293827 Sun Aug 17 22:59:07 -0700 2003 35 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1609494 I have just seen a television commercial for Smuckers "Uncrustables", a new product I can't believe is going to find an audience. These are pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for kids, in a round "uncrustable" shape, that are individually frozen. The idea is you pop it in your kid's lunchbox and IT'S ALL THAWED AND DEEEELICIOUS BY NOON! I'm not exactly a curmudgeon, and we did join the juice box craze back when our kids were at school, but damn it, how hard is it to make your kids a fresh PB&J on decent bread even at the last minute when the school bus is honking its horn? Has anybody seen/tried these? >>Brent Sun Aug 17 22:59:07 -0700 2003 0 Brent Brotine 1 1609496 I've seen these in the freezer section of the supermarket aisles for at least a year. I know a lot of people who blow their money on convenience products like this, but this is completely ridiculous. Apparently there is a market for it though, because they've been out for a while now. I don't have a lot of spare time on my hands, and am known to use the occasional convenience product when I feel lazy. I could see it being useful for the one day out of the month when mom and/or dad is in a hurry and doesn't have the extra few minutes to make a fresh PB&J for the kid's lunchbox. But, the sad thing is that this is really for people who are just completely lazy and will probably stick it in the lunchbox everyday! Sun Aug 17 23:13:55 -0700 2003 1609494 0 deibu 2 1609497 I'm waiting for premade toast, all you have to do is stick it in the toaster and warm it. Sun Aug 17 23:42:13 -0700 2003 1609496 0 Mike G 3 1609500 They already have that - it's called cinnamon and sugar bread. Sun Aug 17 23:55:21 -0700 2003 1609497 0 KP 3 1609506 Hahahahaha! Wait and see, it'll happen. "Cuts the toasting time in half!" Mon Aug 18 01:22:54 -0700 2003 1609497 0 Katerina 3 1609514 haaaaaaaaaa, perfect and you know who, forgive me for saying this, these poor souls will -ot- for. Put it in a toaster to warm it up.............. Humor makes the day tolerable, thank you. Mon Aug 18 07:13:44 -0700 2003 1609497 0 teri 3 1609554 You know, that reminds me of the "quick-cooking" spaghetti I bought a few years ago. Only problem was, to make it cook faster, it was hollow in the middle, kinda like a flaccid drinking straw, for lack of a better term. Now, any fellow spaghetti slurpers out there, with even the minimal knowledge of physics, or aerodynamics, or whatever, will know that it is IMPOSSIBLE to slurp hollow spaghetti. Needless to say, I tossed the rest of the box. Mon Aug 18 13:36:03 -0700 2003 1609497 0 LisaM 4 1609679 I'm curious as to what it looked like. Certain pastas, like bucatini & perciatelli, look like spaghetti but are somewhat hollow inside. Tue Aug 19 17:01:14 -0700 2003 1609554 0 Chorus Girl 5 1609680 No, no, no, Chorus Girl!! No stranger to bucatini am I! This stuff *marketed* itself as "quick-cooking spaghetti." It was the width of "thin spaghetti"(#9, I believe. Unbelievable. Tue Aug 19 17:03:33 -0700 2003 1609679 0 LisaM 6 1609728 Ah, I see--_much_ different. Almost as bad as the vacuum-packed pasta meals. Wed Aug 20 11:00:11 -0700 2003 1609680 0 Chorus Girl 3 1609619 For goodness'sake, Mike G, don't give them ideas! Mon Aug 18 21:53:32 -0700 2003 1609497 0 Mar a 2 1609546 not to mention the sheer peer pressure of the blasted things, "Johnny's Mom gives these to him for lunch & I WANT THEM TOO!". Much like the little pre-made meat, cheese, & cracker packages (I think Oscar Meyer markets them). What can be so difficult about putting cold cuts, crackers, & cheese in a plastic bag? Yet we, the public, spend twice as much on something that comes in neat packaging. Mon Aug 18 12:35:53 -0700 2003 1609496 0 Lan4Dawg 3 1609552 I think you mean "wasteful" packaging. Mon Aug 18 13:32:30 -0700 2003 1609546 0 LisaM 1 1609503 Take heart, the Uncrustables will be out of business when the Department of Defense perfects its PBJ Sandwich MRE with a self life of up to three years. Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/29/national/main527291.shtml Mon Aug 18 00:48:36 -0700 2003 1609494 0 Gary Soup 2 1609536 Omigod! It's true! Great link, Gary. Although I'm sure my boys, now in college, have jars of peanut butter lying around that are older than three years. >>Brent Mon Aug 18 11:38:31 -0700 2003 1609503 0 Brent Brotine 1 1609520 Just another in an endless line of absurd "convenience" foods. The one that really raises my hackles is the "tuna salad kit" that comes with some tuna and some mayonnaise...you mix them together and SHAZAM!...you get, um, tuna salad. Amazing. no? Mon Aug 18 09:52:16 -0700 2003 1609494 0 GG Mora 2 1609662 But it comes with crackers! You forgot the crackers! It makes all the difference. : ) Although, speaking as someone who just cleaned out the lunchroom refrigerator of all the moldy, smelly, nasty containers of ingredients required to make all the things that also come packaged as convenience foods, this is _one_ time I could wish that folks would opt for the environmentally unfriendly option. : ) Tue Aug 19 13:44:35 -0700 2003 1609520 0 Erika 1 1609541 I saw on a newsmagazine show that they have patented this, and are suing another company because their pre-made PBJs also have fluted edges. Apparently it would be OK if the edges were flat, or if the crusts were still on, but this other company (wish I could remember who they are) spent big bucks on the machine to make them fluted so they're fighting it. Mon Aug 18 12:07:33 -0700 2003 1609494 0 Sarnie 1 1609548 This alone is not the death of civilization. Another example would be the McGriddle death rattle of McDonald's, with syrup and heart disease built right in. When the Big G honey bee starts selling sugar coated cereal as somehow life extending, how far away can we be from drug companies and food companies forming strategic alliances? How about Wonder Bread and Viagra? Count Chocula and Prozac? Squeezable Skippee and Preparation H? Mon Aug 18 12:49:44 -0700 2003 1609494 0 k. gerstenberger 1 1609569 yikes. I hardly know what to say about such a thing. I'm trying to imagine how loved the child victim of such a sandwich will be when s/he gets older and realized his/her parents didn't care enough to put peanut butter and jelly on bread. In our house we are mean mean mean. We taught the pup [now 5.5] to make his own pbj. yikes. Mon Aug 18 15:43:34 -0700 2003 1609494 0 jenn 2 1609571 Well, hey! Let them make their own at school. Put in the bread, the jam , the PB, and plastic knife (some are childproof). That way, the jelly doesn't soak into the bread by noontime. And, if you put in extra PB, well, the nutrion value alone is worth it. Heck, maybe put in a few extra quarters so he can pay a classmates to join in the fun making them. Mon Aug 18 15:51:35 -0700 2003 1609569 0 kc girl 3 1609578 I always kind of liked it when the jelly seeped into the bread... Lately I've gotten re-hooked on peanut butter and banana sandwiches--I swear, I'm eating one a day. Man those things are good. Mon Aug 18 16:48:08 -0700 2003 1609571 0 Dupont 3 1609634 Put that plastic knife in the lunch box and figure on getting a call from the local police. Even plastic knives are considered deadly weapons by most elementary, middle, and high schools nowadays. In fact, at my child's middle school last year, a boy tried to cut the throat of another with a plastic knife. The school rated it only as an "inappropriate choice" on the boy's part, but he was arrested anyway, thank heaven. Tue Aug 19 06:50:49 -0700 2003 1609571 0 Sandy 1 1609581 i saw those in the freezer at c-town yesterday are they any good? Mon Aug 18 17:25:09 -0700 2003 1609494 0 abdul alhazred 1 1609597 Have you seen these? They're HORRID... plastic-y slices of peanut butter and jelly in little squares and wrapped and packaged like those nasty processed american cheeze slices. Dang. How hard is it to get a *knife* and *spread* the peanut butter and jelly? Mon Aug 18 18:48:39 -0700 2003 1609494 0 chococat 2 1609611 Are you talking about "P.B. Slices"? I hadn't heard of this product until I read your post, so I did a Google search on slices of peanut butter and found this (Image and link below). When I was a kid growing up in the late '50's, I can remember my Mom serving peanut butter slices with jelly in the middle on crackers. It seems like the bar of PB was the shape of a stick of butter, but a little larger. One slice would fit on a saltine. I remember liking it, and when I ask people (of my same vintage) whether they ever had this in their homes, they always say they never heard of it. Anyone out there remember this? Link: http://www.pbslices.com/index.html Image: http://www.pbslices.com/images/common/pb_package1.gif Mon Aug 18 20:40:39 -0700 2003 1609597 0 Sandi H. 1 1609618 I have tried these because the husband insisted we buy them. Smuckers -- or someone -- provided them to the NYPD/FDNY after 9/11 and man unit said they were incredibly good but he would eat poop. I have to admit, they are quite the guilty pleasure. They're delicious. I love cold peanut butter, andyou just can't spread it cold. I take them out of the freezer and eat them about 30 minuts later. Mon Aug 18 21:53:30 -0700 2003 1609494 0 JBG 1 1609645 While in a convenience store in Japan some years ago, I spied the ultimate convenience food -- a package containing a thick slice of white bread covered in a smear of thick yellow margarine/butter-like paste. Very handy for those who don't have enough time to spread butter on bread, made even more appetizing by the fact that it didn't even need to be refrigerated. Tue Aug 19 10:10:23 -0700 2003 1609494 0 Clarissa 2 1609681 If the paste that was smeared on the bread didn't have to be refrigerated, I shudder to think what it was made of. Tue Aug 19 17:03:54 -0700 2003 1609645 0 Chorus Girl 1 1609648 Here's something even worse. One of the major peanut butter brands - I think it is Jif or Skippy - is marketing tubes of peanut butter to kids, much like the Go-gurt packages. Why bother with the bread and jelly when you can mainline peanut butter? Even better for lazy parents! Tue Aug 19 10:27:32 -0700 2003 1609494 0 MKeLaurie 2 1609684 I think peanut butter in a tube is a GREAT idea-- nothing better than sitting around on a lazy afternoon squeezing peanut butter onto crackers and enjoying the sun. Seriously, it's really convenient and I'd like to think that there's *real* peanut butter inside. Also, I've taken the tubes on climbing/backpacking trips and they're GREAT. In times of sheer desperation, I've squeezed directly from tube to mouth! Tue Aug 19 17:58:51 -0700 2003 1609648 0 chococat 3 1609720 Believe me, I'm a peanut butter fan as well. However, I don't think a lot of kids have the guidance to realize when enough peanut butter is enough. I was at the park with my daughter and watched one boy polish off three peanut butters in a tube in about 10 minutes, which is great if you're hiking or stuck in a snowstorm or blackout, but waaaay too much for a chubby kid who can't keep up with his friends at the park. There's a lot more peanut butter in one tube than the average person (I think) uses on a pb&j. I'd have no problem buying peanut butter in packets like ketchup and mustard, I just have a problem with the volume in each packet. I am curious, though, is this straight peanut butter or do they add anything to make it more palatable? Wed Aug 20 08:53:54 -0700 2003 1609684 0 MkeLaurie 2 1609685 I think peanut butter in a tube is a GREAT idea-- nothing better than sitting around on a lazy afternoon squeezing peanut butter onto crackers and enjoying the sun. Seriously, it's really convenient and I'd like to think that there's *real* peanut butter inside. Also, I've taken the tubes on climbing/backpacking trips and they're GREAT. In times of sheer desperation, I've squeezed directly from tube to mouth! Tue Aug 19 17:59:38 -0700 2003 1609648 0 chococat 2 1609704 I was repulsed at first, but I think it's much neater for kids than a knife. Tue Aug 19 23:13:03 -0700 2003 1609648 0 JBG 2 1609835 I wish peanut butter were packaged in sticks like butter or Crisco. These could be sold in the baking aisle for cookies and other things. The bars could have those convenient lines on the side that help you measure. It's such a drag glopping pb into a measuring cup and then scraping it out again. Thu Aug 21 12:27:54 -0700 2003 1609648 0 raj1 3 1609851 I wonder if you could measure PB the way I sometimes measure Crisco--say, if you need 1/4 cup, put 3/4 cup water in a measuring cup and add a glop of Crisco that looks about right-when the water level comes up to 1 cup you know you have enough. Sounds wierd, but it's always worked for me. Thu Aug 21 16:13:36 -0700 2003 1609835 0 Zorra