Monday, April 28, 2008

What the…?

My partner, Ryan, is not completely on board with this whole foods, carb-controlled, exercise-like-a-madwoman sort of lifestyle, so you can imagine that things get a little rocky now and again. But I think I'm making some headway. Last night she was telling me that out of curiosity she looked at the label on the frozen dinner she was eating. I don't think she'll eat this particular dinner again.

The ingredient list started, innocently enough, with potatoes. (Okay. That's real food.) Second ingredient—“seasoned cooked beef product.” Huh? This does not sound like food. It contains “beef, water, dextrose, soybean oil, modified cornstarch, potassium chloride, salt, potassium and sodium phosphates, caramel color [and] natural flavors.” She told me that she got this picture in her head of meat being liquified, then having crap added to it, reshaped, frozen and then she was supposed to eat it after all that. She's told me she's only going to eat frozen dinners which contain distinctly identifiable meat from now on. Either that or stop looking at ingredient labels.

She apparently had a lot of food adventures this weekend while I was gone, because she also found this actual product at a local grocery store—apples that are injected with grape juice so that the apple tastes like a grape. I don't even know where to begin with this one.

What's wrong with just eating an apple that tastes like an apple? Or eating meat that doesn't have corn products and "natural [meat] flavors" added?

Discuss.

16 comments:

Sara said...

supposedly it's not even injected with real grape juice, but that fake welche's-grape-soda-tasting stuff - ewww!

Ginger said...

Ahhh, yes, the grapple . . . so wrong on so many levels.

This is why I bought a half a lamb (grass finished) last fall and I'm thinking of purchasing 1/4 or 1/2 a beef (also grass finished) this year. No strange additives, just meat.

Oh, that reminds me: Do you know what PETA stands for? People Eating Tasty Animals. Sorry, couldn't help myself. =)

snappydawg said...

Ginger: A carnivore after my own heart.

And that is why I have 1/4 of a grassfed beef grazing just for me this summer.

On a somewhat related note, how do I get a hold of you to get some eggs next weekend? (I don't have your email address.)

Anonymous said...

Oh darn, I forgot to ask how the visit to the family went?

Naomi said...

I want to know about the "big reveal"! :)

I won't tell you about all the crazy food I'm eating here in Hawaii but..no, I haven't had any Spam!

Marianne said...

Why on earth would they want to go and ruin a perfectly good apple, indeed! Imagine a stream of obscenities....
I fully understand 'frozen dinners', but given a few hours over the weekend one can prepare their own. That can also help with portion size issues which is something I have.

Beadknitter said...

or eating grapes if you want grape taste?

Argh, just when I think I've heard everything....

Anonymous said...

I've seen grapples! Also, they come packaged in plastic eggshell containers. Because that's the problem with produce - not enough packaging.

Just to seal the deal, I don't really like the taste of grapes.

Anonymous said...

Although I will never become part of what I refer to as Kathie's "cult" (I hope that doesn't offend anyone; it's a useful, quasi-humorous label that has helped us get through some *very* hard times), this morning I officially threw away the remaining box of frozen seasoned cooked beef product. Ta-dah!

Although it now occurs to me that I replaced it with some boxes of frozen Swedish meatballs--and if they torture real meat the way they do, God only knows what they do to make a meatball. Oy.

karen said...

And who knows exactly what those "natural flavors" are, as the term is sometimes used as a convenient euphemism for MSG!

Sylvia said...

I have been reading Ryan's blog for a long time and I'm so glad she gave us a link to yours. I have recently discovered the importance of eating more protein, now that I'm 45 and going through perimenopause. I am more alert, weigh slightly less (didn't really need to lose weight), and don't get ravenously hungry at 9:00 a.m. (even whole grain oatmeal doesn't keep me satisfied as long as two eggs on whole grain bread).
Also, I am a corgi owner/lover... Frankie is a doll...

Childe said...

Yea for tmk! Love your blog - most useful - keep it going -

{this is about the 1000th time I have tried to leave a comment - let's hope...}

Anonymous said...

I refuse to be a trouble-maker, so I'm not going to say this openly in your blog:

I predict in a year's time Ryan will be like the reformed alcoholic or reformed cigarette-smoker. She'll put YOU AND I to shame. Heeeeeeeeeee. I didn't say that.

Kristen said...

Well, I'm a vegetarian who won't even feed her cat mystery meat byproducts, so I can't imagine a human eating that crap (unless during a famine). I will readily admit that my diet sometimes contains too much "natural junk food," but I figure brownies I baked in my own kitchen with organic butter, fair trade cocoa, truly free-range, organic eggs, etc. aren't the worst thing I could be eating, so I don't feel terribly guilty when I indulge. One of my soapboxes is the need for a good, whole, organic, local-if-you-can-get-it food supply. I live in an apartment, but I have a small deck/balcony and have grown my own lettuces and herbs for years (and sometimes tomatoes). I have wild fantasies about the day I'll be able to have a real garden.

On another note, perhaps you and Ryan can work out a deal of sorts. My partner and I came to an amicable pact when we were living together (we're now in separate states due to school) that the house is strictly vegetarian (except the cats, of course), but he could eat whatever he wanted elsewhere. Admittedly, he does eat a largely vegetarian diet on his own, though, so it wasn't a hard sell, but you could try it.

fran said...

Good for you sticking with you new way of eating. It can be a challenge when the whole household isn't eating the same way. That is not a dig at Ryan. She doesn't face the same health things as you. I find that is my constant struggle. I face different health challenges than DH or the kids. I won't forbid any foods in the house, but when i am cooking, I make what is healthiest for me, and invite all to enjoy. Even DH eats better when left to his own devices. Do I still find bags of oreos in the cupboard, yup. But it happens less and less.
How was the trip?

Ginger said...

TMK,
I'll bring you eggs tomorrow, no problem. :)