Heinous processed foods
Over the weekend, my dad picked up a package of Bisquick three cheese biscuit mix. I was skeptical from the get-go, since neither he nor I eat many processed foods, but he reminded me that Bisquick is often (from his point of view) a useful product.
They did smell good as they baked in the oven.
But they had a terrible bitter, stale baking soda taste. I didn't notice that they were particularly cheesy. The mix had tiny squares of some kind of dried orange-ish cheese in it. Overall, weird and icky.
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31 Comments:
Processed foods not only train the tastebuds to accept mediocrity (at best) for the sake of convenience, but are poison to the body, as well. They often contain ingredients never found in a normal kitchen (the effects of which on health and weight are just now being discovered.) I am sincere when I say I believe that these foods are most of what is problematic about the way Americans eat.
Those biscuits sound dreadful. Why not just take a couple of minutes longer to mix up buttermilk bicuits from scratch (if you have all the ingredients on hand, it takes about a minute to measure them out) and maybe another minute to grate some really good natural cheese into the batter, drop them on a cookie sheet and bake them off? The result, I'm willing to guarantee, would be a 1000% better than anything out of a Bisquik pouch.
We have to stop being willing to trade convenience for the health and pleasure erived for REAL FOOD.
Real food for real people!
Brownie at 9:33AM on 07/08/08
I wont go as far as Brownie, but I do agree. mix up the dry ingredients for biscuits or whatever and keep it in the pantry and ready to go. prepacked foods are a crap shoot, it's bad enough that we have problems with our produce making us sick, who really knows the affect of all the chemicals on us and do we really know who is packaging these "convience" foods, and what their hygenne is like? But then i'm a little wiggy when it comes to who handles my food before i do. Guess i worked in to many kitchens :S
huneybumper at 9:40AM on 07/08/08
Amen to you both! My dad, who is a fabulous cook, normally likes everything fresh and homemade. I suspect that the biscuits represented junk food (and literally they were) for him. I commented tactfully on their pronounced baking soda taste, and he agreed, and said that he liked them. My 7 year old, who is a lot less tactful, took one bite, and said, "these are nasty."
LadyMarmalade at 9:50AM on 07/08/08
I'm sorry for being so adamant about this, but processed foods are just a HUGE pet peeve of mine.
Brownie at 10:07AM on 07/08/08
@Brownie: No need to apologize. Processed foods are a huge pet peeve of mine as well. When I saw the packaged mix at my dad's house last weekend, I was surprised and shocked, but like I said, I think it was junk food for him. He's superskinny and usually eats very healthy, delicious food.
LadyMarmalade at 10:13AM on 07/08/08
Please dont be sorry Brownie I agree with you, I wouldnt be as adamant mainly because I am guilty of using these foods on rare occasions. I am particularly addicted to canned tomato soup. I know the fresh is the best but there are times I have to have soup NOW and dont have the time or ingredients to make it :( please dont hurt me too much ; -)
huneybumper at 11:03AM on 07/08/08
I actually have a pretty good recipe for biscuits that uses a mix, and I love them (sadly enough). However, part of that might be the remembrance of the fact that my grandmother always made them for me especially when I came to visit her (everyone else stayed with my uncle, and I stayed with her). So perhaps to him it represented good memories of something, too.
Having said that, I have a person in my grad school class that is really funny. I bake all the time, and I tend to bring things in to share with the class (last week I made chocolate pistachio bread - yum). She never takes anything, saying that it's so unhealthy and (well you know the routine), but then she sits through class and eats (no joke) a box of Dots (like the ones in the cinema), plus a big bag of Combos (remember those dreaded things?) and drinks a soda (not diet, just soda). Now, I ask you: which food is less healthy, really?
Traveller at 11:29AM on 07/08/08
Traveller, I understand the sad mindset of that woman well--when I was in my 20s I was so calorie-conscious I'd sooner eat a box of processed candy because I knew the 'nutritional info' (calories) rather than a wholesome baked good that I was unsure of, even though it had less calories probably, and more fiber and nutrients.
Now I'm totally the opposite--I can't even look at processed food! It's amazing how quickly one acclimates to 'real food' and can't go back to the treats of childhood.
HeartofGlass at 11:40AM on 07/08/08
Awwww why be so negative about this?
True there are certain things that home made will always top certain things in quality and taste, not to mention health.
A little discretion goes a long way. Think about it try and make your own version of Fritos or Munchos or Cheetohs.
It' simply aint going to happen and therein lies the role these types of food should play IMO.
Stiv61 at 12:12PM on 07/08/08
@Stiv61, I see your point of view. I recognize that every now and then, one might want Fritos or Cheetohs, which is why my pops reached for the pre-packaged biscuit mix. I should mention that he was diagnosed with a pre-diabetic condition about 2 years ago and was advised to cut way down on carbs other than whole grains. I know that he's enjoyed the changes he made, but I also notice that every now and then he wants to indulge in white flour - pancakes, pizza, bagels or biscuits.
In terms of my personal preference, those snack foods you mentioned have limited appeal. I'd rather have some gougeres or cheese straws if the urge for salty/crunchy hit, and believe me, it does from time to time, but I don't knock others for wanting them. All things in moderation. My observation with snack foods is that they lend themselves all too well to mindless eating.
LadyMarmalade at 1:22PM on 07/08/08
First, let me say that I use very few processed foods. I bake all my own bread, fer gosh sakes. And when I'm talking about processed foods, I mean things like canned tomato products.
But not everyone has the time, interest or education to completely forgo the use of processed foods. Even I've got some nostalgic recipes that use canned and boxed products, and if I want to make that exact recipe, I buy the processed foods.
Many people have no idea what's in a product like Bisquick, and if they wanted to make a recipe that called for Bisquick as an ingredient, they wouldn't have a clue how to make the recipe without the Bisquick. It was a long time before I knew what that stuff really was. I grew up watching my mother using it, and never questioned it. As far as I knew, it was just a different kind of flour.
And for some people, making something at home using a box of Bisquick is a step up the culinary ladder. If you've been living on fast food and takeout and deli sandwiches, making a stew with Bisquick dumplings is a huge step.
It's pretty easy to look down your nose at someone's shopping cart and feel all superior because you've got the fresh veggies and they've got canned soup. But you've got no idea what circumstances they are in, and you've got no idea if that canned soup is a step up from what they used to feed the family.
It's like looking at a chubby person munching an ice cream cone at the carnival and thinking that they SHOULD be eating a salad. But you have no idea whether that person is gaining weight, holding at that level, or perhaps that person has lost a whole lot of weight and that little vanilla ice cream cone is a treat that has been accounted for in the diet.
I'm lucky in that I work from home now and I can babysit a loaf of bread all day or watch a stew simmer, but there have been times in my life when it was a struggle to get a meal on the table because of time constraints. Now, I don't need to take a lot of shortcuts, but I certainly can sympathize with people who make the choice to use some processed foods as an alternative to not having anything home-cooked at all.
And no matter how conscious you are of all the good stuff you cook, there's probably someone looking over your shoulder thinking that you could improve if you used more organic, local, sustainable, free range, nose-to-tail, dolphin-free, omega-3, low carb, low fat, low calorie, vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, soy free, lactose free, mercury-free, home grown, farm-raised, wild-caught, high fiber, good cholesterol, caffeine free, fair trade or less expensive foods. No matter what you're doing, some of it is bound to conflict with someone else's personal viewpoint on what is good and bad food.
dbcurrie at 1:44PM on 07/08/08
@LadyMarmalade: I know exactly how you feel: my father was diagnosed like that a few years ago as well, and periodically gets in bad shape, but he does really well overall and he does like to indulge (donuts are his favorite) every now and then.
And I think that, as i said before, a lot of it is just the memory of food associations. Plus, sometimes, honestly, processed foods do taste okay. Not perfect, but if you can't afford to make your own, don't have the time, or simply don't have the access...well, then...sometimes I say that it's okay. But like you said, all in moderation.
@HeartofGlass: I used to be like that, too. it's sort of like new vegetarians who eat loads of french fries, because, well...they have no meat! But, eventually, like everything else, you learn....however, in this case, she is a few years older than I am and it's a little worrisome. But heaven forbid she touch anything other than her Combos.
And okay, really...Combos? I have seen what we have available in the store on campus and that was what she chose? I remember losing the skin on my tongue, because the darn things were so salty! Ouch!
Traveller at 1:50PM on 07/08/08
Good points db and another thing try camping and canoeing for 30 days and tell me there's a not a better way around Bisquik but a more sensible way!
I think it's really easy for tunnel vision to prevail and that leads to "Hi-falutin"ism ;-))
Stiv61 at 1:52PM on 07/08/08
There are a few I really detest.
Kool Whip. And here's the best use of it.
Peanut Butter Slices because you simply can't make this stuff up.
These because like the advertising says, "Every diet needs a little wiggle room," but I don't thnk this is what dieticians had in mind.
If I may include a beverage... But no country I ever visited thought it was time for this.
This because if you eat it, you're certainly going to h*ll.
therealchiffonade at 4:44PM on 07/08/08
@chiff - LOL! You are not helping my bronchitis!!
izatryt at 5:03PM on 07/08/08
The cheese-like powder substance found in boxed mac n cheese. What wheel did that come from?
Any lunch meat that ends in -loaf
Fruit gushers (those fruity flavored things for kids' lunch boxes). These colors, textures, and flavors do not ever occur in nature
Instant coffee
Anything that begins with the syllable "Mc"
beth1 at 6:20PM on 07/08/08
my philosophy is to leave in the shelf any product with ingredients I can't understand... someone even once told me why even buy food that has an ingredient list to start with. That's a bit radical for me at this point, but I can understand the concept.
MadelynRodriguez at 6:32PM on 07/08/08
@izatryt - Sorry you have bronchitis... Here is some tea (_)? and don't forget the honey! And some brandy if you have it!
@Madelyn - I have a generic name I use for the chemicals in foods like cheese powder (and anything used by Sandra Lee): Polypseudosomethingorother.
therealchiffonade at 6:50PM on 07/08/08
I really detest frozen lean cuisine meals. There is some kind of gross taste in there that "sticks" in my mouth for hours.
Kerosena at 7:33PM on 07/08/08
Erg, um...if I was a little, um, crazed, let's just say that it was a milk packed on top of the dozen eggs in the grocery bag kind of day. Really. It's not just an urban legend, there are people who work in stores who pack groceries like this. Dozen eggs, bottom of bag. Milk, on top. Nothing else in the bag, so if I hadn't noticed the peculiar packing order before I lifted the bag, the milk would have tipped sideways and smashed the eggs for sure. As it was, the eggs were a bit terrified.
That, and one too many phone calls clogging up the business line with stock tips, health care insurance, credit card machines and all sorts of things that I just NEED to run my business, TODAY. And not one call offering me chocolate covered almonds or walnut brownies. Odd, eh?
So if I was a bit, um, cranky, gimme a break, eh?
:-)
As far as evil packaged foods, I see no point in most of them, but when I'm sick, I crave Cheetos, mac n cheese from the blue box, Mrs Grass's Chicken Noodle Soup (do they still make that stuff?) and Goldfish. The crackers, not the swimmy kind. Oh, and Ritz crackers with butter along with tomato soup from a can.
Frozen burritos and things like that seem to be particularly not good. Chili from a can is just..ugh. not good. Enchiladas and tamales from a can have never passed my lips, and I hope they never do. The idea just seems so terribly wrong, somehow.
dbcurrie at 9:32PM on 07/08/08
When I am under the weather (and currently am very much so!) I make Lipton noodle soup (with extra noodles). I use extra water to dilute the sodium. Then I eat the noodles with a bit of broth. I really have a difficult time with preservatives. Systemically. I understand the income limitations and lack of "food education" so many folks deal with. I can't be critical, but I can make the effort to educate and support whenever the opportunity presents itself.
@db - You are hereby "given a break"
izatryt at 9:54PM on 07/08/08
Over and over again, I've had the experience of 'going back' and having a favorite food of childhood--Nutterbutters and jelly candies so forth, and not being able to finish them because they taste like plastic to me, now. I don't know if the quality has deteriorated in the past ten years or my palate has grown more sophisticated. Perhaps a combination of the two.
I think people eat such foods out of nostalgia, more than anything, and habit--they think it's supposed to taste good, and indulgent, but it isn't--part of defying 'mom' by eating something 'bad' that makes them feel bloated and dehydrated from the sugar and sodium afterwards.
That said, I do eat Boca Chick'n patties now and then--no one is pure!
HeartofGlass at 5:36AM on 07/09/08
when growing up in RI coffee milk was a staple, before you were deemed old enough for real coffee, children were given milk with, at least in my house, Autocrat coffee syrup mixed in. Feeling nostalgic a few years ago, I attempted to locate that product deep in the heart of dixie. Nope, most had never heard of it, so i ordered it online! unfortunately, it was only available in a pack of 6 bottles. But since the price was reasonable and i was mid craving i ordered it. OMG! when the box arrived i was excited to revisit a good thing from my childhood, well either they changed the formula and added an entire 10lb bag of sugar in each bottle, or my taste had really changed. I still have 5.75 bottles left. it really is true you cant go home again:-S so after that experience i try to avoid most of the things i remember from growing up. just doesnt seem worth the price.
huneybumper at 7:21AM on 07/09/08
Canned matzo ball soup and chef you-know-who spaghetti and meatballs. The round parts of both taste like canned dog food. Don't ask how I know what dog food tastes like...
cowprintrabbit at 8:18AM on 07/09/08
@huneybumper - Thanks for the memory recall! Growing up in New England, coffee milk was something we were given as kids too.
izatryt at 8:54AM on 07/09/08
@chiffonade - LOL. What is the substance in the spoon at the top of jello web page? Creamed corn? Rice pudding? Chewed up bread? Those peanut butter slices are absolutely ridiculous. I didn't think that anything could be as ridiculous as "Uncrustables," but there it is.
@huneybumper - another NE kid chimes in! I loved coffeemilk, but it just doesn't taste like it used to, probably because I've outgrown it.
It seems that this thread has diverged in many different directions, which is cool.
I can understand completely the need/desire to feed ones family quickly, especially after putting in a day at work - I am, after all, a working single mother! But my children just do not like the taste of most packaged foods, other than cookies.
I
I know that this is old news, but I find it sad that processed foods cost less than real foods.
I wonder if ANY of processed food companies have outreach programs where they contribute to ending global hunger. Not by contributing packages of their products, but perhaps by contributing flour, grains, dried milk (ingredients used in their products) where they would be needed the most. That would truly be a gesture of goodwill and would make their presence on the market somewhat more tolerable.
LadyMarmalade at 10:02AM on 07/09/08
I'd have to say that I grew up eating very well. Homemade meals everyday. I feel very lucky growing up that way. Of course there was the pizza dinners and occasionally going out to eat, but mom was a great cook. We usually ate at home-we thought her cooking was best.
Now that I am older and on my own, I realize how much of a healthy attitude I have towards food. I don't crave or want the foods most people talk about (and sometimes I have never even heard of them). I am not a food snob by any means, but I do cook with the best ingredients I can find. Plus when food is made at home, it's made with my love and affection. :)
I went kinda off topic-my bad.
@Chiff: Seriously?? Those PB slices are actually sold? That is just the Epitome of laziness. Ugh, they must be AWFUL.
One of the worst foods ever (tried at a friends house when I was younger, didn't know what it was): Scrapple. This should not be consumed by humans. Another item: "cheese" wrapped in plastic. Enough said. Miracle Whip is another. Yuck.
Butrflygirly at 11:21AM on 07/09/08
@Butrflygirly - I've had the same exact thoughts reading this thread and a couple of others (like the one about things about food you learnt from food media, for instance, or outdated food attitudes). Reading these threads makes me realise how fortunate I was that both my Mum and my Gran were wonderful cooks and pretty much everything they cooked or baked (including puff pastry, which my lazy self will never attempt to make:-)) was from scratch. Of course, we had things like hot dogs on occasion, and my father could buy "curry in a bag" if Mum was very ill (and I hated "curry in a bag", which is why I started cooking at a very young age:-)), but it was an exception rather than a rule. We only had Coca Cola or Fanta for "special occasion" dinners, and never thought we should have it more often.
I grew up convinced that was the way food is supposed to be and was very much surprised to discover that for so many people it wasn't. So I also have no clue about most processed foods people are nostalgic about, and I certainly don't crave them, and I often refrain from conversations about such food so that not to look like a food snob, because I am not - thank you, Butrflygirly! But because of the way I grew up, to me cooking means love, not a chore, and I love cooking for people I love (the linguist in me hates using the word "love" 3 times in the same sentence, but yes, I did it purposely!). So it insults me if I am invited for dinner and the hostess doesn't give a damn about what's on the table, as long as it "didn't take long to put on the table" - it makes me feel unloved:-).
Back to processed foods though - to me, no doubt, Velveeta or any "cheese product" for that matter, was the most amazing discovery (and not in a good way:-)).
brooke29 at 12:22PM on 07/09/08
@Brooke: Hi there!! And Yay! So glad I am not the only one. Growing up in my house, I thought that's how everyone ate. That was, until I went over various friends houses and see them eating fat (WHAT??) or scrapple (YUCK) or having soda to drink at the dinner table (never thought that was allowed) or lemonade from a mix (really?)...the list goes on. My friends just shake their head and laugh since they know how I was raised. I'm not a snob-just ignorant to a lot of different foods. You have the same saying I do: Love to cook for those I Love.:) Guess that's why the parties are at my house :)
Butrflygirly at 1:46PM on 07/09/08
@Butrflygirly - I have a feeling we could have so much fun cooking together:-)
brooke29 at 2:02PM on 07/09/08
@Brooke: I concur. ;-)
Butrflygirly at 2:18PM on 07/09/08