In-flight food refueling

[timotb]

I guess this is not the place for "out of the box thinking"  I didn't say never sit down and enjoy a good meal.  Just that most of the time, I want to eat on the go and the commercial choices are crap.  Half a sandwich and a bowl of soup doesn't take me far. This board must be for the Bon Appétit restaurant purists.  Small food with a big price.  Ok for me once in a while.   I must have stepped on a few toes by suggesting restaurant food is crap.  The entire commercial and restaurant food industries would be turned upside down if a candy bar sized meal or a "pill" became reality and could pass for a fair meal.      Here in Canton Ohio you can cook yourself which is a big effort or go to a chain restaurant where most of the time it is shipped in frozen and dropped in a deep fryer.   For the few of you that were sympathetic to the concept.....thank you. 

On 2/24/2018 at 3:54 PM, Anna N said:

Really? Are you sure you’re talking to the right people. Most of us love to cook, love to eat and love to enjoy all the social aspects associated with food.  I bet not many of us would prefer to swallow a pill. 

 

[kayb]

I do sympathize with the experience of being hungry, or just needing to eat, and either (a) not having any idea what you want, or (b) there is nothing "good" available. I agree with you about most chain restaurant food being pretty horrible, along with a lot of the chain options of the Chili's/Olive Garden/Cheddar's variety. There are a few ready-to-eat meals one can microwave that are at least acceptable, and it would certainly be my choice to see that selection expand. Given the choice of just popping a pill or enjoying the taste of something, I'd prefer to enjoy the taste.

 

[Katie Meadow]

To suggest that a pill or bar-sized meal that would provide a sense of fullness, satisfy all nutritional needs of a well-balanced meal and possibly not taste dreadful is not a future that is very realistic. It isn't going to happen. Eating cat food or, god forbid, Soylent Green, is more realistic.

 

 @timotb, it appears that rather than thinking out of the box you have boxed yourself into a corner. Your choices are many, but none of them are magic. It sounds like you don't enjoy cooking or don't have time to make food that you would like to eat. Of course you are not alone; you share desperation and crankiness with many of us on a bad day. Chain fast food is generally awful. That elusive mom and pop dive that can make you a fabulous quick meal for cheap is a very special place and we all wish there were more of them. For good food at a restaurant you need time or money or both. In my experience over the years with eG I would venture to say that by far the greater percentage of members cook most of their meals themselves, and if you look at enough posts you will see that most pictures are of home-cooked food, not restaurant meals. 

 

The simplest solution to your problem has already been invented. It's called a sandwich that you make yourself in the morning. You can make it exactly the way you like it and it can be very cost effective and doesn't really take very long to do once you are in practice. Ask anyone with kids; I've done it sleep deprived and blindfolded in under thirty seconds. If all the solutions to your food quandaries are making you depressed there ARE pills for that. Bon appetit, indeed! 

 

 

[MetsFan5]

@timotb I think I get where you’re coming from. 

 

  I’d rather simply not eat than eat something that I’m not in the mood for or that is supposedly “quick” but often becomes a waste of time due to the quality. And I often felt that way while working in Union Square in NYC. So I imagine you have even less options. 

 

  I have always staunchly ate for enjoyment and not for necessity. But when you’re working long hours and living off coffee, tea or Diet Coke— I can see how a pill form of substance would be useful— and keep me working. The more I worked, the more I made. So I could actually enjoy meals when I had the time for them. 

 

 I am not a confident cook. I actually don’t enjoy cooking;  my mother cooked homemade meals 4-6 times a week but as someone who worked crazy hours all of my career lifespan so far, I’m just not a domestic. 

 That said my husband frequently skips meals at work as well. I remember freaking out when I’d take my 1:55pm, 5 minute lunch break at the Starbucks across the street to grab a venti unsweetened green tea because the line was long. 

 

  And to the nah sayers, well, I have a BA in Hotel and Restaurant management and have organized state wide wine tasting events and worked at some of the highest ranked restaurants in Northern Nj. When you work hours like that, it doesn’t particularly inspire cooking.  

Edited February 27, 2018 by MetsFan5 (log)