Vox had an interesting article last week about how people are cooking or not-cooking.
A team of sociologists that recently spent 18 months following nearly 200 low- and middle-income moms argue that’s much easier said than done. The three researchers — Sarah Bowen, Sinikka Elliot and Joselyn Bretton — spent hundreds of hours interviewing and observing how moms feed their families. And they found that, while many enjoyed cooking, the time pressures and desire to please all family members made home-cooked meals a tiring, stressful experience.
A team of researchers figured that out, people. A team.
Other findings were more useful. They did find that people were cooking at home, because they couldn’t afford fast food. They might not be cooking in the same way as any of us snobs. My guess is that it’s a lot of canned soup and beans.
Apt. 11d 
The article didn’t talk about what people actually did cook. Price was an issue for the poor (hah, of course), so it can’t be all frozen foods, but maybe there are cheaper frozen foods than the Amy’s enchiladas which always seem ridiculously expensive when I put them in my cart?
I’m guessing soup and beans casseroles aren’t all that common, ’cause they’d take too much time. They’re meals for stay at home moms, who are there to put things in the oven and take them out again.
I’d like to see more quantitative analysis of eating habits. There must be studies out there, that document what people are eating. The processed food companies must study eating habits, as well as health researchers. I should do a food of the day project for myself. I know our answer to not cooking is eating out a *lot.” But, that’s not a solution for people for whom money is tight.
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Our HEB sells rotisserie chickens for $6.99. You can get them in a variety of flavors.
Baby T and I were hanging out near the grocery store grill this morning and they had easily 100 of those chickens cooking over flame. They must sell hundreds of the things every day. Add a veggie and a starch and dinner is served–maybe under $10 total for a family of 4.
I personally prefer the rotisserie turkey, as it’s better for using in recipes–a little salty, but very easy to cut up. I think they’re generally $9.99, but I can get two nights of turkey curry out of them and there are sometimes coupons. That’s about a $12 dinner for a family of 5, counting $4 for Patak’s sauces (that might be a little low), $5 for the turkey, about $1 worth of rice, and then $2 worth of frozen veggies. A can of garbanzos and a can of kidney beans probably brings us up to $14, but there should be at least enough for one large leftover lunch the next day.
I’m not sure Laura would call that cooking.
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I always figure half a chicken per adult. I may eat too much.
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What’s wrong with beans? I used to make a 8 minute soup when I was pressed. 2 can of beans, rinsed. 1 can of tomatoes, 1 cup frozen corn, 1 tblspn chili powder 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp black pepper and 2 cups broth. Heat to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 8 minutes. Add a salad and dinner is done. I don’t care if anyone else thinks it is cooking
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