Gone are the days of heading to the supermarket to buy a vast array of vegetables, meat and other ingredients for tonight’s dinner.
Photo from denniswyman.com
Gone are the days when the mother would spend the best part of the day cooking a delicious meal for the whole family.
Gone are the days of fresh and in season produce being put together to create something truly delicious.
Instead today we are posed with a cardboard box, or a plastic pot or air tight package ready to get thrown into a box and ready to eat in two minutes. The lazy microwave age is upon us.
Everyday dishes such as spaghetti bolognese, shepherd’s pie, chicken curry and a wide selection of pastas, burgers and even pancakes can all now be cooked in the microwave. Who could resist? When the recommended retail price for a Birdseye Spaghetti Bolognese microwave meal costs as little as £1 (source: mysupermarket.co.uk).
However, since being at university, I’ve learnt the importance of fresh cooking and that buying in mass and cooking for everyone can actually work out rather cheap. Granted, it may cost slightly more than the Birdseye tat above, but you’ll know exactly what is going into it and is guaranteed to taste much better.
God knows what goes into a microwave meal, but it’s more than likely to consist of a variety of preservatives, colourings, artificial flavourings and badly sourced produce.
In a Birdseye Spaghetti Bolognese meal, the sauce consists of the following: Water, Beef 12%, Tomatoes, Onion, Tomato Purée, Mushrooms, Red Wine, Carrots, Celery, Maize Starch, Sugar, Reduced Sodium Salt (Potassium Chloride, Sodium Chloride), Garlic, Yeast Extract, Oregano, Parsley, Basil, Pepper.
Although the majority of ingredients are fresh here – which is certainly an exception – there is only 12% beef and a vast amount of water. In comparison, a packet of fresh beef mince, an onion, a carrot, tomato purée, Worcester sauce, a tin of chopped tomatoes and a packet of spaghetti spaghetti – when split four ways – provides a nutritious meal for four at a fair price.
Jamie Oliver, who forever emphasises healthy eating, has recently released the book 30 Minute Meals – proving how easy it is to cook and prepare a fresh three course meal for a family in very little time.
Photo from Jamie Oliver
Microwave meals don’t have to be the only option on a busy day; nor do they have to act as a cheaper alternative – as many students would prove.
Do you think the the culture of microwaves and TV dinners has gone too far? Or are fast meals built into our busy lifestyles?
Daniel Mayes is a recent Journalism graduate with an upper-second. He has experience working at BBC World Service, Sky News Online and has worked on projects in Europe and Africa.
Moment Matters 
This is something that I noticed a lot on my visits to the US – not only was it easy meals, but everyone went out to eat! You went out to eat for breakfast, for lunch, for a coffee, for dinner, for dessert – no one ate at home, no one cooked a meal! It astounded me as I grew up on a farm with fresh produce, and although I went through a phase of fast food convenience and microwave dinners, I had to go back to my roots! I love to cook and I love fresh wholesome meals just like my mum makes – I have dinner parties for my friends because I can cook them something just as delicious as they can get in a restaurant and they usually have a bit of fun being charged with bringing a dessert! I know people say they are busy, but everyone is, and yet there are people able to, and more importantly willing to make time for these meals. If you don’t make time for good food, you can’t be surprised with what happens to your body on a diet of high sodium chemical goodness! Don’t get my wrong, every so often I love a chicken burger from Oporto’s, but I know I can make a better one at home if I just pulled my finger out!
I encourage everyone, next time your friends say let’s meet for dinner, or a coffee – say come to my house, I’ll cook, or make it potluck, everyone enjoys a good potluck dinner!
I love this idea. And people eating out for every meal of everyday really confuses me – surely for a start it would be miles to expensive to keep doing it?
I know it’s easy to think it can be more expensive to cook from home, but it really doesn’t have to be. Plus, if you have dinner parties instead, you don’t have annoying waiters pestering you every few minutes!
It blew my mind but then I saw how cheap it is to eat out in the US, compared to Australia so it made a little more sense. But, then, it didn’t! Because it also meant that normal groceries were cheaper in the US than in Aus too!
I’m a student on a budget and it is far more economical for me to buy in bulk and have home cooked meals than to eat out! It is also so much cheaper to have those made from scratch meals than the frozen microwave meals – it doesn’t seem like it when you compare the cost of the microwave meal with what it takes to make a spaghetti – but when you make the spaghetti, you’re usually making enough for 4 meals, and like you said, tastes SO much better!
Yeah, you got that. It’s cheap to eat out in the US, saves time and effort of cooking too. That’s why I’m not scared to attempt to cook a dish because even if it tastes so bad, I can drive across a restaurant in five minutes! But I don’t expect the ingredients to be of topmost quality.
Its not dead here either 🙂 I only use the microwave to heat defrost and do jacket potatoes. 🙂
That’s brilliant – I believe the whole world should take example! 😀 Where are you from?
England 🙂
I don’t have a microwave and am glad. I don’t miss it at all. I try to eat as freshly as possible, and because I live alone it’s not that easy, but worth it. Great post, you’re preaching to the choir!
I found living alone means you can cook fresh food without getting pestered for smaller factors such as time and having to feed a large amount of people. It’s so rewarding to have a fresh, home cooked meal at the end of the day.
People don’t seem to worry about all the “preservatives, colourings, artificial flavourings and badly sourced produce” when they drink their beer. Then they wonder why they don’t feel as bad when they get pissed on something else….it’s all the additives that make you feel shit not necessarily the alcohol.
Being at college means you have plenty of time to make and source food, especially if like me at Uni, there was a huge rack of shops on your way back home.
When you commute up to 80 miles a day on a variety of trains, cars and underground, cooking when you get home is the last thing that you want to do.
We don’t have a microwave though, my missus likes to try and cook without using one and then I laugh at the amount of washing up she creates.
Microwaves are good for some things, like cooking beans. If you’re going to live your life as a tv dinner that’s also fine, it’s just that not everyone has the time or inclination to waste on something so trivial at the end of the day.
I’m a crap cook, I hate cooking and I hate most food. I also hate health fascists who seem to want to shove their “education” down my throat, no pun intended. Not relating to Moment Matters of course, but people like the company I work for (who shall remain nameless), the newspapers, the BBC, all these wankers who feel that they have a “responsibility” to piss me off.
The media definitely does play a strong role in saying “you should be eating this – no you shouldn’t be eating that”. It gets worse with the UK newspaper, Daily Mail. Apparently there isn’t a single food or drink item out there that can’t give you cancer (you can tell when the slow news days are!).
It’s the same with any new technology, it’s there to make our lives easier – so long as we don’t abuse or overuse it, as could be argued it currently the case.
I wasn’t aware of the huge amount of additives beer, but I will look into that a lot more.
Have a look at a previous post of mine related to this subject, saves me going through it all again 🙂
I don’t have a microwave and haven’t for years. Though not because of the processed meal things but because I feel they are not good for our health. Something my husband teases me about. I don’t use margarine either, because I feel it is unhealthy, butter is better. I love cooking and know that with just a little imagination it is very possible to cook something healthy, nutritious and most of all not containing ingredients that I can’t even pronounce, never mind want to consume! As for Jamie Oliver, he rocks! Great post.
He really is an amazing guy. The amount of work he’s done to promote healthy eating not only in the U.K but across the world is phenomenal. A lot of findings on the school dinner programmes are that the system is run like a business, with more cheaper items making their way onto a kid’s plate. Do we really want to encourage a lifestyle of processed food for the next generation?
I clicked the link for the 30 minute meal site because I need more recipes like that and thank you.
NOW… Here’s the thing. Many families today, they have both parents working. Many times the woman is running the kids to whatever extra-curricular activity they’re involved in and the time frame between getting out of work and then when the activity starts, is about 30/45 minutes. So there is quite literally no time to prepare something until way later in the evening. It’s faster and easier to get fast food. I’m not a fan of it myself, I only get it as a treat once every 4/6 months.
This is one reason I know that all these great meals aren’t made. Prior to my daughter having all her activities (she’s 15) I made different dinners, but the busier her schedule became (not to mention families with more than one child and both parents working) the less I made particular things.
By the time all is said and done, you “could” make leftovers and have things to reheat, which is okay… and of course, that is done in the microwave. 🙂
Jamie Oliver makes fill use of the microwave in the 30 Minute Meals recipes. There is one particular dish, where he gets potatoes and sweet potatoes and half a lemon in a pot; microwaves it and it becomes mash potato.
Microwaves are there to make our lives easier – as is the case with all technology. But as is also the case, too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.
I hear you. I like home cooking the best myself. Things don’t heat up or taste the same (to me anyway) after they’re reheated. Well … okay, maybe soup. LOL 🙂
I love this blog. We lived without a microwave for a long time. You can thaw out so much with a steamer and a few minutes. We installed a built in when we remodeled our kitchen for resale value, but have discovered that we don’t use it much even now. Slow cooked food tastes differently.
It would/could be less expensive to eat box meals if you shop when things are on sale, but I really prefer knowing what is in my pot and where it was grown. A box meal is likely better than drive thru. I guess it is a choice of the least evil based on your lifestyle.
Jamie Oliver makes fill use of the microwave in the 30 Minute Meals recipes. There is one particular dish, where he gets potatoes and sweet potatoes and half a lemon in a pot; microwaves it and it becomes mash potato.
Microwaves are there to make our lives easier – as is the case with all technology. But as is also the case, too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.
I don’t own a microwave for the simple reason that is zaps out most the nutrients that your body needs. With a little planning, you CAN prepare wholesome meals if you really want to. It doesn’t take that much more time if you are concerned about what you put into your body. I usually spend one day out of the week cooking, then freezing it. Most people think more about what they put into their car than their bodies.
Very very true, Healthy nutrients in everyday cooking are removed during the microwave process. It’s a sad shame when people don’t realise the amount of junk going into their bodies.
My understanding is that microwaves don’t remove nutrients anymore than heating via other methods do.
I don’t own a microwave. I was given two through my life as gifts, but I don’t like the way real food tastes coming out of them. I really don’t want something like that in my house so now everyone knows I hate them and won’t give me another one for me to find a home for just because they think I need it.
As for simplicity and time, I was a single mother with crazy schedules. Between working full time, taking care of the home, running kids to activities I know it can be hard and yes we sometimes grabbed something out, but here’s the thing. If you want it badly enough you can have home cooked meals.
Before bed, I made sure everything was ready for morning, homework in bags, lunches ready to go etc. In the morning while the kids were puttering around getting ready I would toss a few things in the slow cooker and have a great meal when we got home.
Another thing I did when the kids were young was to collect tv dinner trays (before they were plastic). Every time I had leftovers I would section the foods into the tray, cover with foil and mark on it what was inside. Then if I didn’t have time in the morning to get something ready, that evening I would ask the boys what they wanted and pop the tv tray in the oven for 20 minutes to reheat.
I think the amount of things that are in the markets to pop in a microwave is ridiculous. The foods aren’t even close to healthy with loads of salt in them which we surely don’t need.
The majority of these meals contain vast amounts of water and salt. Sure, a lo more companies are trying to make these meals as healthy and as wholesome as possible, but they still taste really bad a lot of the time.
Growing your own fresh produce may be a much better alternative, works out a lot cheaper and tastes much better than any shop bought produce.
I never cook in my microwave – just reheat/thaw/boil water. It’s not a bad thing that those days of all-day cooking are gone…but yes, we can still produce lovely meals in less time and Jamie Oliver helps us do! I love to cook…but NEED time to write and do other things, too!
As I say, technology is there to make our lives easier – but there can be too much of a good thing. If we allow our lives to get easier without looking into things properly, it could become dangerous.A lot of people have little regard for their own lives these days.
Indeed.
We do not have a microwave in our house. They are dangerous boxes that poison people and food.
Could not agree with you more. Some uses of the microwave are good and technology is there to make our lives easier. But it should not rule our lives.
I honestly don’t even remember the last time I used a microwave. I think it was in the vicinity of 10-11 years ago. And I’m only 35 years old, so that’s saying something. I find food reheats tastier on the stove or in a toaster oven.
I recently was introduced to Jamie Oliver and love his ideas, I wish he’d have come to my high school! But I certainly agree with him: real home made meals need not be an epic undertaking, they can be done in 10-30 minutes, especially if you make it a point to keep the required ingredients on hand!
Jamie Oliver came to a string of high schools across the UK and exposed the amount of junk in school dinners these days. From personal experience, they really were absolutely horrible! So much so, my parents ensured I had home dinners instead!
But after the changes had gone through, a string of parents went to the school gates to pass their kids Mcdonalds and other fast food items through the fence. It’s absolutely disgusting.
Nice blog. For once, someone seems to have figured out the true costs of “convenience cooking”.
I would never buy something made in a huge vat. Those vats contain the cheapest ingredients, for the maximum price. Plus the onslaught of ingredients that cannot be pronounced? As a vegetarian, anyway. Those “convenience” options; are limited for me.
You are what you eat. ….. includes t.v. dinners.
When the adults all hold down jobs and maybe have kids; in their lives? It is hard to avoid the temptations of the supermarket’s lures. Or even take-out. Yet, corporations try to mystify everything, with smoke and mirrors. People grow up. Blissfully unaware of how to make macaroni cheese? I saw a cook on tv, race someone. Using the stuff in a packet. Guess what? The fresh stuff won, handsomely. When you actually cost out how much more time, one has to spend in the workplace. Earning the money for all that “convenience”. Little wonder, people complain of too little time for themselves?
I love that quote: “You are what you eat”. If we allow microwave meals and cheap, processed foods to keep entering our bodies with such little regard then what are we becoming?
when I was a child we were never given tv dinners. mom in her later years did use a microwave but mostly to heat up her favorite beverage – hot water, or bowls of soup. I think they are useful in a pinch but should not be relied upon for too much use. when it comes to keeping the nutrients in cooked vegetables less is definitely more.
As is the case with everything, moderation is fine. Too much of anything can be a bad thing. Microwaves have their uses but certainly shouldn’t be the sole source of cooking in a household.
Great article. As a Mom who use to work, my family used to be subjected to frozen, microwaved, or ether fast good! Now that I am home I am able to prepare fresh meals for my family, even the simplest of a homemade meal make a difference.
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Glad you liked it. I think the kitchen should be the heart and sole of any home and can be the one place a busy family can come together after a busy day. It certainly is the case where I live.
There are no microwave meals in our home! The only pre-made ingredients in my meals are cream soups…and ketchup 🙂 This topic is very near and dear to my heart. So many people believe that convenience foods are the only way to cook meals on the fly. Learning to cook meals from scratch can be overwhelming, especially if it wasn’t a skill taught in your family of origin. It is also much more cost effective to make things from scratch. Check out “Make the Bread, Buy the Butter”. Thanks for starting this conversation!
As a student, people I know are split. There are people who will buy freezable items like chicken nuggets and pizzas and there are others who cook scratch. It’s created a lazy society. So much so that children in the UK don’t even what a French Fry is made of! It needs to change.
I honestly think that cooking on your own is important, but we cannot disown the microwave. Most of us just really don’t have time to cook even a 20 minute meal somedays and we need the alternative. I don’t like the inference that people who pop in the tv dinner are somehow more unhealthy or bad because they don’t have time or can’t know exactly what is in the food. I think both home cooking and microwave dinners have a place in the average household of the busy person. (And let’s add that fathers can cook dinner as well! I don’t want to retreat back to a mother cooking the home meal everyday no matter how nice it sounds!)
Certainly not! We are going right back to the good old days of home cooking. I’m old enough to know what to do. Tricky for the young ones, but it can be done. We’re removing most of our electric gadgets and replacing them with mechanical or hand operated. The resources won’t be around in the very near future, think smart now.
Very good thinking and I share your opinion. It raises the debate over whether technology is actually making our lives better.
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The problem is that everyone is just so busy…I have two small children and my husband works until it is nearly their bedtime. One method I have grown fond of is the one where you do the major prep work for your main dish the night before, so that it’s all ready to go in the oven when you get home from work. Then while it’s in the oven you cook some fresh vegetables. I found an entire cookbook – an old one – devoted to this method and blogged about it recently.
I agree with Wallancee that eating out may be an even bigger problem. I don’t know if the drive-thru is prevalent in your country, but it sure gets heavy usage in the U.S. Even menu items that may seem healthier (i.e. the chicken sandwich) are surrounded by white bread and French fries. I think with some pre-planning families can avoid that altogether.
In the UK, the drive-thru is prominent and certainly a quicker alternative. With pre-planning and a few recipe books, it’s definitely possible to avoid this way of living. It’s also been proven that kids tend to behave better and have higher concentration levels through healthy eating.
I couldn’t agree more, my own mother cooks her rice in the microwave, it’s incredibly awful once it sits for 15 minutes. I hate rock hard rice.
I’m a trained chef .. I think there is a place for a micro wave in a home and even in a professional kitchen. Maybe not for TV dinners, I’m those days what I call an lonely diner – single – and to stand and prepare a dinner for only me for up to 40 min. and more – then sit down on my own .. and it’s all gone in 15 min – and say to myself .. that was fantastic !!! Will never happen. Still I think there is fantastic products out there for micro cooking – fresh products – Mark & Spencer, UK are champions. Fresh produced and food for one. Everything has to be with moderation … who is going to do the cooking when both parents work 5 days per week ???? Jamie are fantastic, but he doesn’t have 2 -3 hungry kids around his legs while cooking a dinner in 30 min. He are alone .. in a kitchen that has space and all the latest cons in oven and stoves.
30 minute meals is an excellent book – me and my wife frequently cook the recipies at home! And i find it interesting how university has caused you to reject instant meals rather than lulled you into a lazy microwave meal student stupor. Speaking from experience, at university it is all too tempting to buy ready meals, snacks, or just eat a can of squirty cream rather than buy ingredients and spend time preparing a balanced meal. True story.
I am not good at cooking.besides, I am as busy as other urban living ants. Sometimes, I think it is microwave giving me excuses being lazy. Two weeks ago, the magic microwave broke, no longer used its magics turned yummy fast food in a minute. I needed to use oven to cook for myself. It turns out I like it… All the dishes taste mush better that microwave food.