year or so.

platform and dirt-cheap. Can't recommend them highly enough for cost-conscious and health-conscious consumers.

Pretty easy to fix too. Only about 15 minutes to boil them up and spice them for storage and use later in the week.

mix with other beans, brown rice, spices. Fry them up. put on hamburger bun.

to soak up any flavor I throw at them in a most delicious fashion. Yumm!

Asian countries' diets.

Right now, I can buy bulk lentils for $0.99 to $1.49 a pound (green tend to cost less than red or black). Has to be one of the best bargains available in any type of food stuff.

Quite delicious!

I've never been big on processed foods. I read labels and if it has something that I can't pronouce I probably won't buy it. That and high fructose porn syrup which seems to be in just about anything that's in a jar.

I do have a big freezer where I keep the bags of rice, flour, beans, lentils, barley, etc. I freeze leftovers so I don't have to eat the same thing 3 days in a row.

It really isn't that hard to cook healthy meals. It just takes a bit of organization. I don't think I spend that much time on it.

It costs more money because there are more ingredients, but ANYTHING is better than just plain boring baked meat and frozen veggies. I would rather eat salads than that.

is from a Food Network recipe.
Healthy, affordable and yummy!

Most are really not that expensive.

as needed from the produce section of a store.

not always just about money but time also. and often both.

people want something quick without much preparing, cleaning etc.

We have zero processed foods in our household and it costs us about 2 hours to fix something. It's ridiculous.

sitting down to eat.

Without using processed food or a microwave.

I make 6 pizza doughs and freeze them - defrost as needed. Pesto, or my own frozen tomato sauce, grate some mozzarella, and pizza - faster than the very good place down the road can deliver.

The longest part is heating up the oven.

I could go on, but I'm going to cook dinner now.

Does it need to warm up and proof again?

about 5 to 6 hours.

It actually reproofs itself by the time it's defrosted.

I use the Joy of Cooking recipe. Recently got some Italian flour and got an absolutely fantastic crust.

Disclaimer - I have a BlueStar gas oven with a convection fan and a thick pizza stone. The oven temp goes to 500F and with the convection, I can cook a pizza in about 8 minutes.

I'll try freezing it.

Both frozen prepared and deli centers are big in grocery stores around here. They are basically competing with the fast food restaurants.

I use a lot of good quality prepared foods. I buy hot prepared foods from deli section as well. It's a trade-off. If I worked less, I might spend more time preparing food. But I honestly prefer not to deal with dishes, cooking fumes, clean-up, all that domestic drudgery.

They just recently sent me one of their cookbooks called "The Complete Quick Cook." It's really quite helpful as far as tips on staples to keep around for quick meals and delicious, healthful recipes that can be whipped up in less than an hour, many in a half hour or so. And when you fix it yourself, you know what's in it. We hardly buy any prepared foods.

was matched by a decline in meat purchases. So, from a health perspective, maybe a wash, as the reduction in fat from meat may compensate for the excessive calories from sweets and processed foods.

Not a nutritionist, so just an educated guess on my part.

it is interesting that most of the gain in Processed Foods & Sweets comes from the reduction in Meat (+11.3% vs -9.8%)

but the grocery store I usually buy from seems to have increased stocks of processed foods and decreased the amount and selection of fresh produce. I don't know if that's in reaction to consumers' buying habits, or if the food industry is forcing those choices on us.

I also don't know if it's also true of the meat department, since I don't buy that.

(Yeah, I shop the local farmer's market as well, so I'm not saying I'm buying more processed foods myself. Just the way things look to me as a grocery store shopper.)

For example, processed foods such as frozen dinners and soups are counted with snacks such as chips and sweets.

In some cases, the purchase of processed food is a good thing. My elderly father eats cereal for breakfast and frozen dinners. Access to processed foods mean he has a much better diet than he would otherwise have.

garden renaissance has affected the money spent. Is the money spent at farmer's markets also counted?

Staple items are a much cheaper way to go. People are buying more processed foods because they no longer have a clue how to cook and can't read recipes.

because it looks like a decrease in meat consumption has simply been transferred to the "processed food" category.

This could be elderly folks living alone who buy prepared dinners, singles who work long hours buying prepared dinners, and working parents who order takeout when they can't get it together to slap a couple of chicken breasts into the broiler. I know that was my dad's pattern, living on premade frozen foods out of the freezer plus the occasional cheap hamburger.

I do consume some processed food, mainly for convenience. My main staple is as stated.

blender and was able to get 6 large bags of tomato juice. I put them in the freezer. When I make a pot of hot homemade soup I pull a bag out of the juice and add one can of tomato paste. Add veggies (I add carrots, celery) plus use one large white onion (for flavor, I don't like to eat the onion). Then put stew meat in and let it cook. Make sure you have enough water to cover all the veggies and meat. I usually add water if needed. Then I make elbow macaroni and when it is done I had the soup to it and sprinkle lots of parmesan cheese. Delicious and a cheap meal you can stretch out. Nothing better in the winter and when someone in the family is sick.

the prices of processed foods is astounding to me. No way I could afford them, but then again no way I'd want to purchase them. I love to cook and I actually quite enjoy the challenge of fixing good healthy meals on a very limited budet.

some people won't like this correlation.