Too busy to cook
There's been quite the outrage among some foodies in recent years about the growing trend of convenience food shows. Cooking programs used to be the province of the experienced chef, but since the smashing success of Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals, more programs have jumped on the everyday food bandwagon. See this blog entry for an example of some responses to a recent post by Anthony Bourdain.
In short, the argument is that healthy, tasty food isn't really all that hard. We've been sucked in to the idea that processed food is easier and tastes just as good, when reality is that it's more expensive and usually full of fat and/or sodium. And there's just the principle of not paying attention to people who are only mediocre chefs (Ray being a prime example).
I'm of two minds here. On the one hand, making a homemade dressing isn't THAT hard, and I'd agree that prepared food is often not much harder than processed. Yet as the parent of an oft demanding 3 year old, there's times when even the simplest preparations--making some hummus or roasting some veggies--just isn't possible.
My current solution is to try to create as many palatable leftovers as possible for such occasions--things I can just stick in the microwave for nights with a tighter schedule. I'm trying to use my crock pot more. I have my own convenience foods: ravioli, which we had tonight, is one example. Just boil it and serve. If anything, I find myself more on the Ray side of things--trying to find a middle ground between prepared food and premade.