We went camping this weekend. That’s a whole other blog that I hope to get to when I catch my breath…
But for now, my camping trip has inspired my top ten for today. You see, I forgot to pack the coffee. That might not be a problem in normal circles but, as you may remember, I have a bit of a coffee addiction. So, when Chris got up at the crack of dawn, he had to go to the camp store to buy coffee. He brought back (gasp) Maxwell House.
Okay, I am so not a snob about brands and stuff. I grew up in a generic household, in that I mean we had a complete reliance on generic products (except for Coca Cola, but for goodness sake, you have to draw the line somewhere!). But I don’t get skimping on certain things. Like coffee.
Even worse is this notion that it’s instant coffee. Have the people at Maxwell House ever made coffee? We grind our own beans and it takes less than five minutes. And the difference is sublime.
So, today’s top ten theme is the top ten foods (or food products) that people buy as “instant” that I just don’t get. I’m all about convenience and time savings. But not if you have to sacrifice actual taste. Feel free to disagree (Chris already has, see #5).
1. Coffee. Already said my bit. I’m still trying to get the instant coffee taste out of my mouth.
2. Mac and cheese. Okay, this has a bit of a disclaimer. I buy it for my kids because they’re crazy and Katie eats it by the pound – and Katie eats nothing by the pound. But adults? Why buy instant? It takes less time to make real macaroni and cheese than it does to make spaghetti. And come on… Powdered cheese? Cheese was never meant to be in powder form.
3. Mashed potatoes. My mom used to make these all of the time. Which is particularly weird because my mom made tons of things – like dumplings – from scratch. But she caved on the instant mashed potatoes. Again, it takes about 10 minutes to make real mashed potatoes. I don’t even make good ones. And I still prefer it to mashed potato flakes. Flakes?
4. Biscuits. I grew up on homemade biscuits. They should not come out of a can. It’s sacrilege.
5. Waffles. I don’t understand the frozen waffle thing. While I don’t like to make them (which is why hubby thinks it should be off the list), I don’t enjoy the frozen ones. All they are is flour, water and eggs. Why freeze them and then toast them? Why not just stick with toast?
6. Cheese spread in a jar. Okay, since I live in Philly now, I make take some heat for this. But like #2 above, cheese is cheese. It is not meant to be in powder form, nor in a lumpy processed mess. Cheese Wiz and its ilk grosses me out. And I love cheese. But you can melt cheese on anything (and trust me, I have and I do) in seconds in the microwave. And it’s oh-so-much better than anything in a jar, or heaven forbid, a squeeze can.
7. Chicken nuggets. Not frozen chicken. That I understand. But the frozen processed chicken nuggets. It’s not real chicken. Chris calls them chicken sponges. Why bother? Why not just fry some chicken? It takes the same amount of time. And the results are waaay different.
8. Fake bacon. You know, the “processed” bacon that’s ready in 30 seconds instead of 3 minutes? Is your time really that valuable? You can nuke real bacon in no time. Meat that can be ready in less time than it takes to open the package scares me.
9. Prebaked potatoes. I want to meet the marketing genius who came up with this idea… Potatoes in the microwave take 5 minutes to “bake”. Why deal with the prebaked frozen stuff? You can put a real potato in the microwave, melt some real cheese and crumble some real bacon over top. It costs about $100 less and tastes so much better.
10. Frozen pizza. This doesn’t even warrant discussion. If you no longer live in a dorm, this should never be in your grocery cart.
