Why does anybody buy . . .

[decolady]

*pre-cooked bacon

My Mom. She's 78, lives alone and hates to fry anything.

*Hot dogs containing poultry or veggie hot dogs

Because we don't eat beef or pork. My girls have grown up eating Leanies and think they are far superior to meat hot dogs. And we do grill them.

* And why can't soy milk be better for you, or at least as good for you, as regular milk? Last I heard, cow's milk was really intended for, and most beneficial to, well, other cows.

Absolutely. We do not drink cow's milk. Unless you are getting your milk from your own cows and have not given them additives, what you are drinking is loaded with BGH and who knows what all else.

*How did pre-sliced apples not turn all brown and icky?

Probably treated with sulfates the way lettuce on salad bars is.

*Amen to onion salt and garlic salt. I'm almost rabid about having my kosher salt anyway...

Much more puzzling to me than bottled water is bottled, flavoured, sugared water. We were on a trip recently and I picked up one of those by accident. Nasty stuff. Went back in to get a bottle of WATER and couldn't even find one. How ridiculous is that?

[purplewiz]

Bottled water: our water is good here, but remembering to fill a bottle and then chill it and and then take it with me because it's not right out on the countertop and then bring home the bottle and then wash it....it just ain't gonna happen. One of the reasons I like bottles of water is that it is in a disposable container, so I don't have to carry it around all day. (I was the kid whose parents always "saved money" by packing her sandwiches in those square Tupperware containers. On field trips everyone else got to just throw away their lunch packaging and go have fun, while I had to juggle the Tupperware and sometimes a Thermos. It's hard to play when your hands are full.)

I never knew how hard it was to find a cold bottle of something that is sugar free and non-caffeinated when I'm on the road. Not everywhere carries Sprite Zero or A&W Root Beer. So bottled water it is. (I love iced tea but HATE that premade stuff. It tastes metallic. I guess that's another "why does anybody buy....".)

Jarred Salsa: Yes, I have made my own. As others have mentioned, it's a time issue. It's also a shelf life issue - the jarred stuff keeps a lot longer in the fridge than my own.

Minute Rice: Ok, I'm with you there. Especially since I discovered that cooked rice freezes well, so I just make up a large batch when I make it, then portion it out into ziplock sandwich baggies and freeze. Two minutes in the microwave and it's ready to serve. Faster than Minute Rice and tastes better.

Marcia.

[mrsadm]

American processed cheese food slices... why not just slap a slice of orange-colored wax on your sandwich?

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I buy these to make "fake cheezits". I cut them into little squares and microwave them. Nice crispy treat.

[jayejo]

American processed cheese food slices... why not just slap a slice of orange-colored wax on your sandwich?

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I buy this for two things: to give the dogs their pills and for grilled cheese when I'm feeling 10 years old.

[Dianabanana]

Similar to the frozen premade sushi mentioned above, but more pathetic still, is frozen, cooked plain white rice. It sells for about $4 for three cups or so! The first time I saw it I just stopped and stared. Now I wish I were the genius who thought of this. Can you imagine the profit margin?

[haresfur]

Pringles? Is it because they aren't fried? If you are going to eat potato chips they aren't going to be healthy. If you want to pretend they are healthy or want to actually taste potato, then buy the lower fat ones cooked in canola. If you want to eat cardboard, throw out the Pringles and eat the tube they come in.

The only advantage I see, is that they pack better for camping trips.

[prasantrin]

Pringles?  Is it because they aren't fried?  If you are going to eat potato chips they aren't going to be healthy.  If you want to pretend they are healthy or want to actually taste potato, then buy the lower fat ones cooked in canola.  If you want to eat cardboard, throw out the Pringles and eat the tube they come in.

The only advantage I see, is that they pack better for camping trips.

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Pringles have a very different flavour from regular potato chips (to me), so I don't view them as such, nor do I eat them for potato flavour. I'm not even sure why I like them, but sometimes I crave them. I do like the sour cream & onion flavour of the S&O chips. It's hard to get good s&o these days.

[moreace01]

wait, what's wrong with Pringles? freaking love them. could eat the whole can in one sitting. not sure why. I think it's the salt. Like it's only just enough salt to make you crave another chip, and then another and another looking for the salt. Aren't they fried? I had no idea they weren't.

Alright alright on the salsa (since I'm the one who originally posted it). I was recently on vacation and torn with the decision of purchasing all the ingrediants and making my own or just saying forget it and get the jarred stuff. So I bought the jarred stuff. Ok, I admit it was the stuff in the refrigerator section cause I couldn't bring myself to actually getting the jarred kind. It was, well, just ok. I wasn't happy about it at all. But for the sake of time (need to get to beach asap) and cause I had no knife, I did it. So for the record - I did it and MAYBE under similar circumstances I'd do it again (actually hubby said maybe we should have just bought chips and dip instead).

We all have something we just won't do, no matter how ridiculous other people find it. Buying pre-made salsa (from anywhere except a few choice restaurants) is mine. Won't do it.

[gfron1]

I don't know what your salsa selection is, but ours takes nearly a whole aisle at the grocery store. There absolutely are good jarred salsas. Last year my store did a side by side taste test with customers of 20 different salsas, and with only a small handful of exceptions, everyone loved Salsa Patria - super fresh tasting, chunky, just the right amount of heat. But if we're talking Ortega...I agree with you.

[duckduck]

And Kool Aid is fantastic...for dying wool.  It comes in all those bright colors, and it makes your yarn smell all fruity. 

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I've been told by a hairdresser that it works for coloring hair too when you're in a remote area that doesn't have a Hot Topic store or any place that carries magenta or blue hair color.

I've never seen canned potatoes. Now I'm going to have to go to the store and look.

And canned mushrooms and fresh are two totally different things. I'm not a 'shroom person but occasionally I like the canned on pizza.

[Fat Guy]

This just in . . .

Spotted today at the supermarket . . .

Hard-boiled eggs . . .

[miladyinsanity]

Frozen chips.

Why? Why? Is it so difficult to skin a couple of potatoes, slice them up, toss 'em with oil and then into the oven? Or to parboil them for a few minutes before tossing into the oven?

[KarenDW]

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!

My daughter eats every meal for 4 out of 7 days ON CAMPUS! She does not have access to a fridge, and rarely a microwave. Individ. packaged fruit leather rules. Unfortunately, right up there w/ juice boxes (which she still, at nearly 19, considers "treat" food), baby carrots, single serve yogurt, and disposable spoons. It would be grand if she could actually have real food at least once a day... some days she just waits until 10pm to get home and cook something.

Our condo is 500 sq. ft.; two people, one of whom runs a home-based business. To say that storage space is "tight" by North American standards, is an understatement. I buy flour in 5 kg bags, and sugar in 1 kg bags, at the MOST.

[Fugu]

This just in . . .

Spotted today at the supermarket . . .

Hard-boiled eggs . . .

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Molecular gastronomy at its best. They've turned perfectly good eggs into chemical tasting, hard rubber balls. We tried a sample bucket of that to save on labour and it was just horrible. Same goes for premade fruit salads in a bucket...Yuck of all yucks.

[Pierogi]

This just in . . .

Spotted today at the supermarket . . .

Hard-boiled eggs . . .

Oh Lord, they've had those for years out here in LaLaLand. Guess the *in* crowd can't be bothered to hard-cook their own eggs.

Ours are individually packaged though, and in the shells, so they at least sorta resemble eggs.

Never thought to include them here because they're just too ludicrous to even consider as a food product.

[feedmec00kies]

Hard-boiled eggs . . .

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Just remembered something the other day. Boxed mashed potato "mix". Ok, I understand it's a convenience thing, and I had a friend who would eat it because he admitted he really was just too damn lazy to make it with real potatoes. He also drank Boost to make up for his ridiculous diet.

Although... even he had standards. He relayed a story of shock and horror from when he went home during some break and his parents said, "Hey, guess what we found at the supermarket... MASHED POTATOES IN A TUB!!"

[Terrasanct]

I admit to having mashed potato flakes in my cupboard. I know they're crap, but my husband likes mashed potatoes, can't tell the difference, and I don't usually keep potatoes because I don't eat them.

And boiled eggs--they've saved me at convenience stores in the past when I've been looking in vain for SOME form of protein that wasn't salty. I wouldn't buy them to take home and use, though. That's just silly.

[Peter the eater]

Frozen chips.

Why? Why? Is it so difficult to skin a couple of potatoes, slice them up, toss 'em with oil and then into the oven? Or to parboil them for a few minutes before tossing into the oven?

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This reminds me of the "instant coffee vs fresh brewed coffee" argument but with potatoes.

Some might say "life is too short for frozen french fries" but I tend to disagree. My home made chips are better and I'll bet so are yours. The guy with the truck or whatever who soaks the hand cut potatoes just the right way and uses the right combo of oils at the ideal temperature for those perfect potato fries may be even better.

I bought a 1 kg bag of McCain shoestring fries for $1.59 CND. One aisle over, the same weight of raw potatoes from PEI (Prince Edward Island) was $1.99 CND.

My point is that some processed foods may not be as good homemade or home brewed but are often a better price and just a different experience. Taste is relative . . . I wouldn't enjoy a fancy Pinot from Oregon as much if I didn't fill the gaps with local plonk.

[Peter the eater]

OK, I draw the line at dried mash potato flakes.

Life is too short for eating instant mashed potatoes. They will always remind me of raising fruit flies in high school biology for a genetics experiment.

[Fat Guy]

I've started a separate topic on the pros and cons of frozen fries. I think it's an issue that deserves its own topic.

[Terrasanct]

Well, I don't like instant mashed potatoes, but there are some nights when my husband gets home at 9:30 and I make him salmon and a veg but need something else quick. He loves them. Which sometimes makes me a bit upset because when I make them from scratch he doesn't love them any more than the instant.

As far as fries, depending on who is making them, the frozen ones can be as good as homemade. Because they're made from the potato with the right amont of starch, and are blanched at the factory. Not every home cook knows to cook the fries twice or what temp to cook them at.

Damn, now I want homemade fries!

[feedmec00kies]

My point is that some processed foods may not be as good homemade or home brewed but are often a better price and just a different experience. Taste is relative . . . I wouldn't enjoy a fancy Pinot from Oregon as much if I didn't fill the gaps with local plonk.

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Amen to that, brother!

[dianem]

Okay, I admit it... we buy this stuff. Yes, it would be very easy to cook up a couple of chicken breasts and slice them and put them in the fridge. But in practice we just don't, and these make good snacks and a quick source of protein to add to salads and noodles to make a lunch. My husband and I go through a couple of bags a week.

d.

[BekkiM]

Watching Iron Chef America (Puck vs. Morimoto, Battle Egg), which you might think has an audience of people who might be interested in actual cooking (though maybe not) and the ad for the Carton O'Pancake Mix (aka Bisquick Shake-n-Pour) comes on...

[image of water pouring into yellow plastic jug. Sound of something sloppy being shaken in a plastic carton--camera shakes up and down. Enter children, stage right]

Boy: Oh boy! Pancakes!

Mom: I knew you'd be happy...

OMG! How hard is it to use your own bowl to mix water with Bisquick?!?! And that sloppy, sloggy sound of batter being shaken in the jug! OUCH.

I seriously hope that my child never associates that sound with food.

[Natho]

The one I mostly buy and yet cringe when I do is pre packed salads. I buy them because someone at church or whatever decides to throw a spur-of-the-monent barbeque and says "come round in half an hour. BYO everything" so it's off to the supermarket. I then stand there and go through all the packs (I worked in fruit and vege for 5 years so I know what the quality is going to be like ) trying to find the one with the least amount of brown slimy leaves in the bottom of it. It's either that or just eat all meat for lunch. Not an entirely unattractive prospect for me but i try to at least pretend to think about my health..