Easy Meals for a Busy Life

 For the millions of people headed back to school this year, one thing is going to be on their minds at the end of their busy days and that thing is going to be,” what to do for dinner”. From the harried mother to the new college student to the new couple down the street, everyone has one thing on their mind come 6:00 PM. And that would be,” I am starving, what is for dinner”?  Years gone by Mom would have a hot meal ready and waiting about the time your brain received the signals from your stomach that it was time to it. Nowadays with everyone’s busy lifestyles, more and more people just do not have the time for the kind of work required for that kind of meal. That leaves everyone with basically three tried and true methods of slapping a meal into themselves and/or their families. If they have a really good job they can eat at a sit down restaurant, if they are really stressed for time they can hit their local fast food store, or if they are feeling the need to get de-stressed then they can order something for takeout/ delivery and relax in the comfort of their own home or the home next door whatever is on their agenda.   

      For the ultimate eating experience, a sit down dinner at the hometown favorite restaurant is the way to go. You know the one, it is right there on the corner of Main Street. It has been there since God was a baby and the cook could have been God’s auntie. He liked her so well that he gifted her with the knowledge of how to cook a homestyle meal, make it look and smell like heaven, and be able to do it in under ten minutes for a better than reasonable price. The restaurant doesn’t look like much but it is where all the locals go when the tourists are in town. The coffee is always fresh and hot and the desserts are what you take to your mother-in-law’s house if she lives in another state (she will never know unless your husband has a death wish).

      A less satisfying alternative is the fast food restaurant. They all have a generic menu; something that started out life breathing, has been turned into paste of some sort, and has the flavor fried out of it. Although not as good as a restaurant it is convenient if you are busy and you only have to throw the trash away to clean up after yourself. It is great if you have a bunch of screaming kids as some of the restaurants have a playland to let them loose in so you can finish a thought while you eat. However you only have to read the magazines at the checkout stand or listen to the news to find out exactly how unhealthy this type of food is, so you really don’t want to indulge in this type of food on any kind of regular basis. 

      A third and final option to getting a dinner without the bother of cooking it yourself is to have your food delivered from the various assorted restaurants that will deliver in your area or order something to take home yourself. Chinese food and pizza are two of the first options that come to mind although larger cities will have other options as well. This method is great if you have guests coming over and no time to cook or you feel like eating your dinner in your pajamas in front of the TV. Order a pizza or a Pu Pu Platter and you are all set. A major drawback is that quite often the food comes to you less than hot and sometimes missing items. It never fails that pizza delivery will be missing the soda that was supposed to come with it and by the time you get your soda the pizza is cold.

      Whatever method gets chosen is largely going to depend on time money and convenience, what your mood is, who you have to feed, and how far you want to go to get fed. If you get desperate enough and all else fails there is only one thing left that you can do to get a hot meal for a reasonable price. Just don’t forget to thank your Mom; she worked hard getting that meal together.