Pseudo-cooking: Boxes from the Big Box Stores
By Janet Peterson

Television made its debut in our home when I was in first grade. Of course, this first TV was a black-and-white, small screened, bulky set with rather fuzzy viewing. Still, our family was amazed at this phenomenon. I remember racing home from school with my older sister just so we could watch TV. (My own children can hardly believe that I was half-grown before we owned a TV; one of my sons asked me if we had electricity back then.)

The advent of television shaped all of our lives and our culture in numerous ways. Families, instead of talking to each other, looked at the box in the corner of the living room. Conversations started with, “Did you see 'I Love Lucy' or 'What’s My Line?' last night?” Homes soon had rooms just for watching television. So as not to interrupt or miss a half-hour sitcom or game show, families started eating TV dinners set on portable TV trays.

A sleepover at my friend Ann’s house on Friday night started with watching “Rin Tin Tin” or “The Alamo” and eating a Swanson’s TV dinner. Since my mother didn’t buy us TV dinners, I thought this was such a treat. As a grade-schooler, I thought it was fun to eat turkey, mashed potatoes, and corn in those aluminum trays divided in sections for each item. When my friend moved away, my TV dinners from a box ceased. And pre-cooked dinners from a box or package have only rarely been my dining fare since then.

So popular were those early “TV dinners” that the idea caught on of selling prepared meals  or main dishes for dinner–with or without the TV.

If the manufacturers of processed foods depended on my purchases, they would not be making money. However, they are making lots of money from lots of people who want to “cook” a quick dinner. Prepared foods have proliferated until a large portion of any food stores’ freezer cabinets are filled with ready-to-heat meals.

When I shop at the big box discount stores (my attorney husband said I really shouldn’t mention Costco or Sam’s Club), I pick up the free samples right along with all the other shoppers. I have yet to try anything that I thought tasted really good. Most of the samples taste pretty much the same—bland and institutionalized. A few months ago, I sampled tomato basil soup in a small paper cup and bought a carton for our dinner that night. My husband, who doesn’t complain, said, “This is awful.” Not wanting to waste my purchase, I ate a few more spoonfuls. It was awful, and we threw it away. A few times over the years, I’ve bought lasagne, chicken cordon bleu, and taquitos to serve my family, but we’ve never been impressed.

Not only do many people cook dinner for their families the “Costco Way,” they also entertain the “Costco Way.” I have been amazed at the number of weddings, ward parties, anniversary celebrations, Christmas parties, and get-togethers where the fare has been right from the box—those mini-quiches and cream puffs being the most popular. A few years ago, when we were invited to a birthday open house hosted by the friend’s children, I asked if I could bring a dish. I made a very simple salad that took all of five minutes to put together and set it on the serving table. Every other item had come directly from a box or package. The salad disappeared immediately and at the end of the party, a lot of the familiar box store foods lay untouched.

I see so many shopping carts loaded with prepared meals. They’re not inexpensive, they’re never as good as home-cooked, and they’re often loaded with salt, sugar, and fat. In a real time pinch or for an emergency, having a few boxes in the freezer is probably a good idea. But to serve such meals routinely is not.

Cooking real food does take a little more time and effort, but it is worth it. Home-cooked dinners taste so much better, are less expensive to prepare (after all, the companies who produce these dinners are in business to make money), and provide better nutrition. Freezing extra portions of your own superior dinners and then heating them on a time- crunched night provides all the benefits of those packaged foods and none of the disadvantages.

Those big box stores offer numerous items that are “real food” and the makings of wonderful home-cooked dinners. A large array of fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, fish, and cheese at good prices can be the basis of marvelous meals—if shoppers will just take them home and use their creativity. And they don’t come in boxes!

Here are a few recipes from Remedies for the “I Don’t Cook” Syndrome that outdo any packaged dinner.

           
Easy Lasagne

½ pound ground beef
1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
¾ cup water
1 (8-ounce) package dry lasagne n noodles
1 (16-ounce) container cottage cheese
12 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated or sliced
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Heat oven to at 375º.

Brown ground beef in a large skillet. Drain off grease. Add spaghetti sauce and water. Simmer. In a 9x13-inch baking pan layer sauce, uncooked lasagna noodles, cottage cheese, then mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, ending with sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove foil. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Serves 8 to10.

Chicken Pot Pies

¼ cup butter or margarine
a cup flour
1 (10½ -ounce) can chicken broth
¾ cup milk
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
¼ cup chopped onion
1 (4-ounce) can sliced mushrooms
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup sliced cooked carrots
1 (1 pound 1.3-ounce) can Pillsbury Grands refrigerated biscuits

Heat oven to 350º.

Spray 8 (10-ounce) custard cups with cooking spray. Melt margarine in a large skillet; stir in flour and pepper. Cook 1-2 minutes, until smooth and bubbly. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Add chicken, onion, mushrooms, peas, and carrots. Heat through.

Spoon mixture into custard cups. Separate dough into 8 biscuits. Stretch dough to fit custard cup. Place on top of mixture and make 2 or 3 slits in each biscuit. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown. 

Serves 8.

Tomato Basil Soup

4 cups canned tomatoes, pureed
4 cups tomato juice
12 to 14 fresh basil leaves, minced
1 cup cream or half and half
¼ cup butter or margarine
¼ to ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Combine tomatoes, tomato juice, and basil leaves in a large saucepan or soup pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Add cream and butter, stirring to blend. Add pepper and salt. Heat through, but do not boil.

Serves 8.

Banana Cream Pie (Chocolate or Lemon Variations)

1 prepared 9-inch pie crust (pastry, graham cracker, or cookie crumb)
½ pint whipping cream, whipped (not sweetened)
1 (3-ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
1½ cups milk
1 to 2 bananas, sliced

Combine pudding with milk, stirring until well mixed and thick.  Fold half of the whipped cream into pudding. 

Arrange banana slices on the pie crust. Pour pudding mixture into pie crust. Refrigerate until set. Top with remaining whipped cream that has been sweetened. Garnish with coconut and additional banana slices.

Chocolate Cream or Lemon Cream Variation

Prepare chocolate or lemon pudding as above, omitting bananas. Garnish with whipped cream, coconut, chocolate curls, or lemon zest.

Serves 6.