Convenience Food Guilt

I should probably start out by acknowledging how ridiculous it is for me to write about frozen meals on a cooking blog. But hey, everyone needs a break from cooking sometimes. Normally you could convince your spouse or significant other or roommate to cook, or scrounge up some leftovers from some past meal. But when you live alone and carefully plan, it’s more likely that you will be faced with an empty fridge and bare cupboards.

You see, this week is finals at the university where I work. I volunteered to help out by working 9-midnight and making coffee. (I knew I couldn’t handle the midnight-6am shift.) So Sunday was pretty much a lost day, with the exception of some dishes. And Saturday the cat and I had a vet appointment (his last for a while!), which was followed by a brunch date. Normally I do my grocery shopping on Friday, but this week I went home early because I wasn’t feeling well. So clearly stopping at the store wasn’t really an option. I had enough food in the house to feed myself reasonably well this weekend, but work food is another story. Luckily, I have a few packets of oatmeal in my desk for when I run out of yogurt (my normal Monday-Friday breakfast). And grabbing lunch is no challenge when you work on a college campus - today it was the Inari Special (yum) and a sushi roll.

But what this means is that it is Monday night, the beginning of a VERY long week for me (I have to drive across the state for a conference and then participate in graduation the next morning), and I have no food prepared to reheat through the week. In cases like this, when being busy collides with being a little burnt out from cooking, I rely on frozen meals. I know, it’s really unhealthy, and I’m not a huge fan of not knowing what’s in my food, but some days, it’s just easier and the only way I can be sure to get a vaguely balanced diet. And it will be offset by the quiche I’m making for my lunches.

I know that it’s silly, but I can’t help but feel a little bit guilty for relying on convenience food, especially when I do love to cook. It’s just that sometimes life gets in the way.