Why does the term 'self-heating' worry me now? Maybe it has something to do with the recent recall of Wolfgang Puck's self-heating coffees. Maybe it's that the warnings for Crosse & Blackwell's Hunger Breaks HeaterMeals that say that if you're going to heat one in a car, you'd better crack a window first. Basically a commercial version of the U.S. military's Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), HeaterMeals include a small heating pad that is activated with a packet of saltwater. Get the pad hot by adding the water and then stick it back in its box with the tray of food. After it's done heating your steak and vegetables or chicken curry, the pad can be used as a body warmer, "you can even sit on it!" the manufacturer says. You could probably warm up your dinner by sitting on it too. These seem just a little different than the Kashi meals.

I recently stumbled across Minimus, an online retailer that specializes in individually wrapped foods designed for travel. I don't know that I'll ever need to mail-order a single packet of Saltines or two Grissini breadsticks ($0.06 and $0.11, respectively), but having a few packets of Frank's Red Hot Hot Sauce in the glove box or carry-on bag might not be a bad idea. The Minimus FAQ also states quite clearly that "[n]one of our items are from hotel guests or from restaurant tables." Still, it seems like some of these things aren't usually offered for individual sale. The disposable tea stick seems kind of cool, although I don't know why it would be any better than a regular tea bag. Like the entire site, maybe it's the novelty that's drawn me in.

Health magazine put together their list of what they considered to be the "best foods for busy women." What they clearly meant to say was the "best pre-packaged meals/snacks for busy women". There isn't anything necessarily wrong with this sort of meal, but I would hardly go so far as to say it is the "best," since my definition of "best" does not generally include a lot of shelf-stable pre-packaged meals. Nevertheless, here are their picks:

Breakfast
South Beach Diet Denver-Style Breakfast Wrap
Post Raisin Bran Cereal Bars

Lunch
Starkist Albacore Lemon & Cracked Pepper Tuna Fillet
Thai Kitchen Thai Peanut Noodle Car

Dinner
Lean Cuisine Dinnertime Selections Chicken Portobello
Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Whole Grain Brown

Snack
Kettle Brand Bakes Hickory Honey BBQ

Dessert
Edy's/Dreyer's Slow Churned Light Ice Cream French Silk
100 Percent Whole Grain Chips Ahoy! Cookies

Starting next month, poultry providers will have to meet a new set of packaging standards for their products. For example, the labels will clearly have to state if the product needs to be cooked. Regulators say that there is a good deal of confusion among consumers, especially over frozen, raw poultry that may already be partially prepared with a stuffing or breading, so the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has devised this label: Uncooked: For Safety, Must be Cooked to an Internal Temperature of 165 degrees F as Measured by Use of a Thermometer. The new labels will be added to all frozen poultry products.

The FSIS is in the process of approving cooking instructions that will accompany all the chicken products, with guidelines that suggest consumers use traditional food preparation methods as opposed to the microwave. "A fundamental part of label evaluation is to ensure that labeling will be understood and followed by consumers," said the FSIS.

I wonder exactly how many consumers are "fooled" into thinking that their raw chicken is already cooked. Are the artificial grill marks and colorings, not to mention breading, so convincing as to actually make people think their raw chicken was cooked before being frozen? Are people so used to buying frozen, pre-cooked meals that the concept of a non-precooked item is foreign to them? I would certainly like to think not. It is possible the the labels will help consumers be more prepared should the bird flu suddenly pop up.

 

There are lots of packaged mixes at the store that can make cooking a meal for your family fast and easy after a long day at work. Generally speaking, these mixes are grains with spices and sometimes vegetables and include favorite brands include Rice-A-Roni and Zatarains. Hamburger Helper operates along similar lines, but calls for the addition of meat. These options are already a cut above precooked frozen foods, but there is still something commercial about them. Many new gourmet mixes, with fresher vegetables, original spice combinations and unusual grains are coming out, like the Trader Joe's Spelt with Red and Green Peppers mix pictured here, which make for a lovely change on the dinner table.

To add a touch of homemade flavor to what is essentially a meal from a box, without taking too many extra minutes out of an already busy evening, try sauteing some garlic in the bottom of the pan before adding the mix, or dicing an onion or a shallot and tossing it into the pot with the cooking liquid. Read the ingredients and see what might pair well. This spelt mix, for example, would be good with extra peppers or, since it was well spiced, a vegetable like sweet potatoes or squash to round it out. Or, for heartier fare, take an example from Hamburger Helper and heat up some sausages while the grains cook and toss them in before serving.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]