Working Woman Woes

One of my roommates and I went grocery shopping together this week. Our cart overflowing with vegetables, soy products, canned goods, and two packages of Fig Newtons, we were stopped in our tracks in the "prepared foods" aisle. We had actually just vacated the produce section, where S. painstakingly deliberated purchasing a pre-cut fruit bowl. Frustrated and overwhelmed, we debriefed her consternation amidst the soup mixes and packets of instant rice. She/we want to eat well, which for both of us (in large part due to our respective upbringings and introductions to the culinary world) entails home-cooked meals invariably made from scratch and involving many laborious hours in the kitchen. However, she/we also need to eat quickly and often on the go. We find ourselves grazing a lot, and ironically end up eating more refined crap because we're hesitant to find the middle ground of, for instance, pre-cut fruit or rice-in-a-box. (Does that sound appealing though? Really?)

Exasperated--even rather angry--S. brings up a point I've often considered. How do you eat well, quickly? I feel like more often than not I end up grazing or snacking instead of having a meal, because I feel that I "ought" to prepare some sort of elaborate, balanced, colorful creation (that supports local farmers, encourages organic methods, and fights world hunger). And then I end up feeling unsatisfied and undernourished, getting most of my calories from simple carbs (including lots of sugars). I know there are options that dodge the world of preservative- and artificial-coloring-ridden world of prepackaged foods and mixes, but even *healthy* frozen foods and canned goods still seem like cheating. I know I have to find the middle ground, but I wish I could just learn to whip up easy stir-frys, sandwiches, and pastas without the unnecessary addition of stress.