They'll figure it out

In my leisure it's not unusual for me to take command of the kitchen (like any good captain would) and whip up something new for dinner.  Nine times out of ten it's a good thing. 

Have you noticed that cans of food in the super market are getting lighter?  Yup, one way to boost profits is to cut what's in the can so the manufacturer can produce more cans of whatever using the same amount of contents overall but less in each can and earn the same amount of money.  They're happy.  The consumer is once again screwed. 

If you cook a lot or even a little you know that recipes call for stuff in ounces or pounds.  Take for example Christmas Pasta, a favorite of mine for well over four years.  You can find it under Christmas Pasta on the FoodTV website.  Anyway, the recipe calls for 32 ounces of crushed tomatoes.  No such animal.  Crushed tomatoes have been downsized to 28 ounces.

When the manufacturers decided to reduce the amount in each can of tomatoes they knew well what recipes call for.  They're not calling for 28 ounces of tomatoes but for 32 ounces.  I guess in making this decision they thought that the consumer would figure out what to do.  They'll figure it out!

So I add the 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes to my recipe and then add a 14 ounce can of chopped tomatoes.  I figured it out.  Actually, the addition of the chopped tomatoes make for a better sauce.

Today I'm cooking Knife and Fork Beef Stroganoff Burgers.  You can find this on the CBS TV web page under the Rachel Ray show.  It calls for 2 cups of beef stock.  Unless you use bullion cubes it's going to be hard to find 2 cups of beef stock on the shelves of your local market.  The cans have been downsized to 14.5 ounces.  Yup.  I come up with 29 ounces of beef stock via canned beef stock instead of the 32 called for in the recipe.

Am I splitting hairs here?  Probably.  But the thought remains that time and time again the consumer is hoodwinked and few know that they've been had.  It's the principle of the thing.  For the manufacturer it's not the principle but it's about business.

Today I'll make up the small difference in stock with a little water.  Should be no big deal.

I wrote here eons ago when Dreyers's ice cream cut the amount in their containers big time and sold them for the same amount of cash.  Like we wouldn't notice?  That means we run out of ice cream sooner all due to a reduced size of Dreyer's ice cream which equates into more sales for Dreyer's.  I should quit while I'm ahead in the name of clear arteries and lay off the ice cream.  Ya think?

Wifey says life is not so much how you take it but what you make of it.   She's right.  If you don't change up in life when it's called for you'll be driven crazy.  Nuts.  Whacko.  Loco. 

I just know that good Lord puts modern day challenges before us.  He does that to keep us thinking.  When this happens I just know what his thinking is:   They'll figure it out.

And we will, won't we.......