ADDED: 7/29/07 - It’s come to my attention that some products with the “Bryan” name are being recalled. I never heard anything about it until a few days ago, and don’t have any information about it, but here is the link to the FDA site. Bryan’s Tamales do not seem to be on the list, but their Chili is.

All right, I have to admit that I’m one of those narcissistic people who can’t resist the allure of seeing their name on products. Remember those “mini license plates” that they sell at airports and other places? Yes, I bought one. I get a special thrill whenever I also pass by a dry cleaners called Bryan’s Cleaners. Yep, guilty. And lame.

But I guess if your name happens to be Carl or Sara Lee or Marie Callender it’s not going to be such a big deal. And I think part of the thrill is that the spelling of my name is maybe not as common so I don’t see it in print as often - I’ve all but accepted having friends (some who I’ve known for something like TEN YEARS) write my name with an “I”.

So I just had to pick up this can of Bryan Tamales, if only for the novelty. According to the can, I am apparently“THE FLAVOR OF THE SOUTH”. Woot.

I almost wasn’t expecting to eat the contents of this can because I figured it must be pretty awful - somewhere below the quality of Chef Boyardee, just above the quality of pet food. You get the picture.

Interestingly, the instructions on the back of the can call for placing the tamales in the oven topped with a FULL can of Bryan’s Chili (note to self: look for my chili next time I’m at Big Lots) and then topping with sour cream, onions and cheese.

Well hell… of course it’s going to taste good if you put all that on it. I think that must be Corollary 4.2.2 of the Cheap Eats Manifesto - Everything Tastes Better With Chili Or Cheese On It. No, I decided to cook them up au naturale.

Continue reading “Bryan Tamales” …

When I get around to writing that Cheap Eats Manifesto, one of the tenets is definitely going to be “Try Everything Even If You Think It Will Suck”. Here’s an example: I totally thought that this canned spaghetti sauce from Hunt’s was going to be a washout. Although I dig their canned tomatoes and tomato sauce, I didn’t think that spaghetti sauce in a can would fly.

This is a 26 ounce can of their “Classic Italian” Four Cheese Spaghetti Sauce. Checking the ingredient list, the 4 cheese in question are Romano, Parmesan, Ricotta and Mozzarella. The sauce itself isn’t extremely chunky and doesn’t contain any true added veggies (although it does contain dehydrated onions and “carrot fiber”). I was going to put a ton of stuff into the sauce to “fix” it as I normally do, but in the end I only threw in a 1/2 cup or so of sauteed onions before letting it sit on the stove.

Meanwhile, I cooked up some Barilla pasta… this is the first time I’ve used these interesting shaped “Mezza Rigatoni”. They look sort of like normal Rigatoni lopped in half. Then I just dumped the warmed sauce on top.

Continue reading “Hunt’s 4 Cheese Spaghetti Sauce” …

Ah, yes: Steak and Potatoes. This is what I’ve sometimes incorrectly assumed my friends in the Midwest eat for dinner every day. I know, nothing could be further from the truth. I know a lot of people in Southern California who are 100% meat ‘n potatoes people, while others in Oklahoma and Ohio are laughing while partaking in sushi and Indian cuisine. There’s stereotypes for ya…

But actually, more than one Cheap Eats reader has suggested trying the Campbell’s brand Chunky Steak and Potato Soup after our earlier forays into Progresso Soup. I happened to see a bunch of cans of Chunky soup on sale for a buck and a quarter so I decided to try it out. I think these cans will normally run you about $2.50 to $3.

I’ve had Chunky soup before and my complaint has always been that it’s TOO chunky and thick. It’s like a stoup (Rachel Ray terminology = stew + soup), and while that might be a good thing sometimes, when I’m having soup I want SOUP. Not stew.

It’s actually amazing how accurately I was able to make my soup picture look like the label on the can. (Side note: Need to get a good tripod. I’m starting to hate taking pictures with one hand while holding a spoon of food as still as possible in the other. Ugh.) This is a 18.8 ounce can which is more than enough for lunch for me. The pieces of potato and steak are quite large just like on the can. The soup also contains pieces of mushrooms which I thought was a rather nice and unexpected touch.

Continue reading “Chunky Steak & Potato Soup” …

I apologize in advance to Texans and others who are of the firm belief that chili in a can is a heinous offense. Yep, I know there are a lot of people out there. Let’s not even get into the “beans in chili” vs. “meat-only” debate.

I’m a big fan of chili (actually “chili con carne“, according to Wikipedia). Whether it’s served at a restaurant with cornbread, homemade with carrots (my mom’s specialty), baked into Frito Pie, eaten straight outta the can or pumped out of a dispenser onto a hot dog at a gas station… it’s all good. I mean, it tastes all good. It’s not necessarily good for your digestion!

For the people who don’t mind it out of a can, you’ve got a ton of different companies to choose from: Dennison’s, Wolf Brand, Bush’s, Campbell’s, Stagg, etc. But for me, canned chili always makes me think or Hormel, for better or worse. Actually, corned beef and hash makes me think the most about Hormel, but chili is a close second.

Anyhow, I picked up this can of Hormel Homestyle Chili with Beans the other day because it was a buck. And I was hungry. I think that is Rule #3 or so in the Cheap Eats Manifesto: Never Go To The Supermarket On An Empty Stomach.

Interestingly, Stagg is apparently owned by Hormel as well… for some reason I had missed that.

I like to have a couple of cans of chili chilling out in the pantry for emergencies (read as - I’m too lazy to cook something as usual). It’s great just thrown in the pot and eaten with bread or whatever’s available. That whatever is sometimes noodles - I don’t know if you’ve had Chili Spaghetti before but that’s definitely fodder for an upcoming Cheap Eats post. I think I actually saw on Food Network that it’s a common dish at diners - was it in Cincinnati?

The Hormel chili I got is interesting because not only does it have beans in it, but they’re kidney beans instead of pinto. I personally like the pinto beans instead because they load me up with better methane for farts. Haha, I’m kidding. Actually, I do like the pinto better, but I’m used to kidney beans as well because mom always made chili with those. And carrots, as I’ve mentioned.

Continue reading “Hormel Chili With Beans” …

I’ll be darned, but Progresso soup came out on top of the Soup Poll. I had Campbell’s pegged for an easy victory, due to the “nostalgia” factor. Who doesn’t remember eating a bowl of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soup for lunch?

I sure had my fair share… those condensed soups were pretty cheap eats for moms on a budget. I think the price was a quarter to 30 cents when I was a kid, but maybe you remember it being even cheaper if you’re older.

Well, to be fair the race wasn’t a blowout. Progresso had 173 votes and Campbell’s had 124 votes, a difference of only 49. And before you start celebrating that David beat the Campbell’s goliath-behemoth, here’s something I just realized today when looking for the Progresso site. Progresso is owned by Betty Crocker, a formidable force in its, er, her own right.

I was surprised like the chickens, er, dickens that so many folks picked the “make your own soup” choice. I’m pretty proud of all the cheap eaters out there. At 135 votes, that’s a whole mess of homemade pots of soup out there. (By the way, Cheap Eats reader Peggasus has some pretty good tips on homemade chicken soup.)

I suspect that there were enough proud soup-makers out there who defected from Campbell’s nostalgia to tip the scales in Progresso’s favor. I personally favor Progresso, but only when I can get the cans for cheaper. I haven’t had much luck with Campbell’s Chunky Soup - either on price or taste, which is the main reason I usually stick with Progresso.

Oh, and then there’s Wolfgang Puck, whose overpriced restaurants, sloppy cooking style and half-baked product ideas have earned him the ire of many a Cheap Eater out there. He did get a few sympathy votes. I don’t see him much on the Food Channel any more which is a blessing. Maybe he pulled out of agreements with them because they didn’t pick him as a permanent Iron Chef. Scrooge McSuck.

Anyhow, enough Wolfie. The next poll awaits you. This time, I want to know your weekly cooking habits. I was curious how many times you cook dinner a week. Or, if like more than half the younger working population you eat out because there’s simply no time. No time! Speaking of which, I’ve got to jet. House painting to do…

One of these days I WILL get around to making homemade chicken soup. Until then, we’ll continue to see a good variety on canned soups here on Cheap Eats. Like this Chunky Herb Roasted Chicken Soup with Potatoes and Garlic which I happened to pick up the other day to try out.

I haven’t had Chunky Soups for years. The famous “Soup That Eats Like A Meal” wasn’t on my list of cheap soups to buy. One of the main reasons is that I never seemed to find the bulk packages of Chunky at CostCo. So we got to try many more of the Progresso soups. Both of these types of soup are the “ready to eat variety” versus the condensed Campbell’s soup where you add water.

I don’t know what came over me, but I decided to splurge on two cans of this Chunky Chicken soup when it wasn’t on sale at Albertson’s. That’s a big no-no with soups. They set me back $2.50 EACH. Man, what happened to cans of soup for 30 cents? I know I’ve been harsh before on plain old Campbell’s condensed chicken soup before, but I’ve had a slight change of heart lately after getting completely gouged by ready-to-drink soup that costs 4 times as much. It’s my own fault though… never buy canned soup unless it’s on sale.

Continue reading “Chunky Chicken Soup” …

Warning: Long post about “lunchmeat” ahead.

I had previously “threatened” to make a post about Spam. Well, since Memorial Day Holiday is one of the biggest processed meats weekends in the year, I thought it was about time I gave Mr. Spam it’s due.

I think he looks much more imposing and stately when you leave him as an unsliced, pale pink, immovable tower of meat, don’t you?

This is actually Spam Lite which is supposed to have 50% Less Fat, 33% Fewer Calories and 25% Less Sodium. As if this is going to do you a whole lot better.

A ton has already been said about it, so I don’t really need to go into details about its history and (un) popularity. Anyhow, I pretty much just need to show the pictures… it sells itself! But for those who are unfamiliar with our solid fatty friend, just know that there ARE Spam Festivals, Spam Cookoff Contests, and Spam Carving Competitions. I think Hormel even has a Spam Museum.

Oh, when I was a kid I tried to make Spam Dice. Cut spam into cubes and use peppercorns for the dice divots. Fun.

A disclaimer before you launch into a diatribe on the un-merits of Spam Lite. I ate an inordinate amount of Spam growing up, especially considering I had health-conscious parents. The keys to this mystery are that I have a Hawaiian influenced background and I used to go camping a lot.

The Hawaii-Spam connection: I was always told that its popularity increased in the “old days” because in Hawaii’s humid weather, everything spoils quicker. So canned, preserved or salted food was very popular. I’m not sure how true this is. Needless to say, you can walk into most any Hawaiian BBQ restaurant and there will be Spam on the menu.

The Camping Issue: Because of it’s portability and sliceable demeanor, Spam was popular whenever we decided to hit the road. Fried Spam and Spam Musubi (more on this later) were old standbys. The important thing is that we tended to travel in large groups. So on any trip, even if my parents didn’t bring it along SOMEONE was bound to bring some.

Continue reading “Delicious Spam Lite” …