Food short cuts- which ones are worth it and which ones should be taken out and shot...

To be American in today's world is to be perennially overcommitted.  We are constantly on the go, sleep-deprived, and look for every shortcut in the book. Many times, what gets sacrificed are home-cooked, thoughtfully prepared meals. We spend a fortune at restaurants, and throw convenience food together. Our waistlines and medical parameters show the results of our harried schedule.  The Slow Food Movement is awesome in theory, but I don't have time for Slow anything these days.  Rather than taking an all-or-nothing stance, I'm trying to find short cuts when possible, practical, and healthy and delicious, but there are some short cuts that are just not worth it.  Either doing things the "right way" takes so little extra time, the short cut is ridiculously overpriced, or the short cut is horrifically unhealthy or one sacrifices their tastebuds at the altar of convenience.  Here are a few short cuts that are just not worth it:

Low end ramen noodles.  Yes, they are uber cheap and cook up in 2 minutes.  They are also loaded with sodium and fat, and made with bleached white flour.  And my kid, unfortunately, loves them.  She loves pasta in all forms.   Solution?  Make a gigantic pot of whole grain (wheat, rice, spelt, what have you) pasta and refrigerate the bulk to use for other meals, in soups, etc. My kid could happily eat nothing but pasta and butter, but I doctor it up with protein (chicken, tuna, salmon), half the butter she wants, and sometimes stir in veggies.  When I do make ramen noodles, I try to go for the whole grain/low sodium variety from a co-op or Whole Foods.  The kid squawks. I ignore her.

Short cuts chicken.  You know the chicken chunks you find near the luncheon meat that you can add to salads, etc? They are just nasty.  They taste compressed and reconstituted.  In fact, they are one of the few foods on earth that doesn't "taste like chicken".  I know most of us do not have time to cook a whole chicken.  But this is just foul, and overpriced.  Solution?  Buy a rotisserie chicken- heck, at the end of the day, my grocery store puts them on sale.  They are very affordable, and it takes all of 5-10 minutes to pull the meat off at home.   You can pick up a couple of them and have chicken for a variety of recipes in a week.

Shredded cheese.  I'm a hard sell on this one, because it is so easy to open a bag, but shredded cheese loses a lot of flavor and is much more expensive. It takes all of 5 minutes to grate an entire block of cheese, is good for the arm muscles, and you can grate a couple of days worth at once. 

Jars of pre-minced garlic.   It doesn't even taste like garlic.  It has a bitterness that fresh garlic doesn't have. If you don't have a garlic press, by all means, get one.  It takes a few seconds to peel off the garlic rind, and a few more seconds to press a clove. I used to use it, but when I purchased some fresh garlic, I was floored by how much better my food tasted.

Avoiding fish.  I have heard so many people say that they don't buy fish because they "don't have time for it".  ??  Fish bakes and pan fries so much faster than other meats.   I can pan fry up some salmon steaks on the stove in 5 minutes, and it's the easiest thing ever.  Salmon steaks with olive oil, garlic, capers, and lemon juice is absolutely delicious, and I will often serve the salmon over some of the leftover whole grain pasta.

Frozen vegetables.  Yes, I'm guilty of this at times, but, my lord, they are disgusting.  I grew up on canned and frozen vegetables, and never liked veggies until I went off to college and started cooking fresh ones. It is SO tempting to pop a steamable bag of frozen veggies in the microwave, but it's also easy to get a steamer basket and use it.  We have a container from Pampered Chef that allows us to steam veggies in the microwave in 5 minutes. It takes little time to cut up a squash and a zucchini, half some local cherry tomatoes, and pan fry it in olive oil with some herbs.

My husband would add in baby carrots.  I cave, because I am in a rush in the morning, but I agree that peeling and cutting up a carrot takes little time and tastes so much better.  Another option for a work lunch is to cut up a couple of colored peppers.

Frozen meals.  I falter here as well, but I am trying to get them out of my diet.  They taste like ass, pure and simple, and are full of disgusting crap.  I'm trying to find better solutions for quick, easy lunches to pack, and the easiest, fastest packed lunch is to bring leftovers from dinner.  We try to make large quantities of dinner so that we can have lunches for the week. When I cave, I'm trying to buy better frozen meals.  Amy's makes some that are much healthier and actually taste reasonably pleasant.

Commercial salad dressings.  They are full of junk and, in my opinion, taste like chemicals.  It takes no time at all to make a vinaigrette.  Some days, I just mix balsamic vinegar with olive oil.  That's it.  1 minute of my life. 

Crustables.  Oh. Em. Gee.  These are in the frozen section, and are pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  You take them out and let them thaw.  In that length of time, you could have whipped together multiple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.   For about a 10th of the price.  Who buys these things?

Pre-sliced boiled eggs.  The HECK?  How fresh could these things be?  And how long does it take to slice up an egg?  For the love of all that is holy, don't.

Short cuts that are worth it (at least to me):

Bagged salad.  No way do I have time on a weekday to wash lettuce and spin it or wait for it to dry. I can take some bagged salad and add some protein, nuts, grape tomatoes, and, if I have them, leftover cooked veggies. I bring a small container of homemade salad dressing, as the salads get nasty and soggy if you put the dressing on at home. It's the only way I am going to bring salad to work, so it's bagged salad or no salad.


Rotisserie chicken.  I could live on rotisserie chicken.  I do not have time to cook whole chickens, and they are tasty and cheap.  They can be used in just about any chicken recipe, or just thrown onto a salad or in a tortilla.  Definitely worth it.

Chopped butternut squash cubes.  I haven't noticed any taste difference, and they are so convenient in stews or other recipes.  Peeling and cutting a butternut squash takes a lot of time.

Pie crust.  Unless I am taking a pie to a very special dinner, the store bought variety are tasty enough to make the convenience worthwhile. And we rarely make pies anyway.

Cake mixes.  They CAN be worth it, if you are just feeding a bunch of kids, or if you doctor up the recipe.  Otherwise, there is nothing as tasty as a homemade cake. And the pre-made frosting pales in comparison to the homemade variety.  I'd probably compromise with a cake mix with homemade frosting.

Bisquick/pancake mix.  We eat pancakes so infrequently that I don't mind occasionally using Bisquick, and it comes in handy for a variety of recipes. I am biased, as I grew up on Bisquick, and it tastes like my childhood.  Plus, I am usually too out of it first thing in the morning to whip up homemade pancakes.  If you want a healthier option, Whole Foods or your local co-op will probably have whole grain, organic, pancake mixes.  Arrowhead Mills makes some tasty ones.I wouldn't recommend a steady stream of pancake breakfasts, scratch or not, but if you do it as little as we do, a little Bisquick won't kill you.

In general, my list will differ from your list, as we all have different taste buds.  Cut corners when it won't compromise healthy eating or taste bad.  Take the extra time when it really matters, or when the short cut is overpriced or nasty.