Cheater salsa. I start with a jar of a favorite commercial brand of salsa then dump in black olives, can of black-eyed peas drained, corn, red bell peppers, whatever.

Edamame salad. I cook a bag of frozen, shelled edamame, then add chopped red bell pepper, chopped summer squash and zucchini, English cukes, green onions, and whatever other veggie I have on hand. I toss it all with a wonderful ume balsamic dressing made by the local whole foods co-op. Colorful, tasty and healthy.

One of my favorites: Cook a batch of brown (or your favorite) rice the night before. Enjoy with dinner, then the next morning mix some of the leftover rice in a lunch container with sliced Kalamata olives, sliced almonds and steamed leftover veggies (I like broccolini). Maybe some feta cheese. Pack a separate container of balsamic dressing to drizzle over rice just before serving. (Take rice mixture out of refrigerator about an hour before lunch, to allow it to come to room temp.) In the summer, I take a small fresh tomato to chop up and mix with rice just before serving.

Good reminder--thanks!

My Braun(?) IB came with a small food processor attachment, which I just used to chop a wedge of green cabbage into a single serving of cole slaw. (Yes, I've having a little taste of summer as the sleet falls outside.)

I appreciate your response, tzurriz, and have taken your advice.

The label on my bottle of Bragg's apple cider vinaigrette says it tastes better unrefrigerated. Does that mean I can leave it on the counter after opening? (Main ingredients are apple cider, olive oil and honey.) Are there other dressings or condiments that can go unrefrigerated? I'm always dismayed at the way refrigeration kills the flavor of an opened jar of salsa. Can I leave it out instead? Thanks so much--I've learned a great deal from y'all.

Both my Panasonic fuzzy logic rice cookers can steam foods. They even come with a steamer tray insert and a "steam" menu option. Here's one of them: http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-SR-MS...

I second JK's rice cookbook recommendation. It goes into great detail about various kinds of rice and how to cook them.

I went out of curiosity (I don't cook Asian at home) and was amazed at the variety of fresh produce, frozen and packaged foods, and fresh seafood (also live lobster, fish, eel, crab). But then, I don't have anything to compare it to. It's a large store--used to be a Chuck E. Cheese's. Enjoyed a shrimp-and-broccoli lunch there. Folks sitting near me raved on and on about their food (not sure what they ordered). Really friendly employees.

Why bother grocery shopping and cooking when you can swing through the neighborhood fast food joint and pick up a cheap kids' meal? I know children who won't eat anything but fried chicken strips and fries. And not all of them live in low-income households.

A recent observation: I was behind a young couple with baby in a grocery store check-out line. All three were obese. In their two(!) shopping carts was nothing but packaged junk (pop-tarts, instant meals, etc.) and soft drinks. Not one fresh vegetable! Or even any fresh meat. They spent literally hundreds on junk. They paid with cash, so yes, they can afford decent food but choose not to buy it.