Saturday, October 17, 2009

Overpriced, oversalted, overprocessed, overrated


I am worried about Mark and the kitchen next week. It IS self-serving-I want GOOD food, thanks, but I might not be able to manage the dutch oven.

Every month or so, I go "big grocery shopping" on Lackland (the Air Force Base). Every month, I come away from the store as confused as can be.

How could I possibly be confused? I cook.

That is the problem, I think. I shop pretty much the same way as I did when grocery shopping as a teenager-a car would pull up at the grocery, and the folks would kick me out-and then come get me an hour and a half later. I had a certain budget, I had certain meals to shop for, a check from my mom, and a list.

That was 35 years ago. So I still live in a world where packet gravy mix is a convenience food. And I don't nuke much.

Let's take yesterday as an example-during my pre-surgery grocery run, (aka Bets does not want her DH in charge of the kitchen, but has no choice) I bought 139 items. Thirteen were from the produce department. I bought a ton of nuts (trying not to eat so much starch). So what else did I buy? Cleaning supplies, meat (I learned a GREAT and easy way to make pork chops-yum yum!) Kleenex, TP and the like. Some canned goods. A ton of cheese. Plain frozen veggies.

Here's my list of convenience foods-1 bag fish sticks. 1 pack frozen ravioli. 3 Stouffer's Spinach souffles (I love this stuff-and have since I was 8. Don't judge). 3 ramens (remember, DH is cooking next week.) A tiny package of pork gyoza (for the surgery girl). 2 jars of pasta sauce. And about 8 cans of soup.

That's it. I buy real food, ingredients. It amazes me to go to the grocery and see mountains of things I have never tried. I blow past entire sections. It doesn't even occur to me to look, because I never buy it.

Frozen dinners? Generally, the picture is better than the actual contents. Bags of pasta meals? Again, the food stylist did a great job. Overpriced, oversalted, overprocessed, overrated. And truthfully, a lot of it makes me sick. My stomach doesn't take kindly to some fillers and stretchers and additives and mysterious THINGS in a lot of frozen foods.

Surely, I can't be the only one. And dammit, I forgot carrots.


2 comments:

Cindy G said...

Oversalted for sure (well, the others, too, but it's the salt that really gets me.)

However, I confess to also adoring Stauffer's spinach souffle, and also their chicken pot pies.

Enid said...

I told you I would come help ya if you need it. Salvador can provide some comic relief. :D