Some of us cook to survive and some of us cook to be happy.

There is a divide in this community and once you have encountered it, you can’t unsee it. One group posts about rotisserie chickens, with sides of rice, beans, and broccoli, and the other group posts about elaborate homemade lasagna with fresh pasta and homemade sausage, pipette sauce decorations, and cheese made from the milk of their pet cow. It’s a difference of three meals per day to feed one person. Sometimes the expensive meal prep people don’t even eat it all, they get so drunk on Wednesday that they skip the prep and eat McDonald’s or Noodles instead.<br><br>I am very simply, 100% team rotisserie chicken. I don’t have time to make homemade pasta, I am too busy pulling my hair out every second with the amount of work, chores, and life stuff that I already have to do. When I do get a few hours to myself, I usually want to spend them playing video games, watching TV, going for a walk, or doing absolutely anything else that does not require a hot stove and raw meat. I do not understand why people are so obsessed with expensive food. It’s nice to treat yourself every now and then, but I just think about how many people there are in the world who are starving, yet there are people in this very community who waste a good 5 lbs of chicken every week in the name of some “food art”. <br><br>I just want to stress that there is no shame, and actually glory, in putting a frozen pizza in the oven and calling it a day. If that’s what you eat to keep your sanity, good for you. I am thankful that I have such easy access to food so that I don’t have to waste the little free time I have on elaborate meals. I think there needs to be a change in the way we think about food and prep. I think that the Instagram, foodie, diet culture is very toxic. You don’t need to make homemade pasta as often as you eat it. You don’t need to master the art of chicken parmesan, you can just eat chicken nuggets from the freezer. It’s all food, it’s all fine. Being happy is the most important thing, and there is no point in being sad because the food you made was not visually appealing enough to post to social media. Make food that tastes good, and makes you happy, but also don’t sacrifice your well-being for the sake of a meal. And if you do cook elaborate meals, PLEASE EAT THEM BEFORE THEY GO BAD. There is a specific line where it goes from passion for food and cooking, to hoarding disorder. <br><br>TLDR: There is a divide between prep for survival and prep for passion. Both are ok, but please don’t let your passion turn into a disorder.