Text 5079, 233 rader
Skriven 2008-04-07 12:39:26 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
Kommentar till en text av JIM WELLER
Ärende: ConAgra
===============
JW> ConAgra is EVIL.
Well, they're a big and relatively uncaring conglomerate.
JW> The only thing on that list of substandard chemical laced toxic
JW> waste that I allow into my house is Hunt's canned tomatoes and then
JW> only after checking the label to make sure they haven't changed it
JW> recently.
Their products run the gamut from respectable to toxic waste,
with plenty of lower-middle ground. [g] Here's my commentary:
> Act II - Microwave Popcorn
This is the microwave popcorn that turned me against all microwave
popcorns. Even though I've tried a few brands (like Paul Newman's,
for example) that aren't VERY bad, Act II poisoned the well.
> Andy Capp's fries - flavoured corn and potato snack made to look
> like French fries.
The plain variety aren't very good - far more salt than they
need - but the Hot Fries are great. Good, fiery cayenne pepper
(on the medium side) with long-lasting afterburn. Texture is like
cheese curls (sticky when chewed if you follow.)
> Banquet - Frozen chicken and ready-to-heat meals
Their pot pies are a comfort food for me, and I love them.
Their chicken is less good than the pot pies, but when gently
baked until crispy, Banquet frozen fried chicken is better
than most supermarket hot-food-table fried chicken. Their
frozen lasagne is acceptable. Most of the other ready-to-heat
meals are substandard, especially those which include "gravy."
> Blue Bonnet - Margarine and bread spreads
> Parkay - Bread spreads
> Fleischmann's - Bread spreads
> Move Over Butter - Margarine
I loathe all margarines and other butter imitators regardless
of parent company.
> Chef Boyardee - Ready-to-eat pasta meals
Hector Boiardi had extremely high standards and his canned Italian
specialties had a great deal to do with the thorough assimilation
of many Italian dishes into American cuisine. Although the Chef
Boyardee brand is very much a lowest-common-denominator kidfood
today, it is still much better than the competing Franco-American
brand. I don't buy the stuff myself, but I can't bring myself
to hate it, either.
> Crunch 'n Munch - Snack food
> Fiddle Faddle - Glazed popcorn/nut mixture
> Poppycock - Glazed popcorn/nut mixture
> Screaming Yellow Zonkers - Glazed popcorn
Meh. All Cracker Jack ripoffs. Not too bad, just nothing special.
> David Sunflower Seeds - Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds
There isn't much you can do to screw these up. The pumpkin
seeds today are much better than the ones they packaged years
ago, because the thick salt crust is gone - replaced by a more
reasonable salt layer. I still prefer to buy smaller local
brands when possible, but not so much because of the quality.
> Dennison's - Chili
> Wolf Brand Chili - Chili
Canned chili tastes like dog food to me. Dave Drum's various
recommendations aside, I have never had a canned chili that was
worth a damn, and I don't buy any of them.
> Egg Beaters - Processed egg product
Viscous filth. Want lower-cholesterol eggs? Follow Burt Ford's
lead and have several whites with one small yolk. Guaranteed
to be better than this chemical soup.
> Golden Cuisine - Ready-made food for seniors
I'm laughing too hard to comment on this.
> Gulden's - Mustard
I find nothing objectionable about this product other than
it doesn't seem to be as spicy as it once was. I like it
better than plain yellow mustard.
> Healthy Choice - Ready-to-eat and prepared foods
These do not differ substanially from the Banquet line. To tell
the truth, I don't really understand why people are so eager to
eat any type of frozen entree. I guess convenience means a lot
less to me than it does to others.
> Hebrew National - Kosher sausages, cold cuts and condiments
I have to try a few more of their recent products before I comment;
however, I can say that their cold cuts aren't substantially
better than anyone else's.
> Hunt's - Canned tomato products, ketchup and barbecue sauce
I don't care for very many commercial barbecue sauces regardless
of the producer. Hunt's canned tomatoes (diced, whole, paste,
stewed, etc.) are decent.
> Hunt's Snack Pack Pudding - Shelf-stable pudding
Not horrible. Not terribly good, either.
No experience with this.
> Jiffy Pop - Popcorn
Standard quality popcorn, but the packaging is amazing. It comes
in a foil pieplate with a cheap wire handle and a clevery-folded
foil lid. As you heat it up over a fire and the corn pops, the
lid expands into a large dome containing the corn! No one can hate
this stuff, it is so damn much fun to pop. Also completely self-
contained so it's great to take camping. And the aluminum packaging
is 100% recyclable, so it's "green." No evil here. You should
try one of these with Neysa and Lexi. Just don't use a really high
flame because the pan is thin.
-> Kid Cuisine - Prepared foods for children
This stuff is truly bottom-of-the-barrel shit. The advertising made
Lynn want some when she was about 5 years old, so I got her one of
the "dinners." One bite was all it took to put her off of Kid Cuisine
forever, and it was a lot less aggravation than saying "no" every
time we were in the supermarket.
> Knott's Berry Farm - Jams and jellies
I prefer to make my own, but there are some small regional and local
brands I buy. Knott's isn't one of them. They are just another
lowest-common-denominator brand these days.
> La Choy - Chinese-style foods
Their canned crispy fried noodles are excellent - try them on a
salad (yum.) Their canned "ingredients" - water chestnuts,
bamboo shoots, etc. - are acceptable. The prepared foods are
nearly all pure filth. However, I have a fondness for their "chicken
chow mein" because my mom used to make it when I was a kid. It's
about as Chinese as Taco Bell is Mexican, but I still like it in a
bizarre, comfort-food way, and I pick up a can every couple of
years or so. [g]
> Lamb Weston Inland Valley - Consumer sales of frozen potato products
I don't have much use for any frozen potato product from any
company, so no comment.
> Lightlife - Vegetarian meat product substitutes
I don't understand vegetarians, I never will, and I don't care
enough to try. The end.
> Luck's - Canned baked beans
> Van Camp's - Canned beans
There are very few canned baked beans that are any good anymore.
Old Cape Cod is one good brand. Many of Bush's brand beans are
made the traditional way, without HFCS. I didn't like Luck's
or VanCamp's when I tried them. For the most part, I just make
my own when I want them.
> Manwich - Canned sloppy Joe mix
I have never understood the appeal of Sloppy Joes. But I know how
to make them from scratch, so I never bother with the overly
sweetened "Manwich." Lynn laughs at their ads because the name
"Manwich" is vaguely pornographiuc.
> Margherita - Italian-style processed meats
Actually, Margherita makes some of the highest-quality deli meats
out there. Their Genoa salami is aces. Their stick pepperoni is
the best commercial pepperoni I've ever had, and if left in the
fridge for two weeks without a wrapper so that some of the moisture
has a chance to evaporate out, it is one of THE best pepperonis
anywhere.
> Marie Callender's - Frozen meals
Most of Marie Callender's frozen stuff is fairly high quality, but
you'll pay dearly for it.
No experience with this brand.
> Orville Redenbacher's - Popcorn
Very high-quality popcorn for stove-top popping. OR's microwave
popcorn, however, is just Act II in a different wrapper. Avoid it.
> PAM - Spray cooking oils
I don't use these. When I do need a spray for baking, I use one
that has flour in it, called "Baker's Joy." I get it at a commercial
supply house.
> Patio - Tex-Mex-style frozen meals
No experience with this.
> Pemmican - Beef and turkey jerky
About on par with most other commercial jerky.
> Peter Pan - Peanut butter
There's nothing wrong with Peter Pan peanut butter. I find
all the major store brands interchangeable.
> Reddi-wip - Whipped cream
Reddi-Wip is one of the better of the whipped creams, actually.
I'd use it over Cabot any day.
> Slim Jim - Meat snacks
Eww. Rancid. Greasy. I have a feeling they use some pretty
nasty byproducts to make this stuff. They can't flush it down
the toilet themselves, so they stuff collagen tubes with it,
morons eat it, and it gets flushed down the toilet eventually
anyway.
> Swiss Miss -Powdered cocoa for hot chocolate and pudding
Really, no worse than any other packet hot chocolate mix.
> Squeez 'N Go - Prepared pudding
This shit is just bizarre, like that yogurt stuff that comes
in tube-like pouches.
> Wesson - Cooking oils
I buy whatever cooking oil is cheapest. There's no difference
between brands. If Wesson is on sale, I buy it.
> Ranch Style - Baked and Refried beans
> Rosarita - Mexican - style foods
> Morton Frozen Foods - honey buns, jelly donuts, pot pies
> VH - Sauces (Available in Canada only)
> Wolfgang Puck - Prepared foods branded by Chef Wolfgang Puck
> Big Mama Sausage - Snack-sized preserved sausages
> Penrose - Pickled sausages
> J. Hungerford Smith - Dessert ingredients for restaurants
Never tried any of these.
---
http://davescupboard.blogspot.com/ - Dave's Cupboard - Food and
Restaurant Reviews; If I post it here in NCE, you'll find it
blogged with photos at Dave's Cupboard.
http://bacon-labels.blogspot.com/ - A gallery of bacon package labels.
(The extra shelf in Dave's Cupboard.
* Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)
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