Join the Retaking Homemade Movement

I am sending out a big hurrah for this movement to retake the meaning of Homemade. Yes, I occasionally give into convenience foods. But I try hard to avoid things like Hamburger Helper (That is for when I go out of town and my husband cooks.) I believe that we can make our own better versions of these family favorites.

Therefore, I am reposting this post from Pots and Plots. It's her brainchild but I am jumping on the chuck wagon.

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, starting initially when I ran across a commercial for one of those convenience meals in a box that they sell at the grocery stores. It had the slogan “Today’s homemade.”
Holy puff pastry, y’all, I cannot tell you how absolutely horrified I am by that concept. That there are people out there who a) think that that constitutes homemade, b) who eat nothing but convenience foods because they think that they are easier, cheaper, and possibly healthier (what ARE they smoking?) and c) who have no concept how incredibly full of preservatives, sodium, and other not-good-for-you-things such “convenience” meals are.

People think that cooking is hard, period. And they think cooking from scratch is harder than opening these packages and cans. What, do they think we foodies chain ourselves to the stove and sweat over our meals every night? Do they think we don’t have jobs and families and other responsibilities? Please. I don’t have time to slave. My hubby will tell you I don’t do it more than once a week, if that. Yet I put a real, homemade, from scratch meal on the table almost every night of the week (we’re human, we order pizza and chinese and deli takeout from time to time too).



Am I proposing that we turn all those non-cooking people into foodies? No. Am I proposing we teach them how to make fois gras and boeuf wellington? No.


I am proposing that we start a movement, people! To teach people that good food does not have to be complicated or come from a box. That you can put a meal using fresh, healthy ingredients on the table in the same amount or less time than it takes to open those boxes and cans and microwave dinners :shudder: To show them that it doesn’t have to be complicated or creepy or topped with freaking potato chips (seriously y’all, someone recently suggested to me a casserole topped with Cheetos, ugh!). I want to start a movement wherein we RETAKE THE TERM HOMEMADE!


How do I propose we do this? Well, I have a few ideas.


1) I propose we foodies all adopt a Twitter hashtag of #retakehomemade for any time we are talking about easy, simple recipes.


2) I propose we challenge ourselves to come up with recipes in 140 characters or less (yeah I haven’t tried this yet, but it’s a thought). Something along the lines of “burrito filling: chicken breasts, jar of salsa, pack of taco seasoning, crock pot 6 hours low #retakehomemade”. That comes out to about 110 characters.

3) I propose that I host a weekly roundup (maybe on Saturdays) here at Pots and Plots, similar to Ruth’s Presto Pasta Nights. Y’all would send me the link to your post and the image for that week. If it catches on then we could do a rotating host, again like PPN. The focus here is on everyday meals that even the most harried housewife could throw together after a long day at work (or in the crock pot before work), using simple ingredients that would be found in your local small-town Walmart or grocery store.

Are you with me? :imagines roaring, enthusiastic crowd:
Comment if you’re in! And if you’re really in, share this post with others via Twitter, Facebook, and those other things I never remember to use. Actually even if you’re not in, pass it on anyway. A movement needs PEOPLE. Pass it on to all your friends who cook. If you’re a food blogger, feel free to COPY THIS POST to inform people (with attribution and links back here, of course).