I have a Blackberry and....(confession) I love it. I wonder how I ever got along with out it. I am also in love with my iPod, Facebook and all of the other current technological wonders of our time. I am silently lusting for an iPhone - they are so cool, how could you not?
That said, I worry about what all this is doing to us as a society. As we become more "plugged in", we become more disconnected from one another. Not to get deep or anything, but I do believe that the uptick in road rage and school shootings over the past 10 to 15 years is because we are depersonalizing one another. We've forgotten that on the other side of that faceless Internet exchange is someone's husband, wife, child, aunt, uncle, etc.
So, what does this have to do with food? Now is the time that we need cooking more than ever. Cooking gives us an opportunity to reconnect with one another. When we are all running in different directions, spending just a few minutes together over a home cooked dinner seems like what we all could use right now. And there's something about a home cooked dinner - it's just not the same if you get take out or a drive through dinner. I know it happens in just about every household out there, including mine. That said, when we get takeout, it just feels like we're crossing off another item on our to-do list...."eat dinner". "Have quality time as a family".
So, it doesn't have to be crazy or fancy. Tonight's dinner was on the table in 30 minutes. I used my scanpan grill (see earlier post about this fantastic thing) that I love as much, if not more than my Blackberry, and grilled some steaks, made a quick green salad, some orange slices, and some whole grain rice that I added some leftover veggies to. Done.
Can't convince you that it's worth the effort? There are some good ready to go products out there. Read those labels - I never buy anything that has high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, or ingredients that I don't recognize. Costco has some great alternatives - organic soups (add sandwich or panini), all natural thin crust pizza (add salad), potstickers (steamed rice and edamame), or frozen pastas (whatever floats your boat). How about breakfast for dinner? Some whole grain pancakes, fruit, and no-nitrite bacon? Yum.
Let's not make our kids into the "lunchables" generation. Let's show respect for ourselves and our bodies by eating and cooking real food together with our kids.
So now you're saying, "who the heck does she think she is? She doesn't understand how busy we are. I can't cook every night." I get it - I have 2 kids, plenty of work to do and lots of demands. And I've made my way through a drive through plenty of times. There are 21 meals in the week. Just do the best you can.
Disclaimer: I have a cold and this blog may have been typed under the influence of cold medication. I hope Kraft doesn't sue me for that "lunchables" crack.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
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3 comments:
Pappano believes that often we may want to connect with others and to have deep and meaningful relationships, but we want it on our own terms. “We have moved from a society in which the group was more important than the individual,” she says, “to one in which the central figure is the self. ...
didier
I couldn't agree more with your comments regarding becoming disconnected due to technology.
I have a computer science degree so am very much technologically literate, however on my degree we were taught that technology should only be used when it is needed (it sounds like common sense but isn't sadly).
Most of my friends connect more in the virtual world than in the real world these days. Most no longer have the socially connected lives they once had.
Isolation leads to loneliness leads to a malfunction in the human psyche... which in some cases leads to mental illness / depression and at the worst level school shootings etc.
Technology is fine in moderation... it's just when people become mesmerized by it and can no longer disconnect from it. Think "The Matrix", we are not far from being plugged in to a virtual world. Immortality is only 100-200 years away.
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