Why does anybody buy . . .

[Peter the eater]

Oh boy, I'd better turn in my foodie badge.

I buy margarine and soy milk because my daughter is allergic to milk.

I buy single serving sizes of yogurt because it's handy to throw into lunch boxes, and the perfect serving size for my 2 year old, rather than having to worry about my kids returning gladware containers or thermoses.

I buy yeast in the little packets because I only go through 3-4 three packs in a year.

Precooked bacon is handy when you only need 4 slices for a sandwich, and you don't have the time to cook the stuff the normal way, and clean it up.

Those baby carrots are a regular in our house because my kids will eat them that way, straight out of the fridge, no dip, peeling or steaming involved.

I buy orange cheddar so I can tell the difference between it and the myriad of other cheese in my fridge.

I also use Reddi Whip fairly often... it's perfect for hot cocoa, and my kids like to spray it straight into their mouths.

The ones that really baffle me are some of the vegetarian meat analogs... like Tofurky, Tuno, Chikn, or the really freaky ones I see at the local Pan Asian market that are molded into the shape of a real meat (like 1/2 chickens, eel, ham)

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Don't resign yet, those are all excellent explanations, thank you MOF. I've seen Kellogg's Tuno and I was frightened and alarmed. Friends made me a Tofurky once and although I would do well to never see or taste one again, it will always remind me of a wonderful night and convivial memories.

[eskay]

Or their identical cousin meat glued chicken formed into little drumsticks.

Wait what?

[divalasvegas]

Why do people buy Crystal Lite/Light/Lyte(?) when basically it's just gentrified Kool Aid and costs many times more per serving?

And what the Hell is in those meatloaf seasoning packets? Is there anyone out there who thinks that meatloaf needs its own special pre-mixture of mystery seasonings?

Diet margerine?

[Carlovski]

Something that I think gets forgotten a lot on these forums is that tinned foods, long life foods and buying things in single serve portions is often the most sensible option for some people. Yes - buying in bulk and buying fresh is better, but not if you have limited or no freezer/fridge/pantry space, and you walk your shopping home. There is no way I would use up my 1/4 of a freezer space with apound of yeast (Plus a housemate would probably throw it out!) so I'd definitely go with the sachets.

Shop bought salsa, guacamole etc I do buy sometimes - if I am doing tacos, fajitas etc I don't always want to use every bowl in the house (Plus often avocados are either hard to find, or completely unripe), I will quite often make one and buy one though.

[Syrah]

I buy the pre-formed patties sometimes, even though I think they're pretty bad.  My husband is a picky eater and won't eat a real-looking hamburger patty because he thinks they should look like what you get at McDonald's. 

As far as orange cheese, it's almost impossible to get cheddar that isn't orange in the west.  I noticed when I lived in New Jersey that there was all kinds of white cheddar.  Not sure why that is.

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You need one of these.

http://www.tupperware.com.au/dir063%5Cwebt...ges/burgerpress

I always wondered who would use it.

[CaliPoutine]

Why do people buy Crystal Lite/Light/Lyte(?) when basically it's just gentrified Kool Aid and costs many times more per serving?

I love crystal light. I buy the single serving packets of pink lemonade that you pour into a bottle of water. I can easily down that water in 5 minutes, but if its plain, it takes longer. I'm diabetic too, so basically I just drink diet soda and water( or club soda). Crystal light gives me some variety.

[cakewalk]

margerine.

For the love of God, why?

"For the love of God" is exactly the reason, at least if you keep kosher...

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I'm not Jewish, but I thought butter/dairy was OK. It was just mixing it with the wrong stuff (meat) was bad.

Is butter really not Kosher?

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You got it right. Butter/dairy is perfectly okay -- as long as you're not using it together with meat products in any way, shape, or form. A lot of people, if they're having meat, will use margarine to smear on their bread, or to cook with, instead of using butter with that meal. So if you're having meat, you're not putting butter on your vegetables. (Although I'd rather do a lot of things with my vegetables rather than put margarine on them.)

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

Shop bought salsa, guacamole etc I do buy sometimes - if I am doing tacos, fajitas etc I don't always want to use every bowl in the house (Plus often avocados are either hard to find, or completely unripe), I will quite often make one and buy one though.

←

Not to mention that sometimes it's cheaper to just buy the salsa or guacamole than it is to buy everything to make it from scratch.

When tomatoes are $4/lb, and avocados are $2 each and not ripe at all, it's easy to understand why someone would buy the $3 container of fresh salsa or guacamole.

I cook with jarred salsa occasionally. It sits on the shelf next to the jarred pasta sauce in my pantry.

[racheld]

If Yankee Candle made a bacon candle, we would have one in every room. 

Somebody will klep this for a sig line before the day's out!!!

And maybe YC will take heed---we'll have something for winter candlelight besides potpourri.

I think there are maybe five cans of Vy-eenies in the pantry right now---Chris likes a sandwich now and then.

Chicken lips! Yum.

[GlorifiedRice]

If Yankee Candle made a bacon candle, we would have one in every room. 

Somebody will klep this for a sig line before the day's out!!!

And maybe YC will take heed---we'll have something for winter candlelight besides potpourri.

I think there are maybe five cans of Vy-eenies in the pantry right now---Chris likes a sandwich now and then.

Chicken lips! Yum.

←

http://www.gratefulpalate.com/index.php?p=...&parent=Page_47

Bacon Lettuce Tomato votive candles!

Happy now?

[MarketStEl]

And what the Hell is in those meatloaf seasoning packets? Is there anyone out there who thinks that meatloaf needs its own special pre-mixture of mystery seasonings?

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Gotta love those Amazon contextual links!

I moved my pointer over "meatloaf seasoning packets" and up popped a window promoting Durkee Bag 'n' Season Meatloaf Seasoning Blend.

I don't see the need for this either. If you keep a reasonably well-stocked spice cabinet, you have everything that's in this packet anyway, maybe even including the "hydrolyzed vegetable protein" (which IIRC is a euphemism for "monosodium glutamate"), except for the anti-caking or whatever other non-spice, non-herb stuff they stick in those pouches.

[andiesenji]

Someone mentioned the high cost of avocados and they are going to be even higher priced because the fires have ravaged some of the prime Hass groves in San Diego county.

I have tried all of the commercial offerings and although Trader Joes isn't bad, nothing compares with the taste and texture of a mature and fully ripe Hass, freshly chopped.

Edited October 24, 2007 by andiesenji (log)

[barbhealy]

Why buy bottled water for heaven's sake? It is just water!   which you can carry in your own containers, or thermos, or ...

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Most tap water contains contaminants I'd rather not consume so we use bottled water for everything -- coffee, pasta, rice, anything that's ingested. If we could afford the Sylvan system, we'd have it in the house, but until I can convince DH it's worth the money, I buy Ice Mountain, whose distillation process eliminates more than most (if you believe their website).

If anyone uses the Sylvan system, I'd love to hear your opinion of it.

[barbhealy]

margerine.

For the love of God, why?

"For the love of God" is exactly the reason, at least if you keep kosher...

←

I'm not Jewish, but I thought butter/dairy was OK. It was just mixing it with the wrong stuff (meat) was bad.

Is butter really not Kosher?

←

You got it right. Butter/dairy is perfectly okay -- as long as you're not using it together with meat products in any way, shape, or form. A lot of people, if they're having meat, will use margarine to smear on their bread, or to cook with, instead of using butter with that meal. So if you're having meat, you're not putting butter on your vegetables. (Although I'd rather do a lot of things with my vegetables rather than put margarine on them.)

←

Why don't you use olive oil? It's good tasting and it's good for you. Margarine is neither.

[barbhealy]

Something that I think gets forgotten a lot on these forums is that tinned foods, long life foods and buying things in single serve portions is often the most sensible option for some people. Yes - buying in bulk and buying fresh is better, but not if you have limited or no freezer/fridge/pantry space, and you walk your shopping home. There is no way I would use up my 1/4 of a freezer space with apound of yeast (Plus a housemate would probably throw it out!) so I'd definitely go with the sachets.

Shop bought salsa, guacamole etc I do buy sometimes - if I am doing tacos, fajitas etc I don't always want to use every bowl in the house (Plus often avocados are either hard to find, or completely unripe), I will quite often make one and buy one though.

←

I agree. If guacamole is on the menu I'll buy two more avocados than I need AND the premade stuff as a backup in case all the avocados are unusable. The premade is passable if you doctor it with the things you'd put in if you made it from scratch so, basically, I use it for the 'avocado base'.

[plk]

Why don't you use olive oil? It's good tasting and it's good for you. Margarine is neither.

I would use olive oil if it were appropriate for the dish, but if you need it to taste like butter, that wouldn't work. And some margarines are about as good for you as vegetable oil, or even contain olive oil.

[barbhealy]

Why don't you use olive oil? It's good tasting and it's good for you. Margarine is neither.

I would use olive oil if it were appropriate for the dish, but if you need it to taste like butter, that wouldn't work. And some margarines are about as good for you as vegetable oil, or even contain olive oil.

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Wow! That stuff sounds good! I always thought of margarine as a hydrogenated product containing mostly chemicals. I'll have to look for that EarthBalance even though we use very little butter. I use olive oil for everything but baking.

[Stephanie C-S]

They had pre-sliced apples at the supermarket the other day, and the lady that was giving out the samples had to use a knife to get the packages (one for each slice!) open.  Why not just use the knife to cut the apple on a cutting board and reduce chances that you'll cut yourself while cutting open the packages?

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The other insane part of this is just think about all the plastic packaging! Somebody's had to use our ever decreasing oil supplies to make that stuff, which is just cut off and chucked away! Packaging is one of the greatest wastes of resources and energy. Boycott the stuff!

[CKatCook]

Turkey bacon.....what do they have to do to turkey to get it to taste like pork?

Those pre-done simply microwave lunches that must have sat on the shelf next to the soup since the dinosaurs, WTF?

I was in the freezer section the other day and actually saw pre-cooked bacon and cheese hamburgers that was pre-formed and in microwave packages. (I forget the brand name)

Anything with high frutose corn syrup...

[I_call_the_duck]

If Yankee Candle made a bacon candle, we would have one in every room. 

Somebody will klep this for a sig line before the day's out!!!

And maybe YC will take heed---we'll have something for winter candlelight besides potpourri.

I think there are maybe five cans of Vy-eenies in the pantry right now---Chris likes a sandwich now and then.

Chicken lips! Yum.

←

http://www.gratefulpalate.com/index.php?p=...&parent=Page_47

Bacon Lettuce Tomato votive candles!

Happy now?

←

You beat me to it!

Edited October 25, 2007 by I_call_the_duck (log)

[feedmec00kies]

I was in the freezer section the other day and actually saw pre-cooked bacon and cheese hamburgers that was pre-formed and in microwave packages. (I forget the brand name)

That sounds like something one could buy from the White Castle brand of frozen products.. Well, maybe not with bacon, but they sold 2-packs of frozen White Castle cheeseburgers in the "corner store" at school. Disgusting.

Speaking of food sold to college students with either no self-control, tastebuds, or drug-induced super-hunger...

I just thought of something to add to the list:

[insert drumroll]

Warm Delights by Betty Crocker

(I knew a girl who tried to act like she knew how to eat and cook but swore by this *&%$ last year when they appeared! )

[san]

slightly off topic but i am proud to say that the wife and i realized a couple of days ago that our apartment doesn't have a microwave. we've been here over 2 months.

[Reignking]

Turkey bacon.....what do they have to do to turkey to get it to taste like pork?

For the most part, it doesn't taste like pork -- what is scary is what they do to make it look like bacon. It's all cooked up (not cured), formed into bacon-shape, and given beet juice and something else for coloring. Still, it is a healthier alternative for someone that wants to think they are eating bacon. The peppered version at Whole Foods (can't recall the brand) is good, actually.

[rooftop1000]

Minute Rice

T

[prasantrin]

Minute Rice

T

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I was thinking of that, too! I think Minute Rice is one of the reasons many North Americans think they don't like rice (kind of like me and my KD hatred). The first time I had Minute Rice, I think I might have been in my early 20s. Having grown up eating jasmine rice, I was really horrified. If you don't have a rice cooker, is boiling a pot of water to make rice really much harder than minute rice? Even the cheap long-grain rice is better that Minute Rice!