Cooking sounds so easy, why is it so hard?

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:52 -0500

The last Food Rule that I have been observing from Michael Pollan's recent book is #63, Cook. At first glance this rule sounds simple. Cooking your own food tends to make it more healthy than consuming dishes prepared by a restaurant. I can buy that tidbit of trivia yet it becomes irrelevant because cooking is the problem. Health benefits aside, cooking doesn't come easy. Let me rephrase that - it isn't the cooking that is difficult it is finding the time to cook.

I guess I have officially joined the ranks of most middle aged Americans. Maybe I was in denial for a period of time. Maybe it is the fact that the kids are now 5 and 10. Maybe I was trying to will my way through the anguish of fitting it all in. I am a working mother of two with a jam-packed, never ceasing crazy family schedule. I know literally millions of moms can relate. It is important to note that I don't mind to cook when I can find the time.

I am certain I am not alone. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of friends and family members who are in the same boat. I think almost every parent is in the same boat. And it certainly feels like it is sinking sometimes. My husband and I want to continue to educate our kids on their diet and the importance of food choices yet are challenged to do this daily. I can see clearly why convenient, heavily processed foods are so much a part of the American way.

Here is the brain teaser. How do you cook dinner when you get home from work at 5:30 and soccer practice starts (20 miles away) at 5:30? Do you begin to prepare dinner at 7:30 when you are home from practice? (and the other parent is with the other child at t-ball until 7:30) And by the way, you want to get the kids in bed at a decent time so they will be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for school the next day.

Do you succumb to the urge to just grab something? The answer for us is serial simplicity. You might call it boring. We almost always pass up the grab and go option. It is difficult but a flashback to Food, Inc. usually works to get me through the moment. The serial simplicity is a succession of standard meals that are truly easy to prepare and somewhat well rounded.

Last week, I called on one of our basic favorites, Fettucine Alfredo.

Fettucine Alfredo gets a bad rap because it is rich. But I think everything in moderation is the key. We do not eat cream sauces every night. Maybe 1-2 times a month. To make it a more than just cream, butter and parmesan I added some squash and spinach. So, so easy. So, so good. A nice way to get a serving or two of veggies in as well. This is a dish I will do at 7:30 because it only takes 20 minutes. That is less time than to drive to a restaurant and pick something up. Maybe a tad bit more effort but I certainly feel better about what my family is eating.

Cooking. I try, that is we try to cook more often than not. It is not easy, but it is the better way. I have often read about households that can plan meals a week at a time and even prepare meals ahead and freeze them. I may tackle that strategy this summer and see if it works for us. In the meantime, it is serial simplicity for us.

-Allison

Ayn Rand, Keynesian Theory & The Golden Rule

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:48 -0500

For the purposes of this little on-line ramble, I do not profess to be an authority on Rand or Keynes. As for Rand, I thoroughly enjoyed her Atlas Shrugged, and recently finished a biography on her life & writings by Anne Heller. Atlas is a far more enjoyable read of the two (the bio is well written, it was just a bit too much for me). As for Keynes, I have not read any of his works in a primary fashion, but being a student of business & economics, I am familiar enough with his theories and use of theory in the 1930-1940’s and today.

Ayn Rand, proponent of laissez faire capitalism; John Maynard Keynes, advocate for government intervention in business; what do these two have to do with the Golden Rule?

As for Rand, it is an easier explanation for myself. She was a pure capitalist, in her writings, her beliefs & in her life. In fact she was, as my mother would say, selfish. Her super-hero’s John Galt & Howard Roark were interested in their belief, their success, their power. In summary, Rand wasn’t a proponent of the Golden Rule.

Before I get to Keynesian Theory, it is interesting to me as I write this that I really can’t compare Ayn Rand and John Maynard Keynes for the sake of impact to the Golden Rule. Rand wrote to the masses and used stories to project her unique and truly groundbreaking insights. Keynes was an academic, wrote for academics and advised government. His thoughtful and equally powerful insights changed the world too. John Maynard Keynes became Keynesian Theory.

Keynesian policy is about government acting in the interest of society. In a true sense and dare I say, utopian view, government is of the people for the people. But we all know that is the case, power frequently corrupts. For example, here is my birth-state of Illinois, we are known for the number and frequency of our Governors being convicted and placed in prison. The issue I have with big government is that the people in power actually did not create anything; they entered the government and became entrenched as part of the overall bureaucracy. Government starts to become bigger and bigger because it essentially needs to continually feed itself. That said, government is necessary to reflect the views of the citizens of the local, state and federal institutions.

Rand wrote about the individual and capitalism. Uncontrolled successful greed creates monopolies that do not benefit society. Keynesian theory is very susceptible to power seekers that do not create anything. This is where the Golden Rule enters the picture. Private business and public government (elected officials and the bureaucrats) would all do very well to remember the Golden Rule. When people become so selfish that they are only motivated by money and power for themselves, they create an inherent risk that should be unacceptable.

This is why I believe that the backbone of our great country is our people banding together to create small enterprises. For in a small enterprise, everybody must be concerned about meeting customer expectations. People engaged in small business know all of their co-workers and customer’s intimately. The only way to operate a small enterprise is to live the Golden Rule.

There is a middle way between laissez faire business and over-regulation of industry by big government. It is simply remembering the Golden Rule.

-Charley

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Cooking sounds so easy, why is it so hard?

Ayn Rand, Keynesian Theory & The Golden Rule