Comments on: Convenience Food Grocery Shopping

By: David G. Mitchell

David G. Mitchell — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:20:20 +0000

Of course, in Gail’s circumstances, pre-made foods do make sense. I don’t think any of us would debate that. Arthritis changes a lot. My brother is actually a trained chef but he is also now disabled. He needs to eat a lot of prepared foods, too.

By: Gail

Gail — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:01:04 +0000

Since I became chronically ill and disabled, I have found that sometimes it is more than just ‘convenience’ to have pre-made frozen food in the house. My hubby will eat a frozen meal (I personally won’t touch them) and so on days I am sick and can’t cook, it is convenient for him to heat up in the microwave. I’ve also found things like premade salads easier when I need to eat something and can barely stand up. When your arthritis is killing you and you need to eat, you are more than happy to have some convenience things around. I would have never written this years ago, but as life changes so do our needs. I do try to freeze my own things ahead of time when I have the energy.

By: Ann

Ann — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:26:10 +0000

Hadn’t thought about it, but whitestripe has a point about garbage and landfill. Since I started eating more healthfully, my garbage has decreased a lot! I do the recyclable stuff wherever possible and use reusable containers when I’m dividing up stuff I bought in quantity.

And thanks, Minny! I picked up a salad spinner and will try your suggestion after doing some grocery shopping today.

By: minny

minny — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:40:09 +0000

Here in the UK the prepared meal aisles in the supermarkets get larger by the week! They may not always be frozen but the ready meal is a big deal here.

Peanut butter is not as popular as in the US, but I would have thought the combined with jelly was easier to spread.

I have a tip with lettuce. I have a salad spinner into which I put washed lettuce or salad green leaves – use it to spin the water away and put the leaves in a plastic bag – close the end and put it in the salad drawer of the fridge. It lasts at least a week.

So, I usually wash and spin lots of salad leaves in batches. This means I don’t have to face washing every time – beats the bags of pre prepared salad!

By: John DeFlumeri Jr

John DeFlumeri Jr — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:06:42 +0000

Buying foods for convenience reasons throws a big amount of money away, and the quality is never what you should be eating. Those pre-packaged airtight meals are often 6 months ol, there’s no way they are fresh.

John DeFlumeri Jr

By: whitestripe

whitestripe — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:37:54 +0000

well – i can safely say that i haven’t eaten a frozen meal in about three years but then again, i’m not american.

and with the single serve options, i may be a minority here, but i would rather pay 3c extra per serving if it means that all that extra packaging isn’t going to landfill. sometimes the cheapest option isn’t the best for the environment, and what is more important to you? the planet? or 36c in savings? i know what i’d pick – but then again, I’m probably a minority…

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:48:13 +0000

We actually tried those frozen PPNJs once and my son didn’t like them at all and I thought they weren’t that good either. I would much rather spend the 2 minutes to make one by hand and save money then popping on in the microwave.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:46:32 +0000

From left field – a friend of mine buys those pb&j frozen sandwiches and stores them at work. Her son has severe food allergies, including peanut, and so she can’t have peanut butter in the house. Occassionally, she craves a pb&j sandwich. Before they started selling those fozen ones, she’d have me make her a sandwich every once in awhile and bring it in to work with me. And, those puppies taste just fine. The bread is not soggy nor too dry.

Now, making your own pb&j is too simple to replace with the frozen convenience (especially since you have to wait 30 min for them to thaw) but as a single person some of those items in the grocery store work better for me.

Or, like packages of applesauce or peaches. I take those to work with me. Real peaches would be healthier, but I don’t have the time nor the space for the mess of peeling, cutting and eating those kinds of fresh fruit. So while it’s more expensive and less healthy, the convenience of having it at work make it worth while.

By: Emilie

Emilie — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:39:06 +0000

My thoughts on whole chicken is: when you buy the whole bird your pay for the bone and the dark meat that I don’t really like anyways. What I do is wait foe the special 2.99/lb for skinless boneless chicken and I stock up enought to last mer until the next specials.
A lot less work.

Just my opinion.

By: Ann

Ann — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 19:48:41 +0000

I live alone and, on top of that, am modifying nearly a lifetime of bad habits by being on Weight Watchers, so…

My life is a bizarre mix.

I keep on hand some healthier, portion-controlled microwave meals so that, if I’m running around and suddenly realize I’m starving, I’m able to quickly satisfy my hunger without violating my diet. On the other hand, I do take the time to cook larger batches of things and divide them into single servings and freeze periodically. Single servings of healthy veggies aren’t worth the bother ’cause one of the things I’m learning is that high fiber, low carbohydrate veggies don’t have to be limited to one serving. LOL I do buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts and single serving vacuum packed salmon and other fish, but I’ll also get a lean cut of pork or beef or a turkey breast and slow cook it then divide into single servings.

For some unknown reason, I will eat prepped lettuce faster than a bunch. Doesn’t make any sense to me, but it’s true. I found myself tossing lettuce that had gone bad and decided that it was actually cheaper for me to buy the prepared stuff. Weird.

One of my downfalls is ice cream and/or good frozen yoghurt (preferably lowfat). There is no way I can bring a half gallon into the house! I don’t have any choice but to buy one of the small single serving or 2-serving containers. Actually, when it comes to all desserts, I’m best off going out to eat, ordering one and, if possible, only eating part of it there and packing up the balance to bring home for another day. Doesn’t work with ice cream, but is great for those days when you crave a slice of cake! Unfortunately, out in the country, where I live, there’s nowhere that I can go to purchase just one of something decadently good.

Weight Watchers is a points system, so I will buy a block of a certain cheese, when I crave it, and then cut it into one ounce portions and calculate the points for each portion. That way I’ll know how much I’m eating when I grab a cube.

I have an acid tolerance problem (my body converts ascorbic acid into a poison), so I have to be careful about how much fruit I eat. Unfortunately, that translates into not being able to buy the generally more cost effective bags of apples or oranges. I have to buy them one by one. LOL

My grocery bills are less these days and truly fast foods are a thing of the past, but I’m going for higher quality. I’ve discovered organic beef, which is the best thing I’ve ever tasted! I’ve also switched to eggs from free range chickens. I never knew an egg could have a slightly sweet taste and I love the darker yokes. I’m going to miss the farmers’ market when it shuts down in 3 weeks. Nothing beats fresh produce! If you’ve never tasted corn picked just that morning or tomatoes fresh from the vine, you have no idea what you’re missing! And the small, wild strawberries I bought this past spring were to die for!!!

But too many things in the market and too many recipes are just not geared for a single person, so I do end up with a mix. Oh, well.