[Desiderata]

Originally Posted by MandoMan

I live alone, and I’m too lazy to do much cooking beyond heating things up. I eat one meal a day. I put a bag of frozen spinach, broccoli florets, or riced cauliflower (with nothing else in it) in the microwave oven for the minimum time. Salt and lemon juice on the spinach, salt and a little Parmesan cheese on the broccoli, salt and pepper on the riced cauliflower. I pour it into a two quart Corel serving dish after cooking and eat it all.

Then I wash that and open a can of beans, such as black-eyed peas, garbanzos, black beans, pintos, etc. I pour the beans in the dish, give them a squirt of Sriracha sauce, cover with a paper towel, and heat for two minutes. That makes for a delicious entree. I eat the whole can.

Sometimes I pour some Armour beef pre-cooked frozen meatballs in the dish, pour on a 28 ounce can of Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes, then add a lot of dried basil, parsley, and chives and some salt. I cook this in the microwave oven for the time for the meatballs plus about three minutes.

I know, you think I’m disgusting. But it’s a lot easier than most of these prepared meals you buy from a company, much cheaper, and frankly tastier for me than what I’ve eaten in a lot of the higher end restaurants around here (given that I don’t eat the bread and drink only water). I had a friend who tried several of the “we mail you everything” services. Some of the meals were delicious and some weren’t, but it all took—I thought—as much cooking as a fancy recipe-followed dinner. The difference is that she didn’t have to go shop for ingredients. What I really disliked was the food arriving in a big styrofoam box like a cooler with single-use ice bags inside. No food waste, but huge environmental impacts for one meal, compared to one little plastic bag and one can for me.

You’ve given me some good ideas!