Michelle on
Facebook makes a valid point on my previous post:
“…I don’t overly agree with all the processed items she’s suggested (ie. Chicken stock, soy sauce).
It seems
that in this day and age, any food discussion, especially here on the West Coast,
must also involve health conscious options.
I’m not
known for my healthy dietary choices, if anything it’s quite the opposite. I am
that girl who hosted the Great Fried Chicken Showdown of 2010 - otherwise known
as the day D and I tried answering the age old question: KFC or Church’s?
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| Churches won out on texture but we disagreed on taste though they both smelled like heaven |
My husband refers
to fried chicken as the “dirty bird” (despite the very official empirical data I
provided him on its awesomeness) and refuses to eat it, regardless of the
charming mascot on the bucket. I won’t lie, there’s a small bit of resentment
on my part, but come bikini season; I am reminded of the evils of fried
food.
I make
mention in my last post that there was a time when “I could eat all sorts of
glorious fast food with nary a second thought”, but what I failed to make clear
was that this time has passed – LONG PASSED.
With an
aging body and a slowing metabolism, what choice is there but to question my
consumption of the dirty bird?
Oh, but it sounds like such a glorious idea!
It’s one thing when you answer to only
yourself, but as you become increasingly responsible for the healthy habits of
others you are forced to consider the options.
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| how can you say no to that face? |
Even D has now adopted a whole new philosophy on food, opting for the less carnivorous and
more organic options to feed her bundle of baby joy. Her husband protests that he married an
Eastern European meat-eater; this bait and switch is just cruel!
On the one hand, I feel as though I've lost my best friend. But, on the
other hand, if you go through the trouble of making a little person, you want
them to eat healthy so they can grow up big and strong to reach things on the
top shelf for you (or the second shelf too if you're me).
Much like
matter and anti-matter, I feel that a choice must be made between health, budget, convenience and taste; and never the twain shall
meet.
Healthier choices are often more expensive and less convenient. More
convenience usually translates into less healthy. Feeding a family with healthy
options on a balanced budget without having to quit your day job is a balancing
act!
When given
the choice, homemade chicken broth is the bee’s knees (I have no idea what that
means, but I hear it’s awesome). In a
pinch though, the store bought stuff is your Hail Mary!
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| chicken so good, it strikes a pose |
Whenever we
roast a whole chicken (or bone-in pieces), I freeze the carcass. When I
have a pile of otherwise unusable chicken bits saved up, I turn them into a
double batch of chicken broth which gets packaged into convenient portions and
put back into the freezer for future use.
But the sad reality is; man cannot
live on chicken alone (first world
problems)! We just don’t eat enough chicken to keep my freezer supply
flush.
What’s a
girl to do?
We choose; and choose wisely, we must! Not all store-bought products
are created equal and with the money saved from freezer cooking and chicken
scrapping, it’s not unreasonable to splurge on the more expensive, healthier
and/or organic options (or a high quality pressure cooker to
churn out a batch of broth in a fraction of the time).
Remember
your Google-Fu? Use it! We’re not the first to ponder this dilemma!
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| homemade vs store bought? |
I’m a
strong believer in moderation. Almost everything we consume is homemade so the
preservatives and other tongue twister ingredients are kept to a minimum. The odd bit will inevitably slip in - c'est le vie...sometimes you can have
your dirty bird and eat it too!
I may
change my tune when we add a small child to the mix but, for now, I am confident
that I am feeding my family a healthier diet than average.
Our monthly
budget is tracked meticulously and the ingredients that go into our freezer
meals are constantly reviewed for cost-efficiency. For now, I am still a full-fat
kind of gal, and saving money often wins out over healthier alternatives.
Little by little, though, I make healthier adjustments.
That’s the beauty in
freezer cooking; you are the master of the universe in your own kitchen (sans Battle Cat, of course).
My fried chicken showdown days are mostly behind me now, but I'm still quite adept at finding ways to indulge.
What are your guilty pleasures?
