regardless of whether it’s made from scratch or a mix. But I draw the line on Dinty Moore. For me, beef stew has to be homemade. I won’t pay more for a butcher to cut up the meat though. I buy a whole roast and cube it up myself for at least $5/lb less than “beef stew meat” goes for. Plus I put red wine in the gravy, which I’m guessing Dinty Moore doesn’t do.
I do plenty of “just heat it up” meals though. Last night, for example, I just heated up a Trader Joe’s frozen lasagna. I eat that with a side salad or some frozen spinach that I just heat up, even though there is no spinach as good as fresh spinach sautéed with fresh garlic. I do that sometimes. But other times I just heat up some frozen spinach.
