So what is wrong with Stove-Top?

[3Gsandme]

If instant potatoes is what my family likes then that is what I would make and serve. My family likes Stove Top so that is what I make and serve.

I think serving what your family likes is great!

I'm a pretty serious cook, so I make everything from scratch. I think people would be surprised to have stove top or instant potatoes at a holiday meal at my house. My husband would actually be disappointed. Lol.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Two things that should not come out of a box are stuffing and mac and cheese.
YUCK YUCK YUCK

If it comes out of box, mu family won't touch it.

 

[kmb584]

I personally love Stove Top. Yum! It was made often when I was growing up, and every Thanksgiving when I was little I'd ask my Gammy "what did you do to the stuffing?" Ha. My Gam's stuffing is very good indeed, a highlight of our Thanksgiving meals, but I still love my Stove Top!

 

[kmb584]

As much as I like unique, interesting foods, I am not a fan of "fussy" stuffing. I'll eat it, but I am not crazy about stuffing with cornbread, pecans, cranberries, rice, etc. Interestingly, the only non-traditional stuffing I ever enjoyed was one that my chef-BIL made, with oysters in it. I adore oysters, and he made an amazing stuffing, baked outside the turkey. Alas… that was the year that food poisoning made its rounds, only visiting those of us who ate the oyster stuffing…

I definitely agree. If I'm eating stuffing, I want it to be "traditional": bread and veggies.

 

[minkydog]

Not a fan of the Stovetop. To me it has a grainy quality. I make my stuffing with French bread, cubed and dried on top of the fridge. Then I mix it with celery, onions, and poultry seasoning and add vegetable broth so its vegetarian for DD20. Plop it in the crock pot and let 'er rip for a few hours.

 

[aprilchem]

I used to like it before we switched to a natural diet, but I haven't eaten it in years now. We don't eat HFCS, MSG, artificial colors or flavors, and I'm pretty sure it has all of those.

 

[NMAmy]

No, it's actually true. To some people (I happen to be one of those people), cilantro tastes like soap.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html

Thanks for that. Neither my sisters nor I nor my dd like cilantro so that makes a lot of sense. And, honestly, when people DO like it, they tend to really overdo it in recipes. I can tolerate it but I don't eat much of it. I make my own salsa and guacamole without cilantro.

As far as Stove Top, I'm not a fan. I never had it growing up--my parents made most everything from scratch. And stuffing is not an everyday dish at my house--we only ever eat it during the holidays.

 

[wvjules]

I'm another one that thinks cilantro tastes like soap. Interesting read.

Homemade vs stovetop - I am hosting for the first time on Saturday and I was adamant that I was going to make homemade stuffing. Well DBFs family only likes stovetop so that is what I am making. I'm disappointed I can't make a homemade stuffing but if they won't eat it then it would be pointless to make. My family makes homemade on thanksgiving but they like stovetop too so instead of making two I'm only making stovetop. I am going to make it on the stovetop but then put it in a casserole dish and pop it in oven to crisp the top a bit.

If I host again next year I will make both. But I didn't want to get overwhelmed for my first time hosting 12 people.

 

[WDWBarb]

I haven't had stove top in about a decade (there used to be a vegetarian version - cornbread? But now it has chicken stock). I used to LOVE it. My grandma's dressing was awesome when I was young but I gave it up 25 years ago when I went veg. I'd be thrilled with a meatless version that even came close!

 

[palmtreegirl]

Me too

 

[TheIncredibles!]

The problem is that it is Thanksgiving! Just as I would not serve instant potatoes from a box, I would not serve stove top today.

Exactly. For some processed foods on Thanksgiving is the norm for them. My brother has a hard time with his inlaws because all veggies are from a can, gravy is from a jar, stuffing is stove top and the potatoes are instant. For us growing up Thanksgiving was THE food holiday. My mom went all out, everything made from scratch and the only thing she did not make was the jellied cranberry sauce but she did make a cranberry compote for us too. She even made her own rolls but I don't go that far plus I worked yesterday. No store bought desserts either.

My stuffing is home made with bread, my gravy will be from scratch, all veggies fresh and the only can I am using is canned chicken stock for basting my turkey but I am doctoring that up too by simmering that with peppercorns, onions with the skin, parsley sprigs, celery tops etc.

I use stove top during the week for quick meals but I still doctor it up with celery, onion etc.

 

[ellone]

I used to like it before we switched to a natural diet, but I haven't eaten it in years now. We don't eat HFCS, MSG, artificial colors or flavors, and I'm pretty sure it has all of those.

Yep, it has loads of garbage. Most processed foods do.
It has HFCS (which will be GMO corn so you get your residual glyphosate).
Hydrolyzed Soy and Corn Protein (again GMO) and hydrolyzed means it acts as MSG.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) in case you didn't get enough from the hydrolyzed soy.
Caramel Color - carcinogen.
Natural Flavor which if you get down to it is really nowhere near 'natural' due to the amount of chemistry that goes into creating 'natural' flavors.

So loads of things wrong with eating Stove Top.

 

[kirstenb1]

I like stove top.

 

[njmom47]

I use it throughout the year as a side, and also use it as a base for my own stuffing when I cook a holiday turkey.

 

[bookgirl]

There's nothing wrong with it in theory, but no one in my family would eat it at Thanksgiving.

1. We are dressing people.

2. My mom makes cornbread dressing every holiday and that's what my family wants. (well most of them...I don't eat dressing or stuffing cause I don't eat onions).

3. It's the holidays. I use butter/margarine, whole fat milk, real sugar, if it can be sautéed in butter, cooked with animal fat (ummmm drippins), or made from scratch that's what we do. It's once or twice a year. It's the time for real food made the old fashioned way.

 

[deedeetoo]

Yep, it has loads of garbage. Most processed foods do.
It has HFCS (which will be GMO corn so you get your residual glyphosate).
Hydrolyzed Soy and Corn Protein (again GMO) and hydrolyzed means it acts as MSG.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) in case you didn't get enough from the hydrolyzed soy.
Caramel Color - carcinogen.
Natural Flavor which if you get down to it is really nowhere near 'natural' due to the amount of chemistry that goes into creating 'natural' flavors.

So loads of things wrong with eating Stove Top.

So what is wrong with all the stuff you call garbage? I admit I don't get the whole no processed food thing. My family lives on processed food.

I told my husband that people were saying they didn't like stove top because of the additives. He laughed and said "That's what makes it taste good".

 

[nighttowll]

To me stove top = gross spongy mess

To my dad stove top = heaven


I actually have two problems with it.

1. The texture is wrong. I'm a huge texture person. If a food's texture bothers me, no matter how good it tastes, I just can't eat it. I've been conditioned my whole life to expect dressing to have a certain texture which stove top does not have. It is completely different, chewy, yuck. I don't know why, but it just grosses me out.

But I think my main problem is that it doesn't seem like stuffing at all to me, not even close. It's like eating a completely different food. There is just nothing similar at all about stove top and the homemade dressing I grew up on. It's a different smell, taste, and texture, and even has different ingredients (being bread/crouton based vs cornbread based). I just can't wrap my head around it being stuffing.

My great grandmother (who lived on a farm, grew all her own vegetables, and cooked with lard), she always made cornbread stuffing, as did both my grand mothers and my mom. Even the dressing we got at restaurants or at friends houses was the traditional southern cornbread dressing made with chunks of chicken or turkey in it depending on the season. I just grew up on made from scratch natural ingredients lots of fat cornbread dressing. Anything else just doesn't taste right to me.

I'll be the first to admit, however, that if I was brought up the opposite way around, I'd probably feel that homemade cornbread dressing was the imposter with the wired texture and taste and stove top was the real deal. I think they are just so very different people tend to love one and hate the other depending which they are the most used to.

 

[Tinijocaro]

If you don't use stovetop, do you buy the bags of croutons and make it yourself that way or do you buy whole bread, dry it , cube it and do it that way?

Ther are different levels of homemade. No matter which method, I always add celery, onions, and often, apples and raisins.

 

[NMAmy]

If you don't use stovetop, do you buy the bags of croutons and make it yourself that way or do you buy whole bread, dry it , cube it and do it that way?

Ther are different levels of homemade. No matter which method, I always add celery, onions, and often, apples and raisins.

Huh, I've never thought of using croutons. No, I dry the bread.

 

[Shutterbug]

Yep, it has loads of garbage. Most processed foods do.
It has HFCS (which will be GMO corn so you get your residual glyphosate).
Hydrolyzed Soy and Corn Protein (again GMO) and hydrolyzed means it acts as MSG.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) in case you didn't get enough from the hydrolyzed soy.
Caramel Color - carcinogen.
Natural Flavor which if you get down to it is really nowhere near 'natural' due to the amount of chemistry that goes into creating 'natural' flavors.

So loads of things wrong with eating Stove Top.

Stop it! You are making me hungry!