Meal Assembly Watch

Archive for the ‘Meal Prep’ Category

The demise of the traditional family meal is exposing children to junk food advertising that threatens their health, the Government’s school food guru warned yesterday.

Prue Leith, chairman of the School Food Trust, warned that ‘knees under the table’ dinners were dying out as parents condone all-day snacking and all-you-can-eat chip shop deals.

Death of family meals harms health

Another fad that soon fizzled? Meal prep kitchen franchises. When the economy was fit, busy families indulged in the luxury of assemble-your-own-dinner services at franchises such as Dinner by Design and Super Suppers. The idea — which, truth be told, never quite made sense to us — is that Mom visits one of these commercial prep kitchens, puts together dinner for the week with conveniences such as pre-chopped ingredients, packs it up and takes home. We’re exhausted just thinking about it.

But in 2005 and 2006, the concept gained a big following. Super Suppers grew steadily during those years, jumping from 40 locations to 206, according to Investopedia, an online financial reference site. Its competitor, Dinner by Design, had 55 outlets. Needless to say, when the economy started to fail, so did Super Suppers and Dinner by Design. People went back to making homemade meals … at home. Now there’s a concept.

No new Super Suppers opened in 2008, and existing owners with SBA loans began failing at a quick pace — 42 percent last year alone. Dinner by Design has also stopped selling franchises and has 23 remaining locations.

Franchises that went boom — or bust

In case you aren’t aware, Symantec is a software producer. You’re probably familiar with the product names of Norton Antivirus or Norton Internet Security.

“For many years, Symantec has supported Second Harvest’s mission of feeding Silicon Valley’s hungry and our sponsorship of the hybrid Produce Mobile will ensure fresh produce is delivered to those in need,” said John W. Thompson, Symantec chairman of the board. “I applaud Second Harvest for reinvesting the cash savings from this hybrid vehicle into additional food and programs to serve the community.”

Helping the community and the environment.

Symantec buys hybrid produce mobile for food bank

Something to think about as we’re all trying to eat better and watch calories.

When you buy a car with a six-cylinder engine, you expect to get six cylinders. When you buy a dress in a size 10, you expect a size 10. And when you buy a burger at a fast-food joint that’s listed on the menu as containing 500 calories, you jolly well expect 500. But you may be getting a lot more than that. The same may be true of the omelet and the pasta you get at a sit-down restaurant — and of the frozen dinner with the label you read so carefully before you tossed it in your supermarket basket and took it home.

Dieters Beware: Calorie Counts Are Frequently Off

Depending on your guest list, you might need this

Tis the season….to cook with booze?

In the award-winning Cooking with Booze (Whitecap) authors and liquor enthusiasts Ryan Jennings and David Steele set out to prove that the liquor cabinet is really an extension of the spice rack, using the unique flavours of wine, beer and spirits to add depth to any type of cooking.

The book is full of fabulous ideas and sharp humour – and would make a lovely gift!

Boozing up your holiday recipes