What's in Your TV Dinner? (Post may contain affiliate links).
I used to LOVE Banquet TV dinners, especially the ones with Salisbury Steak and mashed potatoes. As a single person, they were my go to when I felt like having a hearty meal but didn't want to cook. I especially loved them because they were so cheap.
But of course, after studying nutrition all those years, I started to compulsively read ingredient lists. As a result, I haven’t had a Banquet TV dinner in 20 years.
I’m going to take a risk here and tell you why I’m mentioning this.
I had a dream a couple of weeks ago about a Banquet HUNGRY-MAN dinner. (That’s right, I’m a bit nuts)! =)
Anyway, In the dream, there was a mom struggling with behavior issues in her son, and a doctor had written a note asking if by any chance her son’s behavior issues that day started after eating lunch.
His lunch was a Banquet Hungry-Man dinner.
I remember thinking, “Wow! What a good doctor!” I remember the mom was worried about too many calories. However, in the dream, I was remembering and explaining to her about all of the stuff they put in those Banquet dinners, and how much better for you homemade cooking is.
She was a person who liked cooking but didn’t have a lot of time. Sound like anyone you know?
When I woke up that morning, I knew I needed to invest some time and energy into looking at what exactly the current Banquet dinners contain.
My husband went to the store for me—he’s such a great guy—and looked for the Hungry-man version, they didn’t have it, so we settled for the regular Banquet dinner.
When he brought it home, the first thing I noticed was that the label was WAY smaller than it was 20 years ago—though that could just be my aging eyes! LOL
I wish I could say I was totally shocked by what was on the label, but of course I wasn’t. My husband took a picture of the ingredients, so I could read them, I kid you not!
First, the mashed potatoes had three lines of ingredients, including Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), BHT, and a bunch of other yucky stuff; the Salisbury steak patty, over two lines with MSG also as an ingredient; the apple dessert contained some choice ingredients as well. If you want to see what's in the dinner, here is the link to Banquet. (Though, keep in mind that the company spends an unusual amount of time “explaining away” the bizarre ingredients).
We’ve discussed the potential health dangers and behavioral effects of artificial additives and preservatives, including MSG, previously. Click here for the post on “Artificial Additives and Our Kids Health.”
What's In Your TV Dinner?
Since the ingredients are truly horrendous, and since the main reason we eat TV dinners is because they’re quick and easy, my husband and I put our heads together to create a delicious alternative. Ron and Nathan prepared the Salisbury steak with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes and corn last Thursday.
And last night, Ron finally prepared the Apple Cinnamon Dessert.
See below for recipes.
Salisbury Steak
Equipment
- 10" frying Pan
- large Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb. Ground Sirloin
- 1 cup Bread Crumbs
- 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 cup Diced Onions
- 1/3 cup chopped Parsley
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Granules or 1Large Clove
- 1/3 tsp Pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mixed well
- Form patties about 4oz each should make 6 patties
- put patties in hot frying pan medium heat cook for 15 min. on each side
Nutrition
Mushroom Gravy
Equipment
- firing pan 10"
- wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 8 oz. Mushrooms
- 1 clove Garlic
- 1 tsp. Beef Base
- 2 cups water
- 1 Tbsp. flour
- 1 tsp. butter
Instructions
- the same pan you use to fry the steak
- add mushrooms and garlic, butter
- cook mushrooms for 10 min.
- add water beef base bring to a boil
- mix flour with 1/4 of water until smooth no lumbus
- add to pan a little at a time until it becomes thick cook for 5 min. more
Nutrition
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Equipment
- 4 quart cook pot
Ingredients
- 4 medium Potatoes
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp. Butter
- 3 Tbsp. Milk Whole, cream
Instructions
- peel and cut potatoes into quarters
- cook for 20 min. or until tender
- add milk, butter salt
- mash until smooth and fluffy
Nutrition
Cinnamon Apple Dessert
Equipment
- 2 quart sauce pan
Ingredients
- 4 apples Gala or Fuiji you can use most any apple you want
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 3 cups water
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. butter optional
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 cup brown Sugar
Instructions
- peel and core apples
- Slice apples into 1/4 in. slices
- put apples water cinnamon lemon juice butter brown sugar in pan
- cook for 30 min.
- add cornstarch to some water (cold water)make a slurry
- add to apple mix to thicken
Nutrition
This meal shouldn't be too difficult, and most of the ingredients will be freezable and reheatable, just like a ”real” TV dinner. 🙂 Also, if you are concerned about calorie content, don't forget that you can reduce serving size.
In the meantime, here are some older posts I have written related to diet and our kiddos (even though some of them focus on ADHD or Autism, they really do apply to all of us, because artificial additives aren't good for ANYONE, and we all need a healthy, balanced diet).
10 Ways to Add Fruit and Vegetables to your Family's Diet
Foods High in Protein (and Iron)
What Interferes with Iron Absorption?
In case you haven't seen it yet, I wrote an article on “Why My Son Doesn't Believe in Evolution.” Click to read it here.
