#stouffers

Ok, so I had stomach surgery a year and a half ago, and ever since then I’ve become an extremely picky eater. Now, unless I’m grocery shopping at Publix or Whole Foods, its hard for me to find a TV dinner that I would actually eat. One that isn’t like, salty slop and meat.

I don’t remember when, but I went on the Stouffer’s website to see if they had anything different that I overlooked in the stores. I saw lots of cheese, chicken, white pasta sauces with way too much garlic powder, and whatever chicken pot pie bitesare:

Actually, I’m a lot like Niles Crane when it comes to pickiness, ha.

Stouffer’s had crepes back in 1983. Now, I know not very many people had microwaves back then, so I’m assuming they were on a foil pan and you put them in the oven. I found a recipe for the asparagus one .

Speaking of asparagus, Stouffer’s also made a ham and asparagus pot pie back in the 1980s. I’m just…and now all we have his chicken pot pie glop.

Seafood: Lobster Newberg and Scallops and Shrimp Mariner. I’m making a wide assumption that these two are no longer being made due to the price, and you really can’t microwave seafood without it getting tough. I found a lobster newberg box on eBay from the 1960s while doing research for this, and the directions were to cook it over a double boiler or boil it in the bag it came in. I guess busy people of the 1980s wasn’t willing to boil bags. They wanted the microwave.

Somehow the green pepper steak is still being made.

Side dishes: These actually have microwave instructions, or you could still boil in bag. Look at that creamed spinach! I love creamed spinach, Stouffer’s only makes the spinach soufflé now. That ratatouille is a work of art.

I will say that the apples and yams look a little “sus”, a little slimy. Thankfully, Stouffer’s still makes harvest apples, pretty much the only consistent item from Stouffer’s. I waxed nostalgic over those way back when I wrote about Melba.

There was also Apple Pecan Rice.

“Exotic” ingredients (for the early 1980s): Here is a long story about how Stouffer’s found the exact Bok Choy for their Chicken Chow Mein (without noodles!). Had to go to the La Choy section to buy the noodles back then.

Soup: frozen cream soup needs to make a comeback. There’s our friend Cream of Spinach again.

I found this commercial from 1991 advertising “homestyle favorites” meals, and I feel like that’s when the variety in Stouffer’s meals just … died right here. This is the same glop they sell today. With the exception of veal parm because nobody eats that anymore.

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oh, so I’ve been typing up my entry first in Wordpress. and then carrying the HTML over here to post. Can someone let me know if the posts here on Tumblr aren’t showing up correctly? 

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