but, Fran, it does have a future! All those people that just put ingredients together that are advertised... and they call it cooking.

It really isn't that much different from what most of us do... we just gather more ingredients instead of buying packaged together stuff.

:)

Moni

It could be because sauces are more time-consuming and
harder to make. I could never make a Bernaise sauce like
the Knorr package. It's a convenience that we're willing
to pay for.

I love Lawry's marinades.

Just used their Caribbean Jerk marinade and it is delicious!

For those of us who work 40+ hours a week, paying for a little convenience is the difference between eating more healthy and not. I don't have the time to make up my own sauces every time I want something fresh. I have an extra $3.50. What I don't have is a lot of extra time.

And, I am getting 'up there' at 78 years old and cooking for two and being tired at the end of the day.... so, yeah...I might/and have made those short cut purchases.... and often hope they will add a little "ZING" to my attempts to zing things up a bit. (It usually is disappointing, but can't help wishing!) And, yes, when my live-in DD cook looked at my cupboard...she was not happy with the junk we were eating.

That's my story....i'm sticking with it!

They've been selling products like that here for decades, since before DD was born and she's 28. There's a huge range of them. I used to buy the odd one for days when I knew time would be of the essence, but not for years now.
The product I thought was truly ludicrous was mulitcoloured feminine hygiene products. Why bother? Who sees them?

This post was edited by colleenoz on Sat, Jul 13, 13 at 22:13

Sorry, but a sauce is not ridiculous in and of itself. Do you make your own ketchup or A1 or other sauces?

I don't think it takes that long to make most sauces or gravies from scratch. Hmmmm....I've had people tell me that I should bottle my gravy; maybe there's something to it, lol.

Most sauces and condiments are for more than one use. This particular package was one use only.

So is a jar of Prego.

Dumb,dumb. I'm sure you could find a recipe for sweet and sour chicken on line and make sauce/marinade out of vinegar,mustard, jam.etc.

Not dumb.

Ill tell you whats dumb. Frozen pbj sandwiches that cost an arm and a leg.

Sauce? Ill buy it premade all day long.

Not dumb.

Ill tell you whats dumb. Frozen pbj sandwiches that cost an arm and a leg.

Sauce? Ill buy it premade all day long.

jannie - what's "dumb" about paying for a convenience? I have the money and not a lot of time. Between working 40+ hours a week and commuting an hour each way to work, paying $3.50 for a convenience is certainly worth it. It must be worth it to other people too or else the product wouldn't stay on the shelf. Not sure if you're calling the idea dumb or referring to people who use a convenience as dumb. I've read on other forums about how far in debt you are so maybe you don't have an extra $3.50 to spare. I do. I'm opting for convenience over standing in the kitchen making my own sauce. It's not a "dumb" thing to do. Geez, how judgmental.

I I love to cook, always have, but when it comes down to cooking for one, I don't get the pleasure out of cooking vs cooking for family, friends.

So if I don't have the ingredients to make something special, and I can find it in a marinade, etc that is just as good, why not?

Way too expensive! When the bottled kind will work just as well.

As I said before Lawry's marinades are great!

I love the Lawry's marinades and same goes for bbq sauces, my husband makes the best from scratch bbq sauce but try getting him to make it every time I need a little, ain't gonna happen but I can pick up a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's to have handy when I need a little. I do use the packets of mixes from time to time. I just don't keep alot of the exotic spices and ingredients on hand in my kitchen, one because I have limited space and two I would use them so infrequently they would expire between uses.
And for those of us with hand problems it is often a lot easier to just open one packet than a lot of bottles and jars, so convenience wins out over the pain.
So there are some cases where those products do come in useful, I am sure the average healthy person just wouldn't think of that.

I used make my MIL's bbq sauce, which takes a while to cook, but when I'm in a hurry, equal amts of coke and ketchup work big time, as well as Sweet Baby Ray's.

Wouldn't have the ingredients to make my MIL's today!

That's about as good as the guacamole dip I recently saw...a couple of bucks and you just had to add your own avocados!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses 'convenience' products once in awhile. We can't all be dumb!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses 'convenience' products once in awhile. We can't all be dumb!

I'd guess that most of us use those kinds of short cuts, some very frequently. I've had to eliminate or drastically cut a lot of those things from our diet because of the sodium content. I do miss some of those frozen Stouffer 's dinners. :-(

Did it ever occur to you that many people do not have the space or money to keep bottles of various vinegars/oils/spices, etc. on hand.
Or cook often enough to use all these items before they pass expiration dates?

Sephia,
You've made your point perfectly clear......you like the convenience of pre-bottled sauces. Fine. Some people, like Rhizo mentioned like making their own because of sodium issues.

IMO you didn't need to bring in the fact that you see Jannie posting on other forums about her financial status. That was uncalled for. And your thinly veiled comment about calling her "dumb". Don't fault other people for wanting to make their own. You do what you do, and others do what they want to do. Everyone has their own reasons.

Sephia,
You've made your point perfectly clear......you like the convenience of pre-bottled sauces. Fine. Some people, like Rhizo mentioned like making their own because of sodium issues.

IMO you didn't need to bring in the fact that you see Jannie posting on other forums about her financial status. That was uncalled for. And your thinly veiled comment about calling her "dumb". Don't fault other people for wanting to make their own. You do what you do, and others do what they want to do. Everyone has their own reasons.

"thinly veiled comment about calling her dumb."

jasdip - not calling anyone dumb. Read jannie's first sentence "dumb, dumb.." who is she calling dumb? Someone? The fact that people use convenience products? I'm not judging anyone for making their own convenience foods - more power to you. But don't say that those of us who choose to spend $3.50 on a convenience product is "dumb."

My comment about her posting her financial business on other forums is common knowledge. She's put her personal business out there - not me.

This post was edited by sephia on Sun, Jul 14, 13 at 21:58

We are arguing over sauce.

rhizo, not quite the "red sauce" for sweet and sour, but using the canned chunk pineapple/juice, and just enough vinegar and brown sugar to taste (thicken with cornstarch) can give a pretty good rendition of s/s chicken...the bummer we like the packaged stirfry veggies from sam's than the one from Costco...

we too read lables for salt...and put back items all the time...

I buy all the sauces and marinades , and I have the time to make them. However Wegman's chopped and packaged veggies floored me. There is a huge bin of fresh corn in their husks for 4 for a dollar. Right next to it are packages of husked corn in a plastic wrap five for $5!! A dollar an ear as opposed to a quarter. Seriously, how long would it take a person to husk an ear of corn ?

Susan, We love sweet and sour sauce! Mine has sugar, rice vinegar, soy, pineapple juice, corn starch, and water. Sometimes I'll add a bit of chopped green pepper and maraschino cherry juice. Catsup makes a nice addition, too.

Plain white vinegar is fine.

Make some small spicy turkey meatballs, bake them until brown, then steep them in that sauce. Oooh baby!

Yes, I love that little pouch to add to avocados for guacamole!

hellion-
Chop some tomato and onion, add a little salt and pepper, and squeeze a lime...I can do that almost as fast as opening the pouch full of dehydrated who-knows-what!

rhizo, I want that recipe! can you please post it or send it to me?

Rhizo, post it to the board please. I'd love to have your recipe as well. Simmered chicken chunks and rice, yum.

Rhizo, post it to the board please. I'd love to have your recipe as well. Simmered chicken chunks and rice, yum.

The "dumb" could have referred to the idea, as an alternative to referring to the person who used such things.

No need to call one another names.

And I rather felt that the reference to someone's financial condition was not relevant to this discussion.

No kneed to get one's knickers tied in knots.

o j

have to add my 1 1/2 cents...my Gramma made her cakes from scratch. NO boxed stuff for Gramma...of any sort.

I've never made a cake from a box, either. But I sure do buy ready made pie crusts and puff pastry! Wait, I used Ghirardelli brownie mix once and never went back to homemade. ;-)

We need someone to start a new thread about our favorite convenience food items! That would be fun and helpful.