Totally obsessed with HungryGirl

[shootingstar]

FWIW, neither my mother nor my brother even have microwave ovens. I do, and use it to warm up things I've made (I make alot of homeade foods, and always have leftovers). I don't buy or eat ready-made meals and such. Only microwave popcorn, which I have about once every couple of months.

I think that learning to cook, and even growing your own food or at least herbs, is a great way to learn to think about what goes into your mouth.

I actually didn't live in any home with a microwave until I was 42 ..when started I living with my partner. It never occurred to me to buy a microwave. Seriously.

My parents still don't have a microwave. We would never dream of buying a microwave as a gift for them. It would be wasted...unless they became so disabled to cook safely at the stove. Maybe that will be the time in future we'll do buy such a gift.

Even now, I seldom cook foods with leftover amounts for microwave nuking. My style of cooking just does not lend itself often to equally tasty leftovers the next day anyway. Whereas it's my partner using the microwave for frozen veggie soups that he makes or to warm up his bagel.

All through university, as a break from intensive study and as a form of therapy, I enjoyed cooking dinner for myself. Same core style of cooking as I do now. Maybe at that time, I did instant noodles with hot water thing, Kraft macaroni and cheese, Campbell soup, ..um..2-3 times per month. My parents didn't have enough money to pay my tuition nor accommodation, but one thing they did help out..was my mother gave me packets of pre-cut, frozen meat for my freezer when I was student. Looking back, it was probably godsend..not only financially but also ...extended a healthy diet for a stressful time in my life.

Well into my full-time paid career years, she was still giving me some care packages of fresh veggies that she had washed and cut for me when I visited occasionally. To last 1-2 wks.

It took a certain amount of repetition by me to get her to stop doing this.

So really, I have been indoctrinated....by a parent to prepare meals/dishes based on whole food. I just could not throw out these care pkgs. and good practices from momma.

I owe alot of how I eat now, my relative health..to this foundational start in life.

Same for my partner for similar cooking philosophy of his mother.

But our weight gain comes from desserts purchased outside of home. Sigh.