I use convencience foods a lot more than I'd like to. I love good food. I love to cook. I don't especially love the taste of convience foods. So why do I do it? Simple - lack of time. I work a pretty demanding job and I have two young children - 2 and 4. By the time I pick them up from daycare and get home, there is often an hour or less to get dinner together. I can either disappear into the kitchen or spend that hour with my kids, who are clamoring for my attention. Sometimes the older one helps in the kitchen (he loves to cook), but the little one is still to small to be anything but a major distraction. I try not to use convenience food more than I have to. I don't use those things that are just as easy to make from scratch, but I do use pre-shredded cheese, bagged salads, pre-made sauces and sometimes salad dressing (though I really hate these and it is so easy to throw together a good vinaigrette). I feed my kids frozen fish sticks and chicken nuggets, though I buy the healthiest ones I can find, w/no trans-fats, etc. I occasionally make mac and cheese from a box, buy pre-grilled chicken strips from Trader Joe's, pre-made soup, etc. Believe me, if I had time, I would do a lot more myself, and make much more interesting meals than I usually manage to pull together. I look forward to the day my kids are a little older and this will all be easier. Oh-lest you ask why I don't do more prep the night before or something like that - my kids aren't great sleepers, and usually by the time they are in bed I'm so exhausted it's all I can do to sit at the computer for a little while before falling into bed.