Laziest products

[Lilija]

Easy Mac! It's not even food. It's slime, with slime sauce, and a side of slime. Someone offered a tub of it to my kid once, and he said "I don't eat this." Good boy.

[gfweb]

Have y'all seen those bagel twinkies?  Bagels that look like Twinkies, but stuffed with cream cheese.  What the fuck kind of tripped out, strung-out, drunk of his/her ass chimp came up with such a thing?  When I saw those in the freezer section of my grocery store, I almost had an epileptic seizure.

Bagel stuffed with cream cheese

(not my photo).

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But apparently you bought some.java script:emoticon(':rolleyes:')

[gingerbeer]

Wow I cannot believe there are frozen peanut butter sandwiches.

I mean, that's outrageously lazy.

I can kind of see the mashed potatoes, because I think many people these days don't even know how to cook them, but a PB sandwich??? Seriously???

[Hard H2O]

Easy Mac!  It's not even food. It's slime, with slime sauce, and a side of slime.  Someone offered a tub of it to my kid once, and he said "I don't eat this."  Good boy.

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My kids will not touch the stuff. The regular stuff on the other hand...

We had a German gal working with us who took a suitcase home stuffed with Kraft mac & cheese.

[slkinsey]

I could never undertstand things like "Lunchables." Because, you know, it's really hard to put some crackers, bologna and cheese in a container before you send your kid off to school.

[pax]

Batter-Blaster

Pre-made Pancake Batter in a pressurized can.

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I thought it would be easy to do letters and shapes for the kids. That didn't work out so great either. The stuff was too thin.

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FWIW, I just make regular shaped pancakes and use cookie cutters on them. I didn't want to scratch up my pans with metal cookie cutters, pressing down hard enough to hold the batter in to hold the shape. My kid doesn't seem to notice or care.

Her favourite is still silver dollar faces with berries for eyes, etc, though.

[Hard H2O]

I could never undertstand things like "Lunchables."  Because, you know, it's really hard to put some crackers, bologna and cheese in a container before you send your kid off to school.

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My daughter used to love those. The boy not so much. It is less of a convenience thing and more of a cool thing.

The daughter is 9 and now has a taste for Maytag Bleu cheese.

[SusanGiff]

Wow I cannot believe there are frozen peanut butter sandwiches.

I mean, that's outrageously lazy.

I can kind of see the mashed potatoes, because I think many people these days don't even know how to cook them, but a PB sandwich??? Seriously???

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They're crazy lazy, but you know what? They were giving out samples at Costco one day, and at least they're damned tasty. The Smuckers ones, right? Still, I've never been able to bring myself to buy them, and hopefully, never will.

[TheFoodTutor]

I could never undertstand things like "Lunchables."  Because, you know, it's really hard to put some crackers, bologna and cheese in a container before you send your kid off to school.

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I think the popularity of that is based entirely on the packaging. Children like the bright colors, the disposable box, the little squeeze packets, the miniature plastic knife/spreader.

I'd say that one way to get past this would be to buy bento boxes for your children, and put some effort into packaging them in a cute way, and you could even make the lunches together with your children. However, that still doesn't take away the fact that after lunch, the kid has to take the bento box back to his/her locker, or wherever the rest of his stuff is stored, and then remember to take it home, none of which they have to do if they can just throw the lunchables box into the trash on the way out the door to play on the playground.

Much better for the environment and cheaper with the bento boxes, though.

[slkinsey]

I could never undertstand things like "Lunchables."  Because, you know, it's really hard to put some crackers, bologna and cheese in a container before you send your kid off to school.

My daughter used to love those. The boy not so much. It is less of a convenience thing and more of a cool thing.

Yea, I get that. My parents never let me have any of the "cool foods" when I was a kid, so I guess I have a different take on that. But, man... if I were going to send a kid to school with 480 calories, 20 grams of fat (10 saturated) and 1080 miligrams of salt... I'd want it to be something better. Not that I judge. I don't have any kids, so it's easy for me to say.

[Hard H2O]

I could never undertstand things like "Lunchables."  Because, you know, it's really hard to put some crackers, bologna and cheese in a container before you send your kid off to school.

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I think the popularity of that is based entirely on the packaging. Children like the bright colors, the disposable box, the little squeeze packets, the miniature plastic knife/spreader.

I'd say that one way to get past this would be to buy bento boxes for your children, and put some effort into packaging them in a cute way, and you could even make the lunches together with your children. However, that still doesn't take away the fact that after lunch, the kid has to take the bento box back to his/her locker, or wherever the rest of his stuff is stored, and then remember to take it home, none of which they have to do if they can just throw the lunchables box into the trash on the way out the door to play on the playground.

Much better for the environment and cheaper with the bento boxes, though.

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Luncheables require refridgeration. We haven't bought the in a while (the diva daughter is onto her next thing) but we would send them in a lunch box with a frozen cold pack thing.

Usually now she takes hot lunch. She is 9 and makes her own lunch, subject to inspection, veto, modification, when she doesn't like what is on the menu.

We require a protein, vegetable, fruit, starch. We allow small snacks and no candy.

Luncheables fail on the fruit, veg, and candy front.

I do not get the bento box. It is just a compartmented box. What would that do that an insulated lunch bag and some small reuseable Gladware or Ziploc containers won't?

How do you put soup in a bento box? The daughter has a small Stanley insulated soup bowl thing. It fits in her insulated lunch bag. Warm up the container and soup, put the soup in and it will stay warm until lunch.

Edited March 18, 2009 by Hard H2O (log)

[Hard H2O]

I could never undertstand things like "Lunchables."  Because, you know, it's really hard to put some crackers, bologna and cheese in a container before you send your kid off to school.

My daughter used to love those. The boy not so much. It is less of a convenience thing and more of a cool thing.

Yea, I get that. My parents never let me have any of the "cool foods" when I was a kid, so I guess I have a different take on that. But, man... if I were going to send a kid to school with 480 calories, 20 grams of fat (10 saturated) and 1080 miligrams of salt... I'd want it to be something better. Not that I judge. I don't have any kids, so it's easy for me to say.

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Once in a while is not so bad. Not for every lunch. "Everything in moderation including moderation."

[slkinsey]

I'd say that one way to get past this would be to buy bento boxes for your children, and put some effort into packaging them in a cute way, and you could even make the lunches together with your children. However, that still doesn't take away the fact that after lunch, the kid has to take the bento box back to his/her locker, or wherever the rest of his stuff is stored, and then remember to take it home, none of which they have to do if they can just throw the lunchables box into the trash on the way out the door to play on the playground.

I can't believe I am about to say this and not be kidding. I feel as though I have crossed some Rubicon into middle age. Here goes...

Back in my day (there, I said it) kids took lunch boxes to school and took them home with them at the end of the day. It wasn't that hard, and most everyone did it without forgetting.

[TheFoodTutor]

I do not get the bento box. It is just a compartmented box. What would that do that an insulated lunch bag and some small reuseable Gladware or Ziploc containers won't?

They look cool. That's really all I was thinking about. Insulated bags don't look terribly cool.

Funny you should mention the part about refrigeration. I don't remember a single time in my whole grade school through high school experience that I ever refrigerated my lunch, whether I brought meat and cheese sandwiches or peanut butter and jelly. I always just brought my lunch in a paper bag and left it in my locker until I was ready to eat it. I guess we just didn't think about things like that as much back then.

Bento boxes do come in many varieties now, so I'm sure that if you wanted one with a container for soup, it wouldn't be hard to find. I'm not much of an authority, though, since I don't have any kids and I haven't packed a lunch for anyone in years.

[slkinsey]

There are also those cool Indian stacking cannister things.

[cbread]

I'm feeling older by the second reading this stuff.

[TheFoodTutor]

I can't believe I am about to say this and not be kidding.  I feel as though I have crossed some Rubicon into middle age.  Here goes...

Back in my day (there, I said it) kids took lunch boxes to school and took them home with them at the end of the day.  It wasn't that hard, and most everyone did it without forgetting.

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Well, I was one of the ones who always forgot, hence the paper bags that I usually brought my lunch in. I also had a messier locker than most people, and it wasn't too unusual for me to forget that I'd even brought my lunch, then buy my lunch in the cafeteria and then find my old, uneaten lunch in my locker a week later.

I'm pretty sure you were a better kid than I was.

[snowangel]

I'm going to come to the defense of some of these "lazy" foods. Let's say you are living alone and have a disability? Cutting up broccoli or mincing garlic may be more than your arthritis allows. Perhaps you don't have the hand strength to mash potatoes. But, you are able to care of yourself, provided that you can feed yourself.

Personally, I think the idea of a frozen pbj sandwich is, well, ick, but when my severely disabled child manages to open the package and get it out of the package by herself, priceless! Let's face it, there's a whole population that can't cut up veg, let alone sharpen their knives.

My problem with a lot of this stuff is the packaging and the trash/recycling that goes along with it.

Edited March 18, 2009 by snowangel (log)

[laniloa]

Back in my day (there, I said it) kids took lunch boxes to school and took them home with them at the end of the day.  It wasn't that hard, and most everyone did it without forgetting.

As if I would have forgotten to take home my precious Jabber Jaws lunch box!

[Jamon.Iberico]

Have y'all seen those bagel twinkies?  Bagels that look like Twinkies, but stuffed with cream cheese.  What the fuck kind of tripped out, strung-out, drunk of his/her ass chimp came up with such a thing?  When I saw those in the freezer section of my grocery store, I almost had an epileptic seizure.

Bagel stuffed with cream cheese

(not my photo).

←

But apparently you bought some.java script:emoticon(':rolleyes:')

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Uhh, no, I didn't. Read the post. Notice the "NOT MY PHOTO" addmission.

[dividend]

I'm going to come to the defense of some of these "lazy" foods.  Let's say you are living alone and have a disability?  Cutting up broccoli or mincing garlic may be more than your arthritis allows.  Perhaps you don't have the hand strength to mash potatoes.  But, you are able to care of yourself, provided that you can feed yourself.

Personally, I think the idea of a frozen pbj sandwich is, well, ick, but when my severely disabled child manages to open the package and get it out of the package by herself, priceless!  Let's face it, there's a whole population that can't cut up veg, let alone sharpen their knives.

My problem with a lot of this stuff is the packaging and the trash/recycling that goes along with it.

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Good point, and btw I hope that your daughter is doing well.

In addition to those with permanent disabilities, people get sick or injured all the time, and sometimes temporarily can't do all the prep work and scratch cooking they're used to. I recently broke my wrist, and had to let myself be ok with some shortcuts I don't normally take since my cast prevented me from doing things like chopping with a chef's knife, or opening even getting jars open. Whole Foods sells precut mirepoix in a plastic tub. Before breaking my wrist, I remember looking at those and thinking, who would buy them? Now I look at those pre-prepped tubs and think, even with my temporary limitations, I can make a passible pot of soup. I even considered thos pre-chopped apples in a plastsic bag, because a whole apples doesn't fit into my Mr. Bento for lunch, but a sliced one does.

That said, I still don't get the single, plastic wrapped potato.

[Tim Dolan]

I have always hated "shaker" cheese. That ugly green can of Kraft grated parmesan cheese. Tastes like stale powder.

[jsmeeker]

The frozen PB&J sandwiches have the crusts cut off, too!!

Does anyone else find it odd that Whole Foods sells Batter Blaster?

[Hard H2O]

The frozen PB&J sandwiches have the crusts cut off, too!!

Does anyone else find it odd that Whole Foods sells Batter Blaster?

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It is organic. They touted that in their marketing when it first came out.

[Magictofu]

I am surprized no one mentionned cheese in a spray can yet.

There is no easier way to dispense salty orange goo on your toast: a true technological miracle!