I measured my pancakes

[gooddecisions]

The box says 2 cups of mix and 1.5 cups of water will make 12 to 18 pancakes. I got 8 smallish pancakes that were 4" in diameter. To get 12 pancakes, they would have to be about 3" in diameter (very small) and to get 16, they would only be 2" (tiny) and less than 2" in diameter for 18 (why even bother!).

I know we American's like our food big and all, but a 4" pancake is not large and doesn't even get the smallest outcome written on the box.

What else doesn't work out as the packaging or recipe has it written?

[Deleted]

boxed pancakes should be outlawed.

[midjd]

DH was just bitching about this last night! He followed the instructions and the batter was extremely watery, so he had to add more mix, then more water... and still didn't end up with as many pancakes as the original recipe had predicted. I think we got 3 big ones (6" or so).

[gooddecisions]

Dec 21, 2011 13:32:43 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

boxed pancakes should be outlawed.

It's my emergency food when everything else has expired and I'm too lazy to go to the store. No eggs or milk required.

[ontrack]

Actually, H and I really like Archer Farms boxed pancakes from Target. They have flavors such as apple strudel and raspberry chocolate chip. However, you still have to add eggs, milk, and oil/butter, which is why I think they're better vs the just add water kind.

On topic, we never get the # of pancakes either. The box says 14-18, and we only get 12.

[Sum Dum Gai]

What else doesn't work out as the packaging or recipe has it written?

Craft Mac & Cheese. 6-8 servings in a box my foot. There's barely enough in there for Loop and I. Once the kids came along and started wanting some we had to buy the big boxes. Now granted the box says some tiny amount like a quarter cup is one serving, but I ask you, what kind of idiot only eats a tiny bit of macaroni?

[ontrack]

You're supposed to just eat the macaroni as a side dish, unlike most normal people who eat it as a main course. That's how they can keep the calorie count in check on the box.

[alabamagal]

Well that way the can say that the pancakes are low calorie!!

I once had a DiGorno pizza that my boys were gobbling down (1 pizza, 2 boys). I wanted to see how many calories they were consuming. The calorie thing on the box said it was 5 slices per package. How do you cut a pizza into 5 slices.....

[gooddecisions]

Dec 21, 2011 14:40:33 GMT -5 ontrack said:

You're supposed to just eat the macaroni as a side dish, unlike most normal people who eat it as a main course. That's how they can keep the calorie count in check on the box.

Not according to the front of the box. The brand very clearly says "Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner" not "side". Anybody remember this Kids in the Hall skit? Do Canadians really put ketchup on their mac & cheese?

[raeoflyte]

We bought the fiber one pancake/waffle mix the other day, and while I got twice the # of waffles it said (I think they meant big round ones, and our waffle iron is smaller), they actually did taste like cardboard. I threw most of them out.

Archer Farms mixes are awesome though. Especially the pumpkin, and add in some chocolate chips.

[Sum Dum Gai]

You're supposed to just eat the macaroni as a side dish

Blasphemy!!! What are you, a commie?

[Tiny]

Dec 21, 2011 14:34:56 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

What else doesn't work out as the packaging or recipe has it written?

Craft Mac & Cheese. 6-8 servings in a box my foot. There's barely enough in there for Loop and I. Once the kids came along and started wanting some we had to buy the big boxes. Now granted the box says some tiny amount like a quarter cup is one serving, but I ask you, what kind of idiot only eats a tiny bit of macaroni?

A regular sized box of Kraft Mac & Cheese is 3 or 3.5 servings. Those are nearly 1 cup servings. Don't ask me why I know this...
I've never seen a 6-8 size serving box of the stuff - but then I don't 'look' very hard at the shelf with the mac and cheese - I just zero in on the kind I always buy (well, use to buy).

[weltschmerz]

Do Canadians really put ketchup on their mac & cheese?
-------------------
No. Most of us hate ketchup. Asking for ketchup in a fine restaurant could result in the chef coming out and yelling at you. He'd make Gordon Ramsey sound like a Sunday school teacher.

[ontrack]

The one thing quasi-mac and cheese related I noticed in Canada was that I saw they had boxed Kraft spaghetti dinners, which I'd never seen in the U.S.

[comom1]

Dec 21, 2011 17:54:54 GMT -5 ontrack said:

The one thing quasi-mac and cheese related I noticed in Canada was that I saw they had boxed Kraft spaghetti dinners, which I'd never seen in the U.S.

Really? You can buy them in Minnesota and North Dakota. I've even seen them in Colorado and it doesn't even border Canada!

[Deleted]

Krusteze (spelling?) makes an awesome Belgian waffle mix. But you do have to add an egg, water, and some oil.

I thought Kraft mac'n'cheese was a main dish, too. If we add anything, it's a salad. My now thirty-year-old son HATES real mac'n'cheese. He says it's too bland. I think that's because it's not bright orange. Lol.

We ate Kraft spaghetti dinners when I was growing up, and I live in Alabama. Didn't they also make a boxed pizza mix?

My quickie no-food-in-the-house meal is angel hair with Ragu. Unfortunately, I had to give it up when I got married to a man with more discerning tastes.

[trippypea]

I always liked the mac n cheese commercial where it shows the kids eating big bowls of the stuff. That bowl is the entire box!

[Miss Tequila]

Dec 21, 2011 17:53:13 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Do Canadians really put ketchup on their mac & cheese?
-------------------
No. Most of us hate ketchup. Asking for ketchup in a fine restaurant could result in the chef coming out and yelling at you. He'd make Gordon Ramsey sound like a Sunday school teacher.

that's ridiculous...I will eat my food the way I want it...and if some idiot yelled at me because of my choices, he'd be wearing my plate of food

[Apple]

I never put the amount of milk called for in Kraft mac and cheese. Instant oatmeal also calls for an insane amount of water--I want oatmeal, not soup. DS has been learning that I don't always follow a recipe exactly since I've been teaching him to cook--we look at what it says and make adjustments (I also do a lot of "" cooking where I just put the stuff in and don't measure anything, he's picking up on it quite well).

[TD2K]

It's like Bisquick. Why buy bisquick when biscuits don't take any time to make and taste a hell of a lot better.

[midjd]

DS has been learning that I don't always follow a recipe exactly since I've been teaching him to cook--we look at what it says and make adjustments (I also do a lot of "" cooking where I just put the stuff in and don't measure anything, he's picking up on it quite well).

This is my method of cooking, I HATE following recipes. Just throw everything in and it usually turns out OK. Drives DH crazy.

[Clever Username]

I had the same type of encounter last night.
I made cookie gun cookies.

While softening 3 sticks of butter, I noticed that the recipe made 6-7 dozen cookies. So I halfed it. Including the mind boggling how-do-you-measure-half-an-egg question. I think I only got 25 cookies out of the batch. Especially confusing because the cookie press means they were methodically measured. I intentionally make awesomely sized chocolate chip cookies.

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

Dec 21, 2011 17:53:13 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Do Canadians really put ketchup on their mac & cheese?
-------------------
No. Most of us hate ketchup. Asking for ketchup in a fine restaurant could result in the chef coming out and yelling at you. He'd make Gordon Ramsey sound like a Sunday school teacher.

LOL There was a restaurant in the West Village on Bleeker Street, in NYC, where on the menu were a number of entrees that had the note that the chef would not allow you to ask for grated cheese to be put on the entree. You had to eat it the way he prepared it.

[hoops902]

Dec 21, 2011 13:31:31 GMT -5 gooddecisions said:

The box says 2 cups of mix and 1.5 cups of water will make 12 to 18 pancakes. I got 8 smallish pancakes that were 4" in diameter. To get 12 pancakes, they would have to be about 3" in diameter (very small) and to get 16, they would only be 2" (tiny) and less than 2" in diameter for 18 (why even bother!).

I know we American's like our food big and all, but a 4" pancake is not large and doesn't even get the smallest outcome written on the box.

What else doesn't work out as the packaging or recipe has it written?

I realize this isn't your point, but for the record making a circular item 50% of the original diameter does not make it 50% less area. Each pancake would have been about 12.5 sq inches, for a toal of about 100 sq inches. So if you got 8 pancakes at 4" diameter, you would get about 33 pancakes at 2" diameter. To get 16 pancakes you would need them to be about 2.8" in diameter. Yes, I'm a nerd. That's also assuming the smaller pancakes were the same thickness as the larger ones.

[gooddecisions]

I was wondering how long it would take for somebody to call me out on my math. I knew I had a flaw in there somewhere, but my brain has been a little rusty lately. Thanks hoops! ;D

[weltschmerz]

Dec 22, 2011 11:20:02 GMT -5 Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ said:

Dec 21, 2011 17:53:13 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Do Canadians really put ketchup on their mac & cheese?
-------------------
No. Most of us hate ketchup. Asking for ketchup in a fine restaurant could result in the chef coming out and yelling at you. He'd make Gordon Ramsey sound like a Sunday school teacher.

LOL There was a restaurant in the West Village on Bleeker Street, in NYC, where on the menu were a number of entrees that had the note that the chef would not allow you to ask for grated cheese to be put on the entree. You had to eat it the way he prepared it.

Well some chefs take years to perfect their signature dishes. If you're going to douse the whole thing in ketchup, you may as well have ordered a hot dog. The chefs get rather offeded.