(October 5, 2015 at 6:52 pm)MTL Wrote:(October 5, 2015 at 4:37 pm)lkingpinl Wrote: OMG I love it. After years, I convinced my wife that this method was better. She liked how fresh the meals were and I liked how cheap the bills were.
We now plan meals a week at a time and sometimes we make them in advance and just put in slow cooker. Dinner is so much less stressful now and overall budget is healthier.
It's actually a more old-country way of doing things.
I know in France many people make a small trip, usually on foot or by bicycle or on a little vespa, every day or every other day, to the local "marché", stopping perhaps to sit with a friend at a café and enjoy an excellent little cup of strong espresso, then home to cook a fresh, healthy, flavourful (non-diet) meal, take their time about enjoying it and each other's company, and store whatever small amount is left, if any, in a small fridge or cupboard;
....as opposed to our North American method of one big weekly trip to a massive supermarket in a massive SUV to cram tonnes of processed crap into huge refrigerators and huge walk-in pantries, hitting the drive-thru at Starbucks to grab a Venti Mochaccino on the way home, and finally stuffing pizza into your face as fast as you can, whilst zoning-out in front of the TV
....and then wondering why we have an obesity problem in North America.
We in Portugal mostly do that weekly trip to the supermarket... but we drive small cars, so we just cram what's really necessary. Our refrigerators usually have a single door and the freezer box is on top (or bottom, depends on the model).
Drive-thrus exist, but are seldom used... people like to enjoy their meals when they eat out.
Eating at home is done on what's called a dinner table. The tv may be on or not... most people leave it on, to keep in touch with the news or the latest soap opera. After every meal, we have a piece of fruit - it's sweet and has some extra fiber to complement the fiber in the salad we have while eating the main course.
Still, child obesity is on the rise around here. Junk food exists and some people exaggerate it. Children aren't exercising much, in spite of the existence of public play parks for them... kids tend to stay home, unless the parents can dispense the time to go with them to such parks.
It's complex....
