Do you have a favorite meal in a box or bag?

I did something like this today: I turned a packet of cheap ramen noodles into a proper meal by adding lots of fresh veg (I had some stirfry oriental veg left over from a meal yesterday), some dried shredded seaweed, fresh chillis and an egg. I would have added shrimps if I’d had any in the freezer.

And it was delicious.

I happen to love good ol’ Macaroni & cheese! Heavy on the carbs and calories but…at least several times ayear I whip up a box of Kraft white cheddar mac-n-cheese and eat the whole pan full!

I like to put it in a casserole dish after it’s cooked and bake it for a few minutes to get it all crusty! lol

@Coloma : oh oh great idea, it’s nice to add some breadcrumbs and thinly sliced onions when baking it too!!

Ummm, macaroni and cheese. I like to make it with yogurt instead of milk and butter.

Kraft works, but I like Annie’s Shells & White Cheddar best, I think I got the yogurt idea from the Annie’s box.

I like to stop into a chinese place down the street and get a big box of rice and french fries. I mix butter and salt and pepper in with the rice to spice it up. Same with the fries, but no butter there.

I sometimes buy the Uncle Bens wild rice and add a couple of vegetables and a little Polish sausage which turns it into a one-pan meal (or three or four meals when it’s just me). I don’t use many of this type boxed food because of the high sodium.

Toy Story 3 Macaroni and cheese. (: Or any of the other shapes, but not the regular noodles.~

Buy a box of Uncle Ben’s wild rice. add a can of cream of celery soup.
½ cup of milk, can of mushroom.saute chopped celery and chopped onions.
diced cooked chicken.
Whalla!!!! Wild rice casserole.
cook in oven for half hour.
Salt and pepper to taste.

STOP!!!! You guys are making me hungry. :-))

I just made Annie’s Beef Stroganoff but I seasoned the beef a little before and added sauteed mushrooms, onions and peas. It wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t make it again.

When I used to eat that way, there was nothing I liked better than Velveeta shells and cheese with a can of tuna and some chopped-up broccoli.

Oh my..Tuna casserole…another, admittedly rather embaressing disclosure…lol

I love Tuna cassrerole…sort of like admitting you like Jack in the Box tacos stuffed with the alpo/soy filler stuff. hahahaha

I have to be honest and say that my mother always had something negative to say of people that cooked meals that came in a box or a bag, so we never really ate that sort of thing growing up. I like ramen, though.

I’m pretty much a fresh prep person, but..especially in winter, on a cold, rainy or snowy day, or a gloomy, stay in and watch movies day, nothing beats the comfort food zone…mashed potatoes, or baking a big batch of gooey cinnamon rolls…....oh oh…why did I mention cinnamon rolls… good thing it’s 90 degrees right now. lol

I avoid any processed foods like the plague. As a rule, if the list of ingredients is longer than my arm and contains chemicals I can’t pronounce or Red and Blue Lake (WTF?) then I head for the hills. These foods were designed for one thing and one thing only. That is to maximize the profits for the corporation. Ever wonder how Oreos can sell a whole slew o’ cookies for under a few bucks? They fill them with congealed, sweetened, hydrogenated toxic waste that’s more fit to grease the axle of your car then fit to be eaten and they make it in quantities that would fill oil refinery tanks.

Meanwhile we have rampant obesity, increasing incidences of type 2 adult onset diabetes among children and cancer that is out of control.
Ignorance is bliss I suppose. Just say no to this shite and make a nice meal. If you buy in bulk and freeze you can make it better anyway.

@SeventhSense

I agree, and follow that lifestyle to a point..but, really..we all have to die of SOMETHING, WTF…a couple of Oreos arn’t gonna kill you, a steady diet, maybe. lol

I’m a middle pather, yesterday I indulged in champagne and key lime pie. :-)
Lifes too short already to be obsessed with anything.

What WILL kill you quicker than all the rest is being a negative and angry type.

My theory is that happy, emotionally stable and mentally well adjusted people have the edge over just about everything else short of being a heroin addict! haha

I’m a huge fan of frozen dinners, especially Stuffer’s meatloaf.

@Coloma
First off I’m not “negative or angry” unless it’s useful nor do I take delight in “positive thinking” as an excuse for ignorant behavior.
Hmmm….I wonder where that sentiment came from anyway Oh ya they sold it to us.
If only it were a “couple of oreos.” It’s rampant in everything we eat if we’re not conscious. And yes we all have to die of something and many die 20–30 years before their time, fat and happy? My sister’s boyfriend just died obese at 43.
Bake your own cookies from scratch and make them with real food. We can eat satisfying and healthy meals that are not processed.

We need to support sustainable food practices as well or we may just find ourselves as statistical casualties of a system that has little regard for people’s health.

@SeventhSense

Of course, I’m not advocating obesity and being so addicted to junk food that one has to be airlifted out of their bedroom by life flight. lol

I was not insinuating anything about you being negative or angry at all, just sharing my thoughts that happy, mentally stable personalities ‘naturally’ care for their health for the most part. They go hand in hand, obviously, and that those possessed with happiness and optimism DO tend towards better health.

The most diehard health freak that harbors a lot of negativity is worse off than the occasional over indulgent hedonist that likes their cheesecake and champagne.

The mind/body connection is huge, and plenty of illness is born of unfit mental and emotional problems.

I just don’t do militant anything.

Everyone has their passion, I may be guilty of consuming a few dozen Oreos filled with axel grease in my lifetime, but..I also live on a self sustainable ( if necessary ) property where I use zero insecticides, herbicides and do grow my own. ( Veggies, no more funny stuff these days. haha )

Speaking of funny stuff…well…nothing beats a magic brownie for a satisfying dessert item. lol

Maybe it’s my age…my idealistic and activist side is in nap mode these days, just live, be happy, don’t stress, about anything! ;-)

On- Cor Salisbury Steak Family Size and hamburger helper beef stroganoff.

Sometimes you just have to get funky. ;-)

I love Stouffer’s Lasagna and some of the Bertollini “meals in a bag” are pretty good.

Zataran’s jambalaya mix in a box. Add chicken, shrimp, sausage and/or ham to your liking. I also throw in celery, peppers and other vegetables on hand, plus an extra shake or two of chili pepper.

Trader Joe’s Rice Mix served with sausage

Sainsbury’s (in the UK) provides some decent ready meals but they price in quite expensive. I used to get them on offer when my parents used to come around and do food shopping. I quite liked their chilli con carne. But I would never prefer a ready meal over a meal that I have cooked myself. Unless if I tits it up.

But in reply to this answer, I have to say (frozen) chicken kievs are pretty good. I have never bothered to make them myself. Maybe I should try – its just chicken stuffed with garlic butter covered in breadcrumbs.

Oh and cereal. Cereal is for anytime!

Oh, that type. No. I like Mongolian Beef in a Chinese take-out box. Does that count?

OH! @Pied_Pfeffer yeah, I love their red beans and rice. There’s a meal in a box that I really enjoy. I couldn’t really think of anything.. but that one definitely.

Quiche.

Costco carries a very good egg white only frozen Quiche, one with broccoli & cheddar and one with spinache & artichoke…mmmmm, one quiche lasts me about 4 days for breakfast!

I make my own too-but my last two hens and rooster were killed by coyotes in May.
No more fresh eggs for me right now. ;-(

Speaking of food…am off to bring a move-in picnic to my out of town friends that just relocated back to the country zone…chicken salad sandwiches, watermelon and salad…maybe pick up some Oreos to go with the Coronas. lololol ;-)

When I’m on a diet, as I currently am, I live on Stouffer’s Lean Cuisine meals. I think they’re the best frozen diet meals. I also like regular Stouffer’s frozen foods. Since I rarely cook for myself anymore, meals in bags and boxes are my best friends.

@Coloma – Its like 1976 in your home.

I’m coming to visit. ;-)

@ChazMaz

I am a 70’s girl through & through, I do wear a ‘professional’ hat..but as little as I can get away with.

You bringin’ the brownies Chaz? lol

Okay…gotta go..cars running in the garage….hi ho silver.awaaaay…..

@Coloma
The most diehard health freak that harbors a lot of negativity is worse off than the occasional over indulgent hedonist that likes their cheesecake and champagne.

Well that’s a self apparent argument and can be conjured up for almost any thing. In addition the wording(“diehard health freak”) is inflammatory. Furthermore you may also say that you’re using a relativist fallacy. I could also say the healthy individual who enjoys excellent health can enjoy much more of life than the overindulgent hedonist with high blood pressure and lack of vigor which excludes them from many physical activities and affects their emotional and mental health. And medicine and science would certainly support this with a preponderance of evidence.

Sounds like a convenient justification to me and not exactly fair. Maybe, one could be happy, healthy, virile, lean and satisfied. Your position is in defending a lifestyle that you imagine is at odds with your own but I won’t deny anyone their right to live (or die) anyway they want.

I like micro wave meals, and popcorn.. hey, it comes in a bag doesn’t it? ;)

The Kraft, KD (Kraft macaroni and cheese)

With HP sauce or ketchup, please (and lots of pepper).

Please send coloma chickens…..everyone needs a little pecker.
i like brownies. I’ll bring em.

@mollypop51797 There are some truly good, nutritious microwave meals available now. I love the Green Giant Skillet Meals

@SeventhSense

You are correct, it is each individuals choice to eat, drink, smoke or whatever strikes their fancy.

Live and let live.

I think my statement felt infammatory because you are already in an inflamed state.

I might go so far as to say, dude…you are on FIRE! lol

Being overly obsessed with other peoples biz. is the definition of co-dependancy.

March to the tune of your own drummer and lead by example not disdain for anyone that allows an Oreo to touch their lips.

If one chooses to be a ‘die hard health freak ’...( not nearly as inflammatory as a die hard preacher on their Kashi box ) great, more power to ‘em, but, the vast majority of people take a middle path approach…and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I walk, work out with weights, swim and yep, I drink socially, I LOVE desserts, I LOVE baked potatos with the works, and I love raw veggies.

So?

Our assisted living facilities and nursing homes are full of of folks in their 80’s, 90’s and over that ate red meat daily, imbibed in DDT soaked veggies in the 60’s, smoked like chimneys and drank like fish and are still scampering around in their old age.

I am not advocating reckless abandon, but jeez…LIVE a little.

I plan on sliding out sideways wine in one hand and chocolate in the other saying ‘whatta ride’

Hows the joke go…life is not about ending up dead in a perfectly preserved body.

Bottom line, it’s about 90% genetic anyway. ( 3 year olds get cancer too. )

I come from a long and distinguished line made up of the 95+ gene pool….I’ll take my chances on messing with the curve a wee bit. lol

My great grandmother grew up on a farm in Indiana in the 1880’ & 90’s.

She was a 6 month preemie that weighed 2 lbs. and was wrapped in cotton and put in a cigar box, she lived to be 98, walked a mile a day and mowed her own yard til she was 92 AND…she attributed her longevity to eating meat 3 times a day! lol

Don’t judge those that arn’t OCD about their health every waking second, being obsessed and angry that the world is not standing on your Kashi box is a problem in itself.

A little too overly identified with what others ‘should’ be doing are you?

Hate to tell you but…just because you are a die hard health nut doesn’t make you better than anyone else.

Are we clear on that?

@Coloma breathe in – breathe out – come on, you can do it

@YARNLADY

I’m cool as a cucumber..just don’t cotton to preachers with an above it all attitude!

We all have our passionate moments, that’s one of mine. :-)

“diehard health freak is inflammatory”

i dont think so. I aspire to such greatness. but we are all human. I love ben and jerrys.

It’s about self-control and balance.

“You bringin’ the brownies Chaz? lol”

@Coloma – That is too creepy. I happen to have made some as you posted that.
Banana brownies.

@jazmina88

Yes, that’s the ticket!

@jazmina88

Ooh…brownie sychronicity!

Eat and let eat, I say.

@Coloma
There’s really no end to your logical fallacies. Wait let me try one. Grandma didn’t like water and she lived to 100 on beer, so beer is more healthy than water.
The sky is blue because ice cream has no bones.~
What the fuck are you talking about? I was offering a valid and intelligent opinion which is obviously something that you are unfamiliar with. Maybe put down the pipe. The sixties ended with the death of Jimi, Jim, Janis and now the latest, Jerry. All tragically before their time by their own ignorance. Better to burn out than rust, Live hard die free. Fuck that. If only reality was ruled by consensus you would be justified. Unfortunately it’s not. They’re called facts.

P.S.- The only one taking this personally is you. You have consistently made assumptions about me that you know nothing about and have gone to great lengths to provoke me because your argument is weak.

@Coloma
I would list the countless ways you are using logical fallacies from the personal to the bizarre but I’m afraid it would be fruitless.

@SeventhSense

What I am talking about is reality.

There are plenty of healthy enough folks walking around that pay attention but are not obsessed with every morsal of food they come into contact with.

I might ask what are you talking about, have I given the impression that I advocate alcohism, drug abuse and heroin addiction in your off the wall referrals to dead 60’s rock legends? That’s quite a stretch from what I was saying.

Middle path, don’t obsess.

I have no desire to provoke anything. I have been very clear about my overall healthy enough ideals. I am taking nothing personally, you popped into a question about one’s favorite boxed meals and went on a tirade about processed foods, obesity, cancer and the evils of Oreos. lol

I am sure you would love to list the countless ways I am using logical fallacy, except there is no fallacy involved at all.

Truth is truth, you have spoken some truths, so have I. End of story.

I advocate a moderate, healthy lifestyle, not over the top gluttony, nor austerity.

I simply pointed out that there are lots of folks like my grandmother that have lived long, healthy lives and did not follow your rigid protocol of ideal health.

I make no assumptions about you, only the obvious…you can be quite arrogant.

No pipe to put down, ( would that be an assumption? )

You know, spiritually speaking, seeing as how you mention an interest in spiritual leanings in your profile, you might want to remember, ( and the entire reason for me responding firmly to your interjections ) the number one spiritual concept….non-judgement.

My humor about being a ‘70’s girl through & through’ means I adhere to simple living overall, a love of the back to nature movement, am liberal minded and an earthy and sincere soul, not an advocate of drug abuse.

That is all.

@Coloma
It’s amazing how much mileage you got out of defending your junk food.

@SeventhSense

Well you know, if you look at my picture you can tell what a hopeless junk food junkie I am…a pictures worth a thousand words.

I credit my complexion to those Oreo frosting face masks…they do make for some soft skin, and I know, I know…I really need to lose about 100 lbs. lol

Peace.

Peace

I recently discovered a little package that includes noodles and a separate container for tomato-basil sauce. Takes a minute and a half or so to microwave. I pour it in a bowl, mix in some crumbled feta cheese, and presto—a really quick and easy comfort meal. Another quick and easy meal along the same lines is linguini or spaghetti mixed with canned basil tomatoes (with juice) and crumbled feta, served hot and especially good cold.