How to Cook Healthy Food for Kids : Kabocha Squash Recipe

Why don't more Americans cook?  Some common excuses include not having enough time, not wanting to go shopping for ingredients, not wanting to clean up afterwards, or just plain not knowing how to cook.  What is the most frequently cited reason people give for not cooking?  They let their spouses do all the cooking!

I used to be guilty of every one of those excuses myself.  In fact, I still find myself making excuses even though I have a cooking blog!  The problem with cooking is it is inconvenient.  After a long day at work, it is just easier to pick up a package from a convenience store and serve that up for dinner.  It's just easier to buy processed food and store it indefinitely in your pantry rather than shop for fresh food.  That's part of the appeal of processed food.  Removing fiber and adding preservatives, salt, and trans fats to processed foods enhances their shelf-life and their convenience. 

There's no doubt that processed food is convenient.  But I question whether or not we can really consider these products food.  The reason processed foods don't spoil is because bacteria and fungi don't recognize them as food!   Bacteria and fungi won't touch the stuff and yet we call this stuff food and give it to our kids!

But nature provides a solution to the inconvenience of spoiling food.  The tough exterior of seeds, nuts, and gourds protect these organic foods from spoiling.  You can buy a winter squash and stick it on your kitchen counter for one to two months!  Now that is a convenient, real food that is good enough to eat!  In the following video, I pit the American pumpkin against Kabocha, the so-called Japanese pumpkin, in a movie meal called, "Glory of the Gourds".

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References

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/09/cooking-survey_n_955600.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabocha

http://www.eatbydate.com/fruits/fresh/how-long-does-winter-squash-last/