Ridiculous supermarket product

13 years ago

I was browsing through the convenience foods in the supermarket today and saw this stuff to make sweet and sour chicken. (Don't ask me why I was looking at this stuff because I never buy it.) Any way the package was $3.50 and required you to add your own chicken, vegetables, rice and pineapple. $3.50 for the sauce!!!. I was floored. Perhaps this is a test product and if so, I don't think it has much of a future.

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Comments (37)

OklaMoni
13 years ago
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
golfergrrl
13 years ago
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.
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glenda_al
13 years ago
I love Lawry's marinades.

Just used their Caribbean Jerk marinade and it is delicious!
sephia
13 years ago
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.
nanny98
13 years ago
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!
colleenoz
13 years ago
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
sushipup1
13 years ago
Sorry, but a sauce is not ridiculous in and of itself. Do you make your own ketchup or A1 or other sauces?
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years ago
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.
fran1523
Original Author
13 years ago
Most sauces and condiments are for more than one use. This particular package was one use only.
colleenoz
13 years ago
So is a jar of Prego.
jannie
13 years ago
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.
amyfiddler
13 years ago
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.
amyfiddler
13 years ago
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.
sephia
13 years ago
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.
glenda_al
13 years ago
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!
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
13 years ago
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.
glenda_al
13 years ago
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!
kudzu9
13 years ago
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!
sephia
13 years ago
I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses 'convenience' products once in awhile. We can't all be dumb!
sephia
13 years ago
I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses 'convenience' products once in awhile. We can't all be dumb!
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years ago
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. :-(
monica_pa Grieves
13 years ago
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?
Jasdip
13 years ago
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.
Jasdip
13 years ago
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
13 years ago
"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
amyfiddler
13 years ago
We are arguing over sauce.
susanjf_gw
13 years ago
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...
User
13 years ago
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 ?
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years ago
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!
Hellion
13 years ago
Yes, I love that little pouch to add to avocados for guacamole!
kudzu9
13 years ago
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!
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
13 years ago
rhizo, I want that recipe! can you please post it or send it to me?
Jasdip
13 years ago
Rhizo, post it to the board please. I'd love to have your recipe as well. Simmered chicken chunks and rice, yum.
Jasdip
13 years ago
Rhizo, post it to the board please. I'd love to have your recipe as well. Simmered chicken chunks and rice, yum.
joyfulguy
13 years ago
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
brownthumbia
13 years ago
have to add my 1 1/2 cents...my Gramma made her cakes from scratch. NO boxed stuff for Gramma...of any sort.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years ago
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.

Ridiculous supermarket product

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