#NaBloPoMo: Stuff I won’t make myself

I LOVE Chinese food. And by that, of course, I mean Americanized Chinese food. I know my lo mein swimming in oil is not what people in China are sitting down to eat for dinner every night. They’re getting McDonald’s right? Ha ha.

I’m pretty sure I could eat Chinese food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (Cold lo mein and/or dumplings for breakfast? Nothing like it!) If it wasn’t full of salt and fat and MSG – You know… the stuff that makes it delicious? – I might just do that. I’ve tried to make all kinds of Chinese dishes myself and while they usually turn ok (though sometimes definitely NOT OK) it’s just not the same as take out.

For me, there’s something more to the whole process of looking over the menu and ordering at least 6 things too many because I love everything and can’t live without the dumplings. Or the chicken sticks. Or the lo mein. I once ordered Chicken Donuts off of a Chinese menu just to find out what they were. Turns out they were a misprint. It was supposed to say Chinese Donuts which were very much like every other donut I’ve ever had except there was no hole. But no filling either. That one was a gyp.

I love knowing that two hours after I’m done eating my Chinese food when I start to get hungry again, there’s a whole pile of left overs in my fridge that I can snack on. And have for lunch tomorrow too. And dinner too. It’s like I can get days and days worth of meals out of one order. And for those times when I don’t feel like cooking, it’s so nice not to have to think about where the next meal is coming from. There’s Chinese in the fridge!

For all these reasons, I’m pretty sure Chinese food is one thing that I will typically buy premade rather than making my own. What about you? What wouldn’t you ever attempt to make yourself?