Homepride pasta bake

[In Bloom]

Gruel is thin watered down porridge I think. Made with water, not milk.

I haven't tried jar sauces for years. I guess they might be less salty/chemically nowadays.

They're jam packed with salt and preservatives. Because salt tastes nice and preservatives stop things from going off

 

[cesare]

i always imagined it being made with barley

It might be. Twas just my impression. Can't be bothered to google and find out

They're jam packed with salt and preservatives. Because salt tastes nice and preservatives stop things from going off

And lactose powder to bulk it out. Yeah, all that's just reminded me why I don't bother with ready meals much. I can see the appeal though.

 

[Y_I_Otter]

We'll take a finite number of pisses, too, but I'll take one pretty much anywhere, nonetheless.

Do you piss as a family, recounting the events of your day? Do you call up your friends and invite them over for a piss and a couple of games of Scrabble?

A bit of an exaggeration, maybe?

Well, yes; but that would be the path of least resistance, wouldn't it?

A desire for a quick and easy meal now and then, shouldn't consign one to a three a day regimen of gruel, assigned by the Lords of Proper Culinary Behaviour.

"Quick and easy" needn't mean, "hideous, over-processed, nutritionally-neutered crap that went straight from the freezer to the deep-fryer or microwave oven.

i would estimate roughly 82,000 meals based upon a life span of 75 years and 3 meals/day

Twice that many would still be a shame.

You're doing it again with these extremes.

Just because I might have started work at 7 am, and it's now 7 pm, and I'm hungry, and so are the kids, so I'm going to stop for fast food instead of going home to prepare a nice ceviche, doesn't mean that Arby's has to be anywhere within contemplation.

True enough, but you live in Vancouver; the possibilites for superlative take-out are huge and varied. A ceviche is a piece of piss to throw together-- not for tonight, but for tomorrow night. Like I say, it's not about time, but about managing it in such a way as not to let it boss you around.

You know, if he wasn't dead for sure, I'd say that you were James Barber.

Can't be. I haven't said "dead easy" once.

Seriously, though, James was one of those "home" cooks who could whip up some really wonderful things very quickly without a lot of fussy preparation. His no-nonsense approach is exactly what I'm talking about in his thread.

Something else about this. My wife and I work full time, so when we have time off, we like to spend it resting or doing things with the kids, not preparing advance meals in bulk.

Not to say that isn't a good idea sometimes, but it goes back to the wise expenditure of time. I think spending time with the kids, even if it means picking up some fast food sometimes, is not a spendthrift use of my time.

Preparing food with kids is a win-win. The job gets done (freeing you for even more family time throughout the week-- eating dinner together, for instance) and they learn useful kitchen skills, skills designed raise their standards and culinary awareness, making them less likely to fall victim the fast food hucksters.

Because I enjoy Homepride pasta bake and I'd have to cook the gruel myself, since it's not available from Asda

It's entirely possible to enjoy something that isn't perfect. You should try it some time, you might even crack a smile if you stop fretting about what you're eating for long enough

Alas, I prepare all manner of stuff that isn't perfect. I don't 'fret' about it so much as I endevour to improve each time. Nobody ever dropped out of their mother knowing how to make a perfect soufflé.

Come to that, WTF is gruel even made from in the first place?

It's a soup or porridge made from grain. If I had to live on gruel, It would be congee with barbequed duck and a drizzle of roasted sesame oil.

Tarannau was being a food snob on that Pizza Hut thread, and I was going to hold up Otter as an otherwise reasonable and non snobbish person who is also a chef: but now this.

"Snobbery", as it relates to food preparation, simply means discernment and high, self-imposed, standards. I'd never make apologies for that.

 

[Detroit City]

Twice that many would still be a shame.

quite. but you would have to live to 150 yrs old or eat 6 meals/day

 

[In Bloom]

"Quick and easy" needn't mean, "hideous, over-processed, nutritionally-neutered crap that went straight from the freezer to the deep-fryer or microwave oven.

It tastes okay to me.

Sure, nothing beats a home cooked meal by somebody who really knows what they're doing (I don't), but supermarket pasta sauces are reaonably tasty and can be done in an hour straight after coming in from work with an absolute minimum of fuss. Incidentally, it's no wonder you're not enjoying Homepride pasta bake if you're doing it in the deep fryer.

 

[Detroit City]

It tastes okay to me.

Sure, nothing beats a home cooked meal by somebody who really knows what they're doing (I don't), but supermarket pasta sauces are reaonably tasty and can be done in an hour straight after coming in from work with an absolute minimum of fuss. Incidentally, it's no wonder you're not enjoying Homepride pasta bake if you're doing it in the deep fryer.

actuallly the quality and taste of prepared or frozen foods have been getting better and better over the last 40 years

its still hit or miss but some of them are pretty good

 

[Y_I_Otter]

quite. but you would have to live to 150 yrs old or eat 6 meals/day

I'm putting all my money on reincarnation.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Do you piss as a family, recounting the events of your day?.

We don't eat every meal together, either.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

True enough, but you live in Vancouver; the possibilites for superlative take-out are huge and varied. A ceviche is a piece of piss to throw together-- not for tonight, but for tomorrow night. Like I say, it's not about time, but about managing it in such a way as not to let it boss you around..

Well, it's true. 'Takeaway' at our house, is most usually pho from that place on Broadway, or it's sushi, or something from Thai Away Home, or the noodle place on Fourth.

But there are also KFC nights, and Ronald Mcdonald isn't a total family stranger...

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Seriously, though, James was one of those "home" cooks who could whip up some really wonderful things very quickly without a lot of fussy preparation. His no-nonsense approach is exactly what I'm talking about in his thread.


.

That's why I said you were him. You sound like him. p.s. You should be so lucky as to be him. Did anyone ever enjoy life more than that man?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Preparing food with kids is a win-win. The job gets done (freeing you for even more family time throughout the week-- eating dinner together, for instance) and they learn useful kitchen skills, skills designed raise their standards and culinary awareness, making them less likely to fall victim the fast food hucksters.

The kids left at home are teenagers who like to be on the computer or PS3, but they also love to cook. Both boys have taken home ec, and the youngest one made us buy a new measuring cup last shop, because the marks are worn off the old one.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

"Snobbery", as it relates to food preparation, simply means discernment and high, self-imposed, standards. I'd never make apologies for that.

It's ok to demand high standards of yourself, but I think it's unrealistic to expect all people, all the time, to be making really good home cooked meals. Sometimes our society stacks the deck against people, time and energy wise.

 

[Detroit City]

Sometimes our society stacks the deck against people, time and energy wise.

you forgot skill-wise