Un-prepared Foods

 Far too many people of my age group go directly to the super store's aisles: the huge glass doors full of prepared foods. They know that these items displayed so prettily in their plastic cases, are about as healthful as the plastic itself. They don't care. They are placed there for commerce. Truthfully, people who buy them are just plain lazy and they will admit it. "I don't want to bother cooking," they say. What's the difference between putting a few veggies into a steamer than sticking them into a microwave oven? Time it one day. One woman I know, prides herself in having "fresh vegetables and with dip" she says proudly. She states she is getting her good vegetable portions in. Really? Foods in plastic trays are not the same as fresh. Prepared foods are full of additives, ones that  keep them looking nice and tasting delicious. Read the labels, ones you cannot and do not understand.  They make you think they are tasty, they make the product last very long. You pay for the processing and the packaging. I have tried these "time savers". The fruit in the little plastic bowls does not taste the same as fresh. There is an odd flavour that isn't natural. The vegetables have that weird "store born" aura  that fresh vegetables do not. Read the labels on your prepared foods and see what you are really ingesting into  your body. Ho, ho, I am told, food additives are just chemicals and everything we eat is chemicals. Aha. That is true, but the chemical additives on the labels of prepared foods are not for your health, they're for your temptation to buy what's in the plastic. It's not a time saver to pick up these food foolers that you are told are okay. They aren't. When you go to the fresh aisle and buy a few stalks of broccoli, a handful of green beans, a few carrots, and a potato or two and put them into a pan with a bit of water and steam them you are getting what nature intended as food. Real food and it tastes good. If you want more flavour, add some herbs and seasonings. When you do the preparation yourself, it takes no longer than using the microwave oven or toaster. You know what you are putting into you mouth. You know that there is, on your plate, nothing but good food and that you serve your bodily needs with every bite. Eat smart. Start.