Not That Hungry, Man

Heidi was talking to her mom on speaker this afternoon. "I got myself a frozen pizza to have during the game," her mom said.

"That's festive!" Heidi answered.

"Yeah, but you know what I was looking for and couldn't find?" her mom continued. "TV dinners. What? They don't make those anymore?"

The conversation continued on about the convenience of such a product. "Sometimes I just don't feel like cleaning up after cooking," her mom said, "and those are the perfect solution."

"I don't know," Heidi responded. "Honestly, I haven't looked for a TV dinner in years."

"When I was a kid," her mom recalled, "we used to love them because they came with a dessert."

"You used to get them for us," Heidi reminded her, "especially when we had a babysitter."

"Right," her mom agreed, "I would always ask the sitter what she wanted and get her one, too."

As they talked, I remembered the exact situation unfolding at our house when we had a babysitter. But I also remembered hating those TV dinners. Besides the fact that the food wasn't very good, they were always cooked unevenly-- something was scalding and dry, and something else was cold or mushy. One part of the meal always stuck to the foil tray, and not only did the dessert always taste a little like the entree, but the vegetable (which was usually yucky peas and carrots) always had some of the dessert on it. 

Even so, I found it hard to believe that food companies had actually come to their senses and discontinued such an iconic, if profoundly flawed, product. So, as the two of them continued their conversation, I did an online search of the grocery stores near Heidi's mom. Don't worry, dear reader, Hungry Man is still a thing; they just changed the packaging, which is why she couldn't find them. 

You can still have your sliced turkey and gravy dinner, or fried chicken, or even your Salisbury steak, along with several more updated options, like boneless rib-shaped pork patties. These days, the foil has been replaced by black plastic, and you just have to pop the meal in the microwave to heat and eat. 

And yes, they all come with a brownie.