LynDel

I've stayed away from the meal kits. On one hand they seem a bit pricey. I'd like to believe I can assemble a crockpot meal putting together individual ingredients and still be more economical than the chicken in a pouch and add water. And I've always had to keep an eye on my cholesterol and it seemed easier to cut out the frozen ready to eat stuff. People I know who use them will say they are time savers. A co-worker once told me she likes the fact she doesn't have to figure out what to buy for ingredients. Buy the package and everything comes with it. Oh well.

I use a straw to drink from 'to go' cups and to drink sodas at the movies. That's because I can't see to drink my soda properly. Other than that, I don't really use a straw. Sometimes when eating barbecue and my hands are greasy, it's easier to drink from a straw than to lift my glass, but that's not often.

Based on conversations I've had with my mother: 1. prefers convenience food because she says she's too lazy to cook 2. never enjoyed cooking But now that she's almost 60 years old, her arthritis has become an issue. Where she used to clean and prep items for make a fresh salad, her hands are no longer comfortable to do so. We grew up with DelMonte canned veggies but I've always tried picking up different fresh vegetables and learning how to cook them. In her opinion, she's amazed by that. I try to show her how easy it really is but she still isn't interested in cooking fresh. She's got a bit of a "I can't be bothered" attitude. She seems content with her frozen veggies (no more canned to avoid the sodium LOL) Convenience foods for me: Ice cream Shake n' Bake mixes (pork and chicken) for a change of pace Box mix to make pie dough or ready made frozen crust instant pudding mix jello canned fruit in the winter. In the summer we can go to those u-pick farms When it comes to pizza, I would rather go to a pizza place or make my own. I've never cared for the frozen pizza.

Now that's my idea of camping! Thanks for the pictures!

If I were vegetarian, I would go with the second option. #2) simply prefer to order dishes which are not "copies" at all but original, creative vegetarian offerings....

When I visited friends in Brazil, their mom would put out coffee (with a lot of milk), bread, butter and cheese. This was in Minas Gerais. I was told that in the "city" (probably Rio and Sao Paulo) people would eat fried yucca and chorizo. Fresh fruit was more with lunch or dinner than breakfast. My husband says his mother used to make rice and beans for breakfast, but they were farmers and wanted to eat, in his words, heavy.

As silly as it sounds, and I'll freely admit feeling foolish about it, I used to be squeamish about buying a live lobster somewhere and taking it home to cook it. If I ordered it in a restaurant, it arrives in front of me already 'killed' and cooked. I didn't have to be so 'aware' of it being a living creature before eating it. I feel really stupid admitting that on a food board. But now I've got a lot more experience in handling and butchering food to eat, since the summer I spent with my aunts and uncles with their dairy cows, pigs and chickens. That obtaining food isn't just going to the supermarket to buy food already prepared and packaged at the supermarket. But that's just my perspective on it. Perhaps other people believe it's really an elegant or romantic meal? Growing up near Boston, I'd much prefer cooking my own and having a picnic Saturday afternoon.

This thread cracks me up... I had a roommate with a drinking problem. I wasn't aware of how much she drank until I discovered a trash bag in her closet filled with empty bottles. She would toss a couple of bottles a week in our trash but I guess she had others she would stash in the closet. If she was home, she would continually have a glass of juice. What I didn't realize, is that she kept topping off the juice with the vodka. And then one night she drank my cooking sherry. I come home and she was passed out on the sofa with the cooking sherry bottle on the floor. Another roommate, very sweet girl, made me stuffed mushrooms for my birthday. I was incredibly touched. Another roommate always shared his pizza and ice cream with my cat. My cat loved him But I've not had serious food/smell/spice issues with roommates. But my husband is quite picky about food smells. We both love to cook but he installed an exhaust fan in the kitchen window because the fan over the stove didn't, in his opinion, work well enough to get rid of food smells. Cook all the beans, garlic and onions we want but the fan has to be going.

I did enjoy going to a PC party moreso than any other kind of home product party. When I was first invited, I browsed their website and made my initial wish list. Then I compared those products with BB&B, Williams-Sonoma and Crate n' Barrel. Sounds tedious but I have a wonderful DSL connection with my work computer I didn't order a lot, as neither my husband or I want a tiny kitchen apartment filled with one function gadgets, but my wish list decreased as I discovered better prices or better products at the other two places. Though I know two friends who love their batter bowls And I did order a couple of the pantry mix items but I haven't been able to try them yet. I'm still waiting for my order to arrive...

An American married to a Brazilian, we have modified traditional Thanksgiving. To honor his love of churrasco (Portuguese for Brazilian bbq) he likes to grill the turkey on our gas grill. It's also the 'project of the day' since he doesn't like to watch American football and can't fathom how one passes the day watching parades.... He didn't care for stuffing, so we substitute that with farofa For those who are curious: toasted manioc meal, farinha de mandioca. Simple recipe is: 4 tablespoons of butter, 3 cups manioc flour, Salt to taste. Melt the butter in a heavy skillet. Add manioc meal and cook over low heat stirring constantly until golden. Sprinkle with salt, to taste. Serve in a small ceramic bowl. I also do the French fried onion green bean soup casserole mashed garlic potatoes (he didn't care for the sweet marshmellow potatoes) corn on the cob roasted on the grill with the turkey.

I really prefer the original ones My husband likes all cookies, in all forms and the others aren't so bad, but I much prefer the originals.....

I'm driving my Brazilian husband crazy with all the different foods. We stock our kitchen with the usual suspects of a U.S. kitchen but then we add some Brazilian guarana (soda), cashew juice in concentrate form (love their chocolates and then there is the wasabi peas, hit the local Asian market for some pastries, noodles, and possible some frozen dim sum items. Fortunately he enjoys it all.....

I love cart peeping! I was shopping at the grocery next to the university and two girls were trying to shop. One girl said, "Oooh, this is the sauce my mother usually buys, it's so wicked good. *slight pause* OHMYGOD, it's expensive," and the other one says, "Listen, I'm sure they're all the same, grab the one on sale."

In Boston there is Club Cafe, trying to find their website, but here's one description: Club Cafe and Lounge, in the Back Bay/South End area, is among the smartest spots in town for gay men and lesbians -- even when they're dining or partying with their straight friends. In addition to a stylish restaurant, there's a piano bar up front and a video bar in the back Here's the website http://www.clubcafe.com/ClubCafe.asp

Tough to budget money for food. I have done "whole chicken for a week" plan myself. And cooking potatoes, cabbage and carrots, made me feel full. Wen I've had a soda craving, I would buy a can of seltzer and add lemon juice to it. Fresh fruit salads you make yourself? One canteloupe, with one peach, plum, apricot sliced up? Less expensive than blueberries/strawberries?

Thank you for the Cajun Grocer link! I'm in Boston and I just placed an order this morning!