Food manufacturers are idiots

[Louis]

OK, maybe not all of them, but many.

I stopped to do some grocery shopping tonight (an exciting Friday night) and although I usually get pretty healthy stuff (veggies, fruit, skim milk, etc.) just for the heck of it I thought I'd treat myself to pre-mixed pasta or rice "add water and cook" stuff or some pop-in-the-oven/microwave pre-made frozen stuff.

I couldn't believe it. Either the ingredient list reads like a recipe for rocket fuel, or there was like 23% of the RDA of sodium for one serving in a package that had two tiny servings and I knew I'd be having both servings at the same time. And they expect me to put that stuff in my body? No wonder Americans are so unhealthy. We eat cr@p.

I've concluded that if it's easy and convenient, then chances are it's bad for you. (Except for beer.) :beer:

Louis

[Sandy]

Maybe we are the idiots. They manufacture it so that it tastes great and so that we will purchase it. Guess it works. Ever notice how cereal manufacurers increased the amount of sugar in their cereals over the years, even the supposedly healthy ones?


Sandy

[stevep]

I've concluded that if it's easy and convenient, then chances are it's bad for you.
Louis

always true.

[myette10]

the issue is captured conveniently in the title of your post ... "food manufacturers"

food isn't/shouldn't be manufactured. It should be grown, harvested, cooked and eaten.

[Louis]

So would anybody out there (who is not riding because it is durn cold) care to share some recipes that are 1) Easy, 2) Tasty and 3) Vegetarian ?

[shinomaster]

Corn is the Devil.

[Louis]

Corn is the Devil.

John, we've seen plenty of documentation on the stuff you cook, and I'll just say that it's a bit fancier than what I do. For me "cooking" consists mostly putting stuff together in one pot or bowl and adding heat via stove or microwave.

[shinomaster]

John, we've seen plenty of documentation on the stuff you cook, and I'll just say that it's a bit fancier than what I do. For me "cooking" consists mostly putting stuff together in one pot or bowl and adding heat via stove or microwave.


Hey isn't that what cooking is?

[William]

So would anybody out there (who is not riding because it is durn cold) care to share some recipes that are 1) Easy, 2) Tasty and 3) Vegetarian ?


Spider Cookies

http://phoinix.sourceforge.net/cookies/n_ss_morsels.jpg
one bag Nestle Toll House chocolate chips

http://di1.shopping.com/images1/pi/2f/76/86/29724594-177x150-0-0.jpg
One bag Nestle toll House Butterscotch chips

And one can of Chun King dry chow mein noodles

Pour both bags of chips into a sauce pan and heat & stir until melted.

Take off the heat and mix in can of chow mein noodles.

Once mixed, spoon dollops onto plastic wrap that is spread across the counter and let cool/harden.

Want high octane Spider cookies? Add some espresso beans to the mix.


Not a health food, but darn good. :)



William

[Birddog]

Louis, if you like pasta, here is a simple main course, fast and pretty good. The fundamentalists will howl however.
Cook your pasta per directions. Warm up some "Classico" brand pasta sauce. It contains NO sugar or high fructose corn syrup (there are damn few in the stores that don't BTW). It does have salt, but I don't think it has too much and I'm somewhat sensitive to salt. They make about ten varieties, I haven't tried them all and I prefer the Tomato Basil. If you want to doctor the stuff it's easy enough to do. Every type I've purchased has no sweeteners. I use the stuff as an emergency meal a couple times a month. If you aren't a strict veggie, you could add some turkey Italian sausage. I frequently have it with grilled chicken breasts (from a chicken factory no doubt) but so be it.

Birddog

[coopdog]

Read The Ominvores Dilemna by Michael Pollan. Great book. Follows the food chain from field to table. We are basically corn chips with legs.

[Karin Kirk]

Read The Ominvores Dilemna by Michael Pollan. Great book. Follows the food chain from field to table. We are basically corn chips with legs.

Agreed. That was one of my favorite books of late. I just started his latest book, In Defense of Food.
Good stuff!

[manet]

- 1 microwave
- 1 pint of very cold ben + jerry's ice cream (cherry garcia or mint cookie)
- set whole pint with loosened lid in microwave
- hit beverage button
- get soup spoon
- allow microwave to cycle through about 1/2 of beverage cycle
- take out of micro, take off lid
- eat tempered ice cream

[Karin Kirk]

Black bean burritos:
-cook up some white rice, but add a little extra water
-about 1/2 way through the cooking time, add some diced onions and a can of black beans (drained most of the way, but not all the way)
-once everything is cooked and melded together, toss in some frozen corn
-season with a splash of lime juice, cumin and chili powder

Pile onto tortillas, add some sharp cheddar, roll up the burritos and put them in the oven for just 5-10 minutes to get the cheese to melt and the tortilla to crisp up.

In the meantime, crack open your favorite microbrew. :beer:

Here's another favorite mexi-meal:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipedetail.cfm?objectid=70CF87EA%2D61DC%2D498E%2 D9259C9FACDFDC622
Substitute black beans for the ground beef. We make it with both beef and beans.

We have another recipe for veggie burritos with lots of different vegetables in them, but I don't know it by heart so I can't type it out here. I've been meaning to make those again - it's been a log time.

[Louis]

Folks, thanks for the ideas. They sound great, and some of them even sound healthy. :D

Not sure if I'll try the "tempered ice-cream" though. I'm trying to cut down on stuff with refined sugar.

[shinomaster]

Black bean burritos:
-cook up some white rice, but add a little extra water
-about 1/2 way through the cooking time, add some diced onions and a can of black beans (drained most of the way, but not all the way)
-once everything is cooked and melded together, toss in some frozen corn
-season with a splash of lime juice, cumin and chili powder

Pile onto tortillas, add some sharp cheddar, roll up the burritos and put them in the oven for just 5-10 minutes to get the cheese to melt and the tortilla to crisp up.

In the meantime, crack open your favorite microbrew. :beer:

Here's another favorite mexi-meal:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipedetail.cfm?objectid=70CF87EA%2D61DC%2D498E%2 D9259C9FACDFDC622
Substitute black beans for the ground beef. We make it with both beef and beans.

We have another recipe for veggie burritos with lots of different vegetables in them, but I don't know it by heart so I can't type it out here. I've been meaning to make those again - it's been a log time.


I made a meatless stew that you would swear was full of beef. It was super. I should write a recipe.