When you Don't Have Time to Grab some Bread and a Knife

I will admit, I'm a bit of a snob. I try as much as possible to buy food that isn't really processed, and rarely buy convenience foods. My freezer tends to be full of leftovers, already packaged for my lunches; frozen vegetables; bread, since I don't go through it that quickly; and ice cubes (since they're cool and flower-shaped).  It's not that I hate processed food--I love a lot of it. It's that I know that most of it isn't that good for me. I figure if I keep it out of my house, then I won't eat it. I'm responsible when I go to the grocery store, and try to do most of my shopping around the outside aisles of the store, like we're advised to do. I will look at some processed, convenience foods with longing, but then there are others where my look changes to disdain.

My story involves Wal-Mart and Target. Now, I'm not a fan of Wal-Mart, but I love Target, so this is no indictment on either store. I was wandering around both stores in Washington with a look on my face like someone who's never been to a grocery store before. There are so many more grocery products available in the States that I'm constantly amazed at the selection. Whether that's a good thing or bad thing needs to be determined. This, however, is a bad thing.

Wandering up and down the frozen food aisle, there it was. Frozen Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. Don't have time to make a PB and J? Don't worry--you can just defrost and serve. I had seen it a few years earlier, but am "delighed" to know that it's back, and in many different flavours. What worries me most is not that they make it, but that they've expanded the product line, which means that MANY PEOPLE HAVE BOUGHT THIS.

They even cut off the crust for you.....

Now, I totally understand how convenience foods are convenient. I have bought and will continue to buy some convenience foods. But, how convenient is convenient? How long does it take to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? I would think think that it would take longer to defrost said sandwich than to make it fresh. Now, I could understand if a family had allergy issues, and using this product would allow some in the family to eat peanut butter while not making other family members sick, but I suspect that this isn't the case with many people buying these products. 


Obviously, as a Home Ec teacher, I totally support people making their food from scratch whenever possible. What message are we sending to our families when we can't even make them a simple sandwich?