"Meal starter kits get a fresh twist" by Candice Choi | Associated Press, February 14, 2013
NEW YORK — There’s nothing more satisfying than a home-cooked meal, especially if it comes out of a can or a pouch....
Actually, I can think of a lot of things.
Call it the next generation of dinner-in-box sets like Rice-A-Roni and Hamburger Helper that were rolled out as moms flooded the workforce in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. But the new kits go beyond just browning meat and throwing evaporated cheese and seasonings into boiling water — the idea is to make people feel like they’re making meals from scratch....
Scott Jones, a public relations specialist in Fort Worth likes that the Kraft’s Velveeta Skillets, a deluxe version of mac-n-cheese in a box with flavors such as chicken alfredo and lasagna, suggests ways to customize the recipe by doing things like using different types of meats....
Better be careful what you put in there (see further down).
And he likes adding personal touches (Think: diced tomatoes and peppers)....
Yeah, you are a chef now.
Cooking shortcuts long have been an American way of life, of course.
Have they?
But demand has grown for time-saving recipes as busy Americans eat more meals at home to save money....
Meaning there never was a recovery for most Americans.
At the same time, there’s a growing foodie culture that values authenticity and fresh ingredients. It may be why sales of Rice-A-Roni have dropped 16 percent from five years ago, according to market researcher Euromonitor International.
The companies that make the new starters say it’s too early to make sales projections but the hope is to appeal to the people who want it both ways: a home-cooked meal that doesn’t require much time and labor. In particular, companies are aiming for those in their 20s and 30s whose cooking skills may be outmatched by their increasingly sophisticated tastes.
‘‘Their definition of cooking is different,’’ says Darren Serrao, who heads innovation for Campbell Soup. ‘‘Assembly is cooking.’’
Indeed, Kraft Sizzling Salads dinner kits aren’t exactly your mother’s ‘‘made from scratch’’ recipes. They direct people to heat up some chicken with the marinade and toss a salad with the dressing. But in case aspiring home cooks need some extra guidance, Kraft provides cooking tutorials online....
Progresso’s sauces involve a little more work.
Then screw it.
For example, let’s say you want beef stroganoff. All you need is 2 pounds of boneless beef sirloin, an onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and a can of Progresso’s Recipe Starters in Creamy Portabella Mushroom flavor. The dish takes 35 minutes.
I don't have that long. Got anything ready to eat?
Making beef stroganoff from scratch, by contrast, would be a deeply involved ordeal, in large part because of the sauce, says Brendan Walsh, dean of culinary education at the Culinary Institute of America.
‘‘You’re dealing with stocks and reductions. It’s a good 12-hour process,’’ he says.
Although Walsh wouldn’t put Progresso’s version of beef stroganoff ‘‘in the realm of chef-dom,’’ he notes that companies have gotten better at making products with improved taste and nutritional content.
Have you ever tried one of those box meals? I usually eat about half and then throw the rest in the woods out back for the wildlife. They are that good.
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That piece of business brochure s*** made me feel sick to my stomach.
"Countries swap blame on horse meat; Scandal exposes supply intricacy" by Alison Mutler | Associated Press, February 12, 2013
BUCHAREST — A maze of trading among meat wholesalers has made it increasingly difficult to trace the origins of food — enabling horse meat disguised as beef to be sold in frozen meals across Europe.
Countries and companies are increasingly blaming each other. On Monday, Romanian officials scrambled to defend two plants implicated in the scandal, saying the meat was properly declared and any fraud was committed elsewhere.
France says Romanian butchers and Dutch and Cypriot traders were part of a supply chain that resulted in horse meat being labeled as beef before it was included in frozen dinners including lasagna, moussaka, and the French equivalent of shepherd’s pie. The affair started earlier this year with worries about horse meat in burgers in Ireland and Britain.
Also see: Latest horsemeat recall is in Sweden
British grocery chain Tesco said Monday tests showed some samples of its frozen spaghetti meal contained more than 60 percent horse DNA.
Horse meat is largely taboo in Britain and some other countries, though in France it is sold in specialty butcher shops and is prized by some connoisseurs. Authorities aren’t worried about health effects, but the scandal has unsettled consumers across Europe and raised questions about producers misleading the public....
The SIMPLE FACT is you DO NOT KNOW WHAT is in the FOOD, folks.
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"EU ministers call for emergency meat testing" by Raf Casert | Associated Press, February 14, 2013
BRUSSELS — European Union nations on Wednesday called for more intensive testing for a month to try to contain the scandal in which horse meat was sold as beef.
After the horse is out of the barn (pun intended).
The emergency meeting at EU headquarters included nations most affected by the horse meat scandal that has swept through Europe, with millions of burgers and frozen meals recalled across the continent.
Ireland’s Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney suggested the scandal would likely spread further as more countries test beef.
Like, overseas?
Germany said Wednesday it had received a shipment of tainted frozen meals and Norway pulled products from its stores.
Ireland found horse meat in burgers last month after routine testing....
Representatives of Britain, Ireland, France, Romania, Poland, Luxembourg, and Sweden attended Wednesday’s meeting.
In Britain and Ireland there is great sensitivity about eating horse, but that does not exist in other EU nations like France and Belgium....
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And if that isn't bad enough, look at what else they have found:
"Dangerous drug found in European horse meat" by Dan Bilefsky and Stephen Castle | New York Times, February 15, 2013
PARIS — The scandal over horse meat in the European food chain widened Thursday from a case of mislabeling to one of food safety as public health authorities in Britain said that a powerful equine painkiller, potentially harmful to human health, ‘‘may have entered the food chain’’ in France.
British officials sought to reassure the public that the drug was found only in trace amounts in a small number of British horse carcasses....
Does that really matter or help coming from government agencies whose first inclination is to cover up and protect industry?
Even before the discovery, the scandal had plunged the European food industry into crisis. Frozen foods, including hamburger, lasagna, spaghetti Bolognese, and moussaka, have been withdrawn from supermarket freezers in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, France, and Germany.
But the positive tests for the equine drug have raised fresh concerns, even in countries like France, where eating horse meat is more acceptable than in Britain, where it is taboo. Unlike cattle, which are raised for slaughter in controlled conditions, the lame horses or former plow animals that are sometimes slaughtered for consumption do not carry the same guarantees of origin or quality....
And it is not like the cattle industry is all that clean, either, from the cannibalized feed products to mad cow syndrome.
Suspect frozen beef hamburgers discovered in Ireland first triggered the crisis....
Related: Burger King drops Irish supplier
I'll never look at a fast-food burger the same again.
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And what do you mean the water is filled with pollution, chemicals, and drugs (or worse)?
Also see: British slaughterhouse shut down
Horsemeat investigation broadens
Are you ready for a real kick in the ass?
See: Horsemeat found in British supermarkets 'may be donkey'
Pun intended.
At least that can't happen here in AmeriKa:
Firm sues to slaughter horses for meat
And just where do you think that meat is going?
Related: So Hungry I Could Eat a Horse
Actually, I've lost my appetite.
"Panel recommends sterilizing some wild horses out West" by Shannon Dininny | Associated Press, October 31, 2012
SALT LAKE CITY — The federal agency charged with managing wild horses and burros that roam freely across 11 Western states should consider sterilizing some mares to control booming mustang populations and protect ranges, a citizen advisory panel recommended Tuesday.
There is another way to thin the herd.
The Bureau of Land Management has long struggled with how to manage growing horse herds on public lands, which can double naturally within five years if left unchecked. Horses have been injected with drugs and vaccines to slow reproduction and rounded up for adoption, but the agency has more horses in captivity than are left roaming the range, forcing the emphasis to shift to population control rather than roundups.
Of course, this government would never....
Nearly 60 percent of the agency’s entire budget for the wild horse program is spent on housing horses.
So what? We waste enough money on wars, Wall Street, and Israel. Horses can't have a home?
Drugs used to slow reproduction in wild horse herds must be readministered regularly because they work for only about a year, and drugs that work longer have not yet been approved for use on wild horses, said Dr. Boyd Spratling, a veterinarian from Deeth, Nev., and chairman of the bureau’s Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board.
I wonder which pharmaceutical is making money off that contract.
Instead, spaying horses — or surgically removing the ovaries of older mares — eliminates the need for frequent roundups for adoption or to administer drugs, he said. Younger mares could still foal, allowing for genetic diversity in herds.
It is not a permanent solution, Spratling said, but a tool the land management bureau should have available for use in its effort to control herd sizes.
I'll bet I know what is.
‘‘Surgery is never 100 percent safe, but this is considered to be effective and relatively safe and has long been used in the racehorse industry,’’ he said.
The bureau estimates there are 37,000 horses on public lands in the West. An additional 47,000 horses have been removed from the range and are being cared for in short-term or long-term holding areas.
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"Agency seeks compassion for horses" by Matthew Daly and Scott Sonner | Associated Press, February 02, 2013
RENO, Nev. — The US Bureau of Land Management is issuing new policy directives emphasizing ‘‘compassion and concern’’ for wild horses on federal lands in the West, in response to a growing public outcry about alleged abuse during roundups of thousands of mustangs in recent years.
Mercy killings to make hamburgers?
Federal laws protecting wild horses since the 1970s require the government to treat them humanely when culling overpopulated herds.
But agency officials said a series of new internal policy directives announced Friday will better protect free-roaming horses and burros by centralizing oversight and stepping up daily reports at each gather in 12 Western states.
‘‘Press/media, congressional and public attention to recent gathers have compelled the BLM to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information,’’ a new directive said.
Among other things, helicopter contractors will have to take extra care not to separate slower young animals from their mothers in roundups.
The new orders also require the agency to make sure the public has access to observe the roundups, in compliance with federal law. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco recently granted a horse advocacy group’s appeal and ordered the agency to review practices to ensure it did not violate the First Amendment by keeping critics from a controversial gather in Nevada a year ago.
‘‘At all times, the care and treatment provided by the BLM and contractors will be characterized by compassion and concern for the animals.”
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Sure looks like torture to me.
Related: Lawrence seeks cat killer
That's what is in the Chinese food.
Anything else in that Boston Globe lunch sack?
And now we find out it may not even be beef?
