Archive for October 15, 2008
The Healthier Side of Meal Planning – Could and Should be a Rant
I saw an interesting ad in the paper this morning. Tucked in with all the economic news was this statement by a leading soup maker that their competition had over 90 soups on the market with MSG added while they had 36 without. This statement hit on a topic that I have been “noodling” around in my head. I have presented the benefits of meal planning and home-cooking from an economic viewpoint numerous times; but have barely touched on the health aspects of made-from-scratch foods for your family.
Sure I have told you the food is always better tasting and cheaper when you make it yourself but let’s take a look at cooking from the health end of the business. Open a can of something and dump it into your meal and you are adding all the “extra” ingredients that the commercial makers put in. Another TV commercial shows a woman coming home and thinking, “What should I feed my family?” It goes on to say open a can of cream of something soup, add pre-cooked chicken and veggies, maybe some no-boil noodles and there you have it, a wonderful “homemade” dinner.
To make my point let’s see what “she” added to her family’s healthy diet: preservatives, preservatives and a little more preservatives, flavor enhancers (whatever they are), stabilizers, artificial color, msg, too much salt, corn syrup and a bunch of things I can’t spell nor pronounce. Yum!!! This from a family that drinks bottled water to avoid any outside contaminants.
Look, I understand time constraints, and I understand money constants but I think we can all do a better job, at least some of the time, planning meals and preparing foods in our kitchens fully knowing what we are putting into the pot and thereby into our families. Let’s try to start planning and cooking on a healthier scale, we can all benefit from it.
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