I haven’t had cable TV for more than three years, and I recently cancelled my basic TV subscription. There are several reasons for this – one of them being that it’s all just too expensive as a result of not enough competition among cable companies. 

While this has always infuriated me, I also admit that I don’t watch that much TV…anymore. But I used to watch a lot of TV, and I still love it as a diversion and a source of entertainment. A recent article I read on how many hours people spend watching TV each day (FIVE hours on average) got me thinking about all the things people could be doing with that time instead, especially when they’re complaining that they don’t have time to cook, exercise, grocery shop, etc….

If you follow this blog, you know that this has been a year of changes for me: attempts to live a more minimalist lifestyle, saving money, leaving Bank of America for a credit union, growing more of my own food in a container garden, and doing weekly juice fasts are all new things for the first half of 2013. (These things alone leave me little time for TV-watching!)

Food is the other part of my life that has changed this year. I’ve always loved to cook, but it’s been only recently that I’ve come to understand what that means and the ways in which I’ve needed to improve my skills. In the past, cooking meant some kind of meat (usually frozen), cooked in a skillet with some kind of vegetables and a jar of sauce, served over pasta or rice. I paid little attention to where my food was made, what ingredients it had, or how it was cooked.

Part of the reason was because I wanted a fast and easy meal so I could do “other things” – like watch TV or a movie – after work at night. Many people say that they don’t have time to cook. This is true if 5 hours of TV-watching per night is a priority.
What I’ve learned is that it takes TIME to shop for groceries and cook well. Choosing simple and fresh ingredients, and learning to cook with lots of different spices and seasonings (particularly those from my garden!) is an effort compared to a hamburger from the drive-thru. Fortunately for me, it’s an effort I love.

But the reality is this: If you want to eat cleanly because you care about your health and your body, it will take time out of your schedule – and out of TV time. As an example, a meal the bf and I often cook involves: a whole (organic) chicken that we clean, season, cook and cut, chopping fresh vegetables, choosing organic whole grains and taking the time to cook them (no instant rice!), adding spices, and then taking the bones from the chicken and making homemade chicken stock. It’s a process, and it doesn’t leave much time at night for watching TV – at least not 5 hours of it. But in the end we’ve made a nourishing meal with plenty of leftovers, so we feel it’s time well spent.

Yes, it’s a lot of work. People don’t cook much anymore – not like I do now, but like I used to – and as a society we consumera lot of pre-packaged, prepared or fast foods. People have plenty of time to watch TV, though. 🙁

The down side is that people are consuming ingredients that they aren’t familiar with, like GMOs and additives, and quantities of other ingredients that are bad for the body – like high sodium and sugar content. Cooking from scratch is the best way to avoid these things, and Michael Pollan talks about the importance of this in Cooked, – and it doesn’t leave a lot of time for sitting in front of the tube.

“We do find time for activities we value, like surfing the Internet or exercising,” says Pollan. “The problem is we’re not valuing cooking enough. Who do you want cooking your food, a corporation or a human being? Cooking isn’t like fixing your car or other things it makes sense to outsource. Cooking links us to nature, it links us to our bodies. It’s too important to our well-being to outsource.”

There are, however, things you can do to learn how to cook that will save you time. The 4-Hour Chef discusses this, and make-ahead freezer meals for the crockpot are great options (you can find recipes for these online). I’m not a professional chef, but I do let the things I read and learn change how I cook and what I eat.

For example, I recently read a fascinating article on the current state of wheat and gluten – and why it’s hurting our bodies. Essentially, it’s because bread is mass-produced and heavily processed, with nutrients stripped out – very different from bread made with a flour and water starter that was given time to ferment (which is much easier for our bodies to process).

Will I make my own bread now? I’ll at least attempt it, and I’ll certainly pay more attention to what’s in the bread I buy now. I know some brands, like Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted breads, are much better options. It is definitely more expensive, but we don’t eat much bread at home so it lasts us for a long time. 

I used to be in the place that many others are now. I empathize because it’s not easy – there is so much information out there, and it’s hard to know where to start or what is best amidst so many different opinions. I’m still figuring it out and I believe in taking one step at a time. When in doubt or overwhelmed, follow Occam’s razor: “The simplest answer is usually the right one” or Michael Pollan’s advice: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. And cook them.”

There are always going to be people out there who will say that I’m doing something wrong and I shouldn’t be eating X,Y, or Z under any circumstances! I don’t want to be judged and so I refuse to judge others – we’re all at different stages of learning and doing when it comes to food. To me, if you cook, you will be healthier. There are variations of this, and there is much for us all to learn to get back to basics, but if we’re open to spending more time in the kitchen, we can improve our health (and save money – woot woot!).

Remember, a healthy life is a journey and it should be enjoyed. The bf and I cherish our time together shopping for food and cooking it – it’s a way for us to bond, try new things, and nourish our bodies. I’m hopeful that with the growing popularity of cooking shows, home gardening, and the larger local/organic movement we can all have fun being in the kitchen again.