# What's your go-to convenience food? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403 "2009-02-18T15:46:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/61 "2009-02-20T05:52:41Z")
Two of my other go-to dinners: Can of mushroom soup and can of tomato soup, mixed together with Italian seasonings and cheese thrown in (usually parmesan, but cheddar would work, or cottage cheese). This is surprisingly tasty. Canned spaghetti sauce and spaghetti - if you brown a pound or so of hamburger and add it to the canned sauce, it takes it to a whole nother level of yumminess. I sometimes throw frozen vegetables (broccoli, peas, corn) into the sauce too. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/62 "2009-02-20T16:43:56Z")
> [@MissGypsy](#): > > I love those Totino’s Party Pizzas, and they’re always less than $1. (The Mexican one is my favorite.) I bake rather than nuke, though. > > Lipton Noodles & Sauce was my dinner many a night in college or when I was single and lived alone. The Alfredo is still my favorite. The Lipton Rice & Sauce was not bad, especially the cheddar broccoli or the Spanish rice. > > I still like Spaghettios. (Hangs head in shame.) Lipton Noodles and Sauce are WONDERFUL! Try the Tomato Parmesan one - that’s yummy! And I love the cheddar broccoli rice and sauce too. And don’t mock the O’s - there is **no shame** in loving the O’s. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/63 "2009-02-20T17:18:37Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Don’t I just _wish_ there was a TJ’s _anywhere_ near Cumberland?? I’ve only been to one, and they had _so much_ interesting looking frozen food, but I could barely buy any because we only had one tiny cooler in the back of the car! Aaarrrggghhh. ☹ If you ever find yourself in Pittsburgh, we have Trader Joe’s here. We’re about a two-hour drive from you (my parents live near you). ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/64 "2009-02-20T17:59:40Z")
I could feed my husband Marie Calendar’s Chicken Pot Pies twice a week and he’d be happy. I like the frozen taquitos–shredded beef kind. And Publix Thin Crust Supereme pizza is really good. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/65 "2009-02-20T23:50:14Z")
I could feed Jim spaghetti and sauce or Chef Boy-ar-dee every day and he’d be happy. The only one I need to cook fancy for is me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/66 "2009-02-20T23:52:41Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I could feed Jim spaghetti and sauce or Chef Boy-ar-dee every day and he’d be happy. The only one I need to cook fancy for is me. 🙂 Our house is pretty much the opposite. I could happily eat leftover Chinese food from lunch (in fact, I just finished off some egg foo young!), peanut butter and banana sandwiches on toast, or Boston Market frozen stuff five nights a week. But my husband’s gone three nights a week, and when he’s home, he likes _real_ food for dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/67 "2009-02-21T01:29:59Z")
> [@TroubleAgain](#): > > I could feed my husband Marie Calendar’s Chicken Pot Pies twice a week and he’d be happy. I like the frozen taquitos–shredded beef kind. And Publix Thin Crust Supereme pizza is really good. I like the Publix Premium Thin Crust Margherita myself. And what’s up with that “store brand premium” thing? Who buys the store brand NOT premium? (You?) ---
**Author:** ![Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tool_of_the_Conspiracy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/68 "2009-02-21T02:02:43Z")
> [@MissGypsy](#): > > I love those Totino’s Party Pizzas, and they’re always less than $1. (The Mexican one is my favorite.) I bake rather than nuke, though. “Combination” Totinos for me. Lately I’ve been getting thin-crust chicken alfredo pizzas at Costco for variety. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/69 "2009-02-21T13:56:55Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > And what’s up with that “store brand premium” thing? Who buys the store brand NOT premium? (You?) Well, for a _very few_ products, me. My local supermarket chain (Martin’s) has three levels of store brands: Premium, Giant (Martin’s is owned by Giant), and their super-el-cheapo, GV (which stands for Great Value). In most cases, GV is total _crap_. But for things like canned tomato sauce that I’m just going to jazz up and use as a base for something anyway, it’s fine. Likewise, the GV version of “Hamburger Helper Cheesy Mac”. I use it as a jumping-off point for making my own version of Beefaroni (well, in my house, I have to call it “Cheeseburger Casserole” because my 9YO doesn’t _like_ beefaroni! 😉 ) Anyway, as I said, it’s just a base, and unrecognizable as Hamburger Helper once I’m done with it, so the el-cheapo is less than half the price of the name-brand, and comes out tasting just as good. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/70 "2009-02-21T13:58:55Z")
> [@Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](#): > > “Combination” Totinos for me. Totino’s is one of my middle daughter’s “go-to” foods. She’s a picky, picky eater, and even when I make stuff she _likes_ there’s at least a 50% chance that she won’t be interested in it that particular night. So I keep stuff like this in the freezer so she can feed herself. I am _not_ a short-order cook. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/71 "2009-02-21T23:05:33Z")
I don’t use convenience foods all that much (I live alone, so I can cook a few times a week and eat the leftovers the rest of the time), but I always have a few packets of [Mahatma Saffron Yellow rice](http://www.mahatmarice.com/en-US/products/2/SaffronYellow.aspx) in the pantry, and a couple of [Patio Mexican frozen dinners](http://www.conagrafoods.com/consumer/brands/getBrand.do?page=patio) and [Boca Burgers](http://www.bocaburger.com/products/boca-burgers.aspx?productBox=0) in the freezer. I’ve also gotten store-brand frozen chicken egg rolls before that were pretty darn tasty. My grocery store is H-E-B, but they’re probably carried at other grocery stores under the store’s private label. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/72 "2009-02-21T23:13:23Z")
My favorites are Lean Pockets - ham and cheese; and Lean Cuisine pizza and spaghetti with meat sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/73 "2009-02-26T21:49:41Z")
This is more of a “holy crap, I’m broke” recipe, but I’ll make a can of cream-of-chicken soup, and pour it over two bricks of ramen (break them lengthwise, and do **not** use the ramen flavor packet). Add garlic, onion powder, chili flakes, etc. to taste. Better than you’d think, fills you up better than just ramen or just soup would, and the 2:1 ratio is just right. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403/74 "2009-02-27T05:48:01Z")
[Raybern Philly Cheesesteak](http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/f6/b/AAAAArCy6XgAAAAAAPa0ig.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-go-to-convenience-food/486403.md?page=3)