Things That Make You Say Hmmmmmmm?

K

kyheirloomer

Well-known member
So, I'm browsing the supermarket the other night.

Actually, we were doing out weekly shopping, but it sounds better the other way.

At any rate, there are all sorts of things on those shelves that I don't want, don't need, and don't even understand.

Two that struck me in particular:

1. Crockpot Classics. I'm not a fan of slow cookers. But even so, what does it take to cut up some meat and veggies and toss them in? Now you can same even those couple of minutes with an expensive package of frozen meat, veggies, and lots of salt and preservatives.

2. Polenta chubs. Come on! We're talking about stirring some cornmeal with water and, sometimes, Parmesan. What's the point of this?

What are some of the things that make you say hmmmmmm?

 
I've seen sliced apples in sealed baggies next to the bin of real apples

what do you think they use on the sliced apples to keep them from going brown?

Hmmmmmm

 
My Publix meat counter had a packaged pot roast covered in some kind of seasoning and surrounded by

baby carrots and peeled small white onions. I thought that was a little strange. On the other hand, I have a daughter who's idea of cooking is taking an already cooked pot roast and turning it into a casserole. She'd have no idea how to fix the pot roast I just described, besides it would be too much work! I obviously failed somewhere, lol.

The grocery stores here carry a large selection of prechopped, sliced, and otherwise prepared items. I've thought perhaps it was because of the large number of elderly people who may have poor dexterity or eyesight. In that case, these products could make a big difference in their ability to prepare a meal.

 
We have a similiar pot roast in our wegmans....What I find really funny is

that it takes 2 1/2 hours to cook! It clearly is not a quick weekday dinner! If you are near your oven for 2 1/2 hours, what's an additional 1/2 hour to cut up your own vegies....

Like Curious1, this one stumped me!

Barb

 
I suddenly realized one day as I surveyed the yards of prepared foods even

in the most ordinary supermarket that these are all leftovers! We pay good money to eat leftovers! Heck, I can make my own leftovers and also get the pleasure of fresh cooked. Hmmmmmm!

 
Interesting viewpoint, one I never thought of before.

But you're right. Most convenience foods, when you think about it, are leftovers.

I don't particularly want to get into a convenience vs scratch discussion. That's been beaten to death. But even within the realm of convenience there are some items that just make no sense. Those are the ones that really bug me.

A convenience item should be...well, convenient. It should save you significant time, or energy, or in some other way truly benefit your lifestyle. If not, IMO, it's just an expensive indulgence in something you could probably do better yourself.

 
KY, I had to laugh when I saw those Crockpot Classics, asking myself who in the world would buy them

but I soon found out that my daughter grabbed a couple to toss in her crockpot and several teachers I know who don't have time to chop veggies the evening before or morning of (they all have kids to get ready), feel these are better than convenience foods or Hamburger Helper. I have a friend who for years fixed Hamburger Helper almost every night, these kids are grown, have health problems now and it makes me wonder if it was their diet growing up. She didn't like to cook, worked full time and said "this is better than stopping by McDonalds on the way home". These are the type of people who are buying Crockpot Classics. We all like to cook and can't imagine why these people are buying these items. You think part of it is because they don't enjoy being in the kitchen?

 
Ah, one of my favourite rants! How about

Pre-cooked bacon and pre-boiled eggs! If you don't have 3 minutes to boil an egg, eat something else, for heaven's sakes.

I also saw in a recent Gourmet these eggs that have a stamp on them. When they're soft-boiled, the stamp turns red so you know they're done. They also come in medium and hard-boiled. Catch is, they don't come mixed in a carton, so if you want soft-boiled AND hard-boiled, you have to buy two cartons of eggs. Wouldn't setting the timer be a heck of a lot easier (and cheaper)?

By the way, I read about those sliced apples in a New Yorker article that was mostly about the science of packaging salads. The trick is in the mix of gases in the bags, not necessarily in anything suspect put on the food inside. But the whole concept was based on this theory that mothers didn't like wasting a whole apple when kids wouldn't finish one, or they were easier to eat in the car than a whole apple (messy, where do you put it down, what do you do with the core). Makes you wonder how humans survived for so long...

 
Ha! Polenta chubs crack me up. They have been around in one form or another for years, but. . .

They used to be called corn meal mush!

Gawd, my mom tried one of those ready-packaged pot roast things and it was awful! No one could eat it.

Home-made is sooo easy and better.

 
I think the beginning cooks and busy households don't have the spices or equipment

readily available to put together a completely from scratch meal, so these pre-seasoned meats and meals-to-go would be a help to them. If these items get the newbies to use their kitchens, they may venture into more scratch cooking. We all started somewhere.

 
I just asked my neighbor what this big green metal contraption was that is on his property,

he answered that is was a moor. I asked him what is a moor used for. He answered for cutting the grass. I was relating this to my husband and he started laughing. He explained that it is not a moor, it is a mower. Oh K.

 
Hmmmmm, gotta be those packages of dried-out pre-grated cheese. Really, it takes less than a minute

to grate a pile of fresh cheese by hand. On the other hand it takes me at least 5 minutes to find my scissors so I can cut into an un-openable plastic pouch.

Do you think Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee were paid by the plastic industry to convince the world that freshly grated cheese is too much trouble?

 
HA!! You're right... and another 5 min. to get out a bandaid and apply it yourself with one hand...

AFTER opening the un-openable plastic bag.

 
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