want to do it?
Why would any women or man at that want to spend so much time in the kitchen when they could be playing with their children,at the gym or working their job.
No, cooking time can be kept to a minimum, especially with simple meals.
You don't have to...in a span of 6 hours on a Saturday I can have made at least a winters supply of homemade spagetti sauce from organic veggies grown in my own garden plus have the fresh pasta made and frozen to go with said sauce and fresh strawberry rhubarb pies x4 made and frozen as well never mind the homemad bread in the ver...that above all sounds like someone who can't organize their time well....
You know I hate cooking and i have time management problems. I work hard to manage my time. Maybe just maybe consider that some people do have struggles that you don't have and that doesn't make them a lesser person.
I do figure over time I'll get to the place where I can organize huge batches of food on the weekend. I used to be at a place where planning a single meal took me way too much time. Thankfully in the course of the last 2 years now I am able to plan for a week and keep food prep down to a normal time. But that's doing the simplest meals I can think of. Still the point is in another 2 years maybe I'll make batch pasta and my own broth and prep and freeze veggies from the farmers market to last the whole year.
In the meantime, I'm doing well if I feed my husband every night for a week
(without going out that is) 0 -
Did one day of prep take a bit of time? Sure. But then I had all those evenings freed up when it was done.
So you took the time.
I do understand it was worth it and that it was time put to the best of use - but all the time you took (relatively lots or relatively little, however you want to gauge it) meant less time for other typically unforgiving task. Doesn't it?
Remember the law of "24 hours" in a day?
You say you eat salads at lunch and you sound like you do not have children (I might be wrong).
Either way, I know I cannot feed just a salad to kids for lunch - they usually want soups (yes, nutritious, cooked-from scratched soups); but those soups DO take time.
Moralizing about people's wrong perceptions of how much time it takes to ensure healthy food on the table, 3 times a day, every day, for an entire family - is surely not the way to go. So let's focus on something else.0 -
It is amazing how many people think that preferring an option to purchase a normal single meal when going out for dinner or lunch = wanting to police restaurants.
That an option of being required to purchase 2-3 dinners at that one seating (one fresh and 2 stale ones to take home) is a far more reasonable alternative to so many posters there than a normal portion size And that if this is not my preferred choice, than there is something wrong with me.
Not gonna lie, I wish more resturants offered the "light version" even at dinner.. I would still probably only eat 1/2-2/3 of that. But just because they don't, doesn't mean that I (or anyone) have to listen to the cultural influence to eat it all. People wanted bigger portions... if they didn't they wouldn't be paying the bucks for it.... food companies were able to make bigger portions for less and the people keep coming back for more and more and more... If the consumer is wanting smaller portions than it is the consumers that are going to have to push back... but I don't see that happening anytime in the near future. At this point in the game, if the food industry shrunk their portions there would be a major pushback to get those bigger portions back... it's not all the resturant industries fault here. So until then you are just going to have to do what you need to to eat right.0 -
I'm totally baffled about why it's a great idea to take a doggie box of left over food home: do you go out for a meal, or for two, is it really the same pleasant foodie experience reheated at home the next day? I don't find it so with leftovers of our own cooking (and I cook good tasty dishes from fresh ingredients), nor does the rest of my family....guess who is most likely to have to eat that up, yup, it's mum :grumble:
I do think it's a cultural issue, and it is one which an awful lot of folks are in total denial about - but really and truly, food your body doesn't need is wasted whether you put it through your gut or leave it to one side, and those places offering such enormous portions are encouraging an obscene level of waste. Customer demand for "value" misses the point - more is not better value, it's just excess - and the it's the culture as a whole which thinks in these terms, so it's the culture as a whole which would need to change. From the tone of so many of the posts here, I can't see that happening any time soon - but the best way for the obesity problem to be solved is certainly for that mindset to shift from "I'm entitled to whatever I want" to, "I'd like to have what I need".
So many people in the rest of the world short of food, and competitions to see how much of this or that kind of high calorie grease-laden food one individual can stuff into their face against the clock, out west? Another example of where culture really has lost the plot...0 -
If anyone is interested in food waste, which goes hand in hand with this topic:
http://www.nrdc.org/food/files/wasted-food-ip.pdf0 -
Exactly.anything BUT cooking appealing, nutritious and economic meals for the entire family (which by the way, takes A LOT of time usually).
If that takes "A LOT of time," it's being done wrong.
BS.
Even the simplest meals can take a significant amount of time...between taking out containers, peeling or preparing the fresh food, and cleaning up, putting dishes away, etc. Do remember I also assume you cook economically. For example I never buy chicken breasts because I want them organic and organic chicken breasts are expensive as H.
So I buy whole organic chickens that come out less expensive, and I butcher them myself.
I can assure you that takes a significant chunk of time - just to get the meat ready for cooking.
Haha and then you wonder why people don't want to do it?
Why would any women or man at that want to spend so much time in the kitchen when they could be playing with their children,at the gym or working their job.
No, cooking time can be kept to a minimum, especially with simple meals.
You don't have to...in a span of 6 hours on a Saturday I can have made at least a winters supply of homemade spagetti sauce from organic veggies grown in my own garden plus have the fresh pasta made and frozen to go with said sauce and fresh strawberry rhubarb pies x4 made and frozen as well never mind the homemad bread in the ver...that above all sounds like someone who can't organize their time well....
Plus, she's only talking prep time, not the actual time it takes to make a meal. If you choose to butcher your own chicken, sure, it will take longer. But there are other ways that don't.
I always thought it took hours and hours to bake from scratch before I actually learned to do it myself. I make the best apple pie (including crust) any of you will ever have and it takes me about 20 minutes to put it all together, then an hour in the oven. Now, it takes an hour and 20 minutes total, but only 20 minutes of that requires me to be actually working. I don't stand over the oven for 60 minutes.
Also, I can hand-wash an entire day's worth of dishes in 20 minutes.
I want some apple pie! :happy:
We could do a pot luck....
ps it's amazing what a good food processor, a nice cooktop and an old fashioned apple peeler, slicer, corer can do to speed this stuff up....;), and if it's just as easy to make 2 pies as it is one (maybe an extra 10mins) and freeze it for later....0 -
ps it's amazing what a good food processor, a nice cooktop and an old fashioned apple peeler, slicer, corer can do to speed this stuff up....;),
I actually don't use any of those. I peel and chop the apples with a paring knife. I can't use peelers. I don't know why, but it always takes longer.0 -
I agree that our culture is set up for obesity, and its not just the restaurant portions! Like others have said, we are overworked and overscheduled, without enough time to cook or exercise, yet somehow, a cost effective, nutritious alternative to cooking has not evolved. Other than at a salad store (expensive!), I don't know anywhere where you can go and get a plate that is 1/2 healthy veggies, 1/4 starch, and 1/4 lean protein.
I cook for my family 5-6 nights per week, and I plan out balanced dinners. But go to any restaurant and you're getting lots of carbs, almost no veggies, and the meat... sometimes okay, but more often than not has some kind of sauce, or is cooked in a way that introduces a lot of fat.
I find it very frustrating that I have to choose between, say, working out, or eating healthy, because after work, doing homework with the kids and running to a soccer game, I simply do not have the time and energy to both cook and hit the gym. Needless to say, I usually end up cooking and skipping the gym, because who would want to work out with a belly full of pizza!
You will find plenty of people who will tell you that you're doing everything the wrong way, you have bad time management skills or something that will somehow manage to dump the load on your virtue-less head and not on the structure of the world within which you live your life.
And then of course, you will still have to make choices because the darn restaurant is not changing their way of serving foods, so it's on us.
Saying "no" to some projects at work, if possible... and if that doesn't involve losing the job; or to some children's activities (this is a fertile area for cutting back as most will hardly benefit kids in any significant way over the long term), etc can be a start.
But being aware of the range of choices you can or cannot make is important.
I completely understand what you mean, good luck to you!
Not sure where you go out to eat, but when I go it is 1-1.5 hours of time invested plus travel. This is plenty of time to make a meal.
We live 2 minutes drive away from tons of restaurants. But we rarely eat out anyway.
This is why restaurant portions are not that big of a deal for us, personally, but I do realize many Americans practice eating out a lot; so for them, portion size will make a difference.0 -
Did one day of prep take a bit of time? Sure. But then I had all those evenings freed up when it was done.
So you took the time.
I do understand it was worth it and that it was time put to the best of use - but all the time you took (relatively lots or relatively little, however you want to gauge it) meant less time for other typically unforgiving task. Doesn't it?
Remember the law of "24 hours" in a day?
You say you eat salads at lunch and you sound like you do not have children (I might be wrong).
Either way, I know I cannot feed just a salad to kids for lunch - they usually want soups (yes, nutritious, cooked-from scratched soups); but those soups DO take time.
Moralizing about people's wrong perceptions of how much time it takes to ensure healthy food on the table, 3 times a day, every day, for an entire family - is surely not the way to go. So let's focus on something else.
I have a 19-year-old daughter. I have been through all the stages, from infant to teenager. I have never not had time to work, finish college, spend time with her, have a social life, exercise and cook healthy meals.
Yes, I took the time. But it took about an hour total to put everything together.
And I have made homemade soup. It isn't that time-consuming. Once you get all the ingredients in the pot, it just sits there heating and you have to stir every once in a while.
You are doing a great job making yourself a martyr.Moralizing about people's wrong perceptions of how much time it takes to ensure healthy food on the table, 3 times a day, every day, for an entire family - is surely not the way to go. So let's focus on something else.
Not to sound too much like a child, but you started it ...0 -
Why would any women or man at that want to spend so much time in the kitchen when they could be playing with their children,at the gym or working their job.
No, cooking time can be kept to a minimum, especially with simple meals.
My children help me cook the meals. This way I can teach them how to cook healthy meals that will carry them through their entire lives.
I cook dinner every night, and have never had an issue getting a healthy meal on the table in 30 min to an hour max.0 -
I live in a major metro American city and the restaurants which last are those which tout huge portions..and the ones which tend to have the highest attrition are the more health oriented restaurants.
I always take half my meal home when we go out to dinner and eat that for lunch and dinner the next day with a side of veggies.
We just look upon eating out as an opportunity to not only enjoy the meal, but to have one to two meals prepared for us to take home.
As for homecooking being such a time waster: We spend part of Sunday as a family preparing simple meals that reheat beautifully for the rest of the week. It isn't a huge deal to make a pot of chili (toss 5 cans of different beans into a crock pot..simmer for 3 hours), cut up veggies so they can be quickly steamed (Hamilton Beach has an awesome steamer so you can steam veggies on one level and pasta on the other...plus you can preset it so the meal is ready when you get home).
When we do it as a family it is a family activity which we all enjoy, we treat our DS some kitchen/cooking skills..and it sure beats having Mom and Dad glued to their SmartPhones and Junior on the game console.0 -
Just so this dosen't get lost in a quote...if this is a cultural issue in the US and Canada explain how it is?????
There are so many cultures in Canada alone which culture do we blame????
The East Indians? the Philipinoes? The Germans? The Irish? The Native americans? The Chinese? Pakistani? Iranian? Egyptian? Cuban? (trust me this is just those that work in the company I do that have immigrated in the last 10 years) Caucasions born here with god knows how many cultures in their blood????
Which culture influence is to blame?0 -
It's totally a cultural issue. I don't think any other country (well, Canada maybe) even lets you take leftovers home. I've never seen it in Europe at least... and portions were much smaller there.0
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