"What's for dinner?"

“What’s for dinner?”

There is just not enough time in our busy lives to have to worry about the eternal question of “What’s for dinner?”

Today’s wife, mother, significant other, or single parent is most likely to be employed. The woman comes home from her job just as tired, overworked, underpaid, and frustrated as the man, husband, father, or significant other in her life. (Do any of you appreciate the effort that is being made to be politically correct here?) Men can cook too, although it is unlikely that the majority really do. Families usually, or at least eventually will consist of children. Children are living, breathing, and loud, food-consuming bottomless pits. Fast food restaurants exploit the fact that parents are tired and overworked with children whose appetites are never satiated. Feeding the American family is an eternal and time-consuming thankless job.

To corporate America, it is our appetites that are the “gold in dem dar hills” to be exploited and manipulated. I am not just speaking of hunger here, but also the insatiable American appetite for everything that is new, better, and best. My father started sharing his views on the business of being in business when I was still to young to understand what he was saying. My father’s advice was simple: “There are only three types of businesses that I would advise you to go into: 1) The Food business – because people regardless of how poor will always have to eat, 2) The Housing business – because people no matter how poor will always have to have a place to live, and 3) The Transportation business – because people no matter how poor will always have to have a way to get from here to there, and back again.”

Obviously today the subject is: The Business of Feeding the American Family.

Without a doubt eating is one of American’s most popular past times. There are almost too many restaurants and fast food chains to count that are serving every imaginable type food that exist on the planet. It would be easy to assume that the answer to the simple question “What’s for dinner?” would be an easy one. Instead the question becomes “Where do you feel like eating dinner tonight?” or another typical response is “Lets’ order in!” Most every kind of food from any type of restaurant is available for take out, or delivery. And there we are, in our expensive automobiles waiting in line at every fast food restaurant in every city across America. When we don’t stop to pick up our food on the way home fresh from the drive through window then we simply make a phone call, and wait for food to be delivered to our doors. We drive home to our expensive, comfortable, new, convenience filled homes with processed and over-priced food in our hands.

So, with all the obvious choices for people to chose from about what to eat and where to eat, what seems to be the problem.

The problem is we, the American population, are eating ourselves to death. We have traded taste and nutrition for convenience and quantity. In addition to eating ourselves tragically obese, and experiencing all the health problems that come with being over weight, we are breaking the proverbial bank. Our hard earned dollars are being spent on food that is killing us, and that will lead to medical services debt that none of us should be aspiring to acquire. Life and health insurance companies have been tracking our medical data for decades, and set their prices accordingly. Our medical history is now a major consideration by large corporations in regards to our employment. The employment that affords us the privilege to afford all the processed fast food that is killing us.

It would be so easy to become paranoid at this juncture, and start talking about some great conspiracy. While fast food chains, medical conglomerates, and massive insurance companies may be partners in this crime that fact should only bolster our collective resolve to chose a much different reason to ask the question “What’s for dinner?”

Isn’t it enough that we all have to work hard, long hours to earn money to support the hunger that is evident by the rolling growl of our stomachs? Isn’t it enough that most of us endure the drive home from our jobs that takes us down “obesity alley”?

What if there was a better way to feed yourself and the members of your family. What if with very little time and effort there was a way to put a home cooked meal on the table every evening. There is the real possibility that many will think home-cooked meals is just another impossible task. Will anyone really miss the mad dash through the drive-up lines on the way home from work? Is everybody enjoying the artificially flavored gruel that is being served? Are any of you thinking that to consider any other possible alternative to fast food is too far-fetched to try to think of a better way? Shame on all of you who refuse to even consider that there is a better way, a more nutritious way, as well as a less expensive way to feed you and your family.

The solution to the problem is a simple appliance called a slow cooker, or Crock-pot.

A little research reveals that Rival introduced the first slow cooker in the 1970’s under the trademarked name Crock-Pot. Today, there are a multitude of different brands, shapes and sizes. Slow-cookers come in a range of sizes up to 7 quarts. Most of the slow-cookers available now have removable crockery inserts allowing for much easier cleaning than did many of the earlier models. Of course technology now allows for many automatic features, like timers that switch to a warm setting after the selected cooking time that were just not available on older models.

Many must be wondering if the Crock-Pot was so great why has it not remained a much loved and used appliance.

Crock-Pots were ugly. Crock-Pots still have a somewhat awkward appearance, especially if more than one is employed to cook an entire meal. The Crock-Pot is an old-fashioned appliance that your mother’s probably forgot to tell you about, because they were ugly, and very hard to clean. First it will be necessary to overlook the slow cooker’s appearance and embrace all it has to offer in providing a simple way to feed your family great home cooked meals. There is also no need to whine about the hows of slow cooking. There is no need to invest in a new library of cookbooks. The Internet provides a great wealth of recipes that meet all dietary needs. No chefs like cooking talents are required to produce eye-appealing, flavorful meals. The slow cooker is an excellent appliance for any beginner to the most experienced cook.

I personally have 3 slow-cookers, and I use them everyday. I cook the main course in the seven quart model, the side-dish in the 5 quart, and either another side-dish or dessert in the third. It is also perfectly acceptable to freeze leftovers, and then you or any member of your family can microwave a meal when the need to eat attacks.

When my family asks the question “What’s for dinner?” it is not because they are wondering about where we are going to get dinner. No, my family sincerely wants to know what is on the menu.

A Crock-Pot, or slow cooker is not so expensive that purchasing one or two could be considered similar to purchasing a major appliance. With the money that will be saved from not having to eat take-out meals, the Crock-Pot could conceivably pay for itself in the first week or two of use. By taking advantage of the slow-cooking method, cheaper cuts of meat can be rendered as tender, and favorable as the most expensive.

And since I did pose the question “What’s for dinner?” I will answer with this week’s menu:

Monday – Red Chicken Stew with olives, severed over a choice of pasta or rice

Tuesday – Baby-back ribs, potato salad, Honey poached pears for dessert (7 nice medium pears fit into my 5 quart slow cooker)

Wednesday – Smothered Pork Steaks and Sausage, garlic mashed potatoes, and Rice Pudding with cherries and almonds for dessert

Thursday – Chicken Stew with Rosemary Dumplings, and Winter Fruit Compote served warm over pound cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

Friday - Pineapple-Orange Glazed Ham, peas (not cooked in the slow cooker), Sweet Corn Potluck Pudding, and biscuits.

Saturday – Ginger & Molasses Beef Stew, and a salad of mixed greens, grapes, and toasted walnuts

Sunday - Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya (absolutely Cajun cooking can be done in a slow cooker)

(This article was written in response to all those that have told me that not everyone has as much time as I do to write and publish their work on Writing.com. My reply is always the same: “God did not bestow on me any more hours in a day than is available to everyone else. I guess that I have just had to make time for the two most important ingredients in my life: My family first, and then my writing! Of course the gap between the two is often filled with work, laundry, carpooling, doctor’s appointments, and every other imaginable interruption that comes down the pike. Why? Don’t you have a slow cooker too?”)

Happy slow cooking!

Thank you for reading this article and if you can spare one more minute of your time, I would like to ask if you would take my poll:

How do you make time?  (E) Time management for the rest of us! We work, clean, and do laundry. How do you make time? #808258 by The Critic

The Critic's Update NOTES:
"What's for dinner?" was completed and posted on Writing.com on January 28th, 2004. Today, February 5th, 2004, on my MSN home page I noticed another article with a different slant on my "What's for dinner?" theme, and I am providing the link as evidence that my concerns about the trends in "Eating in America" are justified: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4121245/