Entertainment, Part Four: Restaurants vs. Home-Cooked Meals

I loved going to restaurants. The convenience of having someone cook for you and serve you was an incredible luxury. You didn't have to clear the table or wash the dishes. Getting dressed up and sitting among other dressed up people...who reek of chemicals. I can't count how many restaurants I've had to leave because of the toxic smell of hostesses, waiters or other hungry customers.

Yum...Why only once a year?

 

Aside from the stink, restaurant food doesn't always taste that good. Most dishes are over-salted, over-processed, pre-made and taste like they've been frozen for a year. Microwaving has replaced traditional food preparation methods because it saves time. Never mind the radiation! Chemical sensitivity forced me to re-discover the joys of healthy living including cooking from scratch right in my own home.

Remember the days when home-cooked meals were the standard? Yeah, I don't either. I do remember my grandparents cooking meals together and my mother teaching me to make scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast when I was eight years old. I have vague memories of real food: roasts, stews, casseroles, but I grew up in the age of processed food so even those traditions were quickly phased out in lieu of TV dinners and fast food. The only time we expected anything home-cooked was at Thanksgiving, and that wasn't even a guarantee. Learning to appreciate fresh, organic food and making meals at home was an adjustment in time, money, and effort, but so worth it in terms of quality and health.

My favorite childhood meal.

I love ethnic food and new taste experiences so I found a creative way to replace restaurant dining in my new chemically-sensitive life: cultural experimentation. Every winter I choose an ethnic culture and test recipes. It's quite a challenge. One year I made all Thai recipes. I have to say, I make Thai food better than any Thai restaurant in my area. Another year I made Indian food and the following year, Mexican food.


Then there was Puerto Rican food. I could NOT find ingredients! Someone told me there are only about five thousand Puerto Ricans in my corner of the country so specialty ingredients are not high in demand. I considered finding substitutes, but that rarely works and I didn't want to come away with the experience thinking I didn't like Puerto Rican food because I cut corners. Disappointed, I eventually gave up. But, there is a whole world of epicurean delights I have yet to discover. It's like fragrance-free traveling in your kitchen.

Battery-operated Candles

Next step, invite guests over for some sampling and re-create a restaurant atmosphere. Of course, you'll need to find some quality, fragrance-free people which might be close to impossible. OR treat yourself! Set the table, turn on the electric candles, play delightful digestive-enhancing, ethnic music, and dress in your finest. Take yourself to dinner...in your own home.

This last winter I experimented with grain-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free cooking due to this bizarre new diet I'm trying. I thought ethic food was challenging! It's definitely not as fun as traditional cultural foods, but with so many restrictions, restaurant food is impossible.

Ice Tea with a Side of Spit

These days restaurant dining is overrated. An article was recently featured online about a McDonald's worker getting caught spitting in a customer's ice tea. We hear these stories all the time! Yet with blind trust we still think it's safe to eat food from restaurants without knowing what is going on in the kitchen. Deep-fried rats in chicken nuggets. Nose-blowing too close to the grill. Fecal contamination in Dairy Queen ice cream. Remember the kid who bathed in a sink at Burger King? There are too many crazy people working in the food industry. Why are we so lazy we prefer restaurant food to home-made food? Shouldn't home-cooked meals be the standard instead of the exception?

I say we all join the Slow Food Movement. Started in Italy in 1986 as an alternative to the fast food industry, the movement promotes home-cooked meals, supports local farming, and encourages sustainability through preservation of traditional cuisines.  I'm fairly certain it was inspired after watching McDonald's take over Europe as there is nothing quite as disturbing as seeing the Golden Arches alongside an ancient Roman ruin! The world could use some slowing down.

This makes me hungry....