Food products beyond my understanding

I can admit, I like Hallmark Channel and Lifetime far more than a 36-year-old woman should. In fact, I’ve liked them for years. Go right ahead and take your potshots. I’ve never been cool, so I don’t pretend.

But the commercials….I can hardly stand the commercials. They aren’t as bad as the creepy ED-herbal-supplement commercials on G4. These are mostly food commercials. Or mops. Or drugs for insomnia and depression. Sigh. I love being pegged into a demographic.

At any rate, here were two commercials I saw right in a row tonight. I don’t get either product:

• Birds’ Eye Steamfresh Singles: These are frozen vegetables, packed 4 single-serving bags inside each container. The value here is supposed to be: "A single serving that steams itself in under two minutes." Umm. Let’s say your average bag of frozen vegetables has six or eight servings. So, to get a single serving, you have to open the bag, scoop out a half cup or so [small bowl, if you're not into measuring things], and microwave it….for about a minute. As far as I can tell, the real value of the Birds’ Eye Singles is that you don’t have to re-seal the bag before putting it back in the freezer, since each serving is individually packaged….ie., more plastic.

• Philadelphia Ready-to-Eat Cheesecake Filling: Basically, this purports to be cheesecake in a tub. You scoop it out into a crust and eat it. DO WHAT??

I will say, I’m not opposed to ready-to-eat. But I don’t get how Birds’ Eye has managed to make a product out of some extra plastic bags. And if you want ready-to-eat dessert, why don’t you just buy Sara Lee? Frankly, they’re not half bad for what they are. All you have to do is thaw.