When eating is a burden as opposed to a pleasure, it becomes painful to return home at the end of the day to prepare a healthy, nutritious meal. While some of us see this as a wonderful and creative opportunity, others see the opposite. They turn to fast food, frozen pizza, high sodium meals, or take out. Managing one’s hunger and feeding the kids are burdens to overcome quickly. Sometimes cheese and crackers, pretzels and soda, or a quick and filling burrito become the simple way to fill one’s stomach. Achieving flavor for many becomes less a goal than a hardship.

College or High Schoolers who are no longer living at home, and others 30 to 59 must also learn to cope with these “eating well” dilemmas. There’s so much advice given to us on T.V. and in the daily papers and magazines about how to stay healthy, trim and attractive that a common response of many is to stop eating altogether, or to merely view food as fuel. Foodies find this hard to believe. But it’s true. We all need to think about better solutions that are not costly, not time consuming, and better for us. Still, some groups don’t experience food choices as options. Decisions are made for us by income, health and whether we live alone or with others.

Send questions or your favorite recipes directly to:  [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you. Chef Alan