I once heard about a woman who decided the was through with prepared meals and decided to learn how to cook; her teenage son then complained to a friend, "Mom doesn't by food any more. She just buys ingredients."
May her tribe increase! When you buy complete meal in a box (Just add tuna!!!--or something), you are buying a lot of packaging, which you must discard. Meanwhile, our landfills are filling up. Incinerators inevitably contribute to air pollution. It's not sustainable. The best way to help solve our solid waste problem is not to buy a bunch of stuff you'll just throw out.
And another thing: when you buy prepared meals, you are probably getting a lot of preservatives, a lot of salt, and so on. It is hard to control the seasoning. Too much or too little of that packet, and the food doesn't taste very good.
You are not saving money. You are not even saving time. Noodles in a box with a seasoning packet take just as long to cook as plain noodles. The stuff that claims to help tuna is essentially tuna and noodles. So cook some noodles. When they're done, drain them, add the tuna and some vegetables. Put some flour in the pot, maybe some butter/margarine/oil, and some milk. (Use about a tablespoon each of flour and whatever fat you choose for every half cup of milk.) Stir over medium low heat until the sauce thickens. Season to taste. You have a tasty, colorful, nutritious meal with vegetables that were never dehydrated, seasoned the way you like.
If that sounds boring, there are lots of ways to jazz up the sauce, with cheese, curry, etc. Hamburger and chicken don't need help from a box, either. Whatever you can make from the boxes, you can make just as easily, dress up in as many ways, for less money than the box and probably about the same preparation time.
Buy "ingredients" instead of "food"! It's good for your health, your pocket book, your sense of accomplishment, and, oh yes, the planet.
