Hot sauce covers a multitude of frozen-meal and fast-food sins. I keep a stash of these bad boys in my desk at work at all times!
My food situation has worsened since I last posted on this site five years ago. More local grocery stores have closed. Specialty groceries have gone out of business. The lack of variety in fresh produce and the dearth of Asian and other ethnic food ingredients in the Mahoning Valley continues to make cooking fresh, international cuisine a challenge. While we do have ways to buy directly from farmers, I have found that CSAs and many meat-buying programs require a lump sum of cash in order to participate. I've done it a few times, but coming up with $300 or $600 in a single lump is, frankly, an issue. Add to that the problem of being a single eater in a food system centered on packaging in bulk, and you have all my excuses gathered in one paragraph for giving up the challenge.
Most of my meals now are pre-packaged, commercial, and frozen, as are most of my lunches. But I'm miserable. Buffalo wings have their limits. As does pizza and overcooked pasta with universal red sauce. Besides, I NEED fresh vegetables, even if I am forced to buy enough for a dozen servings at a time!
So . . . Next month, I will relaunch this site with a slightly different mission. I will, once again, stage my own private resistance to the corporate food complex. I will talk about living in one of America's biggest food deserts and work on solutions. I will research new fresh food sources that are closer to home. And I will try new strategies to avoid waste. I'll also review cookbooks, research topics in food history, and . . .
Hey! I might even cook!
