Two big challenges facing home cooks are money and time. Sure, you can buy store-brand boxed macaroni and cheese, but as my daughter Dee used to say, “Where’s the fun in that?”  Boxed macaroni and cheese might be quick and cheap, but its flavor and nutritional value pretty much erase the quick and cheap part. Still, what to do in a household where both parents work, the children have outside activities, and the income is modest? 

Mark Bittman, in the New York Times, has an interesting take on this dilemma. In his piece “Chop, Fry, Boil: Eating for One, or for 6 Billion,” he takes on the role of a finger-wagging teacher as he exhorts his “students” to buck-up. Americans don’t have time to cook? Then how come they can find the time to watch, on average, thirty-five hours of television a week? No money for good, healthy food? Nonsense! Meals cooked with lentils and rice or cabbage or even chicken and broccoli are far cheaper than most fast food and much better for you. 

Cooking, of course, requires equipment—stove, pots and pans, knives—as well as a pantry stocked with basic food and spices. While Bittman acknowledges that some people might not have these things, he continues his stern lecture by adding, “These requirements cannot be met by everyone, but they can be met by far more people than those who cooked dinner last night.” 

Mark Bittman concludes “By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind, creating more healthful, less expensive and better tasting food” that is better for the health of people and the health of the planet. 

Bittman is right, and his article, which includes three recipes, is well worth reading.