Pre-Prepared Meals

Mine is a household of one. I don’t really cook. I make coffee. I warm up cans of soup. I can make a sandwich, but not one I really want to eat. I cook breakfast with eggs and heated up frozen boxes of stuff. I make toast. I can butter the toast and apply jam as needed. That’s it.

When I was first divorced and had the kids at home, I cooked meals. I practiced with friends and that made for interesting meals. All were edible but none desired. No one ached for my cooking. Not even me.

So, with Rocky as helmsman of the stove, we ate very well indeed. He and his brother learned to cook from their dad. They learned from their mom, too, but they learned first and foremost that it was OK to be a male and cook, too. And boy could they cook. Fabulous Italian meals of course, but a lot of other cuisines as well.

With Rocky’s death I faced the challenge of eating. Before his death, we had experimented with pre-prepared meals, first as Meals on Wheels, but then as Factor and maybe another supplier. Meals on Wheels are OK. They are healthy, low salt and low fat. We both lost weight with them, but we lost interest in eating and looking forward to mealtime. Factor added zest. We only ordered two meals per week for each of us.

Now, with Rocky gone, I still get Meals on Wheels, but spice things up with four Factor dinners per week. Pam joins me with her four meals per week from Factor. Now I look forward to the meals both because of Pam’s company and Factor’s food.

When Factor deliveries are irregular, I have Meals on Wheels. I also eat Wheels for lunch. But a dinner without Factor is now an uncomfortable threat to my peace and tranquility. They are costly but good. They add happiness to my life. And that is worth a lot!

I wonder how many people rely on pre-prepared meals. Turns out most of my family members buy Factor or competitor meals, too. I’m thinking there is a huge market that counts on this diet. I wonder who might have the data on that?

For the elder population I bet there are a lot of customers. For busy businesspeople there must be more than a few families that augment their choices via home delivered meals. Other than delivery logistics and pollution thereof, I wonder if food prices are helped or hindered by these meal services? Again, does anyone have data on this aspect?

Meanwhile, I will continue to enjoy my prepared meals as long as I have funds to pay for them.

February 24, 2025

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