When I was of early school-age, my family did not have a lot of money. The reason I know that is not because I knew explicitly that there was no money. In fact, I only came to understand that later over time. Looking back my favorite food was baked beans and my sibling’s was macaroni and cheese. So I didn’t have high brow taste as a kid.

The “organic” and the “slow food” movement was not around back in the 1980’s when I was in grade school. However, my mother never got us fast food and I didn’t even sip soda until I was 5 years old. Because of my mom’s vigilance, I don’t drink soda (maybe root beer every six months) and I only eat fast food if it’s the only option (again once every couple months).

When I make dinner for my husband and my toddler, I focus on very simple, quick meals. Normally I try to make sure we have one thing from the following food groups: one grain, one veggie, and one meat. Sometimes I do make our meal with something from a can (actually baked beans maybe once a month), but more likely I get our food from the freezer (especially frozen veggies). We also like to go out to eat for dinner once every weekend and usually got out for Thai food.