[JMvS]

Originally Posted by Mystique

*High fives*
- Took the words, right out of my mouth.

Funny how both my parents have worked all their lives, but as kids there was food in the house.
It is a case of meal planning and cooking up stews or dishes that can be heated by the kids (depending on age) when they get back from school.
Or in my case, I was doing the cooking sometimes when I came home (like sticking rice in the rice cooker) or something, but with strict time management and planning, home cooked meals can be eaten, so it is just laziness.

I concur, as my parent were able to do the same, while working together. Of course it helps if the children are brought up to be a little responsible: cook an egg, boil pastas, steam rice, wash a salad or heat some stew without burning it aren't such complicated things.

I admit that more often than not, we would use conventional shortcuts: pre leveled dough for pies (coupled with frozen spinach or cheese for some delicious pies), canned peeled tomatoes for sauces. But anyway, it has been normal for centuries now to buy bread and buy pre grinded and mixed spices... but come on... pre minced onions....

Normal family meal going by what culture?
The response was people claming to have no time, so to make food is impossible and already cut/peeled/fried yada yada packaged meals are needed, which Solace was pointing out that you don't need much time to make something pretty decent.
On a weekday when parents are working, I doubt they'd be time for a big family sitdown (like a Sunday Roast, kinda thing).

Actually "culture" here is a key point, although not in the traditional sense (if you look into all cultures, traditional cooking is always time consuming); it has to do with the fact that the available time hasn't so much shrunk, but is now allotted to new priorities: watching the daily ration of TV, surfing the daily ration of Internet; at the expense of gathering to prepare and eat food together.

Also, if food was just food, then humans wouldn't have various opinions on taste.
Food is one of the very few free pleasures in life that humans have as a species. (sex being another)
Good food, home made food is almost orgasmic in itself, especially when you consume something that tastes to damn good, you smile no?
It leaves you wanting more, you feel good and the memories tend to last of a particular dish that you had which you enjoyed greately (or hated, lol)

Sadly, due to the aforementioned evolution, more and more peoples, if not whole "cultures", see food as nothing but fuel... true Epicurian can have it hard in some places.
Now food tend to be associated with either fuel needed to run the body, a compulsive need, or a way to get a nice/healthy body. Appreciating and savoring it for it's intrinsic value tend to be a minority behavior alas...